Ambient light sensing through the human body

• US 10,043,485 B2
• Filed: 03/19/2014
• Issued: 08/07/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/01/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Kestelli, Nevzat Akin, Block, Ueyn L., Isikman, Serhan O.
• Primary Examiner(s): REGN, MARK W
• Application Number:
  US15/033,617
• Publication Number:
  US 20160284316A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,602 Days
• Field of Search: 345207
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/163 Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3206 Monitoring of events, devices or parameters that trigger a change in power modality
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3231 Monitoring the presence, absence or movement of users
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3265 Power saving in display device
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0626 for control of overall brightness
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0666 for control of colour parameters, e.g. colour temperature
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/144 the light being ambient light
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/02 characterised by the way in which colour is displayed details of colour display specific for CRTs G09G1/28; specific for flat matrix panels other than liquid crystal displays G09G3/2003; specific for liquid crystal displays G09G3/3607
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/10 Intensity circuits
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

A portable electronic device including one or more sensors for detecting ambient light through the user'"'"'s skin is disclosed. The sensors can be optical sensors such as ambient light sensors (ALS) and/or cameras. Examples of the present disclosure include a device that can determine the intensity of ambient light and can change the operating state of the portable electronic device based on the ambient light environment. The device can also determine the type of ambient light and generate notifications to the user based on the determined type.

Claims

1. A watch comprising:

a display located on a first surface of the watch;

one or more optical sensors located on a second surface, opposite the first surface, of the device and configured to detect a reflection of ambient light, from a source external to the watch, that has passed through a user; and

logic coupled to the one or more optical sensors, the logic configured to;

generate one or more signals based on the detected reflection of ambient light, and

change an operating state of the display based on the one or more signals.

2. The watch of claim 1, wherein the logic is further configured to compensate the one or more signals using one or more pre-determined compensation values, the one or more pre-determined compensation values associated with the user'"'"'s skin and flesh.

3. The watch of claim 1, further comprising:

one or more light sources, wherein at least one of the one or more optical sensors is configured to detect a reflection of light generated from at least one of the one or more light sources that has passed through the user.

4. The watch of claim 3, where the logic is configured to compensate for a distance between the at least one of the one or more light sources and at least one of the one or more optical sensors.

5. The watch of claim 3, wherein at least one of the one or more light sources is configured to emit light at a different wavelength than another of the one or more light sources.

6. The watch of claim 1, wherein the one or more optical sensors comprise a plurality of ambient light sensors (ALS), and

wherein the logic is further configured to:

discard the generated one or more signals from at least one of the plurality of ambient light sensors, and

change the operating state of the display based on the other of the plurality of ambient light sensors.

7. The watch of claim 1, wherein the one or more optical sensors are an array of optical sensors.

8. The watch of claim 7,

wherein the one or more signals includes one or more first signals generated based on the detected reflection of ambient light in a first wavelength range and one or more second signals generated based on the detected reflection of ambient light in the second wavelength range,

the logic further configured to adjust the one or more first signals using the one or more second signals.

9. The watch of claim 1, wherein at least one of the optical sensors is located on an external component of the watch.

10. The watch of claim 1, further comprising:

one or more filters coupled to the one or more optical sensors and configured to select one or more wavelengths to pass through to the one or more optical sensors,

wherein the logic is further configured to;

determine a type of ambient light based on the one or more wavelengths.

11. The watch of claim 1, further comprising:

one or more of light channels, collecting optics, and reflective surfaces configured for directing the detected reflection of ambient light to walls of the one or more optical sensors, wherein a receiving surface of the one or more light channels is located on a same plane as a detection area of the one or more optical sensors.

12. A method for adjusting one or more properties of a display included in a watch, the watch including one or more optical sensors, the method comprising:

detecting a reflection of ambient light, from a source external to the watch, that has passed through a user using the one or more optical sensors, wherein the one or more optical sensors are located on a second surface of the watch;

generating one or more signals based on the detected reflection of ambient light; and

changing an operating state of the display based on the one or more signals, wherein the display is located on a first surface, opposite the second surface, of the watch.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the watch further includes one or more light sources, the method further comprising:

generating light from the one or more light sources; and

detecting a reflection of the light from the one or more light sources that has passed through the user using the one or more optical sensors.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein changing the operating state of the display comprises changing a brightness or a color balance of the display based on the one or more signals.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

filtering the detected reflection of ambient light at one or more wavelengths; and

determining a type of light from the filtered detected light, wherein changing the operating state of the display is based on the type of light.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

determining an environmental status based on the type of light, the environmental status including indoors or outdoors;

storing data associated with the detected reflection of ambient light in memory;

determining an amount of time the user is exposed to the environmental status;

comparing the amount of time to a pre-determined threshold; and

notifying the user when the amount of time exceeds the pre-determined threshold.

17. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

determining a modulation characteristic of the detected reflection of ambient light; and

determining a type of light from the modulation characteristics, wherein changing the operating state of the display is based on the type of light.

18. The method of claim 12,

wherein generating the one or more signals includes:

generating one or more first signals based on the detected reflection of ambient light in a first wavelength range, and

generating one or more second signals based on the detected reflection of ambient light in a second wavelength range; and

adjusting the one or more first signals using the one or more second signals.

19. The method of claim 12, wherein detecting the reflection of ambient light includes determining a spectrum of the ambient light, the method further comprising:

responsive to the spectrum including ultraviolet light, retrieving presets values associated with a color balance for indoor conditions, wherein changing the operating state of the display comprises changing the color balance of the display using the preset values.

20. The method of claim 12, wherein detecting the reflection of ambient light includes determining a spectrum of the ambient light, the method further comprising:

comparing a spectral power in one wavelength band of the spectrum to a spectral power in another wavelength band of the spectrum; and

determining an environmental condition based on the comparison.