Patent EP-0240336-B1 (EP)
IPC: A61B3/10
Filed: 1987-04-01
Granted: 1992-03-11
Abstract: A method and system of obtaining the distribution of looking time in a television commercial for a group of individuals, each individual viewing a television commercial containing a video signal and a synchronized audio signal recorded on a real time basis to form the television commercial. This method or system comprises providing a unique isolation, visually neutral recording room with a video monitor for displaying a television commercial to a selected one of several individuals at a given general area in the neutral room. The neutral room has a dimly visible, near infrared light source shining in a given direction toward the selected one of the individuals at the given general area and in a given direction. When directed at the eye of said one of several individuals, said light source produces a reflection from the surface of the cornea of said eye. A video camera is disposed in said room so that its optical axis is coaxial with the direction of the light source, and a tracking mirror servo-mechanism is employed for directing the light source and camera toward the eye of the selected one of the individuals at the general area of the neutral room whereby the individual cannot perceive the camera or mirror, nor need the selected one of the individuals be connected to equipment in said visually neutral room. The method and system include displaying the television commercial to the individual in the room by way of a video monitor, detecting the point of gaze of the eye or eyes of the individual at selected time intervals by way of the displacement of the corneal reflection from the pupil at each of the selected time intervals, while the individual is viewing the television commercial from the general area in the special room, recording the eye point-of-gaze coordinates at each of the preselected intervals, producing a series of successive fixation parameters specifying eye fixations including recorded starting time, duration and x, y coordinates for each successive fixation of the eye of the individual while viewing the television commercial, recording the series of fixations in a given first data file, either previously or afterwards dividing the television commercial into a series of scenes each having a time duration and each made up of known areas of interest (AOI's) with a fixed set of x, y coordinates for each boundary of each area of interest of each scene, recording the starting time and duration of each scene, with the duration being selected as the time the areas of interest area is generally the same or the audio signal is completing a given audio concept, recording the scenes by starting time, duration and fixed coordinates of areas of interest in the scenes into a second data file, comparing the first and second data files for each individual to produce a third data file containing specific fixations in each area of interest in each scene of the combined video and audio television commercial, repeating the procedure again for a number of individuals and producing a compilation chart specifying the distribution of looking time in all areas of interest in each scene for the number of individuals present.