EYE TRACKING SYSTEM

Abstract: An optical instrument, such as a microscope (1) or a camera (21), is provided for forming a viewable image of an object (7). The optical instrument comprises an objective lens (3) for forming the viewable image at an image plane (9), an eye sensor for sensing the direction of gaze of a user viewing the viewable image and means for controlling (49) a controllable function of the optical instrument in dependence upon the sensed direction of gaze. The eye sensor comprises a sensor lens (31) for focusing light reflected from the retina of the user, an imaging transducer (21) located at a plane which is conjugate to the image plane with respect to the sensor lens (31), for generating an electrical image signal of a portion of the user's retina (11), a memory for storing retinal image information (47) of the user and circuitry (53) for comparing the retinal image signal generated by the imaging transducer (29) with the stored retinal image information (47) to generate gaze information indicative of the direction of gaze of the user.

Description: EYE TRACKING SYSTEM The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for tracking the direction of a user's gaze. The invention has particular relevance to an eye tracking system for use with optical instruments which form a viewable image of an object, such as microscopes, cameras, telescopes etc. The applicant has already proposed m the PCT Patent application PCT/EP 95/04178 an m the publication 096/13743 a microscope system which employs eye tracking techniques to track the position of gaze of a user viewing an image through a microscope eyepiece, which gaze information is used to control, for example, an auto-focus system. This is particularly useful at high magnification/, where the depth of field is often limited and only a small part of the total field of view is m sharp focus at any one time. This earlier patent also teaches that the gaze information can be used to control other functions of the microscope, including hands-free movement of the microscope or the operation of a menu-driven computer system superimposed on the user's normal field of view. There are many different techniques which can be used for eye tracking. The two most common of these are Limbus trackers and video eye trackers . Limbus trackers usually operate by illuminating the user's eye, typically with one or more infra-red LEDs and detecting the light reflected off the white of the eye (sclera) using one or more photodetectors . Since the amount of light reflected off the white of the eye will vary depending on the position of the dark regions (the pupil and the iris) , it is possible to determine where m the specified field of view the user is actually looking. However, this type of eye tracking system cannot unambiguously determine the angle of gaze because it only gives information relating to the position of the lπs-sclera boundary. In addition, whilst Limbus tracking techniques give fairly good information on the horizontal position of the surface of the eye, they cannot accurately determine the vertical position due to obstruction from eyelashes and eyelids. There are many different video-based eye tracking techniques. Some of these simply illuminate the eye and view the pupil using an imaging system. By determining the centre of the pupil from the image, information relating to the pointing direction of the eye can be obtained. This technique, however, suffers from the problem that movements of the observer's head cannot be distinguished from movements of the eye. Other more sophisticated video-based eye tracking systems have been proposed which detect the position of the Purkmje images, which are the reflections of the illumination source off the surfaces of the cornea and the lens (often referred to as the highlights or glints) . Whilst this technique is relatively accurate because it is independent of head movements, it suffers from the problem that some of the Purkmje images are extremely weak and therefore difficult to image clearly. One aim of the present invention is to provide a different, accurate eye tracking technique for use with optical instruments which form a viewable image of an object, such as microscopes, cameras and the like. According to one aspect, the present invention provides a new eye tracking system instrument m general and an optical instrument for forming a viewable image of an object comprising: an objective lens for forming a viewable image of the object at an image plane; an eye sensor for sensing a direction of gaze of a user viewing the viewable image; and means for controlling a controllable function of the optical instrument m dependence upon the sensed direction of gaze; characterised m that the eye sensor comprises: (1) a sensor lens for focusing light reflected from the retina of the user; (n) an imaging transducer located at a plane which, when the user views said viewable image, is commonly conjugate with said image plane to the retina of the user's eye, for generating an electrical image signal of the portion of the user's retina which can be seen through said sensor lens; (in) a memory for storing retinal information; and (iv) comparing means for comparing signals representative of the retinal image signal generated by said imaging transducer with said stored retinal information to generate gaze information indicative of the direction of gaze of the user. This system has the advantage that the direction of gaze determined by the eye sensor is independent of any movement of the user's head. Preferably, one or more eyepieces are provided to facilitate the viewing of said viewable image. In a preferred form of the instrument, an illumination source is provided for illuminating the retina of the user's eye m order to improve the quality of the retinal image generated by the imaging transducer. Preferably the illumination source has a number of light emitting portions which are arranged off the optical axis so that selected ones of the light emitting portions can be illuminated at any one time m order to avoid the effects of cornea glints. Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings m which: Figure 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the principal components of a surgical microscope embodying the present invention; Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating the electronic components of the microscope shown m Figure 1; Figure 3a is a two-dimensional image showing part of a user's retina which is generated by a senso forming part of the microscope shown m Figure 1; Figure 3b is a line drawing of the part of the user's retina shown m Figure 3a which is generated by processing the image shown in Figure 3a; Figure 3c is a line drawing of the entire surface of a user's retina obtained by montagmg retinal images which are generated when the user is looking at a number of preselected points; Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of an illumination source used to illuminate the user's eye in the first embodiment; Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating the electronic components of an optical instrument embodying the present invention; Figure 6 is a block diagram illustrating the electronic components of an optical instrument embodying the present invention; Figure 7 is a block diagram illustrating the electronic components of an optical instrument embodying the present invention; Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a microscope embodying the present invention; and Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of a camera embodying the present invention. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a surgical microscope 1. The microscope 1 comprises an objective lens 3 and an eyepiece 5, both of which are illustrated schematically by a single lens but which will, in practice, comprise a number of lenses and in addition eventually zoom lenses or the like. The objective lens 3 operates to generate an image of an object 7 being examined at an intermediate image plane, illustrated by the dashed line 9. This image is then focused by the eyepiece 5, the cornea 15 and the eye lens 17 onto the retina 11 of the observer's eye 13. As shown m Figure 1, m this embodiment, the microscope 1 also comprises two beam splitters 21 and 23 located along the optical axis of the microscope 1. Beam splitter 21 operates to reflect light of a suitable wavelength preferably the unvisible range from an illumination source 25 onto the retina 11 of the observer's eye 13. A lens 27 may be provided between the illumination source 25 and the beam splitter 21 for focusing the light from the source 25 onto the cornea 15 of the eye 13. By the preferred focusing on the cornea 15 of the eye 13 rather than the retina directly, a larger part of the retina 11 is illuminated due to the action of the eye lens 17. Some of this illumination light is reflected from the surface of the retina 11 back through the eye lens 17 and cornea 15 to the beam splitter 21, where part of the reflected light is reflected back to the source 25 and the rest passes through to the eyepiece 5. Since the eye 13 is focused on the intermediate image plane 9 (to view the image of the object 7 formed by the objective lens 3) , the eye lens 17 and the eyepiece 5 operate to form an image of the illuminated part of the retina 11 at the intermediate image plane 9. This retinal image is then reflected by the beam splitter 23 and focused onto a sensor 29 - preferably a CCD-sensor or the like - by lens 31. As shown m Figure 1, the image generated by the sensor 29 is input to a processing electronics unit 33, which is operable, m this embodiment, to process the received retinal image to determine the observer's direction of gaze and to control the auto-focusmg of the objective lens 3 m response thereto. In this embodiment, the system can identify the direction of gaze at a resolution of - for example - 30 "pixels" by 30 "pixels" over the full field of view of the microscope. In other words, it outputs an x, y coordinate m the range (0,0) to (29,29), representing the "pixel" which the observer is looking at. The way in which the system determines the observer's direction of gaze m this embodiment will now be described with reference to Figures 2 to 4. Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating the principal components of the eye tracking system used m the present embodiment to determine the observer's direction of gaze. As shown, the sensor 29 is connected to an image processing unit 41, which processes the retinal image generated by the sensor 29 to highlight characteristic features in the retinal image. In this embodiment, the features which are highlighted are blood vessels, since these are relatively easy to find and highlight using standard image processing edge detection techniques. Details of appropriate processing algorithms which - for example - can be used can be found m the paper entitled "Image Processing for Improved eye Tracking Accuracy" by Mulligen and published m 1997 m Behaviour Research methods, Instrumentation and Computers, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference. Figure 3a shows a 2D image output by the sensor 29 after some filtering to remove low frequency intensity variations present m the original retinal image (not shown) . As shown, the fine structure and detail of the retina surface are clearly visible. This retinal image is then processed by the image processing unit 41 to generate a corresponding black and white line drawing, which is illustrated Figure 3b. As shown m Figure 3b, m this embodiment, only the detail