METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR APPLICATION OPTIMIZATION AND COLLABORATION OF WEARABLE DEVICES

• US 20160080888A1
• Filed: 09/11/2014
• Published: 03/17/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Motorola Solutions, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Motorola Solutions, Inc.
• Inventors: Kreitzer, Stuart S., CORRETJER, JESUS F.
• Granted Patent: US 9,467,795 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/385 Transceivers carried on the body, e.g. in helmets
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/26 at least one of which is mobile
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

A method and apparatus associated with one or more wearable devices for a user includes utilizing the one or more wearable devices, for a set of functionality, in a first configuration by the user, wherein the user is in a specific role; communicating data, in a Personal Area Network (PAN), between the one or more wearable devices and between a mobile device associated with the user; and providing information to a recommendation engine, wherein the information is related to the specific role, the set of functionality, and the first configuration.

Claims

1. A method associated with a mobile device and a first set of a plurality of wearable devices to provide a first set of functionality to an identified first type of user in a particular user role, the method comprising:

utilizing the first set of wearable devices in an initial application and configuration state to provide the first set of functionality to the identified first type of user;

communicating data, in a Personal Area Network (PAN), between the first set of wearable devices and the mobile device associated with the user based on the first set of functionality; and

transmitting, to an application and configuration recommendation engine, the identified first type of user, identities of wearable devices in the first set of wearable devices, application information identifying installed applications of the first set of wearable devices providing the first set of functionality, and configuration information identifying customizable device and/or application configurations of the first set of wearable devices.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

removing or adding a particular wearable device to the first set of wearable devices, to form a second set of a plurality of wearable devices; and

automatically adjusting a set of functionality provided by the second set of wearable devices in a second configuration to either avoid duplicative functionality between the added particular wearable device and the remaining wearable devices in the second set of wearable devices or to recover functionality lost by the removing the particular wearable device in the second set of wearable devices.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the automatic adjusting utilizes one or more security rules that are used to override recommendations of wearable device installed applications and customizable device and/or application configurations received from the application and configuration recommendation engine.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting a request for application information and configuration information as a function of the first set of wearable devices and the identified first type of user from the application and configuration recommendation engine;

receiving the recommended application information and configuration information from the application and configuration recommendation engine, wherein the recommended configuration is based on crowd-sourced data of other mobile devices having a substantially identical set of wearable devices and substantially identical identified first type of user.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

displaying the received recommended application information and configuration information and manually configuring the first set of wearable devices based on the received recommended application information and configuration information.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising automatically configuring the first set of wearable devices based on the received recommended application information and configuration information.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first set of wearable devices includes sensors capable of providing duplicative sensor functionality, and the method further comprising:

configuring the first set of wearable devices to avoid the first set of wearable devices providing duplicative sensor functionality; and

sharing sensor information based at least on the avoiding of duplicative sensor functionality over the PAN between the first set of wearable devices and the mobile device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the configuring the first set of wearable devices to avoid the first set of wearable devices providing duplicative sensor functionality is based on crowd-sourced data from the application and configuration recommendation engine and technical data associated with sensors in the first set of wearable devices.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein a particular wearable device of the first set of wearable devices is a wrist worn device, the method further comprising:

detecting a conventional watch using a magnetic sensor of the wrist worn device; and

adjusting a configuration of the wrist worn device based on the detecting to avoid duplicating functionality at the wrist worn device that is already provided by the conventional watch.

10. A cloud-based server operating as an application and configuration recommendation engine for mobile devices, each mobile device associated with a set of wearable devices providing a first set of functionality to a user of a particular user-type, the cloud-based server comprising:

a network interface communicatively coupled to a network;

a processor communicatively coupled to the network interface; and

memory storing instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to;

receive, from each of the mobile devices, identity information comprising an identity of a particular user-type of a user associated with the mobile device, wearable device information identifying wearable devices in a set of wearable devices associated with the mobile device, application information identifying installed applications of the set of wearable devices providing the first set of functionality, and configuration information identifying customizable device and/or application configurations of the set of wearable devices providing the first set of functionality,

store local information including the received identity information, wearable device information, application information, and configuration information associated with each mobile device, and

determine, over all mobile devices having a substantially identical combination of user-type and set of wearable devices, an optimal configuration for each combination of user-type and set of wearable devices based on the stored local information.

11. The cloud-based server of claim 10, wherein the memory storing instructions that, when executed, further cause the processor to:

provide an application to one of the plurality of users, wherein the application is configured to operate on a respective one of the mobile device and/or wearable devices associated with the respective user.

12. The cloud-based server of claim 10, wherein the memory storing instructions that, when executed, further cause the processor to:

continually update the optimal configuration for each of the combinations of user-type and set of wearable devices, based on further application information and configuration information updates received from the mobile devices.

13. The cloud-based server of claim 10, wherein the memory storing instructions that, when executed, further cause the processor to:

receive a request from a particular mobile device for an optimal configuration for a combination of a particular user type and set of wearable devices; and

responsively transmit the determined optimal configuration to the particular mobile device, wherein the optimal configuration is based on crowd-sourced data of other mobile devices having a substantially identical set of wearable devices and substantially identical identified first type of user as the particular mobile device.

14. The cloud-based server of claim 13, wherein the memory storing instructions that, when executed, further cause the processor to:

cause automatic configuration of the wearable devices associated with the particular mobile device based on the transmitted optimal configuration.

15. The cloud-based server of claim 10, wherein the stored configuration information and application information received from each of the mobile devices is anonymized with respect to the plurality of users associated with the mobile devices.

16. The cloud-based server of claim 10, wherein the set of wearable devices are sensors capable of providing duplicative sensor functionality, and wherein the optimal configuration includes configuration of the sensors to avoid duplicative sensor functionality.

17. The cloud-based server of claim 10, wherein the memory storing instructions that, when executed, further cause the processor to:

compare the set of wearable devices with a second set of wearable devices formed by removal or addition of a particular wearable device from the set of wearable devices; and

automatically adjusting a set of functionality provided by the second set of wearable devices in a second configuration to either avoid duplicative functionality between the added particular wearable device and the remaining wearable devices in the second set of wearable devices or to recover functionality lost by the removal of the particular wearable device in the second set of wearable devices.

18. (canceled)

19. (canceled)

20. (canceled)

21. A mobile device communicatively coupled to first set of a plurality of wearable devices to provide a first set of functionality to an identified first type of user in a particular user role, the mobile device comprising:

a Wide Area Network (WAN) and/or a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) wireless interface communicatively coupled to a network;

a Personal Area Network (PAN) wireless interface communicatively coupled to the first set of wearable devices;

a processor communicatively coupled to the PAN wireless interface and the WAN and/or WLAN wireless interface; and

memory storing instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to

form the PAN with the first set of wearable devices via the PAN wireless interface;

operate, via the PAN, the first set of wearable devices in an initial application and configuration state to provide the first set of functionality to the identified first type of user; and

transmit, via the WAN and/or WLAN wireless interface, data to an application and configuration recommendation engine including the identified first type of user, identities of wearable devices in the first set of wearable devices, application information identifying installed applications of the first set of wearable devices providing the first set of functionality, and configuration information identifying customizable device and/or application configurations of the first set of wearable devices.