Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02820066 2013-07-04
IN-CAR EYE CONTROL METHOD AND AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE
IMPLEMENTING THE SAME
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] I. Technical Field
[0002] The present invention relates to an electronic device for use in a
car. More
particularly, the present invention relates to an in-car eye control method
which enables
control by eye movements.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] Recently, more and more attention has been placed on driving safety.
As is
well known, many traffic accidents are associated with drivers' incorrect
operations which
are typically caused by fatigue due to insufficient sleep, driving for long
hours without
taking a rest, or driving under the influence. Once a driver is absentminded,
distracted, or
in poor mental condition, car accidents are likely to occur. To address such
safety issues, a
good number of technical solutions have been proposed. China Patent
Application No.
200910310326.3, for example, discloses a driver monitoring apparatus and
method which
involve capturing images, detecting a driver's eye area and how the driver's
hands are
placed on the steering wheel, and thereby determining whether the driver's
eyes are open
or are closed because of tiredness and whether the driver's hands are placed
on the correct
positions on the steering wheel. US Patent No. 8,045,766, entitled "Device,
program, and
method for determining sleepiness", provides another kind of solution. More
specifically,
a driver's facial image is taken and then a specific algorithm is performed on
the facial
image. When the driver is found to be sleepy, an air supplying device and a
seatbelt
vibrator are activated to prevent the driver from sleeping. If necessary, a
brake controller
will be activated to provide further warning.
[0005] In addition, US Patent No. 6,842,670, entitled "Eye-tracking driving
CA 02820066 2013-07-04
system", provides an eye-tracking system including a pair of specially
designed eyeglasses.
Equipped with a camera for taking images of the wearer's eyes, the eyeglasses
enable a
mobility challenged person to control a wheelchair by eye movements.
[0006] The aforementioned eye movement-based techniques are designed either
for detecting a driver's condition and providing necessary warning or for
controlling a
wheelchair. Despite the fact that these techniques are workable and are
effective to some
degree, they are limited in function. The foregoing techniques do not allow a
driver to
control car equipment or send out messages by eye movements.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] In view of the above, the present invention discloses an in-car eye
control
method. By monitoring the variation of a driver's eye movements, the disclosed
in-car eye
control method allows the driver to operate a car radio and other in-car
equipment or make
phone calls in order to communicate with people outside the car.
[0008] It is another objective of the present invention to provide an in-
car eye
control method that can be used to send out distress signals. Thus, when a
driver needs to
seek immediate help, as in the case of a hijack, robbery, etc., the driver
only has to make a
specific eye movement, and the device of the present invention will
automatically send out
a distress signal. As such, the present invention advantageously features easy
operation,
rapid action, and unnoticeable alarm.
[0009] The disclosed in-car eye control device essentially includes an
image
capturing unit, a processing module, and a state feedback unit. The image
capturing unit is
configured for capturing a head image of a driver. The processing module
includes an
image processing unit for performing image processing on the head image and
thereby
obtaining an eye image; an eye determination unit for performing operations on
the eye
image, obtaining an eye state parameter, and generating an eye control
instruction by
2
CA 02820066 2013-07-04
comparing the eye state parameter with a system control condition; a system
operation
unit for executing a system process according to the eye control instruction;
and a
communication processing unit connected to the system operation unit and
configured for
transmitting messages or data to the outside of the car according to the eye
control
instruction or the system process. The state feedback unit can send out an
alert signal
indicating successful or failed execution of the system process according to
the system
process, thereby alerting the driver of the execution states of the various
operations of the
device of the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] The objectives, technical contents, and features of the present
invention
will be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of
a preferred
embodiment in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0011] FIG. 1 is a structural diagram of the device of the present
invention;
[0012] FIG. 2 schematically shows how the device of the present invention
is
installed;
[0013] FIG. 3 schematically shows how an eye image is obtained;
[0014] FIG. 4 schematically shows a first eye movement;
[0015] FIG. 5 schematically shows a second eye movement; and
[0016] FIG.6, FIG.7 and FIG.8 cooperatively constitute a flowchart of the
method
of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
[0017] Please refer to FIG. 1 for the system structure of the in-car eye
control
device of the present invention. The device of the present invention
essentially includes a
processing module 10, an image capturing unit 20 connected to the processing
module 10,
3
CA 02820066 2013-07-04
. .
and a state feedback unit 30 connected to the processing module 10. The image
capturing
unit 20 is configured for capturing a head image of the user. Preferably, as
shown in FIG.
2, a main body 60 of the device is installed above the dashboard so as to
obtain a clear
head image of the driver. The processing module 10 includes an image
processing unit 11,
an eye determination unit 12, and a system operation unit 13. Referring to
FIG. 3 to FIG. 5,
the image processing unit 11 is connected electrically to the image capturing
unit 20, and
performs image processing on the head image 50 so as to create an eye
searching area 51
within the head image 50. After that, an eye image 52 is defined in the eye
searching area
51 by the image processing unit 11. The eye determination unit 12 is connected
electrically to the image processing unit 11. By performing operations on the
eye image 52,
an eye state parameter is obtained by the eye determination unit 12. As shown
in FIG. 4
and FIG. 5, a blink of the eye, a sidelong glance to the left or to the right,
a clockwise or
counterclockwise turn of the eye, and other specific eye movements correspond
to
different eye state parameters respectively. The system operation unit 13 is
connected
electrically to the eye determination unit 12. Once the eye state parameter is
determined, it
is compared by the system operation unit 13 with a system control condition to
generate
an eye control instruction, according to which the system operation unit 13
executes a
corresponding system process. As far as in-car equipment is concerned,
applicable system
processes include playing music, adjusting acoustic volume, controlling the
temperature of
an air conditioning system, and so on. The electronic device of this invention
may further
include a communication processing unit 40 for external-communication
purposes. When
it comes to external-communication applications, applicable system processes
include
making a phone call, terminating an incoming phone call, sending out a
distress signal,
and so forth. The communication processing unit 40 is in charge of
communication with
devices outside the car according to instructions issued by the system
operation unit 13.