of the blood vessels remains after processing by the processing unit 41. As those skilled m the art will appreciate, as the observer's gaze moves over the object 7 being viewed, the retinal image which is generated by the sensor 29 will change. Therefore, by getting the observer to look at a plurality of points scattered over the field of view and by obtaining a sensor image, e.g. a CCD image of the retina when the observer is looking at each of the points, a "map" of the observer's retina 11 can be determined. In this embodiment, this mapping of the observer's retina 11 is performed when the microscope is m a calibration mode of operation. When the microscope is then m its normal mode of operation, the observer's direction of gaze can be determined by comparing the current retinal image generated by the sensor 29 with the retinal map generated during the calibration stage. As shown m Figure 2, a controller 49 is provided which operates to control the above described modes of operation of the microscope 1. In particular, m response to a calibration request, input by a new observer via a user interface 51, the controller 49 controls the position of the switch 41, so that the image processing unit 41 is connected to the image montagmg unit 43. In this embodiment, during the calibration stage, a test card (not shown) is provided as the object to be viewed under the microscope 1, which card has a number of visible dots arrayed over the field of view. The new observer is then directed to look at each of the dots in turn. As he does so, the montagmg unit 43 receives the retinal images generated by the sensor 29 and "joins" them together to form a map 47 of the new observer's retinal surface 11. Figure 3c shows the resulting retinal map 47 generated for one observer. This retinal map is then stored m a memory (not shown) for use when the microscope 1 is its normal mode of operation. After the calibration stage is complete, the controller 49 causes the microscope to return to its normal mode of operation, by connecting the image processing unit 41 to the image comparator 53, via the switch 45. During this normal mode of operation, the sensor 29 generates an image of the part of the observer's retina 11 which the sensor 29 can currently see. This retinal image is then processed by the processing unit 41 the manner described above, to generate a line drawing of the fine structure of the retinal surface. This line drawing is then passed to the image comparator 53, where it is compared with the retinal map 47 for the current observer. In this embodiment, this comparison is performed by performing a two dimensional correlation of the current retinal image and the retinal map 47. The results of this comparison are then passed to the controller 49, from which the observer's direction of gaze is determined. In this embodiment, this information is then passed to an auto-focus control unit 55, which operates to control the automatic focusing of the objective lens 3, so that the part of the object which the observer is currently looking at is m focus. As shown Figure 2, the controller 49 is also connected to an illumination control unit 57, which is operable to control the illumination source 25. The reason for this will now be explained. In Figure 1, the illumination source 25 is shown to be effectively on the same optical axis as the microscope 1. As a result, light from the source 25 which reflects off the cornea 15 (known as the cornea highlight or glint) will obscure the retinal image which is formed at the image plane 9. Therefore, as shown m Figure 4, m this embodiment a source having six light emitting portions 61-1 to 61-6 which are arrayed around the optical axis is used. In operation, only those light emitting portions which do not cause cornea highlights m the retinal image (for the current direction of gaze) are used at any given time. Which ones should be turned off for a given direction of gaze can either be determined m advance during the calibration routine or can be determined m real time by monitoring for the presence of cornea highlights m the current retinal image. In this embodiment, the observer's direction of gaze is determined fifty times a second and the latter approach is used to control which light emitting portions should be turned off. The illumination source 25 preferably operates to generate light at a wavelength m the region of 800 to 950nm. This is because the trans ittance of the ocular media and the reflectance of the retina at these wavelengths are both high. These wavelengths are also invisible to the human eye and should not result m any reduction of pupil size or reduction the quality of the image observed through the microscope. However, as those skilled m the art will appreciate, illumination sources which operate at other wavelengths of light could be used. In this embodiment, the illumination source 25 comprises a high power 850nm LED, which is operable to give about 0.2 mW at the front surface of the eye, which is well within current eye safety recommendations . As those skilled m the art will appreciate, the above described eye tracking technique works well this microscope application because the observer's eye is always focused at the intermediate image plane 9. As a result, any light reflected from the retina will form a sharp image of the retina at this intermediate image plane 9. Therefore, by locating the sensor 29 at a plane which is conjugate to the intermediate image plane 9, with respect to the lens 31, results m the image of the retina being formed on the sensor 29. This eye tracking technique is also advantageous because it is independent of head movement and gives a direct measure of the position of gaze of the observer without having to relate measurements to the size, shape or position of the eye (which are