Patent Application
20110111384
1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to the field of knowledge management, and more specifically to a system and method for controlling skill acquisition, e.g. the transfer of skills from an expert to a novice, using gaze scanning behavior through a user interface.
2. Background Art
The gap in organizational knowledge that is created when an expert retires or leaves an organization is a problem that has been studied in the field of knowledge management for many years. Prior solutions have required the expert to specify everything he does in a given area or for a given task. The resulting document is then stored for others to read. One of the primary obstacles to the transfer of knowledge from an expert to a novice is that tacit knowledge is not something that experts are able to specify since they are often not even aware of how or why they do things a certain way. Secondly experts think in more abstract concepts than novices, thus their explanations can be hard for novices to assimilate. Lastly, knowledge is not easily acquired by reading a document.
Most gaze tracking devices, such as SensoMotoric® or ™ manufactured by SensoMotoric Instruments and faceLAB® manufactured by Seeing Machines, operate based upon the principal that the direction of a person's gaze is directly related to the relative positions of the pupil and the reflection of an object off the cornea (gaze tracking is often termed “eye tracking”). These devices often include image processing capabilities that operate on a video image of an eye to determine the gaze direction of the eye. These image processing capabilities are enhanced by using the bright eye affect.
The bright eye affect is a result of the highly reflective nature of the retina. This characteristic of the retina means that a significant amount of the light that enters an eye is reflected back through the pupil. Thus, when light shines into an eye along the axis of a camera lens, the retina reflects a significant portion of the light back to the camera. Hence, the pupil appears as a bright disk to the camera. This affect allows the pupil to be more readily imaged from a video of an eye.
Other systems and methods exist for gaze tracking. Some systems implement two video cameras, one for tracking head movement and the other for measuring a reflection off of the eyes. Other mechanisms involve measuring electric potential differences between locations on different sides of an eye. High accuracy devices are very intrusive on the user and require that the user's head be held in a fixed position or that the user wear special equipment to track the eye.
Recently, an eye gaze eye tracking system has been developed as described in The Eyegaze Eyetracking System—Unique Example of a Multiple-Use Technology, 4th Annual 1994 IEEE Dual-Use Technologies and Applications Conference, May, 1994. This system comprises a video camera located below a computer display that monitors one of the user's eyes. The device also contains an infrared light emitting diode (LED) located at the center of the camera's lens to maximize the bright-eye affect. Image processing software on the computer computes the user's gaze point on the display sixty times a second with an accuracy of about a quarter inch.
Gaze tracking devices have been used for weapon control, operator training, usability analysis, market research, and as an enablement for the disabled. However, gaze patterns and reacting to gaze in a user interface have not been applied together in an adaptive user interface for the purpose of skill acquisition.
The idea of analyzing gaze patterns for differences between novices and experts is not novel. Kasarskis et al. 2001 showed differences in performance and eye movements between expert and novice pilots who performed landings in a flight simulator. Additionally, other studies have shown that differences exist between expert and novice gaze patterns in the following areas: radiology, basketball, airplane piloting.
There is prior art in using gaze in accessibility systems for “selection” when the user has physical motor impairments.
However, these two concepts of differences in gaze patterns and reacting to gaze in a user interface have not been applied together in an adaptive user interface for the purpose of skill acquisition. It would be highly desirable to provide a novel system and method for controlling skill acquisition interfaces that captures what an expert does through recognition technologies (e.g. eye tracking), storing the implicit data, and then adjusting the interface for a novice based on deviations from this standard.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for training a novice so that the novice may learn to “look” at things in the manner as an expert in the field does.
It is a further object of this invention is to provide a novel system and method to identify a test object, identify a reference pattern derived from the test object, provide an output display, said display correlating differential and comparative reference patterns with reference to the test object, and correct differences in said patterns using a user interface.
More particularly, this invention is a novel system and method for controlling skill acquisition, e.g., enabling the transfer of skills from an expert to a novice. This invention creates technology to support the problematic transfer of skills from an expert to a novice. This invention is inspired by the “apprenticeship model” of working side-by-side or watching over the shoulder of an expert. However, real shadowing of an expert is expensive (1 to 1 relationship) and not always possible if the expert is no longer available. Technology can make this relationship 1 to N, asynchronous, and remote.
