Apple's new patent optimizes eye tracking performance

For the augmented reality/virtual reality devices that Apple is developing, if the user's dominant eye can be determined, this information will help optimize the performance of the eye tracking system, thereby further improving the overall user experience.

Just as we mainly use our left or right hand, the same is true for our eyes. One eye tends to be dominant to a certain extent, playing a leading role in tasks such as object perception and location. The academic community generally refers to the left or right eye we mainly use as the "dominant eye", and the dominant eye is one of the more common lateral dominance functional characteristics of humans.

This knowledge graph is increasingly important for the growing fields of virtual and augmented reality, as related games and applications produce two slightly different views of a digital scene to create a realistic sense of immersion.

Identifying eye dominance can help your application in a number of ways. For example, it can help optimize eye tracking performance by guiding the dominant eye. This can also help when the user has impaired vision (such as amblyopia), as normal rendering by non-eye tracking systems may not account for this eye impairment.

Developers can also use this information to optimize the rendering system to focus more on rendering the image of the dominant eye, thereby saving system resources. For example, depth of field effects based on eye tracking can use the line of sight of the dominant eye.

According to a patent application recently published by the US Patent and Trademark Office, Apple's patent titled "Eye tracking system and method to detect the dominant eye" mainly describes a method for determining the dominant eye, using camera feeds and eye tracking to score the accuracy of each eye of the user, and the eye with the higher score is the dominant eye. Or if the scores of both eyes are close, they can both be the dominant eye.

The patent states that multiple images containing gaze deviations can be displayed to each eye, and then specific accuracy scores can be measured. The system can compile the measurements and create a "dominant eye signature" of the user, and use the signature to influence the images sent to each eye.

Using multiple relevant points, Apple's system can calculate the three-dimensional position and orientation of each eye, as well as the gaze vector of each eye, which further helps calculate the user's line of sight and the overall accuracy of each eye.

Once determined, AR and VR applications can then focus accordingly on the dominant eye selection based on eye tracking. For example, a graphical user interface that makes selections based on eye tracking could present two separate items selected by each eye, but only use the position selected by the dominant eye.

It is important to note that Apple files a large number of patent applications every week. Although they do indicate Apple's interest in related fields, there is no guarantee that future Apple products or services will adopt related technical inventions.

Over the years, a series of evidence has shown that Apple is developing AR/VR devices and is expected to release a pair of AR smart glasses in 2020. In fact, Yingwei.com has shared a series of Apple patents related to VR/AR, and the technology giant has officially entered the immersive field, including demonstrating VR support for macOS and launching ARKit for iOS.