PS3 Eye

This Webcam is commonly used to create a DIY multi-touch display.
Thus, I believe it to be a good camera for my project.

Before the cam can be used for tracking, the IR blocking filter needs to be removed.
AFAIK, a filter to block standard light can be attached afterwards so that the IR light is enhanced.
This might result in better tracking result... here is why:

When you illuminate the eye with IR light and observe it through an IR sensitive camera with a visible light filter, the iris of the eye turns completely white and the pupil stands out as a high-contrast black dot. This makes tracking the eye much easier.

from http://www.instructables.com/id/The-EyeWriter/step8/Lite-it-up/

Here are some random links I found during my search:

• Dismounting the PS3 Eye: http://codelaboratories.com/research/view/ps3-eye-disassembly
• How to create an IR Filter (imho: blocking the "normal" light): http://photocritic.org/create-your-own-ir-filter/
• Create a head-mounted eye-tracker with PS3 Eye: http://www.instructables.com/id/The-EyeWriter
• Drivers for using PS3 Eye in Windows: http://codelaboratories.com/downloads

Before the cam can be used for tracking, a lens with a shorter focal length (8mm) needs to be used (why exactly??). ITU uses a standard off-the-shelf webcam without any modifications. Probably, this modification is just extra... However, what to I do now?? Buy a cam, such aus the one the ITU guys use, or use the hacked PS3 Eye??

I think this depends on my final choice... probably.
EyeWriter = PS3 cam and ITU = standard cam

Manu Kumar: GUIDE: Gaze-Enhanced User Interface Design

StanfordUniversity - 9. Mai 2008 - April 13, 2007 lecture by Manu Kumar for the Stanford University Human-Computer Interaction Seminar (CS 547).

A series of novel prototypes that explore the use of gaze and an augmented input to perform everyday computing tasks are presented. In particular, the use of gaze-based input for pointing and selection, application switching, password entry, scrolling, zooming, and document navigation are explored.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-OmM31MvBw

Interesting video, which provides a good overview of Kumar's PhD thesis.

Duchowski: Visual Attention

Motivation for eye tracking:

• Gain insight into what the observer found interesting
• provide a clue as to how that person perceived whatever scene she or he was viewing

• Humans cannot attend to all things at once => what we look at is what we concentrate on

1.1 Visual Attention: A Historical Review
Early studies (over a century ago) focused on occular observations

Von Helmholz (1925): "Where"
visual attention tends to wander to new things
it can be consciously directed to peripheral objects without making eye movement to that object
eye movements reflect the will to inspect objects
eye movements provide evidence of overt attention
parafoveal: sth. is perceived (peripheral) and needs further inspection
"where" to look next

Duchowski: Preface

Current Eye-Tracking devices fall within the fourth generation

1. First generation: eye-in-head movement measurement of the eye consisting of techniques such as scleral contact lens/search coil, electro-oculography
2. Second generation: photo- and video-oculography
3. Third generation: analog video-based combined pupil/corneal reflection
4. Fouth generation: digital video-based combined pupil/corneal reflection, augmented by computer vision techniques and Digital Signal Processors (DPSs)

• Point of Regard (POR) is the most desired eye-tracking output (x, y coordinates)
  
• Not provided by 1st and 2nd generation
• Increasing usability and decreasing costs

Surfing te Web has become the main activity on a PC

... acocrding to Microsoft, says this article:

http://winfuture.de/windows7/funktionen/Internet-Explorer-8-Die-Neuerungen-im-Ueberblick-24.html

Gaze Tracker by ITU Gaze Group

http://www.gazegroup.org/downloads/23-gazetracker

This seems to be the most promissing project!!

They have an open source lib for eye tracking. In combination with a head-mounted low-cost webcam this might work pretty well.

Works with the Microsoft Webcam from the other post.

TODO:
Find out, if there is an API for their Lib
Try out IR webcam with IR LEDs
Find a good way to create a head-mounted device: maybe basecap or glasses

TrackEye

TrackEye@Codeproject

Could not get this to work... probably try again.

Seems to focus mainly on face and eye detection. The page says, that gaze detection should also be possible.

===== Added on 28.06.2010 =====

Settings to be Done to Perform a Good Tracking

Settings for Face & Eye Detection

Under TrackEye Menu --> Tracker Settings

• Input Source: video
• Click on Select file and select ..\Avis\Sample.avi
• Face Detection Algorithm: Haar Face Detection Algorithm
• Check “Track also Eyes” checkBox
• Eye Detection Algorithm: Adaptive PCA
• Uncheck “Variance Check”
• Number of Database Images: 8
• Number of EigenEyes: 5
• Maximum allowable distance from eyespace: 1200
• Face width/eye template width ratio: 0.3
• ColorSpace type to use during PCA: CV_RGB2GRAY

Settings for Pupil Detection

Check “Track eyes in details” and then check “Detect also eye pupils”. Click “Adjust Parameters” button:

• Enter “120” as the “Threshold Value”
• Click “Save Settings” and then click “Close”

Settings for Snake

Check “Indicate eye boundary using active snakes”. Click “Settings for snake” button:

• Select ColorSpace to use: CV_RGB2GRAY
• Select Simple thresholding and enter 100 as the “Threshold value”
• Click “Save Settings” and then click “Close”

eyewriter.org

http://www.eyewriter.org/

DIY EyeTracking software and hardware.
Enables a paralyzed graffiti artist to draw his pieces again.
They use a Playstation 3 Eye as eyetraker and mount it on sunglasses. Two IR LEDs enable the exact tracking.
Seems to work pretty good.

Open source!

TODO: See if I can use this for my project

Microsoft LifeCam Webcam VX-1000

Microsoft LifeCam Webcam VX-1000

This Webcam can be easily modified to make use of IR light.
This might be a good webcam to be used with some headmounting device, such as cheap sunglasses, or a baseball cap.

FaceTracking by Walter Piechulla

http://www.walterpiechulla.de/ftr_by_wlp_08/doc/index.html

This program uses the OpenCV Lib.
I tested it with my Webcam and my eyes and face were recognized by the software. However, I have no IR Webcam, so the eye tracking did not work out correctly.
It is astonishing how exactly the eyes and even the pupils are detected even though the webcam was only mounted on my screen and not headmounted. Probably with an IR webcam, eyetracking might be possible with a remote setting.

Unfortunately the software is not open source. Program is released under GPL.