The item labeled `10´ in the figure is described in the patent application`s text as an LCD screen, showing this patent is specifically made with a mirrorless camera in mind. Item number 15 is a light-splitter that will redirect the image of the camera operator`s eye to a dedicated lens and CCD sensor, which is detailed in the next illustration.
Canon has been on a roll with the patent applications recently. In addition to the wireless charging solution for cameras, Canon has also filed a patent application in Japan for an eye-controlled autofocus system for mirrorless cameras.
Japanese patent application 2019-129461 details a system for mirrorless cameras that will use the camera operator´s eye to determine the focus point of the camera, a system not much different than the Eye-Control system first seen in Canon´s EOS 5/A2E camera back in 1992.
Items 13a and 13b are described as infrared light sources that would illuminate the eye. Item 16 is a lens, which will focus the image of the eye onto item 17, a dedicated CCD sensor for tracking where the eye is looking.
According to the patent´s text, the system would use infrared light sources and accompanying sensor to capture and calculate the direction of the camera operator´s line of sight. The resulting information is then used to adjust the focus point, including any corrections that would be made in the event the calculations were unable to get a definitive read on the line of sight.
One area where the eye-controlled autofocus system struggled on the EOS 5 (as well as the EOS 3, EOS Elan II E and EOS Elan 7NE) is when the user would be wearing glasses or contacts. It doesn´t appear as though the patent specifically addresses this issue, but newer prediction algorithms and other technological improvements could potentially rid an eye-controlled autofocus system of this issue.
Examples of the eye-controlled autofocus system at work, including details on how it ...
|
