Wearable device, method and computer readable storage medium for identifying gaze of user

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12498787-B2
Application number	US-202418742921-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 13, 2024
Priority date	Aug 21, 2023
Publication date	Dec 16, 2025
Grant date	Dec 16, 2025

Abstract

A wearable device according to an embodiment includes: at least one camera configured for eye tracking, at least one display configured to be aligned with eyes of a user wearing the wearable device, and at least one processor comprising processing circuitry. At least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to: control the wearable device to display a screen on the at least one display; obtain gaze data related to an object in the screen through the at least one camera; determine whether to recognize the gaze data as an input for the object, using an area for the object that has size set based on an overall brightness level of the screen; and execute a function provided from the object based on the gaze data recognized as the input.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A head-wearable electronic device, comprising:
at least one camera configured to obtain gaze data of a user wearing the head-wearable electronic device; displays, when the head-wearable electronic device is worn, respectively positioned in front of eyes of the user; at least one processor comprising processing circuitry; and memory comprising one or more storage media storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, cause the head-wearable electronic device to:
identify, via the at least one camera, a size of a pupil of the user;
based on the size of the pupil of the user, determine an area for identifying a gaze input on a user interface (UI) object to be displayed via the displays;
display, via the displays, the UI object; and
based on a gaze positioned within the determined area being identified via the at least one camera while displaying the UI object, execute a function provided by the UI object,
wherein the area is:
when the size of the pupil is identified as a first size, determined as a first area; and
when the size of the pupil is identified as a second size smaller than the first size, determined as a second area wider than the first area.

2 . The head-wearable electronic device of claim 1 ,
wherein the area is wider as the size of the pupil of the user is smaller.

3 . The head-wearable electronic device of claim 1 ,
wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, cause the head-wearable electronic device to:
based on a gaze positioned outside the determined area being identified via the at least one camera while displaying the UI object, maintain disabling the function provided by the UI object.

4 . The head-wearable electronic device of claim 1 ,
wherein the UI object is included in the area.

5 . The head-wearable electronic device of claim 1 ,
wherein a size of the UI object is determined based on the size of the pupil of the user.

6 . The head-wearable electronic device of claim 1 ,
wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually and/or collectively, cause the head-wearable electronic device to:
based on the size of the pupil of the user, display, via the displays, a screen including the UI object and another UI object,
wherein the UI object and the another UI object are arranged in the screen such that the area and another area for identifying a gaze input on the another UI object are arranged without overlapping.

7 . The head-wearable electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising:
an illuminance sensor configured to obtain illuminance data around the head-wearable electronic device; and wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually and/or collectively, cause the head-wearable electronic device to:
identify, via the illuminance sensor, brightness of outside of the head-wearable electronic device; and
further based on the brightness of the outside of the head-wearable electronic device, determine the area for identifying the gaze input on the UI object.

8 . The head-wearable electronic device of claim 1 ,
wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually and/or collectively, cause the head-wearable electronic device to:
identify brightness set on a screen for displaying via the displays; and
further based on the brightness, determine the area for identifying the gaze input on the UI object.

9 . The head-wearable electronic device of claim 1 ,
wherein the UI object is included in a screen being displayed via the displays, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, cause the head-wearable electronic device to:
further based on a position of the UI object in the screen, determine the area for identifying the gaze input on the UI object,
wherein the area is wider as the position of the UI object is adjacent to an edge of the screen.

10 . The head-wearable electronic device of claim 9 ,
wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually and/or collectively, cause the head-wearable electronic device to:
obtain, via the at least one camera, state information associated with the eyes of the user; and
further based on the state information, determine the area for identifying the gaze input on the UI object,
wherein the state information includes at least one of data indicating whether the user is wearing glasses, data indicating whether the user is wearing contact lenses, data indicating a size of the eyes, or data indicating thickness of eyelids of the user.

11 . A head-wearable electronic device, comprising:
at least one camera configured to obtain gaze data of a user wearing the head-wearable electronic device; displays, when the head-wearable electronic device is worn, respectively positioned in front of eyes of the user; at least one processor comprising processing circuitry; and memory comprising one or more storage media storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor individually and/or collectively, cause the head-wearable electronic device to:
identify, via the at least one camera, a size of a pupil of the user;
based on the size of the pupil of the user, determine a size of a UI object, to be displayed via the displays, configured to provide a function in response to a gaze input; and
display, via the displays, the UI object having the determined size,
wherein the size of the UI object is:
when the size of the pupil is identified as a first size, determined as a second size; and
when the size of the pupil is identified as a third size smaller than the first size, determined as a fourth size larger than the second size.

12 . The head-wearable electronic device of claim 11 ,
wherein the size of the UI object is larger as the size of the pupil of the user is smaller.

13 . The head-wearable electronic device of claim 11 ,
wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually and/or collectively, cause the head-wearable electronic device to:
based on the size of the pupil of the user, determine an area for identifying a gaze input on the UI object; and
based on a gaze positioned within the determined area being identified via the at least one camera while displaying the UI object, execute a function provided by the UI object.

14 . The head-wearable electronic device of claim 13 ,
wherein the area includes the UI object.

15 . The head-wearable electronic device of claim 11 ,
wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually and/or collectively, cause the head-wearable electronic device to:
display, via the displays,
a screen including the UI object having the determined size and another UI object having a size in accordance with the size of the pupil of the user, wherein a distance between the UI object and the another UI object is greater as the size of the pupil of the user is smaller.

16 . The head-wearable electronic device of claim 11 , further comprising:
an illuminance sensor configured to obtain illuminance data around the head-wearable electronic device; and wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually and/or collectively, cause the head-wearable electronic device to: identify, via the illuminance sensor, brightness of outside of the head-wearable electronic device; and further bas

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kang Jinmo
• Lee Gunhee
• Jung Sunyoung
• Yeom Donghyun

Classifications

• G06F3/013 Primary

  Eye tracking input arrangements (G06F3/015 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06V40/18

  Eye characteristics, e.g. of the iris · CPC title

• G06F3/04842

  Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements (G06F3/0482 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06F3/011

  Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality (blind teaching G09B21/00) · CPC title

• G06F1/163

  Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt · CPC title