Eye motion detection method, program, program storage medium, and eye motion detection device

An eye motion detection method, which is incorporated in an information processing apparatus, comprising the steps of:

• (a) entering a reference image of a predetermined area including an area around at least one of eyes, which is captured by an imaging device installed in the vicinity of the front side of at least the one of eyes or at its optically equivalent position;
• (b) detecting at least an eye inner corner and an eye outer corner of the eye from the reference image;
• (c) detecting the white area of the eye from the eye area between the eye inner corner and the eye outer coroner of the reference image;
• (d) extracting all discriminable blood vessel images from the white area;
• (e) determining a blood vessel image to be used for a template blood vessel image among the all blood vessel images;
• (f) recording a reference position and the reference angle of a horizontal reference of the template blood vessel image in the white area of the eye in the coordinate system;
• (g) entering an image for detecting a nth (n is a one or larger integer starting from 1 and gradually increasing in 1 (one) increments) blood vessel detecting image captured by the imaging device;
• (h) detecting the nth blood vessel image, which matches the template blood vessel image (hereinafter, simply referred to as the nth matched blood vessel image), from the nth blood vessel detecting image;
• (i) recording the nth detected position and the nth detected angle of the detected nth matched blood vessel image in the white area of the eye in the coordinate system;
• (j) calculating a nth moving amount of the eye based on a difference between the reference position and the nth detected position in the coordinate system and calculate a nth eye rotation angle based on a difference between the reference angle and the nth detected angle;
• and
• (k) repetitively, executing the above step (g) to step (j) with setting the n=n+1, detecting a (n+1)th matched blood vessel image from an entered (n+1)th blood vessel detecting image and calculating a (n+1)th moving amount and a (n+1)th rotation angle of the (n+1)th matched blood vessel image.