A pivotable head mounted camera system that is aligned by three-dimensional eye movements

Abstract

The first proof of concept of an eye movement driven head camera system was recently presented. This innovative device utilized voluntary and reflexive eye movements, which were registered by video-oculography and computed online, as signals to drive servo motors which then aligned the camera along the user's gaze direction. However, with just two degrees of freedom, this camera motion device could not compensate for roll motions around the optical axis of the system. Therefore a new three-degree-of-freedom camera motion device that is able to reproduce the whole range of possible eye movements has now been implemented. In doing so, it allows a freely mobile user to aim the optical axis of the head mounted camera system at the target(s) in the visual field at which he/she is looking, while the ocular reflexes minimize image shaking by naturally counter-rolling the "gaze in space" of the camera during head and visual scene movements as well as during locomotion. A camera guided in this way mimics the natural exploration of a visual scene and acquires video sequences from the perspective of a mobile user, while the oculomotor reflexes naturally stabilize the camera on target during head and target movements. Various documentation and teaching applications in health care, industry, and research are conceivable. This work presents the implementation of the new camera motion device and its, integration into a head camera setup including the eye tracking device.