PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a blink detection apparatus capable of responding to the risk of an error occurring to determining a wakefulness or drowsiness state on the basis of the number of blinks within a given period of time, in a state where the opening-closing of eye lid crossing a threshold occurs for plural times in a short period of time depending upon a person or an occasion and/or condition even on the same person, under a definition where a reciprocal movement of an eye lid causing a degree of eye-opening to decrease by crossing a given threshold for a very short period of time is simply defined as a single blink.SOLUTION: In a blink detection apparatus used for detecting a blink on the basis of data of time versus eye-opening degree, in a case where an eye-opening degree crossing a threshold occurs for plural times in a given aggregation period of time, temporal points of the beginning and end of the plural reciprocal movements that cross the threshold are defined as the beginning and end of one reciprocal movement crossing the threshold.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1COPYRIGHT: (C)2018,JPO&INPIT【課題】開眼度が所定の閾値を横切ってごく短時間低下する瞼の往復動を単純に一回の瞬きとすると、人によりまた同一人でも時と状況によって閾値を横切る瞼の開閉が短時間に複数回連続して起こるとき、所定期間内の瞬き回数に基づく覚醒状態或いは眠気状態の判断に誤りが生ずる虞れがあることに対処した瞬き検出装置を提供する。【解決手段】時間対開眼度のデータに基づいて瞬きを検出する瞬き検出装置において、開限度が所定の閾値を所定の纏め時間内に複数回往復して横切ったときには、前記複数回の往復の閾値横切りの最初と最後の時点を一往復の閾値横切りの始めと終わりとする瞬きと見做す。【選択図】図1
