Integration of Eye-Tracking and Object Detection in a Deep Learning System for Quality Inspection Analysis

During quality inspection in manufacturing, the gaze of a worker provides pivotal information for identifying surface defects of a product. However, it is challenging to digitize the gaze information of workers in a dynamic environment where the positions and postures of the products and workers are not fixed. A robust, deep learning-based system, ISGOD (Integrated System with worker's Gaze and Object Detection), is proposed, which analyzes data to determine which part of the object is observed by integrating object detection and eye-tracking information in dynamic environments. The ISGOD employs a 6D pose estimation algorithm for object detection, considering the location, orientation, and rotation of the object. Eye-tracking data were obtained from Tobii Glasses, which enable real-time video transmission and eye-movement tracking. A latency reduction method is proposed to overcome the time delays between object detection and eye-tracking information. Three evaluation indices, namely, gaze score, accuracy score, and concentration index are suggested for comprehensive analysis. Two experiments were conducted: a robustness test to confirm the suitability for real-time object detection and eye-tracking, and a trend test to analyze the difference in gaze movement between experts and novices. In the future, the proposed method and system can transfer the expertise of experts to enhance defect detection efficiency significantly.