required with other eye tracking techniques which use light reflected from the surface of the eye to determine the direction of gaze) . Alternative Embodiments A number of modifications and alternative embodiments will now be described with reference to Figures 5 to 9. In the above embodiment, the direction of gaze information was used to control the automatic focusing of the microscope 1. As those skilled the art will appreciate, the direction of gaze information can be used for other purposes. Figure 5 shows the processing blocks used m an embodiment where the gaze information is used to control the movement of the microscope 1. Processing blocks which are the same as those described with reference to Figure 2 have the same reference numeral. As shown, the only difference this embodiment is the provision of a servo-controller 65 which is operable to receive the gaze information output by the controller 49 and in response thereto, is operable to control the operation of a number of motors 67 which move the microscope over the object being viewed. Figure 6 shows the form of the processing and control electronics used m a further embodiment of the invention. As shown m Figure 6, this embodiment, only the retinal images used to generate the retinal map 47 are processed by the image processing unit 41. Therefore, during the normal mode of operation of the microscope, the image comparator 53 is operable to compare the current retinal image output by the sensor 29 with the retinal map 47. Additionally, as shown m Figure 6, the direction of gaze information which is determined is used to control the positioning of the microscope and the focusing of the objective lens 3. The embodiment illustrated Figure 6 illustrates that it is not essential to process the retinal images generated by the sensor 29 m order to determine the direction of gaze. However, the preferred embodiment does process the retinal images in order to reduce the amount of data which needs to be compared by the image comparator 53. Figure 7 shows the processing and control blocks used yet another embodiment of the present invention. As shown, this embodiment, only the retinal image generated during normal use of the microscope is processed by the image processing unit 43 before being compared with the retinal map 47 by the image comparator 53. In this embodiment, the direction of gaze information obtained by the controller is passed to a display driver 71 which controls the display of menus on a display 73 which is located within the viewfmder of the microscope. In the above embodiments, an illumination source having a plurality of light emitting portions which are effectively arrayed around the optical axis of the microscope was provided with only some of the light emitting portions being used at any one time. This arrangement was used m order to reduce the effect of cornea highlights. An alternative technique which could be used to overcome this problem is to use an illumination source which generates circularly polarised light. In particular, circularly polarised light reflected from the surface of the cornea will have its polarity reversed. However, light reflected from the retina is diffusely reflected and will therefore still contain a significant component m the original polarity. Consequently, by using a combination of a quarter-waveplate and polaπser, it is possible to minimise the amount of light reflected back from the cornea reaching the sensor, thereby enabling the scattered light from the retina to be observed. Another technique of solving the cornea highlight problem is to defocus the illumination beam so that it is not focused on the cornea. Whilst this technique is successful, it does result m a much smaller proportion of the retina being imaged, since the pupil restricts the light entering the eye. In the above embodiments, the light for illuminating the retina was introduced after the eyepiece 5. Figure 8 schematically illustrates the form of a microscope m which the illumination light is introduced before the eyepiece 5. In this embodiment, since the illumination light must pass through the eyepiece 5, the eyepiece 5 is preferably coated with an anti-reflection coating m order to minimise the direct reflection of the illumination light by the eyepiece 5. In the above embodiments, an illumination source 25 was used to illuminate the retina of the observer's eye. As those skilled the art will appreciate, m some applications, the light from the object being observed may be sufficient to illuminate the retina, which case, the illumination source 25 is not necessary. In an improved embodiment of the invention the light of the illumination source is sent m pulses wich are synchronized with the frequency of reading out the CCD sensor. This is to minimize the radiation on the user s retina. The above embodiments have all related to an eye tracking technique for use m an optical microscope. As those skilled the art will appreciate, the eye tracking technique described above can be used m many other optical instruments, such as cameras, telescopes etc. Figure 9 shows a schematic diagram of a camera 81 which employs the eye tracking technique discussed above. As shown, the camera 81 comprises an objective lens 3 for focusing the object onto the intermediate image plane. However, m a camera, a real image is generated at the intermediate image plane by locating a diffusing glass screen 83 at the intermediate plane. The real image formed on the diffusing glass screen 83 is then viewed by the observer through the eyepiece 5 and a prism 85 which operates to reoriented the image the right way up. The camera also has a mirror 87 which can be moved up or down so that the light from the object is focused onto the film 89. The remaining components of the eye tracking system are the same as