Temporal Structured-Illumination Motion-Detection System

摘要

The present invention provides devices and methods for detecting and tracking fast-moving-object. In one application, the present invention can be employed to detect and track fast eye movements (saccades). An example device of the present invention tracks a moving object by generating, within a single frame of a detector (e.g., a video camera) two or more images of the moving object. The images are generated by illuminating the moving objects with sequentially activated light sources (e.g. sequentially tally strobed light-emitting diodes). The rate at which the light sources are sequentially activated exceeds the frame rate of the detector, resulting in generating multiple images of the moving object within a single frame of the detector. The devices and methods described herein, including a saccadometry system, can utilize off-the-shelf components and does not require expensive high-frame-rate video equipment. These devices and methods can be used to track a moving object with a temporal resolution far greater than that normally achievable with standard 15 fps to 30 fps frame-rate imagers.

主权项

1. A device, comprising:
a detector, configured to capture frames according to a frame acquisition time; a focusing element; and an illumination source configured, in cooperation with the focusing element and the detector, to generate at least first and second images of the illumination source on the detector within a given frame, the first image and the second images forming a spatial sequence and being spatially separated from each other on the focal plane of the detector by at least one pixel, the first and the second images being generated in a temporal sequence, the illumination source having a time delay between generating the first image and the second image, the time delay being less than or equal to the frame acquisition time of the detector.