According to a latest patent Canon is working on a eye-controlled autofocus for their upcoming Mirrorless camera. The EOS-3 was the first Canon camera to introduce eye-controlled autofocus back on November 1998.
How Eye Controlled AF Work
The camera features a infrared transmitter and receiver mounted around the eyepiece monitored the position of the iris, thus “knowing” where the photographer was looking and focusing on that point. At that time the system was having some system limitations however, notably eyeglasses and occasionally contact lenses would confuse the system.
New Eye AF Patent for Mirrorless Camera
Patent Details Machine translated
In addition, a display element 10 composed of a liquid crystal or the like for displaying a captured image, a display element driving circuit 11 for driving the display element 10, and an eyepiece 12 for observing a subject image displayed on the display element 10 are provided. Has been placed. Reference numerals 13a to 13b denote light sources for illuminating the photographer’s eyeball 14 for detecting the direction of the line of sight from the relationship between the elephant and the pupil reflected by the cornea reflection of the light source conventionally used in a single-lens reflex camera or the like. The infrared light emitting diode is disposed around the eyepiece 12. The illuminated eyeball image and the image by corneal reflection of the light sources 13a to 13b are transmitted through the eyepiece lens 12, reflected by the light splitter 15, and the eyeball lens in which the photoelectric element array of the CCD ridge is arranged two-dimensionally by the light receiving lens 16. An image is formed on the image sensor 17. The light receiving lens 16 positions the pupil of the photographer’s eyeball 14 and the image sensor 17 for the eyeball in a conjugate imaging relationship. The line-of-sight direction is detected by a predetermined algorithm, which will be described later, from the positional relationship between the eyeball imaged on the eyeball image sensor 17 and the corneal reflection of the light sources 13a to 13b.
So, Canon will be implementing Eye AF in their pro mirrorless camera in 2021-2022. In general once a patent gets registered it takes 2 to 3 years to become a real product.
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Who needs that?
Eos 3 was not the first Canon cam with eye-contrlled AF, it was the Canon EOS 5, introduced in 1992 with eye-control for all 5 (!!!) AF points…
@Guy Hebert
Sony
The ocular technology was introduced by Canon in the 20th century, more specifically in 1992, through the futuristic EOS 5. I will never forget the first time I managed the focus through my left eye photographing a white stork in flight. UFFFF In 1999, with the introduction of the powerful EOS 3 with a larger focal area, eye technology took a giant step in terms of accuracy. What seems to me UNEXPLAINABLE as well as UNFORGETTABLE, is that Canon have forgotten this focal capacity – exclusive to the brand – for 20 years.
Now, yes, rediscovering this improved and updated eye technology in the digital era with the new AI algorithms, it can be an event. Welcome.
La tecnología ocular la introdujo Canon en el siglo XX, más concretamente en el año 1992, a través de la futurista EOS 5. Nunca se me olvidara la primera vez que gestione el foco a través de mi ojo izquierdo fotografiando una cigüeña blanca en vuelo. UFFFF. En 1999 con la presentación de la potente EOS 3 con un área focal mayor, la tecnología ocular dio un paso de gigante en cuanto a precisión. Lo que me parece INEXPLICABLE además de IMPERDONABLE, es que Canon se hallan olvidado de esta capacidad focal _exclusiva de la marca_ durante 20 años.
Ahora, eso sí, redescubrir esta tecnología ocular mejorada y actualizada en plena era digital con los nuevos algoritmos AI, puede ser todo un acontecimiento. Bienvenida.
@I.Muñoz-Seca
Thanks for your input