Communication methods and systems

A control system for operating a computer, that comprises

• a camera configured for continuously capturing images of one or both of a user's eye and eyelid and generating image data representative thereof;
• a control unit in data communication with the camera and with the computer, the control unit being operable
• to receive and process said image data, and
• to classify the eye image into gestures based on pupil position and pupil presence duration within an area of a threshold map, that comprises determining whenever the pupil area touches a border or is tangent to a border of the threshold map, to thereby define the gesture type.

A control unit configured for data communication with a camera that captures continuous images of the eye and with a computer,

• the control unit being operable
• to receive and process image data representative of the images captured by the camera, and
• to classify the eye image into gestures based on pupil position and pupil presence duration within an area of a threshold map, that comprises determining whenever the pupil area touches a border or is tangent to a border of the threshold map, to thereby define the gesture type, and
• transmit corresponding control data to the computer to thereby control operation of the computer.

An eye tracking-based system, comprising:

• a camera operable for continuously capturing images of one or both of the user's eye and eyelid and generating image data representative thereof;
• a first output module, a computerized or process-driven module;
• and a control unit in data communication with the camera and with the first output module;
• wherein the control unit is configured for
• receiving and processing said image data to identify at least one of pupil position and eyelid movement, and to classify the eye image into gestures based on pupil position and pupil presence duration within an area of a threshold map, that comprises determining whenever the pupil area touches a border or is tangent to a border of the threshold map, to thereby define the gesture type, selected from one or more of pupil position, sequence of pupil positions, and sequences of eyelid blinks and generating gesture data,
• operating a hierarchical user-selectable menu items to permit the user to navigate through and select menu items by said gestures data, and for
• driving the first output module to present the menu items to the user;
• and wherein the first output module is configured for providing the user with one or both of visual or audio presentation of the menu items.