The present invention relates to a line-of-sight tracking system, a line-of-sight tracking method, and a program.
In communication between persons, a gesture of matching the line of sight with a person facing another is important non-language information. In pictures, signboards, or the like, there is a method of using an illusion using two-layer display surfaces as a classical method for matching the line of sight of a displayed person with an observer at an arbitrary position in a real space.
In this method, a face image and a pupil image are physically divided, and the pupil image is presented on the side behind the face image, so that the observer can have an illusion that the line of sight of the displayed person is directed to the observer irrespective of the location of the observer. Based on this principle, a telepresence robot is disclosed, for example, in Non Patent Literature 1, in which a pseudo eyeball is provided with two kinds of convex and concave shapes, the convex surface is presented when the line of sight is desired to be directed to a specific observer, and the concave surface is presented when the line of sight is desired to be matched with an unspecified observer.
However, the representation of the line of sight is fixed depending on the depth distance of two layers in the classical method and the shape of the pseudo eyeball in the method disclosed in Non Patent Literature 1. In other words, there is a problem that the conventional line-of-sight representation cannot be flexibly performed because it is determined in terms of hardware.
The present invention has been made in view of this problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a line-of-sight tracking system, a line-of-sight tracking method, and a program that can flexibly perform line-of-sight representation.
A line-of-sight tracking system according to one aspect of the present invention is a line-of-sight tracking system including a pseudo eyeball model generation device and a display device, in which the pseudo eyeball model generation device generates a pseudo eyeball model representing a pseudo eyeball with pseudo pupil information and virtual eyeball information indicating a virtual eyeball when a type of line-of-sight tracking is one of with tracking, excessive tracking, weak tracking, and no tracking, the pseudo pupil information being obtained by moving a position of a pseudo pupil back and forth when viewed from an observer with reference to a center of the virtual eyeball in association with the type of the line-of sight tracking and an intensity of the line-of-sight tracking, and the display device displays a pseudo eyeball image representing the pseudo eyeball which is different according to a viewpoint position of the observer based on the pseudo eyeball model.
Further, a line-of-sight tracking method according to one aspect of the present invention is a line-of-sight tracking method performed by the above line-of-sight tracking system, and the method includes: generating, by the pseudo eyeball model generation device, a pseudo eyeball model representing a pseudo eyeball with pseudo pupil information and virtual eyeball information indicating a virtual eyeball when a type of line-of-sight tracking is one of with tracking, excessive tracking, weak tracking, and no tracking, the pseudo pupil information being obtained by moving a position of a pseudo pupil back and forth when viewed from an observer with reference to a center of the virtual eyeball in association with the type of the line-of sight tracking and an intensity of the line-of-sight tracking; and displaying, by the display device, a pseudo eyeball image representing the pseudo eyeball which is different according to a viewpoint position of the observer based on the pseudo eyeball model.
Furthermore, a program according to one aspect of the present invention is a program for causing a computer to function as the above line-of-sight tracking system.
According to the present invention, the line-of-sight representation can be flexibly performed based on the pseudo eyeball model.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The same elements in a plurality of drawings are given the same reference numerals in order not to repeat description.
The line-of-sight tracking system 100 includes a pseudo eyeball model generation device 10 and a display device 20.
The pseudo eyeball model generation device 10 generates a pseudo eyeball model representing a pseudo eyeball with pseudo pupil information, virtual eyeball information indicating a virtual eyeball, and opening information indicating an opening corresponding to an eyelid when a type of line-of-sight tracking is one of with tracking, excessive tracking, weak tracking, and no tracking, the pseudo pupil information being obtained by moving a position of a pseudo pupil back and forth when viewed from an observer with reference to a center of the virtual eyeball in association with the type of the line-of sight tracking and an intensity of the line-of-sight tracking.
As shown in
The case of “excessive tracking” provides a line-of-sight representation that is received by the observer as if having a slightly excited and strong interest. The excitement includes various emotions such as anger, joy, and sadness.
“Weak tracking” is a type of line-of-sight representation opposite to “excessive tracking.” “Weak tracking” provides a line-of-sight representation that is received by the observer as if being less interested.
