A novel 2-D mapping-based remote eye gaze tracking method using two IR light sources

Consumers nowadays demand for more convenient human-device interaction (HDI) in every device they use. As a part of the HDI technologies, remote eye gaze tracking (REGT) is getting more attentions. Among state-of-the-art REGT methods, the ones which utilize four infrared (IR) lights have better accuracy and robustness to head movements. In this paper, a novel glint estimation method is proposed, which enables four-glint-based REGT methods to operate with only two IR light sources. Given two glints obtained from IR light sources attached on the upper or lower corners of the screen, the proposed method estimates the other two virtual glints based on mathematical and geometric principles. Then, the point of gaze (POG) can be estimated using a mapping function established between the four glints and the screen through a user calibration process. Experimental results show that the REGT system using the proposed glint estimation method can achieve highly competitive performance compared with the ones which use four IR light sources.