# US 11,077,814 B2 · Occupant eye(s) observation device

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- Number: US 11,077,814 B2
- Document ID: US11077814B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/815,088
- Filed: 2020-03-11
- Published: 2020-09-17
- Granted: 2021-08-03
- Earliest claimed: 2019-03-14
- Assignees: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
- Applicants: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
- Inventors: Kota Saito; Seungho Choi
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11077814B2

## CPC

- B60W 40/08: related to drivers or passengers
- B60R 21/01552: {detecting position of specific human body parts, e.g. face, eyes or hands}
- G06V 10/44: Local feature extraction by analysis of parts of the pattern, e.g. by detecting edges, contours, loops, corners, strokes or intersections; Connectivity analysis, e.g. of connected components
- G06V 20/597: {Recognising the driver's state or behaviour, e.g. attention or drowsiness}
- G06V 40/165: {using facial parts and geometric relationships}
- G06V 40/18: Eye characteristics, e.g. of the iris
- B60W 2040/0818: {Inactivity or incapacity of driver}
- B60W 2540/225: Direction of gaze
- B60W: CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT
- B60R: VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING

## Abstract

Provided is an occupant observation device including an imager configured to capture an image of a head of an occupant of a vehicle; and an eye detector configured to detect at least a part of eyes of the occupant in the image captured by the imager, in which the eye detector sets an eye closer to the imager among the eyes of the occupant as a detection target.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An occupant observation device comprising:
an imager configured to capture an image of a head of an occupant of a vehicle; and
an eye detector configured to detect at least a part of eyes of the occupant in the image captured by the imager,
wherein the eye detector sets an eye closer to the imager among the eyes of the occupant as a detection target.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The occupant observation device according to claim 1,
wherein the imager is attached at a position which is offset in a horizontal direction from a position directly facing a seating position of the occupant in the vehicle.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The occupant observation device according to claim 1,
wherein the eye detector detects at least a part of contours of the eyes of the occupant, and
the occupant observation device further comprises an eye opening rate deriving unit configured to derive an eye opening rate of the eyes of the occupant, based on a positional relationship of a plurality of feature points in the contours detected by the eye detector.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The occupant observation device according to claim 3,
wherein the plurality of feature points include an end portion, an upper end portion, and a lower end portion of the contours on a side closer to the imager in the horizontal direction.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The occupant observation device according to claim 1,
wherein the eye detector switches the detection target to an eye farther from the imager among the eyes of the occupant, based on a degree of detection of the eye closer to the imager among the eyes of the occupant.