The case of “no tracking” provides a line-of-sight representation that is received by the observer as if having no interest. This is a line-of-sight representation called “eyes turn into dots.”
The “intensity of line-of-sight tracking” is given from the outside similarly to the “type of line-of-sight tracking.” The “intensity of line-of-sight tracking” is information indicating the degree of each intensity when the “type of line-of-sight tracking” is “excessive tracking” and “weak tracking.”
(Pseudo Eyeball Model)
The pseudo eyeball model 30 shown in
In
In this case, the pseudo pupil 32 can be visually recognized by the observer as if it were located near the upper end of an opening 34 formed by the eyelid 33. Then, the observer perceives that the viewpoint presented by the pseudo eyeball model 30 and his/her own viewpoint match. The position of the pseudo pupil 32 perceived by the observer is represented by an ellipse 32′ indicated by a two-dot dashed line.
The display device 20 simultaneously displays a pseudo eyeball image based on the pseudo eyeball model 30 and a face image of a person. The display device 20 will be described in detail later.
Further, a face image of a person may be drawn on the surface of the flat plate of the eyelid 33 shown in
(Display Device)
As shown in
The viewpoint image information generation unit 21 converts a pseudo eyeball into three pieces of image information, that is, image information obtained by viewing the pseudo eyeball from the right side by the observer, image information obtained by viewing the pseudo eyeball from the front by the observer, and image information obtained by viewing the pseudo eyeball from the left side by the observer, based on the pseudo eyeball model 30 input from the pseudo eyeball model generation device 10.
At the same time, the viewpoint image information generation unit 21 generates image information in which the face of the person is viewed in each direction. However, the facial expression may be the same (for example,
The projection device 22-1 on the right side toward the screen 23 projects image information obtained by viewing the face of the person and the pseudo eyeball from the left side. The projection device 22-2 located in front of the screen 23 projects image information obtained by viewing the face of the person and the pseudo eyeball from the front. The projection device 22-3 on the left side toward the screen 23 projects image information obtained by viewing the face of the person and the pseudo eyeball from the right side.
Adjacent projection devices 22-1 and 22-2 and 22-2 and 22-3 project image information on the screen 23 in an overlapping manner. A projection surface 24-2 of the projection device 22-2 is shown on the surface of the screen 23. The projection device 22-1 projects a part of a projection surface 24-1 (not shown) on the left side of the projection surface 24-2 in an overlapping manner. The projection device 22-3 projects a part of a projection surface 24-3 (not shown) on the right side of the projection surface 24-2 in an overlapping manner.
The screen 23 is a screen in which the brightness of the displayed image is smoothly changed in accordance with the movement of the viewpoint. As a screen having such a characteristic, a “spatial imaging iris surface type screen” is known. The iris is a mechanism existing inside the projection device 22 and adjusts the amount of light corresponding to the diaphragm of the camera.
When the observer looks at the screen 23 while moving from the center of the central projection surface 24-2 to the projection surface 24-3, the observer perceives a stereoscopic image viewed by turning around the face of the person including the pseudo eyeball from the front to the right. Looking at the screen 23 while moving from the center of the central projection surface 24-2 to the projection surface 24-1, the observer perceives a stereoscopic image viewed by turning the face of the person including the pseudo eyeball from the front to the left. In other words, a stereoscopic image having motion parallax can be displayed.
The display device 20 does not necessarily require the above-mentioned motion parallax. A display device, such as a multi-viewpoint display having a small number of viewpoints, in which monocular images can be switched according to the position of the observer, may be used. The display of the face image of the person can be replaced with a panel on which the face is drawn, and thus the face image of the person may not be displayed.
As described above, the line-of-sight tracking system 100 according to the present embodiment is a line-of-sight tracking system including a pseudo eyeball model generation device 10 and a display device 20, in which the pseudo eyeball model generation device 10 generates a pseudo eyeball model 30 representing a pseudo eyeball with pseudo pupil information and virtual eyeball information indicating a virtual eyeball 31 when a type of line-of-sight tracking is one of with tracking, excessive tracking, weak tracking, and no tracking, the pseudo pupil information being obtained by moving a position of a pseudo pupil 32 back and forth when viewed from an observer with reference to a center of the virtual eyeball in association with the type of the line-of sight tracking and an intensity of the line-of-sight tracking, and the display device 20 displays a pseudo eyeball image representing the pseudo eyeball different according to a viewpoint position of the observer based on the pseudo eyeball model 30. In this way, the line-of-sight representation can be flexibly performed by the pseudo spectacle model 30.