those used m the microscope embodiments described above and will not, therefore, be described again. It should, however, be noted that, this embodiment, the sensor 29 and lens 31 are located m front of the diffusing glass screen 83, because the retinal image cannot pass through the diffusing glass plate 83. However, this is not important, since the sensor 29 is still located at a plane which is conjugate to the intermediate image plane . In the above embodiments, the blood vessels in the retinal surface were used to identify the direction of gaze of the observer. As those skilled m the art will appreciate, other features of the retina can be used. For example, the location of the fovea can be used instead. However, since this requires a relatively high magnification, the use of the blood vessels is preferred, since these are more easily recognisable features . In the above embodiment, the processing electronics determines the observer's direction of gaze 50 times per second. As a result, once the system has determined the current direction of gaze, it can use this information to reduce the amount of processing required to compare the current retinal image with the retinal map. In particular, it can use the last obtained direction of gaze to identify the portion of the retinal map which corresponds to the current retinal image and then use this part of the retinal map as a starting point. In the above embodiments, a retinal map of each observer's retina had to be obtained first - preferably - during a calibration routine before that user can use the microscope. In an alternative embodiment, the retinal maps from a number of users can be combined to form a master template which models the common features of the retinal images of the training users. This master template can then be used for any user without the new user having to go through the calibration routine. Whilst this embodiment provides the advantage that the template is user independent, it suffers from the problem that the system will only be as good as the template. In the above embodiments, the system automatically changed the focus of the objective lens if the observer's direction of gaze moved to a position m the field of view which was out of focus. In some applications, such an automatic change of the focus may not be desired. In this case, the processing electronics may be arranged so that the automatic focusing only changes either if the user remains focused at the same point for a predetermined length of time or if the observer inputs a control command signalling that he wishes the focus to be changed. In the above embodiments, a beam splitter was used to effectively place the sensor and the sensor lens on the axis of the microscope. As those skilled m the art will appreciate, it is not essential to use such a beam splitter. For example, the sensor and the sensor lens can be located at an angle to the optical axis of the microscope, provided the sensor can still "see" the intermediate plane. Alternatively still, if the sensor is relatively small compared to the diameter of the objective lens, then the sensor can be placed along the axis of the objective lens. However, this embodiment is not preferred because it reduces the amount of light entering the observer's eye. Instead of using the beamsplitter 23 a variant of this embodiment could be to have the sensor 29 look at the intermediate image plane 9 through the eye piece 5 and to use the backside of the beamsplitter 21 for reflecting the image of the retma to the opposite side of the light source 25. There a modified lens 31 and the sensor 29 would be arranged. In the place of the dashed line 9 a part transparent mirror would be placed m order to reflect the image of the retma through the eye piece 5 into the sensor 29. In the above embodiments, a single optical path has been illustrated through the optical instruments. As those skilled m the art will appreciate, where there are two optical paths (one for each eye) a similar eye tracking system could be provided m the other optical path. Alternatively, if the optical instrument allows the observer to view the object with both eyes, then a single selectable eye tracking system could be provided. However two eye tracking systems (one m each optical path) would also allow for an automatic motorized adjustment of the two eye pieces towards each other with respect to the distance of the user s eyes. Also it would allow to always have the dominant eye of a user beemg tracked, since the movement of the dominant eye may be detected by comparing the movements of both eyes . In the above embodiment, the comparison of the current retinal image output by the sensor with the retinal map is performed using a two-dimensional correlation technique. As those skilled the art will appreciate, other comparison techniques can be employed. For example, the "active shape models" developed by Cootes et al at the University of Manchester can be used to model the characteristic features m the retma. The comparison would then involve matching similar shape models generated for the current retinal image with the stored shape models for the retinal map. The paper entitled "Use of Active Shape Models for Locating Structures m Medical Images" describes how these shape models can model structures in the human body for subsequent identification purposes. The content of this paper is incorporated herein by reference as well as the content of the PCT applications mentioned before. Further embodiments will be apparent to those skilled m the art. The above embodiments and modifications have been given by way of example only and, as those skilled m the art will appreciate, the modifications made to some of the embodiments will be applicable to other embodiments. * Comprising" m the claims means w containing" also.

