Wearable Communication Device and User Interface

• US 20140045547A1
• Filed: 08/12/2013
• Published: 02/13/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/10/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: SilverPlus, Inc.
• Original Assignee: SilverPlus, Inc.
• Inventors: Singamsetty, Suresh, Kwan, Dennis, Hsieh, Jeffrey
• Application Number:
  US13/964,823
• Publication Number:
  US 20140045547A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/552.1
• CPC Class Codes: G04G 21/04 using radio waves radio-controlled time-pieces G04R
• CPC Class Codes: G04G 21/06 using voice
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/163 Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1643 the display being associated to a digitizer, e.g. laptops that can be used as penpads details related to the relative motion of the display enclosure with respect to the body enclosure, e.g. to move between laptop and tablet PC configuration G06F1/1615
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/38 Transceivers, i.e. devices in which transmitter and receiver form a structural unit and in which at least one part is used for functions of transmitting and receiving
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2001/3861 carried in a hand or on fingers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0279 Improving the user comfort or ergonomics
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/02 including a Bluetooth interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/12 including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Wearable communication devices, e.g. implemented in a watch, using short range communication to a cell phone, and facilitating natural and intuitive user interface with low-power implementation allow a user to easily access all features of the phone, all while a phone is nearby but not visible. Notification is performed with vibration, an LED light and OLED text display of incoming calls, texts, and calendar events. It allows communicating hands-free. This allows using the communication device as “remote control” for home devices, etc. via voice and buttons. The device comprises interfaces motion sensors such as accelerometers, magnetometer and gyroscope, infrared proximity sensors, vibrator motor, and/or voice recognition. Low power consumption is achieved by dynamical configuration of sensor parameters to support only the necessary sensor functions at any given state of the device.

Claims

1. A wearable communication device configured to talk and to listen, place and answer calls, send and receive text messages, initiate voice commands to mobile search for information and to find locations, and be notified of incoming calls, texts, and events, all while a smart phone is nearby, comprising:

a near-field short distance wireless communication chipset, wherein the near-field short distance wireless communication chipset is used for communication with the smart phone; and

motion sensors comprising an accelerometer, a magnetometer, and a gyroscope sensing movements of a user'"'"'s arm or wrist determining velocity, direction and displacement vector in 3-D space which can be used as input selection for an application of the smart phone.

2. The communication device of claim 1 wherein the communication device has also watch functions.

3. The communication device of claim 2 wherein the watch further comprises analog watch movement.

4. The communication device of claim 2 wherein the watch has a digital watch display.

5. The communication device of claim 2 wherein a time of day can be adjusted by a knob of the watch.

6. The communication device of claim 1 wherein said motion sensors can be used together with an audio generation for gaming applications.

7. The communication device of claim 1 further comprising a speakerphone means configured to make and receive phone calls via the mobile phone comprising a microphone and a loudspeaker device and to accept voice commands.

8. The communication device of claim 7 wherein incoming calls can be accepted or rejected via the motion sensors by swinging the arm in a defined direction related to the action desired.

9. The communication device of claim 1 wherein the communication device is further configured to use post-it notes which are sent to the communication device.

10. The communication device of claim 1 wherein the communication device is configured to browsing through menus using the display and an accelerometer by using movements of an arm wearing the communication device and of a wrist of the arm.

11. The communication device of claim 10 wherein a user of the communication device can browse through the menu by tilting the communication device up/down/sideways, select by a vertical shake, and exit/reject by a horizontal shake.

12. The communication device of claim 10 wherein a user can use the browsing to view a contact list and to place a call without touching the communication device or the mobile phone.

13. The communication device of claim 10 wherein key functions of the communication device can be used by the motion sensors via hand/wrist orientation and/or movement wherein the key functions comprise using the display or playing audio, of either state information, or selectable action information, or menu information, or using the communication device as a remote control via one or more infrared proximity sensors for detection of finger movements and the near-field short distance wireless communication chipset.

14. The communication device of claim 10 wherein hand tilt up/down, is used to scroll through next/previous State/Selectable Action/Menu, wherein fingers of the hand are moved from a horizontal position upwards.

15. The communication device of claim 10 wherein hand tilt up/down is used to scroll through next/previous State/Selectable Action/Menu in remote control mode, wherein fingers of the hand are moved from a horizontal position upwards.

16. The communication device of claim 10 wherein hand tilt up/down is used as next/previous selections in remote control mode, wherein the hand is moved from an upward pointing position to a downward pointing position.

17. The communication device of claim 10 wherein hand orientation up/down is used for next/previous page of state/selectable action list/menu list.

18. The communication device of claim 10 wherein hand orientation up/down is used for fast forward/fast backward in remote control mode.

19. The communication device of claim 10 wherein vertical/horizontal hand motion is used to accept/reject current state/selectable action/menu.

