A Study on Concentration Estimation and Control Based on Spontaneous Blinking

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K18092
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 61020:Human interface and interaction-related
• Research Institution: Osaka Prefecture University
• Principal Investigator: Uema Yuji 大阪府立大学, 研究推進機構, 客員研究員 (20713671)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 瞬目 / ヒューマンインタフェース

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we aimed to construct a method to quantitatively evaluate concentration levels by focusing on spontaneous blinking among blinks. As a result of this study, we compared the number of blinks during an arithmetic task and a control condition, and confirmed that the number of blinks decreased significantly during an arithmetic task, with high reproducibility regardless of the individual. This suggests that the behavior of blink changes is useful for evaluating the degree of concentration. In addition, although not originally planned, through the analysis of autonomic nervous activity, which was measured simultaneously in this study, we obtained a suggestion that there is a relationship between the blinking of the eyes and the degree of fatigue based on autonomic nervous activity.

Free Research Field

ヒューマンインタフェース

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究の学術的な意義として，ヒューマンインタフェース分野における貢献がある．すなわち，通常の眼鏡の外観に近い簡易計測装置により得られた瞬目データと人の認知活動の一つである集中度との関係について示唆を得ることができた．また，本研究では当初より最終的なアウトプットとしてメガネ型ウェアラブルデバイスと携帯端末による集中度計測および集中度の維持や変容が可能なシステムの構築を目指しており，実社会アプリケーションとしての発展を意識した研究開発を行っている．そのため，今後の研究の発展に伴いスムーズな社会実装が期待できる．