Invented by Oggier; Thierry, Vail; Edward

Imagine wearing a pair of glasses that knows exactly where you are looking. Now, picture these glasses adjusting images, providing information, or even authenticating who you are—all by understanding the tiniest movements of your eyes. This is not science fiction; it is the exciting reality being shaped by a new patent application focused on coherence-based eye tracking. In this article, we’ll take you through the background, explore the science and earlier technologies, then explain the invention and what makes it special. Let’s begin this journey into the eyes of the future.

Background and Market Context

The way people interact with technology is changing fast. Devices are becoming smarter, smaller, and more personal. Wearables like smart glasses, headsets, and augmented reality (AR) devices are moving from science fiction into everyday life. The key to making these devices truly useful is understanding what the user wants and how they behave. One of the most important clues? Where the user is looking.

Eye tracking is not just about measuring where someone glances. It is about giving technology a window into your attention, mood, and even your identity. With eye tracking, devices can adjust what they show, save battery by only focusing on what matters, or help people with disabilities interact in new ways. In gaming, education, health, and security, knowing where someone is looking can create more natural and powerful experiences.

But there’s a catch. Traditional eye tracking methods are often bulky, power-hungry, imprecise, or just plain uncomfortable. Many use cameras, mirrors, or bright lights that can get in the way or drain your battery. In a world where every millimeter and every milliamp matters, especially in lightweight devices like glasses, these old methods are running into trouble.

The market is hungry for a solution. Companies are racing to bring out AR glasses that look and feel like regular eyewear. They want to offer hands-free control, seamless authentication, and immersive visuals. But unless the devices can track your eyes quickly, reliably, and without distraction, the magic falls apart. That’s why a new approach—one that is more accurate, less power-hungry, and can fit into the smallest gadgets—is so important right now.

The patent application we are exploring today aims to answer this call. It brings together lasers, tiny sensors, and smart processing in a new way. By using something called “coherence-based measurement,” it promises to track your eyes from the inside out—offering new levels of detail, speed, and efficiency. If successful, this technology could become the gold standard for eye tracking in wearables, unlocking new possibilities for devices like AR glasses, virtual reality headsets, and beyond.

Scientific Rationale and Prior Art

To understand why this new invention matters, let’s first look at how eye tracking has worked so far, and what has limited its use.

Most traditional systems shine visible or infrared light onto the eye and use cameras to watch how it bounces back. They look for reflections or “glints” on the surface of the eye, or snap pictures of the pupil and iris to see where the eye is pointing. Some systems try to map the shape of the cornea or find the center of the pupil. Others even use images of the retina, the back of the eye, to get more detail.

These ideas have their strengths. Surface glint methods are simple and can work fast. Retinal imaging can be very accurate. However, they all share some big problems:

Accuracy can drop when the eye moves quickly, if there is glare, or if something gets in the way (like glasses or eyelashes). Cameras and bright lights can be bulky and uncomfortable. Many approaches only see the surface, missing out on the rich data inside the eye—information that could help not just with gaze, but with health and identity.

Power usage is another headache. Keeping cameras and lights running all the time eats up battery. That’s a no-go for small, wearable devices that need to last all day.

Over the years, researchers and companies have tried to solve these problems. Some have built smaller cameras, or used special filters and mirrors. Others have tried to combine different types of sensors, or use clever math to guess where the eye is looking. Yet, even with these tweaks, the core issues of size, power, and surface-only measurement remain.

This is where “coherence-based measurement” comes in. You may have heard of optical coherence tomography (OCT) in hospitals and clinics. OCT is like ultrasound, but with light instead of sound. It can see below the surface of tissue, building a 3D picture of what’s inside. In eye care, OCT is used to look at the layers of the retina, helping spot diseases early.

The patent builds on this idea, but shrinks it down for wearables. Instead of big machines, it uses tiny lasers (like VCSELs) and photodiodes, all packed onto a chip. With this approach, the system can not only see where the eye is pointing, but also get data from inside the eye. This could mean better tracking, less chance of being fooled by surface reflections, and even the ability to spot health or identity clues.

It’s not the first time coherence-based methods have been considered for eye tracking. Some earlier research used large OCT systems for research or medical uses. But making it small, fast, and efficient enough for glasses or headsets? That’s new. The patent also introduces smart ways to only turn on the lasers you need, based on where the eye probably is, saving even more power.

Finally, by building everything into a single chip—integrating lasers, sensors, and processing—the system can go into very small spaces. It can even change its scanning mode, doing a wide scan to find the eye, then switching to targeted tracking or low-power sleep modes. This flexibility is hard to match with older designs.