20. The communication device of claim 10 wherein vertical/horizontal hand motion is used to play, select stop, and/or exit in remote control mode.

21. The communication device of claim 1 further comprising a vibration motor.

22. The communication device of claim 1 wherein multiple communication devices are synchronized via star or mesh network for multi-point motion sensing.

23. The communication device of claim 22 wherein motion data are tagged with time stamp, sent wirelessly over the near-field short distance wireless communication chipset so that data from multiple communication devices are time synchronized to each other allowing multiple gaming controllers playing one game with audio and vibration feedback to each user in real time and all synchronized to each other.

24. The communication device of claim 1 further comprising one or more infrared proximity sensors for detection of finger movements.

25. The communication device of claim 24 wherein the infrared proximity sensors are worn on the lower side of the arm to follow better movements of the fingers.

26. The communication device of claim 24 wherein the infrared proximity sensors are used for hand gesture input.

27. The communication device of claim 24 wherein the infrared proximity sensors are sensing heat, determining distance and triangulating to determine position.

28. The communication device of claim 27 wherein gaming applications are provided by the infrared proximity sensors.

29. The communication device of claim 1 wherein said motion sensors are used for applications of the wearable communication device simulating drums by coordinating arm motions with drum sounds, wherein different drums, loudness and tones are depending on motion parameters and wherein the sound comes from the communication device itself.

30. The communication device of claim 1 wherein said motion sensors are used for applications of the wearable communication device simulating punch-ups by coordinating punching motions to impact sounds comprising wall, glass break, human screams or locating and punching an opponent and wherein the sound comes from the communication device itself.

31. The communication device of claim 1 wherein said motion sensors are used for applications of the wearable communication device to control gestures or vibration.

32. The communication device of claim 21 wherein the vibrator motor is used for haptic feedback

33. The communication device of claim 32 wherein the vibrator motor is used in combination with the motion sensors to provide force effects.

34. The communication device of claim 1 wherein communication device performs voice recognition.

35. The communication device of claim 34 wherein voice commands are used to generate an action.

36. The communication device of claim 35 wherein voice commands are used to accept or decline phone calls and send the phone call to a voicemail application.

37. The communication device of claim 36 wherein an incoming call first turns on voice recognition and otherwise voice recognition is turned off to save power.

38. The communication device of claim 34 wherein the voice commands are enabled for different languages.

39. The communication device of claim 34 wherein the voice commands allows hands-free operation of the communication device and of the mobile phone.

40. The communication device of claim 34 wherein a list of exemplary actions which can be activated by voice commands comprises read/send/text, make/receive phone calls, read notifications, Internet searches, activating other phone applications, local settings for the phone and the communication device.

41. The communication device of claim 1 wherein sensors are configured so that only that only the sensors and the operations necessary to detect the specific user interface actions are activated at a given state of the device for low power consumption.

42. The communication device of claim 1 wherein a list of parameters that can be adjusted to reduce power consumption comprises sampling rate and resolution of the accelerometer, sampling rate of the gyroscope, sampling rate of the magnetometer, sampling rate, resolution, and vocabulary size of a speakerphone means, transaction intensity, sampling rate, and reception resolution of infrared proximity sensors, and sampling rate and resolution of a touch sensor.

43. The communication device of claim 40 wherein settings of the parameters listed is associated with each state of the communication device so that the power consumption is optimized dynamically with the communication device functions.

44. A method to achieve a wearable communication device configured for gaming applications, to talk and to listen, place and answer calls, send and receive text messages, initiate voice commands to mobile search for information and to find locations, and be notified of incoming calls, texts, and events, all while a smart phone is nearby, comprising the steps of:

(1) deploying a mobile phone within reach of a near-field short distance wireless communication chipset used for communication between the wearable communication device and the mobile phone;

(2) deploying the near-field short distance wireless communication chipset;

(3) deploying motion sensors comprising an accelerometer, a magnetometer, and a gyroscope sensing movements of a user'"'"'s arm or wrist determining velocity, direction and displacement vector in 3-D space which can be used as input selection for an application of the smart phone; and

(4) connecting the mobile phone to the internet via Wi-Fi or to mobile phone networks.

45. The method of claim 44 further comprising configuring the wearable communication device to support watch functions.

46. The method of claim 44 wherein the mobile phone is a smart phone.

47. The method of claim 44 further comprising configuring said motion sensors to be used together with an audio generation for gaming applications.

48. The method of claim 44 further comprising deploying a speakerphone means configured to make and receive phone calls via the mobile phone comprising a microphone and a loudspeaker device and to accept voice commands.

49. The method of claim 44 wherein further comprising configuring said motion sensors to accept or to reject incoming calls by swinging an arm wearing the communication device in a defined direction related to the action desired.

