This paper proposes a computer vision system for improving the image quality around a steady gaze point on a display device. We assume that one observes a localized small area of the displayed image, rather than the whole image, because of a limited visual angle. The computer vision system consists of two subsystems which are an eyegaze detection subsystem and an image quality improvement subsystem. The eyegaze detection subsystem tracks a human gaze point on the display. A tracking algorithm is developed for capturing a human face from a single monocular camera without using any special devices. The image quality improvement subsystem performs a localized Retinex algorithm. Although the conventional algorithms contain a large number of complex computations, the localized algorithm is devised for performing the Retinex computation in high speed for only a localized part within the whole image. The combined system is developed so that the image quality is improved in real time within just local region around the detected gaze point. We make an experimental system consisting of an off-the-shelf digital video camera and a personal computer. The whole performance of the computer vision system is examined experimentally on subjective assessment and processing time. © 2009 SPIE-IS&amp
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