Methods and apparatus for encouraging wakefulness of a driver using biometric parameters measured using a wearable monitor
First Claim
1. A method of maintaining wakefulness of a driver of a vehicle using a cellular telephone and a wrist-worn heart rate monitor, comprising:
- providing a wrist-worn heart rate monitor having a wrist strap and a heart rate monitor including a sensor adapted to sense a heart rate of a user, and further including a transmitter adapted to wirelessly transmit a signal indicative of heart rate of the user;
employing the wrist-worn heart rate monitor to measure a heart rate of a user while the user is driving a vehicle;
communicating heart rate information from the wrist-worn heart rate monitor to the cellular telephone of the user while the user is driving the vehicle, the wrist-worn heart rate monitor and the cellular telephone paired to communicate and form a portable communicatively-coupled system that is at least configured to operate physically and electrically separate from the vehicle, and configured to monitor the wakefulness of the user while the user is driving the vehicle;
employing the cellular telephone to determine when the user'"'"'s heart rate is within an acceptable range for the user while the user is driving the vehicle, the acceptable range being based on being above a level that would indicate the user is about to fall asleep;
in response to the user'"'"'s heart rate being outside the acceptable range, employing the cellular telephone to attempt to alter the user'"'"'s heart rate while the user is driving by prompting the user to respond in a manner that indicates an alertness level of the user; and
increasing a frequency of determining whether the user'"'"'s heart rate is within the acceptable range when the user'"'"'s heart rate is close to an end of the acceptable range.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In a first aspect, a method is provided for determining a level of wakefulness of a driver of a vehicle using a mobile telephone. The method includes (a) employing a wearable monitor to detect a biometric parameter of a user while the user is driving a vehicle; (b) communicating biometric parameter information from the wearable monitor to a mobile telephone of the user while the user is driving the vehicle; (c) employing the mobile telephone to obtain a level of wakefulness of the user while the user is driving the vehicle, the level of wakefulness of the user being determined based on biometric parameter information received from the wearable monitor; and (d) if the level of wakefulness determined for the user is below a predetermined level of wakefulness, employing the mobile telephone to attempt to increase the level of wakefulness of the user. Numerous other aspects are provided.
151 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of maintaining wakefulness of a driver of a vehicle using a cellular telephone and a wrist-worn heart rate monitor, comprising:
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providing a wrist-worn heart rate monitor having a wrist strap and a heart rate monitor including a sensor adapted to sense a heart rate of a user, and further including a transmitter adapted to wirelessly transmit a signal indicative of heart rate of the user; employing the wrist-worn heart rate monitor to measure a heart rate of a user while the user is driving a vehicle; communicating heart rate information from the wrist-worn heart rate monitor to the cellular telephone of the user while the user is driving the vehicle, the wrist-worn heart rate monitor and the cellular telephone paired to communicate and form a portable communicatively-coupled system that is at least configured to operate physically and electrically separate from the vehicle, and configured to monitor the wakefulness of the user while the user is driving the vehicle; employing the cellular telephone to determine when the user'"'"'s heart rate is within an acceptable range for the user while the user is driving the vehicle, the acceptable range being based on being above a level that would indicate the user is about to fall asleep; in response to the user'"'"'s heart rate being outside the acceptable range, employing the cellular telephone to attempt to alter the user'"'"'s heart rate while the user is driving by prompting the user to respond in a manner that indicates an alertness level of the user; and increasing a frequency of determining whether the user'"'"'s heart rate is within the acceptable range when the user'"'"'s heart rate is close to an end of the acceptable range. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A system, comprising:
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a wrist-worn heart rate monitor including a sensor configured to sense a heart rate of a user, and further including and a transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit a signal indicative of heart rate of the user, wherein the wrist-worn heart rate monitor is configured to measure the heart rate of the user while the user is driving a vehicle and further configured to communicate heart rate information; and a cellular telephone configured to receive the heart rate information from the wrist-worn heart rate monitor while the user is driving the vehicle, the wrist-worn heart rate monitor and the cellular telephone paired to communicate and form a communicatively-coupled portable system that is at least configured to operate physically and electrically separate from the vehicle, and configured to monitor wakefulness of the user while the user is driving the vehicle, the cellular telephone including computer program code stored therein that, when executed by the cellular telephone, causes the cellular telephone to; determine when the user'"'"'s heart rate is within an acceptable range for the user while the user is driving the vehicle, the acceptable range being based on being above a level that indicates the user is about to fall asleep; in response to a determination that the user'"'"'s heart rate is outside the acceptable range, attempt to alter the user'"'"'s heart rate while the user is driving by prompting the user to respond in a manner that indicates an alertness level of the user; and increase a frequency of determining when the user'"'"'s heart rate is within the acceptable range when the user'"'"'s heart rate is close to an end of the acceptable range. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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Specification