Apple Inc. (Cupertino, CA)

These systems, methods that are computer-readable media, are designed to monitor and recognize the eye movement and gaze of the user. These techniques can be used to identify the location of the pupil of a person’s and use this information in conjunction with an 3D model of the skull of the user in order to conduct gaze tracking. More particularly, techniques disclosed herein utilize pupil gradient information to improve an initial pupil location estimation. To determine the exact location, it can be coupled with 3D information on the head to create an efficient and reliable system for detecting gaze.

This disclosure is general and relates to the detection eye and head movements. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, this disclosure relates to techniques for detecting the location of the pupil and the application of this information, as well as the use of a head model to monitor the direction of gaze.

It has recently been noted that three-dimensional (3D) head tracking with the video sequence or pose estimation with multiple images is an essential requirement for a robust facial analysis as well as face recognition. These operations often include eye tracking. It can be described as an electronic way of locating the point at which an individual is looking, or recording their movements. In actual practice, eye tracking is provided by tracking and locating the reflections of the cornea from a source of light. Near-infrared and infrared light sources cannot be easily detected by the human eye so they are often utilized as light sources. The pupil is blocked by the infrared, but the iris is able to reflect it, creating a line between the pupil iris.

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