Gaze controlled bit rate

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018190091-A1
Application number	US-201615395856-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 30, 2016
Priority date	Dec 30, 2016
Publication date	Jul 5, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method may include receiving a video stream from a camera and displaying the video stream on a display. The method may further include obtaining, via an eye tracking sensor, information identifying a gaze area for a user watching the display; generating a gradient from the gaze area to edges of the display; and instructing the camera to decrease a bit rate of the video stream outside the gaze area based on the generated gradient.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method, performed by one or more computer devices, the method comprising:
receiving a video stream from a camera; displaying the video stream on a display; obtaining, via an eye tracking sensor, information identifying a gaze area for a user watching the display; generating a gradient from the gaze area towards edges of the display; and instructing the camera to decrease a bit rate of the video stream outside the gaze area based on the generated gradient.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
calculating a predicted gaze trajectory based on the obtained information; and increasing the bit rate of the video stream along the predicted gaze trajectory.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that the gaze area falls outside the display; and decreasing the bit rate for the entire video stream, in response to determining that the gaze area falls outside the display.

4 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
detecting a moving object in the video stream outside the gaze area; and correlating the gaze area to the moving object.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the gradient from the gaze area to edges of the display includes:
defining a first bit rate reduction factor for a first region from an edge of the gaze area to a particular distance from the edge of the gaze area, wherein the first bit rate reduction factor indicates an extent by which a bit rate for the first region is reduced; and defining a second bit rate reduction factor for a second region from the particular distance to the edges of the display, wherein the second bit rate reduction factor indicates an extent by which a bit rate for the second region is reduced, wherein the second bit rate reduction factor is higher than the first bit rate reduction factor.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the gradient from the gaze area to edges of the display includes:
defining a linearly decreasing bit rate reduction factor from an edge of the gaze area towards the edges of the display, wherein the bit rate reduction factor at a particular location of the display indicates an extent by which a bit rate at the particular location is reduced.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein instructing the camera to decrease a bit rate of the video stream outside the gaze area based on the generated gradient includes:
instructing the camera to reduce a sampling rate for a sensor associated with an area of the video stream outside the gaze area.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein instructing the camera to decrease a bit rate of the video stream outside the gaze area based on the generated gradient includes:
instructing the camera to lower resolution for an area of the video stream outside the gaze area prior to encoding the video stream.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein instructing the camera to decrease a bit rate of the video stream outside the gaze area based on the generated gradient includes:
instructing the camera to increase a noise reduction process for an area of the video stream outside the gaze area prior to encoding the video stream.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein instructing the camera to decrease a bit rate of the video stream outside the gaze area based on the generated gradient includes:
instructing the camera to increase a compression parameter value for an encoding processing unit associated with an area of the video stream outside the gaze area.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the video stream includes a plurality of video streams and wherein the display includes a plurality of displays.

12 . A computer device comprising:
a memory storing instructions; and a processor configured to execute the instructions to:
receive a video stream from a camera;
display the video stream on a display;
obtain, via an eye tracking sensor, information identifying a gaze area for a user watching the display;
generate a gradient from the gaze area to edges of the display; and
instruct the camera to decrease a bit rate of the video stream outside the gaze area based on the generated gradient.

13 . The computer device of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instructions to:
calculate a predicted gaze trajectory based on the obtained gaze information; and increase the bit rate of the video stream along the predicted gaze trajectory.

14 . The computer device of claim 12 , wherein, when generating the gradient from the gaze area to edges of the display, the processor is further configured to:
define a first bit rate reduction factor for a first region from an edge of the gaze area to a particular distance from the edge of the gaze area, wherein the first bit rate reduction factor indicates an extent by which a bit rate for the first region is reduced; and define a second bit rate reduction factor for a second region from the particular distance towards the edges of the display, wherein the second bit rate reduction factor indicates an extent by which a bit rate for the second region is reduced, wherein the second bit rate reduction factor is higher than the first bit rate reduction factor.

15 . The computer device of claim 12 , wherein, when generating the gradient from the gaze area to edges of the display, the processor is further configured to:
define a linearly decreasing bit rate reduction factor from an edge of the gaze area towards the edges of the display, wherein the bit rate reduction factor at a particular location of the display indicates an extent by which a bit rate at the particular location is reduced.

16 . The computer device of claim 12 , wherein, when instructing the camera to decrease a bit rate of the video stream outside the gaze area based on the generated gradient, the processor is further configured to:
instruct the camera to reduce a sampling rate for a sensor associated with an area of the video stream outside the gaze area.

17 . The computer device of claim 12 , wherein, when instructing the camera to decrease a bit rate of the video stream outside the gaze area based on the generated gradient, the processor is further configured to:
instruct the camera to lower resolution for an area of the video stream outside the gaze area prior to encoding the video stream.

18 . The computer device of claim 12 , wherein, when instructing the camera to decrease a bit rate of the video stream outside the gaze area based on the generated gradient, the processor is further configured to:
instruct the camera to increase a noise reduction process for an area of the video stream outside the gaze area prior to encoding the video stream.

19 . The computer device of claim 12 , wherein, when instructing the camera to decrease a bit rate of the video stream outside the gaze area based on the generated gradient, the processor is further configured to:
instruct the camera to increase a compression parameter value for an encoding processing unit associated with an area of the video stream outside the gaze area.

20 . A system comprising:
a camera configured to:
generate a video stream; and
a computer device configured to:
receive the video stream from the camera;
display the video stream on a display;
obtain, via an eye tracking sensor, information identifying a gaze area for a user watching the display;
generate a gradient from the gaze area to edges of the display; and
send an instruction to the camera to decrease a bit rate of the video stream outs

Assignees

• Axis Ab

Inventors

• Yuan Song

Classifications

• H04N23/667

  Camera operation mode switching, e.g. between still and video, sport and normal or high- and low-resolution modes · CPC title

• H04N23/66

  Remote control of cameras or camera parts, e.g. by remote control devices · CPC title

• H04N19/40

  using video transcoding, i.e. partial or full decoding of a coded input stream followed by re-encoding of the decoded output stream · CPC title

• H04N21/4728 Primary

  for selecting a Region Of Interest [ROI], e.g. for requesting a higher resolution version of a selected region · CPC title

• H04N21/440281

  by altering the temporal resolution, e.g. by frame skipping (television signal recording using magnetic recording on tape for reproducing at a rate different from the recording rate H04N5/783) · CPC title