Claims: CLAIMS : 1. An eye tracking system instrument for detecting the gaze of an eye comprising: (I) a sensor lens for focusing light reflected from the retina of a user s eye; (n) an imaging transducer located at a plane where the sensor lens projects an image of said retma, for generating an electrical image signal of a portion of said retma; (m) a memory for storing retinal image information of said retma; and (iv) comparing means for comparing signals representative of the retinal image signal generated by said imaging transducer with said stored retinal image information to generate gaze information indicative of the direction of gaze of the user s eye. 2. An optical instrument for forming a viewable image of an object, comprising: an objective lens for forming a viewable image of the object at an image plane; an eye sensor for sensing a direction of gaze of a user viewing the viewable image; and means for adjusting a controllable function of said optical instrument m dependence upon the sensed direction of gaze; characterised m that said eye sensor comprises: (0) a retinal image gathering device; (m) a memory for storing retinal image information of the user; and (iv) comparing means for comparing signals representative of the retinal image signal generated by said imaging transducer with said stored retinal image information to generate gaze information indicative of the direction of gaze of the user. 3. An instrument according to claim 2, further comprising: (1) a sensor lens for focusing light reflected from the retma of the user; (n) an imaging transducer located at a plane which, when the user views said viewable image, is commonly conjugate with said image plane to the retma of the user's eye, for generating an electrical image signal of a portion of the user's ret a; 4. An instrument according to claim 2 or 3, further comprising an eyepiece through which the user can view said viewable image, and wherein preferably said eyepiece comprises a lens system for increasing the apparent field of view of the optical instrument. 5. An instrument according to any preceding claim, wherein said sensor lens and said imaging transducer are located off the optical axis of said instrument. 6. An instrument according to claim 5, further comprising a beam splitter for reflecting the light reflected from the retma onto said sensor lens and said imaging transducer. 7. An instrument according to any preceding claim, wherein said imaging transducer comprises a CCD sensor, preferably a 2D CCD sensor. 8. An instrument according to any preceding claim, further comprising an illumination source for illuminating the user's eye and preferably further comprising an illumination lens for focusing the light from the illumination source. 9. An instrument according to claim 9, wherein said illumination lens is operable, in use, to focus the light from the illumination source onto the cornea of the user's eye. 10. An instrument according to claim 8 or 9, wherein said illumination source is operable to generate light having a - preferred invisible - wavelength, especially m the range of about 800nm to about 950nm. 11. An instrument according to claim 10, wherein said illumination source comprises an 850nm LED. 12. An instrument according to any of claims 8 to 11, wherein said illumination source is located at an angle to the optical axis of the microscope. 13. An instrument according to claim 12, further comprising a beam splitter located on the optical axis of the instrument for reflecting the light from the illumination source into the eye. 14. An instrument according to any of the preceedmg claims comprising a half silvered mirror m the intermediate image plane preferably m order to reflect a retinal image through the eye piece. 15. An instrument according to any of claims 8 to 14 when dependent upon claim 2 or 3, wherein said illumination source is operable to illuminate the eye through the eyepiece. 16. An instrument according to claim 15, wherein said eyepiece comprises an anti-reflective coating for preventing light from the illumination source from being reflected from the eyepiece into the imaging transducer. 17. An instrument according to any of claims 8 to 16, wherein said illumination source comprises a plurality of light emitting portions which are operable to illuminate the user's eye at different angles. 18. An instrument according to claim 17, further comprising control means for selectively causing one or more of said light emitting portions to emit light. 19. An instrument according to claim 18, wherein said control means selects said one or more portions dependence upon the direction of gaze of the user. 20. An instrument according to claim 18, wherein said control means selects said one or more portions m dependence upon the retinal image signal output by said imaging transducer. 21. An instrument according to any preceding claim, wherein said imaging transducer is operable to output a retinal image signal a plurality of times per second, preferably between ten and fifty times per second. 22. An instrument according to claim 21, wherein the light sensor is operable to send light pulses which are synchronized with said imaging transducer frequency. 23. An instrument according to any preceding claim, further comprising means for processing the retinal image signal to highlight characteristic features in the retinal image. 24. An instrument according to claim 23, wherein said characteristic features include blood vessels. 25. An instrument according to claim 23 or 24, wherein said processing means comprises edge detection means for detecting edges the retinal image. 26. An instrument according to any preceding claim, wherein said stored retinal image information comprises a map of the user's retma. 