The communication processing unit 4 may generate and transmit a communication
4
CA 02820066 2013-07-04
feedback signal to the system operation unit 13, based on which the system
operation unit
13 is able to determine a communication state with the outside, i.e., whether
the
communication has been successfully established or the communication with the
outside is
unavailable. The state feedback unit 30 is connected electrically to the
system operation
unit 13 of the processing module 10, and is able to determine an execution
state of the
system process and send out various alert signals indicating the execution
states of the
system process, such as whether the air conditioning has been turned on or
whether a
phone call is being made or waiting to be answered. To this end, the
electronic device
further includes an alert unit 50, such as a speaker, an indicator light or
the like, that is
connected electrically to the state feedback unit 30 for outputting the alert
signals in the
form of sound or light, etc. The communication processing unit 40 may also be
connected
electrically to the system operation unit 13 for outputting the communication
state
determined based on the communication feedback signal to alert the user of an
established
communication or an unavailable communication.
[0018] It should be noted herein that, while the image processing unit 11,
the eye
determination unit 12 and the system operation unit 13 of the processing
module 10 are
described as separate units that are electrically connected, the processing
module 10 may
in practice be implemented using a System-on-Chip (SoC) digital signal
processor (DSP).
[0019] The in-car eye control method of the present invention is now
described in
detail with reference to FIG. 6 to FIG. 8.
[0020] To begin with, a head image of the driver is obtained (S101), and
image
processing is performed on the head image (S102). After that, an eye searching
area is
created in the head image (S103), and an eye image is obtained from within the
eye
searching area (S104). Once the eye image is defined, operations are performed
on the eye
image to obtain an eye state parameter (S105). The eye state parameter
corresponds to the
driver's eye movement, such as blinking; glancing leftward, rightward, upward,
or
CA 02820066 2013-07-04
downward; and rolling clockwise or counterclockwise. Upon completion of step
S105, the
eye state parameter is compared with a system control condition to generate an
eye control
instruction (S106). The system control condition includes a plurality of eye
control items
to which the driver's different eye movements, such as those mentioned above,
correspond
respectively. For example, the eye control items include: a left-to-right
item, a right-to-left
item, an up-to-down item, a down-to-up item, and a circling item. Based on the
eye
control items of the system control condition, eye control instructions may
have different
functions, e.g., to turn on or off a light, to turn on or off music, to
increase or decrease
acoustic volume, and to turn on or off an air conditioner. In addition to
controlling in-car
equipment, eye control instructions may serve to communicate with devices
outside the
car, e.g., to make phone calls, to send messages, to terminate incoming phone
calls, and to
call the police reporting center. This may be useful if an emergency such as
the driver
having a heart attack or the vehicle is being robbed or hijacked happens for
the driver to
be able to reach out for help. Alternatively, the eye control instruction may
serve to
contact a vehicle management center, to which information such as traveling
speed, engine
status, tire pressure, remaining fuel quantity, battery condition, etc. of the
vehicle are sent.
100211 Following
step S106, it is determined whether the eye control instruction is
associated with an in-car equipment or an external-communication application
(S107). If it
is determined that the eye control instruction is associated with an
external-communication application, a connection for communication is made,
and a
communication feedback signal is generated (S108). The communication state can
be
determined according to the communication feedback signal (S109). If the
communication
state indicates that communication with the outside is not available, an alert
signal
indicating communication failure will be sent (S110) to alert the driver. If
the
communication state indicates that the communication with the outside is
successfully
established, the related external-communication system process will be
executed
6
CA 02820066 2013-07-04
according to the eye control instruction (S111). If the eye control
instruction is to
terminate an incoming call, steps S108 to S110 may be skipped. On the other
hand, if the
eye control instruction is associated with a certain in-car equipment, e.g.,
to adjust the
acoustic volume thereof, then it is not necessary to make the connection for
communication, check the communication state, and alert the driver, and the
corresponding in-car equipment related system process will be performed
according to the
eye control instruction to control the intended equipment, e.g., to control
the acoustic
volume of a radio, to turn on or off an air conditioner, and to make a phone
call (S112).
After S111 and S112, the execution state of the system process is determined
(S113). If
the process is properly executed, an alert signal indicating successful
execution will be
sent out (S114) to inform the driver of the same; otherwise, an alert signal
indicating
failed execution will be sent out (S115).
100221 The
embodiment disclosed above is only the preferred embodiment and is
not restrictive of the present invention. A person of ordinary skill in the
art may make
minor alterations or modifications to the disclosed embodiment without
departing from the
spirit or scope of the present invention. The scope of the present invention
is defined
solely by the appended claims.
7
