Compact near-to-eye display with integrated gaze tracker

Toni Järvenpää; Viljakaisa Aaltonen

doi:10.1117/12.781168

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25 April 2008 Compact near-to-eye display with integrated gaze tracker

Toni Järvenpää; Viljakaisa Aaltonen

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Proceedings Volume 7001, Photonics in Multimedia II; 700106 (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.781168
Event: SPIE Photonics Europe, 2008, Strasbourg, France

Abstract

Near-to-Eye Display (NED) offers a big screen experience to the user anywhere, anytime. It provides a way to perceive a larger image than the physical device itself is. Commercially available NEDs tend to be quite bulky and uncomfortable to wear. However, by using very thin plastic light guides with diffractive structures on the surfaces, many of the known deficiencies can be notably reduced. These Exit Pupil Expander (EPE) light guides enable a thin, light, user friendly and high performing see-through NED, which we have demonstrated. To be able to interact with the displayed UI efficiently, we have also integrated a video-based gaze tracker into the NED. The narrow light beam of an infrared light source is divided and expanded inside the same EPEs to produce wide collimated beams out from the EPE towards the eyes. Miniature video camera images the cornea and eye gaze direction is accurately calculated by locating the pupil and the glints of the infrared beams. After a simple and robust per-user calibration, the data from the highly integrated gaze tracker reflects the user focus point in the displayed image which can be used as an input device for the NED system. Realizable applications go from eye typing to playing games, and far beyond.

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Toni Järvenpää and Viljakaisa Aaltonen "Compact near-to-eye display with integrated gaze tracker", Proc. SPIE 7001, Photonics in Multimedia II, 700106 (25 April 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.781168

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