Thus, in one aspect, the present invention is directed to a system and computer-implemented method for controlling skill acquisition interfaces via a user interface, the method comprising the steps of:
tracking and storing attributes of behavior of one or more first users when performing a task;
analyzing attributes of behavior of said one or more first users performing said task and associating behavior patterns of said one or more first users' with significant outcomes;
tracking a second user's behavior when subsequently performing the same task as said one or more first users;
comparing, in real time, said second user's behavior patterns with said stored attributes of first user's behavior tied to said significant outcomes;
detecting, in real time, differences between said second user's behavior patterns and said first user's behavior; and
providing indication for correcting any said detected differences commensurate with said significant outcomes via said user interface such that said second user acquires skills as said first user.
Further to this aspect of the invention, the step of analyzing attributes of behavior of said one or more first users performing said task includes implementing a machine learning algorithm, said significant outcomes comprising positive or negative outcomes in performing the task.
Thus, in one exemplary, but non-limiting environment, attributes of expert behavior (e.g., behavior that the expert is not even necessarily conscious of, such as gaze patterns), and a catalog (e.g. database) of these behaviors is created. Then, the system compares the current behavioral attributes of a person, for example, a novice, against this catalog of machine learned expert behaviors. If the current novice's behavior is significantly different and analyzed as being tied to negative outcomes, for example, if the gaze scanning behavior as performed by said novice is different than the skills behavior as the expert, the system adapts various aspects of the interface to bring the current novice's behavior closer in line to that of the expert.
Thus, according to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer-implemented method for controlling skill acquisition interfaces comprising the steps of
tracking and storing first reference patterns associated with one or more first users when viewing an image via a user interface;
analyzing attributes of viewing behavior pattern of said one or more first users performing said task and associating said behavior patterns of said one or more first users' with significant outcomes;
tracking second reference patterns of a second user when subsequently viewing a same image as the first user;
comparing, in real time, the second reference patterns of the second user with the stored first reference patterns of the one or more first users tied to said significant outcomes;
detecting, in real time, differences between the stored first reference patterns and the second reference patterns; and
providing an indication via the user interface for the second user to correct viewing of the image commensurate with said significant outcomes,
whereby the second user acquires skills as the first user.
According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a system for controlling skill acquisition interfaces, the system comprising:
means for tracking attributes of behavior of one or more first and second users when performing a task, and associating the behavior patterns of the one or more first users' with significant outcomes of the task;
storage device for storing attributes of behavior of the one or more first users, and respective associated significant outcomes of the task,
means for comparing, in real time, attributes of the second user's behavior when subsequently performing the same task as the first user with the stored attributes of the one or more first users' behavior tied to the significant outcomes, the means further detecting differences between the first user's attributes of behavior patterns and the second user's attributes of behavior; and
means associated with the user interface for providing an indication for the second user to correct any the detected behavioral differences commensurate with the significant outcomes such that the second user acquires skills as the first user.
Advantageously, the novel system and method for controlling skill acquisition interfaces that captures what an expert does is applicable to many recognition technologies, including, but not limited to: handwriting recognition, speech recognition and gesture recognition.
Further benefits and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description, given with reference to the accompanying drawings, which specify and show preferred embodiments of the invention.
The present invention is directed to a system and computer-implemented method for controlling skill acquisition interfaces via a user interface. One embodiment is described herein is in the context of eye pattern gazing recognition technology. However, the present invention is adapted for use with many other recognition technologies including, but not limited to: handwriting recognition, speech recognition and gesture recognition.
In another embodiment of the invention, the gaze tracker device 101 of
There are various well known methods in the art to present the gaze position to program logic such as an application program. These include but are not limited to: providing an exception to an application, and sending an interprogram message containing the gaze position to the application.
An important characteristic of modern computing systems is the interface between the human user and the computer. Modern computer systems use a graphical user interface (GUI) to simplify the interaction between a user and a computer. A GUI equipped computer communicates with a user by displaying graphics, including text and icons, on a display screen and the user communicates with the machine both by typing in textual information in response to dialogs and by manipulating the displayed icons with a pointing device, such as a mouse.
One characteristic of a GUI between the human user and the computer found, for example, on a modern computing system, is that the GUI is only responsive to a user's explicit manipulation of the pointing device or keyboard. In the case of a mouse, the user physically moves the mouse device and a cursor on the display moves accordingly. Some pointing devices actually track the user's gaze and move the cursor to where the user “looks” on the display screen. However, even with the gaze tracking (eye tracking) devices, the GUI only responds to the user's explicit commands whether that command be a button press, a blink, or a shift of view. The computer remains a tool that the user operates by issuing explicit commands.