27. An instrument according to claim 26, wherein said retinal map is generated in advance during a calibration routine, m which the user looks at different preselected locations in the field of view of the instrument and m which the imaging transducer generates a retinal image for each of the preselected locations, from which the retinal map for the user is determined. 28. An instrument according to any preceding claim, wherein said controllable function is the automatic focusing of the objective lens so that the point m the field of view which the user is looking at is m focus and/or the movement of the optical instrument over the object being viewed. 29. An instrument with two optical beam paths (stereo beam paths) according to any of the preceedmg claims, wherein said controllable function is the adaption of the eye pieces toward each other with respect to the distance of a user's eyes. 30. An instrument according to any preceding claim, wherein said controllable function is the content of a display which is optically superimposed on the field of view of the instrument. 31. An instrument according to any preceding claim, wherein said imaging transducer is located at a plane conjugate to said image plane with respect to said sensor lens. 32. An instrument according to any preceding claim which is a microscope. 33. An instrument according to any preceding claim which is a camera. 34. An optical instrument for forming a viewable image of an object, comprising: an objective lens for forming a viewable image of the object at an image plane; an eye sensor for sensing a direction of gaze of a user viewing the viewable image; and means for adjusting a controllable function of said optical instrument m dependence upon the sensed direction of gaze; characterised that said eye sensor comprises: (l) a sensor lens for focusing light reflected from the retma of the user; (n) an imaging transducer located at a plane conjugate to said image plane with respect to said sensor lens, for generating an electrical image signal of a portion of the user's retina; (m) a memory for storing retinal image information of the user; and (iv) comparing means for comparing signals representative of the retinal image signal generated by said imaging transducer with said stored retinal image information to generate gaze information indicative of the direction of gaze of the user s eye. 35. An optical instrument for forming a viewable image of an object, comprising: an objective lens for forming a viewable image of the object at an image plane; an eyepiece through which the user can view said viewable image; an eye sensor for sensing a direction of gaze of a user viewing said image through said eyepiece; and means for controlling a controllable function of said optical instrument m dependence upon the sensed direction of gaze; characterised m that said eye sensor comprises: (l) a sensor lens for focusing light reflected from the retma of the user; (n) an imaging transducer located at a plane which, when the user views said viewable image, is commonly conjugate with said image plane to the retma of the user's eye, for generating an electrical image signal of the portion of the user's retma which can be seen through said eyepiece; (in) a memory for storing retinal image information; and (iv) comparing means for comparing signals representative of the retinal image signal generated by said imaging transducer with said stored retinal image information to generate gaze information indicative of the direction of gaze of the user. 36. An optical instrument for forming a viewable image of an object, comprising: an objective lens for forming a viewable image of the object at an image plane; an eye sensor for sensing a direction of gaze of a user viewing the viewable image; and means for adjusting a controllable function of said optical instrument m dependence upon the sensed direction of gaze; characterised m that said eye sensor comprises: (l) a sensor lens for focusing light reflected from the retma of the user; (n) an imaging transducer located at a plane which, when the user views said viewable image, is commonly conjugate with said image plane to the ret a of the user's eye, for generating an electrical image signal of the portion of the user's retma which is imaged on said transducer by said sensor lens; (in) a memory for storing retinal image information of the user; and (iv) comparing means for comparing signals representative of the retinal image signal generated by said imaging transducer with said stored retinal image information to generate gaze information indicative of the direction of gaze of the user. 37. A method of operating an optical instrument for forming a viewable image of an object, comprising the steps of: providing an objective lens for forming a viewable image of the object at an image plane; sensing a direction of gaze of a user viewing the viewable image; and controlling a controllable function of the optical instrument m dependence upon the sensed direction of gaze; characterised m that said sensing step comprises the steps of: (l) using a sensor lens to focus light reflected from the retma of the user; (ii) providing an imaging transducer located at a plane which, when the user views said viewable image, is commonly conjugate with said image plane to the retina of the user's eye, for generating an electrical signal of a portion of the user's retina; and (iii) comparing signals representative of the retinal image signal generated by the imaging transducer with stored retinal image information to generate gaze information indicative of the direction of gaze of the user.

Inventors: GREEN ALAN EDWARD, MORRISON EUAN, GREEN, ALAN, EDWARD, MORRISON, EUAN
Applicants: GREEN ALAN EDWARD, LEICA MICROSYSTEMS, MORRISON EUAN, GREEN, ALAN, EDWARD, LEICA MICROSYSTEMS AG, MORRISON, EUAN
Application year: 1999
Main classification: A61B3
IPC codes: A61B3, G02B7, G02B21, G02B23, G03B13, H04N5, H04N7