Last week we received our newest research tool, a state-of-the-art eye-tracker, called faceLAB, product of Seeing Machines Inc. It uses a pair of stereo cameras to track the direction of the subject’s gaze. Not only the eyes are tracked, but head position and orientation too. Based on the collected data, it calculates fatigue measures (for example, PERCLOS) . It can be said that faceLAB is a head, gaze and fatigue analysis tool.

The stereo cameras came together with a bunch of hardware needed for faceLAB to run: a laptop, lenses, camera stands, video overlaying devices, calibration (chess) board, etc.

Contents of the faceLAB package.

The software is very nicely designed. I worked with stereo imaging before, so I can say that the mathematic calculations behind the the user interface are very complex and fascinating. For example, the system calculates the position and orientation of the cameras in 3D based only on showing the cameras the checkered calibration board.

The user interface is divided into four parts. The upper right window shows the views of the cameras and the extracted gaze direction, eye closure, head anchor points, etc. In the lower right quarter of faceLAB a virtual 3D world is shown.

In the virtual space, a model of the driving simulator can be created, with special areas, that will represent certain devices (GPS navigation device, radio, P54 screen, etc). The application can then log when the drivers are diverting their gaze from the road to the in-car devices.

After initial testing on the test stand, the cameras were mounted into our driving simulator onto the dashboard.

Next, tests will be performed to find the optimal position of the cameras. Pilot runs will be conducted to see how the logging of data is done and to verify the setup.

The eye-tracker opens a whole new field of research possibilities. Among other things, now we can track the flow of visual attention of drivers, which is a very important measure for safety assessment.

If you have any questions or comments about the eye-tracker, feel free to post them below. Thank you for your attention,

Oszkar Palinko

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