Enhanced autonomous hands-free control in electronic visual aids

1. A method of providing autonomous enhancements to a video output of a visual aid device worn by a user, comprising:

obtaining real-time images of a scene with a camera of the visual aid device;

evaluating a motion component of the visual aid device to determine if the user of the visual aid device is engaged in a concentration state associated with very small angular velocities of the visual aid device maintained over a perceptible interval, a scanning movement state associated with intermediate angular velocities of the visual aid device, or an animated movement state associated with high angular velocities of the visual aid device;

if the user of the visual aid device is engaged in the animated movement state:

presenting first video images on a display of the visual aid device without additional enhancements or adjustments applied to the real-time images;

if the user of the visual aid device is engaged in a scanning movement state:

locating first structures of interest from the real-time images;

applying first visual enhancements to at least the first structures of interest; and

presenting second video images including the first visually enhanced first structures of interest on the display of the visual aid device;

if the user of the visual aid device is engaged in the concentration state:

locating second structures of interest from the real-time video images;

applying second visual enhancements to at least the second structures of interest; and

presenting third video images including the second visually enhanced second structures of interest on the display of the visual aid device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the motion component comprises an angular velocity of the visual aid device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the animated movement state indicates that the user of the visual aid device is not engaged in deliberate concentration or attempting to focus on something within a field of view of the user.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the concentration state indicates that the user of the visual aid device is deliberately concentrating on something within the field of view.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the scanning state indicates that the user of the visual aid device is reading.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first or second structures of interest comprise text-like structures.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first or second structures of interest comprise facial features.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first or second visual enhancements comprise adjusting a magnification of at least the first or second structures of interest.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first or second visual enhancements comprise adjusting a contrast component of at least the first or second structures of interest.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining a motion state of the visual aid device comprises:

evaluating the motion component associated with recent frames of the real-time images over a first interval of approximately 50-250 milliseconds to categorize short-term movement of the user of the visual aid device; and

evaluating the motion component of recent frames of the real-time images over a second interval longer than the first interval to identify a specific action state of the user of the visual aid device.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining real-time images of the scene with the visual aid device further comprises obtaining the real-time images with a camera of the visual aid device that is not rigidly fixed with respect to the user's eyes.

12. A method of providing enhanced vision for a low-vision user, comprising the steps of:

capturing real-time video images with a camera of a first electronic device;

transmitting the real-time video images from the first electronic device to a visual aid eyeglasses device separate from the first electronic device;

identifying a subset of each of the real-time video images corresponding to a focus of attention of the camera;

extracting structures of interest within the subset of each of the real-time video images;

identifying at least one group of structures of interest that are organized in a row or column;

determining a dimension of the at least one group of structures of interest;

adjusting a magnification of the at least one group of structures of interest to match a preferred structure dimension;

forming an enhanced video stream that includes the real-time images and the at least one group of structures of interest with adjusted magnification; and

displaying the enhanced video stream on a display of the visual aid eyeglasses device.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the subset comprises a fixed area of pixels within each of the real-time video images.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the structures of interest comprise text-like structures.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the structures of interest comprise facial structures.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein the structures of interest are selected from the group consisting of letters, numerals, pictograms, glyphs and icons.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein the extracting step further comprises extracting maximally stable extremal regions from the subset of real-time video images.

18. A method of providing enhanced vision for a low-vision user, comprising the steps of:

capturing real-time video images with a camera of an electronic device;

transmitting the real-time video images from the electronic device to a visual aid eyeglasses device worn by the low-vision user and separate from the electronic device;

identifying a subset of each of the real-time video images corresponding to a focus of attention of the camera;

extracting structures of interest within the subset of each of the real-time video images;

applying visual enhancements to the structures of interest; and

displaying video images including the visually enhanced structures of interest on one or more displays of the visual aid eyeglasses device.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the subset comprises a fixed area of pixels within each of the real-time video images.

20. The method of claim 18 , wherein the structures of interest comprise text-like structures.

21. The method of claim 18 , wherein the structures of interest comprise facial structures.

22. The method of claim 18 , wherein the structures of interest are selected from the group consisting of letters, numerals, pictograms, glyphs and icons.

23. The method of claim 18 , wherein the electronic device comprises a smartphone.

24. The method of claim 18 , wherein applying visual enhancements to the structures of interest further comprises adjusting a magnification of the structures of interest.

25. The method of claim 18 , wherein applying visual enhancements to the structures of interest further comprises adjusting a contrast of the structures of interest.