Wearable in-vehicle eye gaze detection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10618521-B2
Application number	US-201515750348-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 20, 2015
Priority date	Sep 21, 2015
Publication date	Apr 14, 2020
Grant date	Apr 14, 2020

Abstract

A system, including: one or more sensors included in an apparatus wearable by a vehicle operator to measure ocular muscle movement; and a computer that includes a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions executable by the computer such that the computer is programmed to: receive data indicating ocular muscle movement from the wearable sensor; determine, using the measurement, a gaze direction of the operator; use the gaze direction to determine a level of operator attentiveness; and actuate a vehicle operation if the level of operator attentiveness is below a predetermined threshold.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system, comprising:
one or more sensors included in an apparatus wearable by a vehicle operator to measure ocular muscle movement; and
a computer that includes a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions executable by the computer such that the computer is programmed to:
receive data indicating ocular muscle movement from the wearable sensor;
determine, using the measurement, a gaze direction of the operator;
use the gaze direction to determine a level of operator attentiveness;
actuate a vehicle operation if the level of operator attentiveness based on the gaze direction is below a predetermined threshold;
determine a roadway hazard in a path of the vehicle from vehicle sensor data;
determine a lack of attention to the roadway hazard based on a determination that the gaze direction has changed away from a direction of the roadway hazard; and
warn the operator upon determining the lack of attention to the roadway hazard.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer is further programmed to retrieve, from the memory, a parameter concerning the gaze direction, and to use the parameter in determining the level of operator attentiveness.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle operation includes at least one of actuating a throttle, actuating a steering mechanism, and actuating brakes.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer is further programmed to provide the gaze direction to at least one of a human-machine interface of the in-vehicle computer and a mobile user device.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer is further programmed to provide the gaze direction to a remote server.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer is further programmed to determine operator fatigue based on the gaze direction, and to determine a waypoint for the vehicle when operator fatigue indicates drowsiness.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein ocular muscle movement is contraction of at least one muscle in each eye while the other muscles in each eye are relaxed.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to determine the gaze direction based on the one or more muscles in each eye that are contracted.

9. A method, comprising:
receiving from one or more sensors included in an apparatus wearable by a vehicle operator to measure ocular muscle movement; and
determining, using the measurement, a gaze direction of the operator;
using the gaze direction to determine a level of operator attentiveness;
actuating a vehicle operation if the level of operator attentiveness based on the gaze direction is below a predetermined threshold;
determining a roadway hazard in a path of the vehicle from vehicle sensor data;
determining a lack of attention to the roadway hazard based on a determination that the gaze direction has changed away from a direction of the roadway hazard; and
warning the operator upon determining the lack of attention to the roadway hazard.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising retrieving, from the memory, a parameter concerning the gaze direction, and to use the parameter in determining the level of operator attentiveness.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the vehicle operation includes at least one of actuating a throttle, actuating a steering mechanism, and actuating brakes.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising providing the gaze direction to at least one of a human-machine interface of the in-vehicle computer and a mobile user device.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising providing the gaze direction to a remote server.

14. The method of claim 9 , further comprising determining operator fatigue based on the gaze direction, and determining a waypoint for the vehicle when operator fatigue indicates drowsiness.

15. The method of claim 9 , wherein ocular muscle movement is contraction of at least one muscle in each eye while the other muscles in each eye are relaxed.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising determining the gaze direction based on the one or more muscles in each eye that are contracted.

17. A system, comprising a processor; and a memory, the memory storing instructions executable by the processor to:
receive data from one or more sensors included in an apparatus wearable by a vehicle operator to measure ocular muscle movement; and
determine, using the measurement, a gaze direction of the operator;
use the gaze direction to determine a level of operator attentiveness;
actuate a vehicle operation if the level of operator attentiveness based on the gaze direction is below a predetermined threshold;
determine a roadway hazard in a path of the vehicle from vehicle sensor data;
determine a lack of attention to the roadway hazard based on a determination that the gaze direction has changed away from a direction of the roadway hazard; and
warn the operator upon determining the lack of attention to the roadway hazard.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the processor is further programmed to retrieve, from the memory, a parameter concerning the gaze direction, and to use the parameter in determining the level of operator attentiveness.

19. The system of claim 17 , wherein the processor is further programmed to determine operator fatigue based on the gaze direction, and to determine a waypoint for the vehicle when operator fatigue indicates drowsiness.

20. The system of claim 17 , wherein ocular muscle movement is contraction of at least one muscle in each eye while the other muscles in each eye are relaxed.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Kochhar Devinder Singh

Classifications

• A61B2503/22

  Motor vehicles operators, e.g. drivers, pilots, captains · CPC title

• A61B5/6803

  Head-worn items, e.g. helmets, masks, headphones or goggles · CPC title

• A61B5/18 Primary

  for vehicle drivers {or machine operators} · CPC title

• B60W40/08 Primary

  related to drivers or passengers · CPC title

• G08B25/08

  using communication transmission lines {(G08B13/19658, G08B21/0286, G08B25/016 take precedence)} · CPC title