Method and system for stereo gaze tracking

A method for stereo gaze tracking of a user, the method comprising:

• tracking, with a tracking system, a gaze point of a first eye of the user on a first one of right and left two-dimensional display screens of a stereo viewer, wherein the right and left two-dimensional display screens respectively display information of right and left stereo images of a scene captured by a stereoscopic camera;
• estimating, by a processor, a gaze point of a second eye of a user on a second one of the right and left two-dimensional display screens by processing information of the tracked gaze point of the first eye only and information of the right and left stereo images of the scene, wherein the processing of the information of the tracked gaze point of the first eye and the information of the right and left stereo images of the scene comprises:
• determining one or more of a global offset of the right and left stereo images, a region offset of corresponding regions of the right and left stereo images using the global offset and the tracked gaze point of the first eye, or a feature offset of corresponding features within the corresponding regions of the right and left stereo images;
• and
• estimating the gaze point of the second eye of the user on the second one of the right and left two-dimensional display screens by using one of the region offset, the feature offset, an interpolation of previously determined and prior-in-time gaze points of the second eye of the user, or the global offset according to a reliability of at least one of the determinations and an availability of the previously determined and prior-in-time gaze points of the second eye of the user.

A system comprising:

• a stereo viewer having right and left two-dimensional display screens disposed so as to align with right and left eyepieces that align with right and left eyes of a user, wherein the right and left two-dimensional display screens respectively display information of right and left stereo images of a scene captured by a stereoscopic camera;
• a first tracking system having a first single-eye tracker configured to track a gaze point of a first eye of the user through one of the right and left eyepieces on a first one of the right and left two-dimensional display screens;
• and
• a processor configured to estimate a gaze point of a second eye of the user on a second one of the right and left two-dimensional display screens by processing information of the tracked gaze point of the first eye only and the information of the right and left stereo images of the scene.