In summary, the invention takes proven science—coherence-based measurement—and combines it with new chip-level engineering and smart control. That’s what makes it more than just a tweak to existing technology. It’s a whole new way to look at the eye.

Invention Description and Key Innovations

Let’s break down what this patent application is really about, in simple terms. The invention centers on a device—think smart glasses or a headset—that can track where your eye is, how it’s moving, and even what’s happening just below the surface. It does this by shining special light into your eye, catching the reflections, and using those reflections to measure exactly what’s going on.

At the heart of the system is a tracking component. This is a tiny chip that holds a bunch of lasers and sensors. The lasers are special types called VCSELs (vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers), which are small, efficient, and can be aimed in different directions. The sensors are photodiodes that pick up the reflected light. Both the lasers and sensors are built directly into the chip, using smart layouts and even shaped surfaces—like tiny bumps—to steer the light just where it needs to go.

The magic happens in how the system works together:

1. Guess and Check: The tracking chip starts by figuring out where it thinks your eye is, based on past data or quick initial scans. It doesn’t waste energy scanning everywhere—just where it matters.

2. Selective Activation: Based on this guess, the device turns on only the lasers needed to light up the part of the eye it’s interested in. This could be the iris, the pupil, or another area. By using only a few lasers at a time, it saves a lot of power.

3. Coherence-Based Measurement: The lasers send out light (usually in the invisible infrared range), which bounces off or even goes a little below the surface of the eye. The photodiodes catch the reflected light. By comparing the original light with the reflection, the device can measure distance and build a detailed map—not just of the surface, but of structures below, like the cornea and lens.

4. Modes for Every Situation: The system can switch between different ways of looking:

– In active mode, it does a wide scan to find the eye’s general area, useful when you first put on the device or if it slips out of place.

– In tracking mode, it focuses on just the area it needs, following your gaze with high speed and low power.

– In sleep mode, it checks with just one or two lasers now and then, saving even more energy until it senses you are moving your eyes again.

5. Smart Processing: A processor on the chip (or connected to it) takes in all the sensor data. It can use clever algorithms, or even machine learning models, to figure out exactly where the eye is looking, how it is moving, and what is happening beneath the surface. This can be used for controlling the device, authenticating the user, or even spotting early signs of eye problems.

6. Flexible Integration: The design is made to fit into very small spaces. The lasers and sensors can be put on the front or back of the chip, and the whole thing can go into the frame or lens of a pair of glasses. It can work with both eyes, or just one, and can be combined with other sensors if needed.

What sets this invention apart?

– True 3D and Sub-Surface Tracking: By using coherence-based light, it can see inside the eye, not just on the surface. This leads to more reliable and detailed tracking.

– Power Efficiency: Only the needed lasers are used at any time, and the device can sleep when not in use. That means longer battery life for wearables.

– Tiny Size: Everything fits onto a single chip, with smart design to steer light and pack more sensors in less space.

– Fast and Adaptive: The system can quickly switch modes, recalibrate if the device moves, and follow even rapid eye movements.

– Rich Applications: The data can be used for gaze-based control, foveated rendering (making only the area you’re looking at high-res), health monitoring, and even biometric security.

– Privacy and Security: With built-in authentication, the device could use unique patterns inside your eye to make sure it’s really you.

The patent also describes how the chip can be made, with new methods for integrating lasers and sensors, using special materials and shapes to direct the light. It even covers how the device can be part of a bigger system, sharing data with other devices or storing personal information in a secure way.

All of this adds up to a technology that could become the backbone of the next generation of smart glasses, AR headsets, and other wearable devices. It promises a future where machines can truly understand what you see—and help you see the world in new ways.

Conclusion

Eye tracking is about more than just following your gaze. It is the key to natural interaction, seamless authentication, and richer digital experiences. The new patent application we’ve explored introduces a leap forward: coherence-based eye tracking, packed into a chip small enough for everyday wearables, and smart enough to save power without missing a beat. By combining lasers, photodiodes, and smart control, this system offers fast, accurate, and deep insight into both the movement and health of the eye. As AR glasses and smart headsets become part of our daily lives, innovations like this will shape how we see—and are seen by—the technology around us.

If you are building wearable devices, exploring biometric security, or designing the next big thing in user interfaces, this technology is worth watching. It promises a world where devices adapt to us, not the other way around. The future is not just in sight—it’s in focus.

Click here https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/ and search 20250213110.