Further, the display device 20 may display a different face image (facial expression) of a person in correspondence with the pseudo eyeball model 30. In this case, the viewpoint image information generation unit 21 uses the pseudo eyeball model 30 and emotion information (not shown) as inputs.
The emotion information is information indicating various emotions such as anger, joy, and sadness. The viewpoint image information generation unit 21 displays a different face image corresponding to the emotion information and a pseudo eyeball image based on the pseudo eyeball model 30.
In this way, the display device 20 may receive emotion information expressing the emotion as an input and display the pseudo eyeball corresponding to the pseudo eyeball model 30 and the facial expression corresponding to the emotion information. According to this, more rich line-of-sight representation can be provided.
(Diameter of Pseudo Pupil)
As described above, it has been described that the line-of-sight representation can be performed by moving the position of the pseudo pupil 32 back and forth when viewed from the observer with reference to the center of the virtual eyeball 31. Here, a guideline for the sizes of the virtual eyeball 31 and the pseudo pupil 32 will be described.
The diameter q of the pseudo pupil 32 is calculated based on the following equation.
In this way, the pseudo eyeball model generation device 10 generates the diameter q of the pseudo pupil 32 by multiplying a ratio of a distance S between the center of the pseudo pupil 32 and the viewpoint 40 of the observer and a distance R between the surface of the virtual eyeball 31 on the observer side and the viewpoint 40 of the observer by the size p of the pupil on the virtual eyeball. Thereby, a pseudo eyeball model 30 capable of displaying a pseudo eyeball of an appropriate size can be generated.
The diameter q of the pseudo pupil 32 may be determined in consideration of the angle formed by the horizontal line passing through the center of the virtual eyeball 31 and the viewpoint 40 of the observer.
As shown in
In this way, the pseudo eyeball model generation device 10 may generate pseudo pupil information representing the pseudo pupil 32 in consideration of the angle formed by the horizontal line passing through the center of the virtual eyeball 31 and the viewpoint 40 of the observer. Thus, a pseudo eyeball model 30 capable of displaying a pseudo eyeball image closer to reality can be generated.
(Line-of-Sight Tracking Method)
The pseudo eyeball model generation device 10 generates a pseudo eyeball model representing a pseudo eyeball with pseudo pupil information indicating the pseudo pupil 32 and virtual eyeball information indicating the virtual eyeball when a type of line-of-sight tracking is one of with tracking, excessive tracking, weak tracking, and no tracking, the pseudo pupil information indicating the pseudo pupil 32 being obtained by moving a position of a pseudo pupil back and forth when viewed from an observer with reference to a center of the virtual eyeball 31 in association with the type of the line-of sight tracking and an intensity of the line-of-sight tracking (step S1).
The display device 20 displays a pseudo eyeball image representing the pseudo eyeball which is different according to a viewpoint position of the observer based on the pseudo eyeball model (step S2). Thereby, the line-of-sight representation can be flexibly performed.
The line-of-sight tracking system 100 can be realized by a general-purpose computer system shown in
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be modified without departing from the scope of the gist of the invention. For example, although the screen 23 of the display device 20 has been described with reference to an example of a reflection type, the present invention is not limited to this example. The screen 23 may be of a transmission type. In the case of a transmission type screen, an observer observes the pseudo eyeball with light transmitted through the screen.
Although the information on the “type of line-of-sight tracking” and the “intensity of line-of-sight tracking” has been described with reference to an example in which the information is input from the outside, the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, a line-of-sight generation unit that generates information on the “type of line-of-sight tracking” and the “intensity of line-of-sight tracking” along a scenario may be provided.
In this manner, the present invention includes various embodiments etc., not described herein, as a matter of course. Thus, the technical scope of the present invention is only defined by invention specifying matters in the claims that are appropriate from the above description.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2020/029032 | 7/29/2020 | WO |