Skill Acquisition from Expert to Novice
According to the invention, in the embodiment of gaze pattern recognition technologies as depicted herein for non-limiting, exemplary purposes, the gaze patterns of expert behavior are first captured when that expert is viewing an image or performing a task via a GUI. Subsequent, as part of the invention, the gaze patterns of a novice performing the identical task via the GUI, are compared to the prior captured and stored gaze patterns of the expert via the GUI when viewing the same image. The differences between both gaze patterns are determined by well-known machine learning algorithms which differences are associated with significant outcomes (positive or negative outcomes) in real time.
In one embodiment, machine learning implements hidden markov model and state-duration hidden markov modeling techniques. In these techniques, “sequential” patterns of eye gaze location and eye gaze duration are tracked. A hidden markov model is built for experts and one is built for novices to capture the different behaviors. Then, a Naive Bayes-like classifier may be trained to predict the labels (experts or novices) for a new eye-gaze sequence. Detailed description of hidden markov model and state-duration hidden markov models and selected applications in speech recognition can be found in Rabiner, L. R. Proceedings of the IEEE.
Any differences that are detected between the gaze patterns as determined by well-known machine learning algorithms are also compiled into a database of differences that is stored in disk storage unit 443 in
More particularly, the detection of differences in gaze patterns, in accordance with an example embodiment, is implemented by machine learning technologies that implementing techniques (machine learning methods, e.g., supervised or unsupervised learning) to extract rules and patterns out of data sets (e.g., prior experts' gaze pattern training data) and associate these patterns and rules with significant (i.e., positive or negative outcomes). This prior-implemented machine learning step tracks each one or more expert's behavior for a given task, e.g., viewing images, and ties the expert's behavior with either a successful (positive) or negative outcome which are maintained by the system. Then, subsequently, for a new Novice N viewing the same image type or performing similar behavior, the novice behavior patterns are tracked, e.g., by gaze tracking devices in the example implementation; and, in real-time, an analysis is performed against the machine learned trained data sets to detect for any difference in the novice behavior patterns. For example, it is determined whether the detected gaze location/duration differences are tied to one or more positive or negative outcomes of the machine learned trained data sets (e.g., one or more experts' recorded gaze pattern training data). Finally, the display is modified, in real-time, accordingly in order to correct, if necessary, the novice's behavior (e.g., if behavior is detected as tied to negative outcomes). Thus, in the example described provided, the display will indicate to user if that novice's behavior needs to change (e.g., novice's gaze pattern needs to be re-redirected, tracked along another path, alter duration of an area upon which a gaze is to be fixated)).
As mentioned, the correction of differences is performed via a user interface, in accordance with a preferred embodiment. The goal is to train the novice so that they learn to “look” at things the way an expert does. Therefore, if it is detected by gaze tracking device that there is a given area of the object being displayed on the screen (e.g. medical radiographic film, airport x-ray image, seismographic image) that gets significant attention from an expert and is not being viewed in a similar way by the novice, the system generates a display to draw the gaze pattern of the novice closer to that of the expert. This could be done in the following ways: by movement of the image, by effecting color change of the displayed image or by effecting intensity change in the displayed image. It is understood that additional ways for aligning a novice's gaze pattern to that of the expert's are contemplated (e.g., play back of an audio instruction/command).
As will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, the present invention can be realized in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. Any kind of computer/server system(s)—or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methods described herein—is suited. A typical combination of hardware and software could be a general purpose computer system with a computer program that, when loaded and executed, carries out the respective methods described herein. Alternatively, a specific use computer, containing specialized hardware for carrying out one or more of the functional tasks of the invention, could be utilized.
The present invention, or aspects of the invention, can also be embodied in a computer program product, which comprises all the respective features enabling the implementation of the methods described herein, and which—when loaded in a computer system—is able to carry out these methods. Computer program, software program, program, or software, in the present context mean any expression, in any language, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after either or both of the following: (a) conversion to another language, code or notation; and/or (b) reproduction in a different material form.
While it is apparent that the invention herein disclosed is well calculated to fulfill the objects stated above, it will be appreciated that numerous modifications and embodiments may be devised by those skilled in the art, and it is intended that the appended claims cover all such modifications and embodiments as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.
