SUPPORTING THE MONITORING OF A PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

• US 20120116684A1
• Filed: 11/10/2010
• Published: 05/10/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Dvortsov, Eugene, Ingrassia, Michael I. Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 9,081,889 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/19
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1118 Determining activity level
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/30 relating to physical therapies or activities, e.g. physiotherapy, acupressure or exercising
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/40 relating to mechanical, radiation or invasive therapies, e.g. surgery, laser therapy, dialysis or acupuncture
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/20 for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS

Abstract

Improved techniques and systems for utilizing a portable electronic device to monitor, process, present and manage data captured by a remote sensor during a physical activity session are disclosed. The portable electronic device offers a convenient user interface that can be visual and/or audio based customized to a particular application, user-friendly and/or dynamic. The portable electronic device can pertain to a personal media device and thus also provide media playback.

Claims

1. A method performed by a processor in a personal media device (PMD) for supporting and monitoring a physical activity, the PMD including at least a data storage device and a sensor arranged to detect an ambient activity each coupled to the processor, comprising:

(a) generating ambient activity data in accordance with detected ambient activity by the sensor;

(b) receiving a starting trigger, the starting trigger causing the processor to initiate a physical activity session;

(c) receiving activity data from the sensor during the physical activity session; and

(d) processing the activity data and at least some recognized ambient activity data in a manner in accordance with the physical activity session.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein at least one of (a)-(d) is performed as a background operation of the PMD.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the starting trigger is a user initiated event.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the starting trigger is a known pattern of ambient activity data that operates to start the physical activity session.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising;

receiving a stopping trigger, the stopping trigger causing the processor to stop processing the physical session activity data at least for a predetermined amount of time.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising determining if the ambient activity data is recognized, comprising:

generating a data profile corresponding to the received ambient activity data,

comparing the ambient activity data profile to at least one recognized activity data file, and

tagging the data profile as recognized when the comparing indicates a match; and

storing at least some of the recognized ambient activity data in the data storage device.

7. A personal media device adapted for assisting a user during a physical activity session, comprising:

a processor; and

a sensor in communication with the sensor and arranged to detect an ambient activity and

provide corresponding ambient activity data to the processor, wherein the processor,

determines if at least some of the ambient activity data is recognized,

responds to a starting trigger by starting a physical activity session,

receiving physical activity data from the sensor during the physical activity session, and

processes at least some of the physical activity data and at least some recognized sensor data in a manner in accordance with the physical activity session.

8. The personal media device as recited in claim 7, wherein at least one of the processor operations related to assisting the user during the physical activity session is a background operation.

9. The personal media device as recited in claim 7, wherein the sensor is an external circuit in wired communication with the processor.

10. The personal media device as recited in claim 7, wherein the sensor is an external circuit in wireless communication with the processor.

11. The personal media device as recited in claim 7, wherein the starting trigger is a user initiated event.

12. The personal media device as recited in claim 7, wherein the starting trigger is a known pattern of sensor data that operates to automatically start the physical activity session.

13. The personal media device as recited in claim 7, wherein the physical activity session is stopped by a stopping trigger, the stopping trigger based upon a condition.

14. The personal media device as recited in claim 7, wherein at least one of the operations of the processor with regards to the physical activity session is a background operation.

15. Non-transitory computer readable medium for storing computer code executable by a processor in a personal media device (PMD) for supporting and monitoring a physical activity, the PMD including at least a data storage device and a sensor arranged to detect an ambient activity each coupled to the processor, comprising:

computer code for generating ambient activity data in accordance with the ambient activity detected by the sensor;

computer code for recognizing ambient activity data from the sensor;

computer code for triggering a physical activity session;

computer code for receiving physical activity data in accordance with the physical activity session; and

computer code for processing at least some of the recognized ambient activity data and the physical activity data from the sensor in a manner in accordance with the physical activity session.

16. The computer readable medium as recited in claim 15, wherein the starting trigger is a user initiated event.

17. The computer readable medium as recited in claim 15, wherein the starting trigger is a known pattern of sensor data.

18. The computer readable medium as recited in claim 15, further comprising

computer code for determining if the ambient activity data is recognized, comprising:

computer code for generating a data profile corresponding to the received ambient activity data,

computer code for comparing the ambient activity data profile to at least one recognized activity data file, and

computer code for tagging the data profile as recognized when the comparing indicates a match.

19. A system, comprising:

a portable electronic device, comprising;

a processor, and

a data storage device; and

a sensor arranged to detect an ambient activity and provide corresponding ambient activity data to the processor, wherein the processor evaluates the ambient activity data to determine if at least some of the ambient activity data is recognized and if at least some of the ambient activity data matches a data pattern corresponding to a trigger, wherein when the trigger is a starting trigger, the processor causes the portable electronic device to initiate a physical activity session by processing physical activity data from the sensor and least some of the recognized ambient activity data in accordance with the physical activity session.

20. The system as recited in claim 19, wherein when the trigger is a stopping trigger, the processor stops processing the physical activity data and the recognized ambient activity data for at least a pre-determined period of time.

21. The system as recited in claim 20, wherein the portable electronic device provides feedback to the user during the physical activity session, the feedback including workout music, voice prompts, and visual feedback.

22. The system as recited in claim 19, wherein at least one of the processor operations related to the physical activity session is a background operation.

23. The system as recited in claim 19, wherein the removable wireless interface device is an accessory for the portable electronic device.