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SamsungGranted patentHealth & bodyInterest 6/10

Samsung patents eye tracker that uses light patterns to check gaze and identity

Patent drawing
Patent drawing from the official filing.

This device shines two different colors of light into a user's eye and captures the reflection through a special filter called a pattern mask. The processor analyzes these coded images to find specific points on the eye, determining where the user is looking or verifying their identity.

Why it mattersIt could make eye-tracking in phones or wearables more accurate while also adding a biometric security layer that works even if the eye image is distorted.

In the filing’s own words

An electronic device includes a light source configured to output light, a pattern mask configured to change a path of light transmitted through a pattern of the pattern mask, an image sensor configured to receive light that is output from the light source, reflected by an eye, and transmitted through the pattern mask, and at least one processor configured to obtain a coded image that is phase-modulated based on light transmitted through the pattern mask, obtain a feature point of the eye from the coded image, and obtain gaze information of a user based on the feature point.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. An electronic device comprising: a first light source configured to output first light of a first wavelength; a second light source configured to output second light of a second wavelength; a pattern mask configured to phase-modulate light transmitted through a pattern of the pattern mask; an image sensor configured to receive light that is output from the first light source and the second light source, reflected by an eye, and transmitted through the pattern mask; and at least one processor configured to: obtain a first coded image that is phase-modulated based on the first light transmitted through the pattern mask, obtain a second coded image that is phase-modulated based on the second light transmitted through the pattern mask; selectively obtain a feature point of the eye from at least one of the first coded image and the second coded image or reconstruct an original image of the eye from at least one of the first coded image and the second coded image, obtain gaze information of a user based on the feature point, and obtain authentication information of the user if the original image is reconstructed.

Facts

Company
Samsung (SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.)
Official title
Electronic device for obtaining feature point from coded image and method for operating the same
Patent number
US12762893B2
Application number
18208102
Filed
Jun 9, 2023
Granted
Oct 13, 2026
Inventors
3
Claims
20

Classified under

G06V 40/193 Physics & computingG06F 3/013 Physics & computingG06T 7/50 Physics & computingG06V 40/197 Physics & computingG06V 2201/07 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.