A visual axis detecting method and apparatus comprising a device that illuminates an eye of an observer with a scanning light source, a photoelectric conversion device that receives reflection light from the eye of the observer, and an arithmetic device that detects Purkinje images and an iris image or a pupil image of the observer's eye on the basis of an output from the photoelectric conversion device, and that detects a direction of a visual axis of the observer from positions of the detected images.
Visual axis detecting apparatus and method including scanning light source, and image device using same