Object segmentation in cluttered environment based on gaze tracing and gaze blinking

People with disabilities, such as patients with motor paralysis conditions, lack independence and cannot move most parts of their bodies except for their eyes. Supportive robot technology is highly beneficial in supporting these types of patients. We propose a gaze-informed location-based (or gaze-based) object segmentation, which is a core module of successful patient-robot interaction in an object-search task (i.e., a situation when a robot has to search for and deliver a target object to the patient). We have introduced the concepts of gaze tracing (GT) and gaze blinking (GB), which are integrated into our proposed object segmentation technique, to yield the benefit of an accurate visual segmentation of unknown objects in a complex scene. Gaze tracing information can be used as a clue as to where the target object is located in a scene. Then, gaze blinking can be used to confirm the position of the target object. The effectiveness of our proposed method has been demonstrated using a humanoid robot in experiments with different types of highly cluttered scenes. Based on the limited gaze guidance from the user, we achieved an 85% F-score of unknown object segmentation in an unknown environment.

Using Computational Analysis of Behavior To Discover Developmental Change In Memory-Guided Attention Mechanisms In Childhood

We tested 4-9.5-year-old children on a naturalistic memory-guided attention visual search task. We measured fixation distribution during a search using wearable eye tracking, and simultaneously recorded depth video data for each participant and used computer vision algorithms to track them during navigation. We manipulated object placement and trial order such that nearby objects would be encountered during initial search for reference objects. We used a computational model of top-down guidance for reference object visual features and examined the use of this top-down attention for reference objects during subsequent nearby object search. The data suggest that the value of physical navigation during initial spatial exploration for subsequent memory-guided attention, specifically in early childhood, is in its association with stronger visual representations of goal reference objects during spatial exploration. By middle childhood, visual search times were not impacted by memory engagement.

Method of Parallel Information Object Search in Unified Information Spaces

The article describes the concept of a unified information space and an algorithm of its formation using a special information and computer system. The process of incoming object search in a unified information space is considered, which makes it possible to uniquely identify it by corresponding features. One of the main tasks of a unified information space is that each information object in it is uniquely identified. For this, the identification method was used, which is based on a step-by-step analysis of object characteristics. The method of parallel information object search in unified information spaces is proposed, when information object search will be conducted independently in all unified information spaces in parallel. Experimental studies of the method of parallel information object search in unified information spaces were conducted, on the basis of which the analysis of efficiency and incoming objects search time in unified information spaces was carried out. There was experimentally approved that the more parameters that describe the information object, the less the time of object identification depends on the length of the interval. Also, there was experimentally approved that the efficiency of the searching of the incoming objects in unified information spaces tends to a directly proportional relationship with a decrease in the length of the interval and an increase in the number of parameters, and vice versa.