Gaze estimation research with single camera*

Gaze estimation research has experienced significant progress in accuracy and tolerance of free head movement since reference light sources were introduced. The problem, however, is that it needs complex setup and restricted light environment to make sure there is no unexpected reflex light spot in the eye. This paper proposes a method that only needs one camera and no reference light source. The trade-off for minimizing the requirement is that only 3 out of 6 degrees-of-freedom of head movement is allowed. The 3D coordinates of feature points under restricted head movement can be determined. With these head movement information, we can compensate the results produced by homography between eye plane and screen plane. The model is simple and practical and the experimental data demonstrates that the RMS error is less than 1cm. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012.