Gaze estimation and analysis of visual scanning patterns with mobile devices

该项目的目标是开发测量手机上眼睛位置的方法，并将这种能力应用于评估认知功能。目前，测量眼睛位置的系统(眼球跟踪器)被用于各种领域(人机界面、培训、心理学、神经学等)。由能够使用专门设备的专家小组提供。通过与一家主要的手机制造商合作，该项目的成功将意味着高质量的眼球跟踪将在通用的、广泛可用的手机设备上使用。*要开发高质量的手机眼球跟踪系统，必须克服重大的技术挑战。第一个是与估计手机前置摄像头视频图像中眼睛特征(例如，瞳孔中心)的方法和算法的发展有关。尽管我们已经成功地为桌面系统开发了这种方法，但新方法将不得不考虑到手机平台施加的机械、光学和功率限制。第二个挑战是，不像以前的工作中远程眼球跟踪器是静止的，这个项目中的眼球跟踪器可以相对于对象自由移动。*使用我们的桌面眼球跟踪系统，我们开发了以下测试：a)评估损伤的影响和脑震荡恢复的预后，以及b)轻度认知障碍患者转变为阿尔茨海默病患者的可能性。如果这种测试可以在受伤地点或受试者家中进行，这将提高测试的效率和益处。成功开发适用于移动平台的眼球跟踪系统将使广泛的眼球跟踪应用程序得以适应和开发，从而显著造福于普通公众。*

The goals of this project are to develop methods to measure eye position on a mobile phone and to apply this capability to assess cognitive functions. Currently, systems that measure eye position (eye-trackers) are used in a variety of fields (man-machine interfaces, training, psychology, neurology, etc.) by groups of specialists with access to specialized equipment. By cooperating with a major manufacturer of cell phones, the success of this project will mean that high-quality eye tracking will be available on general-purpose, widely available cell-phone devices. ****To develop high quality eye-tracking systems for cell-phones, one has to overcome significant technical challenges. The first is associated with the development of methods and algorithms to estimate eye-features (e.g., the centre of the pupil) in video images from the cell-phone's front facing camera. Even though we have successfully developed such methods for desk-top systems, the new methods will have to take into account the mechanical, optical and power constraints that are imposed by the cell-phone platforms. The second challenge is that, unlike prior work in which the remote eye-tracker was stationary the eye tracker in this project is free to move relative to the subject. ****Using our desk-top eye-tracking systems we have developed tests to: a) evaluate the effects of injury and the prognosis of recovery from concussion, and b) the probability that mildly cognitively impaired patients will convert to Alzheimer's disease patients. If such tests can be carried out at the site of injury or at the subject's home it will improve the efficacy and benefits of the tests. Successful development of eye-tracking systems for mobile platforms will enable the adaptation and development of a wide range of eye-tracking applications that can significantly benefit the general public.****