Takehiko Ohno

FreeGaze: a gaze tracking system for everyday gaze interaction

In this paper we introduce a novel gaze tracking system called FreeGaze, which is designed for the use of everyday gaze interaction. Among various possible applications of gaze tracking system, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is one of the most promising elds. However, existing systems require complicated and burden-some calibration and are not robust to the measurement variations. To solve these problems, we introduce a geometric eyeball model and sophisticated image processing. Unlike existing systems, our system needs only two points for each individual calibration. When the personalization nishes, our system needs no more calibration before each measurement session. Evaluation tests show that the system is accurate and applicable to everyday use for the applications.

A free-head, simple calibration, gaze tracking system that enables gaze-based interaction

Human eye gaze is a strong candidate to create a new application area based on human-computer interaction. To implement a really practical gaze-based interaction system, gaze detection must be realized without placing any restriction on the users behavior or comfort. This paper describes a gaze tracking system that offers freehead, simple personal calibration. It does not require the user wear anything on her head, and she can move her head freely. Personal calibration takes only a very short time; the user is asked to look at two markers on the screen. An experiment shows that the accuracy of the implemented system is about 1.0 degrees (view angle).

Messages embedded in gaze of interface agents --- impression management with agent's gaze

We propose a gaze movement model that enables an embodied interface agent to convey different impressions to users. Managing ones own impression to influence the behaviors of others plays an important role in human communications. To create a new application area which involves agents in this kind of social interaction, interface agents that manage their impressions are required. For this purpose, we build the gaze movement model based on three gaze parameters picked from a large number of psychological studies: amount of gaze, mean duration of gaze, and gaze points while averted. In this paper, we introduce the gaze movement model and gaze parameters. We then present an experiment in which subjects evaluated the impressions created by nine gaze patterns produced by altering the gaze parameters. The results indicate that reproducible relations exist between the gaze parameters and impressions, which shows the validity of the model

Just blink your eyes: a head-free gaze tracking system

We propose a head-free, easy-setup gaze tracking system designed for a gaze-based Human-Computer Interaction. Our system enables the user to interact with the computer soon after catching the users eye blinks. The user can move his/her head freely since the system keeps tracking the users eye. In addition, our system only needs a 10 second calibration procedure at the very first time of use. An eye tracking method based on our unique eye blink detection and a sophisticated gaze estimation method using the geometrical eyeball model realize these advantages.

One-point calibration gaze tracking method

A novel gaze tracking method that requires only one calibration marker for personal calibration is proposed. In general, personal calibration is known to be a troublesome task, which requires the user looks at nine to twenty calibration markers in succession. Unlike traditional methods, the proposed method drastically reduces the cost of personal calibration. This method, which is called the One-Point Calibration method (OPC method), requires only one calibration marker for the personal calibration. While the user looks at the calibration marker, the difference between the users eyeball shape and the eyeball model used in calculating the users gaze direction is estimated, and residual error is compensated by the parameters derived by the calibration.

EyePrint: support of document browsing with eye gaze trace

Current digital documents provide few traces to help user browsing. This makes document browsing difficult, and we sometimes feel it is hard to keep track of all of the information. To overcome this problem, this paper proposes a method of creating traces on digital documents. The method, called EyePrint, generates a trace from the users eye gaze in order to support the browsing of digital document. Traces are presented as highlighted areas on a document, which become visual cues for accessing previously visited documents. Traces also become document attributes that can be used to access and search the document. A prototype system that works with a gaze tracking system is developed. The result of a user study confirms the usefulness of the traces in digital document browsing.

Analysis of human interruptibility in the home environment

Many studies have explored the issues of interruption and availability in workplace environments, however, few have focused on human interruptibility in home environments. To make the initiation of online remote communication smoother, determining if it is appropriate to interrupt the remote communication partner is critical. As a preliminary investigation for developing a method that can automatically estimate interruptibility in the home environments, this paper determines the characteristics of human interruptibility by analyzing self-reported data of subjects in the home. The results indicate that factors such as individual differences, activities and certain home locations influence interruptibility.

Weak gaze awareness in video-mediated communication

We present a video mediated communication system that conveys gaze information to a remote location. Unlike existing video mediated communication system, this system does not send visual information directly, only gaze position and face direction. The appearance of those cues on the display depends on the distance between the screen and the users eyes, which allows the user to control the appearance of her gaze. Face direction is represented as a still image, which changes when the users gaze position moves. With this system, people are able to transfer visual cues without becoming self-conscious about their face.

Participatory design process to solve social issues in local community: a use case

This paper describes an enhanced participatory process created to support a regional vitalization project run by residents of a local community in Japan. The experiences and lessons learned during this project are shared. Since the local residents were unaccustomed to participatory design, it was a challenge to motivate them to contribute to the project as project members for extracting local information from them, creating and refining ideas with them, and putting the ideas into practice with them. In order to tackle above challenges, we also proposed and utilized some new participatory design methods in this case study.

Towards a Culturally Independent Participatory Design Method: Fusing Game Elements into the Design Process

Historically, Participatory Design (PD) was introduced and applied in the Scandinavian and American context as a practical design method for collective creativity and stakeholder involvement. In this paper, by fusing game elements into PD, we suggest a first step towards a culturally independent PD method called the ICT Service Design Game to ease the prevailing concern that PD has limited applicability in other cultural settings. We conduct four experiments on ICT Service Design Game in Scandinavia and Asia to evaluate its feasibility. The experiments identify some differences in the PD process and the created Persona characteristics, probably due to cultural differences. Of more interestingly, despite these process differences, the game elements of our PD variant were found to promote the key values of PD in culturally diverse settings by stimulating idea creation and participation. Our experiments imply that the introduction of game elements allows PD to be effectively utilized in culturally diverse settings.