Nokia granted a patent on eye tracking control for their own version of Google Glass

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Nokia has expressed a desire to enter the wearables space after exciting the handset market.

They have now been granted a patent for a new control scheme for a head-mounted display, or what they call a near to eye display (NED).

They note:

Existing control mechanisms may comprise, for example, motion sensors, gaze tracking systems or touch sensors. However, existing control mechanisms are often difficult, inconvenient or hard to use.

Now, an improved method and technical equipment implementing the method have been invented.

Nokia’s new control method would either use gaze tracking or tracking of hand movements, the first by an infra-red camera facing inwards and the second by a general camera facing outwards. Users will be able to select commands by blinking or specific hand gestures.

In the patent Nokia writes:

According to a first aspect, a method is provided, comprising tracking the gaze of an eye of a user by a first camera, wherein a position of the gaze determines a place for the cursor on the screen of a near-to-eye display (NED), wherein the movement of the gaze is configured to move the cursor on the screen and when the movement of the gaze is detected to be still or moving only slightly, observing a gesture of one hand of the user by a second camera, and executing a further operation if at least one gesture of the hand is detected.

The detected gesture is a movement of a fist, shaking of a palm or movement of a palm from or to the second camera the further operation is selecting a menu option or a functional icon displayed on the screen of the near-to-eye display if the cursor is on the menu option or functional icon. According to an embodiment, the further operation is zooming in or out the view of the screen of the near-to-eye display. According to an embodiment, the further operation is returning, removing or deleting. According to an embodiment, the method further comprises observing blinking of the eye of the user if no gesture of the hand is detected and if the cursor is on the area of a menu option or a functional icon displayed on the screen, and selecting the menu option or the functional icon if blinking of the eye of the user is detected.

The patent can be seen here.

Nokia’s implementation appears somewhat cooler than Google’s constant touching of the frame of the glasses.  Do our readers agree?

Via NPU

More about the topics: nokia, patent, wearables