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SamsungGranted patentCameras & imagingInterest 6/10

Samsung patents eye-tracking to speed up 3D image processing

Samsung has been granted a patent for an image processing device that uses two cameras to capture 3D images. It combines these images with data from an eye-tracking sensor to narrow down where to look for matching points, making the 3D calculation process more efficient.

Why it mattersThis method could help devices like AR headsets or advanced cameras process 3D scenes faster by focusing computational power only on the areas a user is actually looking at.

In the filing’s own words

An image processing device is provided. The image processing device includes a camera configured to obtain a stereo image, an eye-tracking sensor configured to obtain gaze information of a user, a memory storing one or more instructions, and at least one processor. The at least one processor is configured to, by executing one or more instructions, extract feature points from the stereo image and generate gaze coordinate information in which gaze coordinates corresponding to the gaze information of the user are accumulated on the stereo image, and perform stereo matching based on the feature points and the gaze coordinate information.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. An image processing device comprising: a camera system including a first camera and a second camera, the camera system configured to obtain a stereo image; an eye-tracking sensor configured to obtain gaze information of a user; memory storing one or more instructions; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the camera system, the eye-tracking sensor and the memory, wherein the one or more instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the image processing device to: extract feature points from the stereo image, the feature points comprising first image feature points of a first image captured by the first camera and second image feature points of a second image captured by the second camera, generate gaze coordinate information including gaze coordinates corresponding to gaze information of the user relative to the first image and the second image, and perform stereo matching between the first image and the second image based on a first feature point from among the first image feature points and a second feature point from among the second image feature points, and wherein the second feature point is searched within a search range on the second image, the search range being restricted based on a second gaze coordinate corresponding to a first gaze coordinate associated with the first feature point.

Facts

Company
Samsung (Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.)
Official title
Stereo matching method and image processing device performing same
Patent number
US12755411B2
Application number
18309234
Filed
Apr 28, 2023
Granted
Oct 6, 2026
Inventors
3
Claims
17

Classified under

G06T 7/593 Physics & computingG06T 7/73 Physics & computingG06T 2207/10012 Physics & computingG06T 2207/30201 Physics & computing
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.