50. The method of claim 44 further comprising configuring said motion sensors to enable browsing through menus using the display and an accelerometer by using movements of an arm wearing the communication device and of a wrist of the arm.

51. The method of claim 50 wherein said browsing through the menu is performed by tilting the communication device up/down/sideways, select by a vertical shake, and exit/reject by a horizontal shake.

52. The method of claim 50 wherein said browsing is used to view a contact list and to place a call without touching the communication device or the mobile phone.

53. The method of claim 50 further comprising configuring said movement sensors to enable using key functions of the communication device in conjunction with hand/wrist orientation and/or movement wherein the key functions comprise using the display or playing audio, of either state information, or selectable action information, or menu information, or using the communication device as a remote control via one or more infrared proximity sensors for detection of finger movements and the near-field short distance wireless communication chipset.

54. The method of claim 50 further comprising using hand tilt up/down to scroll through next/previous State/Selectable Action/Menu, wherein fingers of the hand are moved from a horizontal position upwards.

55. The method of claim 50 further comprising using hand tilt up/down to scroll through next/previous State/Selectable Action/Menu in remote control mode, wherein fingers of the hand are moved from a horizontal position upwards.

56. The method of claim 50 further comprising using hand tilt up/down as next/previous selections in remote control mode, wherein the hand is moved from an upward pointing position to a downward pointing position.

57. The method of claim 50 further comprising using hand orientation up/down for next/previous page of state/selectable action list/menu list.

58. The method of claim 50 further comprising using hand orientation up/down for fast forward/fast backward in remote control mode.

59. The method of claim 50 further comprising using vertical/horizontal hand motion to accept/reject current state/selectable action/menu.

60. The method of claim 50 further comprising using vertical/horizontal hand motion to play, select stop, and/or exit in remote control mode.

61. The method of claim 44 further comprising synchronizing multiple communication devices via star or mesh network for multi-point motion sensing.

62. The method of claim 61 further comprising tagging motion data with time stamp and sending wirelessly over the near-field short distance wireless communication chipset so that data from multiple communication devices are time synchronized to each other allowing multiple gaming controllers playing one game with audio and vibration feedback to each user in real time and all synchronized to each other.

63. The method of claim 44 further comprising deploying one or more infrared proximity sensors for detection of finger movements.

64. The method of claim 63 further comprising wearing the infrared proximity sensors on the lower side of the arm to follow better movements of the fingers.

65. The method of claim 64 further comprising using the infrared proximity sensors for hand gesture input.

66. The method of claim 63 wherein the infrared proximity sensors are sensing heat, determining distance and triangulating to determine position.

67. The method of claim 63 further comprising providing gaming applications by the infrared proximity sensors.

68. The method of claim 44 further comprising using said motion sensors for applications of the wearable communication device simulating drums by coordinating arm motions with drum sounds, wherein different drums, loudness and tones are depending on motion parameters and wherein the sound comes from the communication device itself.

69. The method of claim 44 wherein further providing using said motion sensors for applications of the wearable communication device simulating punch-ups by coordinating punching motions to impact sounds comprising wall, glass break, human screams or locating and punching an opponent and wherein the sound comes from the communication device itself.

70. The method of claim 44 further comprising using said motion sensors for applications of the wearable communication device to control gestures or vibration.

71. The method of claim 44 further comprising using a vibrator motor for haptic feedback

72. The method of claim 68 further comprising using the vibrator motor in combination with the motion sensors to provide force effects.

73. The method of claim 44 further comprising performing voice recognition.

74. The method of claim 73 further comprising using voice commands to generate an action.

75. The method of claim 73 further comprising using voice commands to accept or decline phone calls and to send the phone call to a voicemail application.

76. The method of claim 73 further comprising first turning on an incoming call voice recognition and otherwise turning off voice recognition to save power.

77. The method of claim 73 further comprising enabling the voice commands for different languages.

78. The method of claim 73 further comprising enabling the voice commands to perform hands-free operation of the communication device and of the mobile phone.

79. The method of claim 73 further comprising using a list of exemplary actions which can be activated by voice commands comprising read/send/text, make/receive phone calls, read notifications, internet searches, activating other phone applications, local settings for the phone and the communication device.

80. The method of claim 44 further comprising configuring the sensors so that only that only the sensors and the operations necessary to detect the specific user interface actions are activated at a given state of the device for low power consumption.

81. The method of claim 44 further comprising adjusting a list of parameters to reduce power consumption comprising sampling rate and resolution of the accelerometer, sampling rate of the gyroscope, sampling rate of the magnetometer, sampling rate, resolution, and vocabulary size of the speakerphone means, transaction intensity, sampling rate, and reception resolution of the infrared proximity sensor, and sampling rate and resolution of the touch sensor.

82. The method of claim 81 wherein settings of the parameters listed is associated with each state of the communication device so that the power consumption is optimized dynamically with the communication device functions.