Abstract
The manuscript proposes and evaluates a real-time algorithm for estimating eye gaze angle based solely on single-channel electrooculography (EOG), which can be obtained directly from the ear canal using conductive ear moulds. In contrast to conventional high-pass filtering, we used an algorithm that calculates absolute eye gaze angle via statistical analysis of detected saccades. The estimated eye positions of the new algorithm were still noisy. However, the performance in terms of Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients was significantly better than the conventional approach in some instances. The results suggest that in-ear EOG signals captured with conductive ear moulds could serve as a basis for light-weight and portable horizontal eye gaze angle estimation suitable for a broad range of applications. For instance, for hearing aids to steer the directivity of microphones in the direction of the user’s eye gaze.
Highlights
Following a conversation in noisy environments can be challenging for hearing aid users because hearing aids amplify noise together with the target signal
The performance of SACCINT improves with increasing performance of the HP filtering approach
SACCINT achieved the across-subject performance of r2 = 0.54, which was better than a simple EOGHP approach for some values of fHP
Summary
Following a conversation in noisy environments can be challenging for hearing aid users because hearing aids amplify noise together with the target signal. Hearing aids are often equipped with directional microphones, which attenuate background noise and amplify only the signals originating in front of the listener. The conversational partners can be outside the amplification pattern and the hearing impaired people adopt a strategy to follow a talker with the eyes [1,2,3]. Some authors have suggested that using eye gaze angle to steer hearing aid directional microphones could be of benefit to a listener [4,5]. The most reliable methods for mobile eye tracking involve cameras mounted on glass frames, but the cameras obstruct the field of view [6], and not every hearing aid user is willing to wear glasses
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