Multi-segment wearable accessory

• US 9,696,690 B2
• Filed: 08/20/2012
• Issued: 07/04/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Nguyen, David H., Lyons, Kenton M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chauhan, Ulka
• Assistant Examiner(s): Yoon, Sae Won
• Application Number:
  US13/589,830
• Publication Number:
  US 20130271495A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,779 Days
• Field of Search: 345649
• CPC Class Codes: G04G 17/083 Watches distributed over several housings
• CPC Class Codes: G04G 21/02 Detectors of external physical values, e.g. temperature
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/163 Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1641 the display being formed by a plurality of foldable display components G06F1/1647 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1647 including at least an additional display G06F1/1692 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1649 the additional display being independently orientable, e.g. for presenting information to a second user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1692 the I/O peripheral being a secondary touch screen used as control interface, e.g. virtual buttons or sliders
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1637 Sensing arrangement for detection of housing movement or orientation, e.g. for controlling scrolling or cursor movement on the display of an handheld computer
• 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: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1423 controlling a plurality of local displays, e.g. CRT and flat panel display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1446 display composed of modules, e.g. video walls
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2354/00 Aspects of interface with display user
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2356/00 Detection of the display position w.r.t. other display screens
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2380/02 Flexible displays
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0206 Portable telephones comprising a plurality of mechanically joined movable body parts, e.g. hinged housings
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0247 comprising more than two body parts
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/16 : including more than one display unit
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 : including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector digitizers for touch screens G06F3/041

Abstract

A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided to facilitate the use of a multi-segment wearable accessory. In this regard, methods, apparatus and computer program products are provided for controlling and, in some instances, interacting with a multi-segment wearable accessory. Each screen presented on or capable of being presented on the display of a segment of the multi-segment wearable accessory may be considered a virtual segment, and the number of virtual segments may be greater than the number of physical segments of the accessory. One or more of the virtual segments may be associated with one or more of the segments in an overlaid configuration, such that a topmost virtual segment is presented for viewing while another virtual segment lies below the topmost virtual segment, hidden from the user'"'"'s view. A virtual segment may be replaced with presentation of another virtual segment in response to rotation of the accessory.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to at least:

associate a first virtual segment with a physical segment of a multi-segment wearable accessory, wherein the multi-segment wearable accessory comprises a plurality of links connected to one another and the physical segment is one of a plurality of physical segments supported by the links, and wherein the first virtual segment is an arrangement of first content configured to be presented on a display of the physical segment;

associate a second virtual segment with the same physical segment of the multi-segment wearable accessory that is associated with the first virtual segment, wherein the second virtual segment is an arrangement of second content configured to be presented on the display of the physical segment, wherein the display of the physical segment is configured to present only one of the first or second virtual segments at a given time, such that the first and second virtual segments are alternately presentable on the display of the same physical segment;

cause only one of the virtual segments to be presented on the display of the physical segment, such that the other virtual segment is unpresented; and

in response to rotation of the multi-segment wearable accessory, determine whether to replace the virtual segment being presented with presentation of the other virtual segment, such that the virtual segment that was previously presented on the display of the physical segment becomes unpresented and the other virtual segment that was unpresented becomes presented to allow a user to view a total number of virtual segments that is greater than a total number of physical segments of the multi-segment wearable accessory.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to determine whether to replace the virtual segment being presented with the presentation of the other virtual segment based at least partially on a location of the display of the physical segment with respect to a user'"'"'s line of sight.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to cause the virtual segment being presented to be replaced with the presentation of the other virtual segment in an instance in which the display of the physical segment is outside the user'"'"'s line of sight with respect to displays of other physical segments of the multi-segment wearable accessory.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to detect rotation of the multi-segment wearable accessory via an inertial measurement unit (IMU).

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to associate additional virtual segments with additional physical segments of the multi-segment wearable accessory, such that each virtual segment being presented on a display of a respective physical segment is sequentially replaced with presentation of another virtual segment associated with the same respective physical segment.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to present virtual segments such that virtual segments being presented on displays of adjacent physical segments provide a user with continuous scrolling of content.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the processor, further cause the apparatus to, in response to rotation of the multi-segment wearable accessory, determine whether to power down the display of the physical segment.

8. A method comprising:

associating a first virtual segment with a physical segment of a multi-segment wearable accessory, wherein the multi-segment wearable accessory comprises a plurality of links connected to one another and the physical segment is one of a plurality of physical segments supported by the links, and wherein the first virtual segment is an arrangement of first content configured to be presented on a display of the physical segment;

associating a second virtual segment with the same physical segment of the multi-segment wearable accessory that is associated with the first virtual segment, wherein the second virtual segment is an arrangement of second content configured to be presented on the display of the physical segment, wherein the display of the physical segment is configured to present only one of the first or second virtual segments at a given time, such that the first and second virtual segments are alternately presentable on the display of the same physical segment;

causing only one of the virtual segments to be presented on the display of the physical segment, such that the other virtual segment is unpresented; and

in response to rotation of the multi-segment wearable accessory, determining whether to replace the virtual segment being presented with presentation of the other virtual segment, such that the virtual segment that was previously presented on the display of the physical segment becomes unpresented and the other virtual segment that was unpresented becomes presented to allow a user to view a total number of virtual segments that is greater than a total number of physical segments of the multi-segment wearable accessory.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein determining whether to replace the virtual segment being presented with the presentation of the other virtual segment is based at least partially on a location of the display of the physical segment with respect to a user'"'"'s line of sight.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein causing the virtual segment being presented to be replaced with the presentation of the other virtual segment occurs in an instance in which the display of the physical segment is outside the user'"'"'s line of sight with respect to displays of other physical segments of the multi-segment wearable accessory.

11. The method of claim 8 further comprising associating additional virtual segments with additional physical segments of the multi-segment wearable accessory, such that each virtual segment being presented on a display of a respective physical segment is sequentially replaced with presentation of another virtual segment associated with the same respective physical segment.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein virtual segments being presented on displays of adjacent physical segments provide a user with continuous scrolling of content.

13. The method of claim 8 further comprising, in response to rotation of the multi-segment wearable accessory, determining whether to power down the display of the physical segment.

14. A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable program code portions stored therein, the computer-executable program code portions comprising program code instructions for:

associating a first virtual segment with a physical segment of a multi-segment wearable accessory, wherein the multi-segment wearable accessory comprises a plurality of links connected to one another and the physical segment is one of a plurality of physical segments supported by the links, and wherein the first virtual segment is an arrangement of first content configured to be presented on a display of the physical segment;

associating a second virtual segment with the same physical segment of the multi-segment wearable accessory that is associated with the first virtual segment, wherein the second virtual segment is an arrangement of second content configured to be presented on the display of the physical segment, wherein the display of the physical segment is configured to present only one of the first or second associated virtual segments at a given time, such that the first and second associated virtual segments are alternately presentable on the display of the same physcal segment;

causing only one of the associated virtual segments to be presented on the display of the physical segment, such that the other associated virtual segment is unpresented; and

in response to rotation of the multi-segment wearable accessory, determining whether to replace the associated virtual segment being presented with presentation of the other associated virtual segment, such that the associated virtual segment that was previously presented on the display of the physical segment becomes unpresented and the other associated virtual segment that was unpresented becomes presented to allow a user to view a total number of virtual segments that is greater than a total number of physical segments of the multi-segment wearable accessory.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein determining whether to replace the virtual segment being presented with the presentation of the other virtual segment is based at least partially on a location of the display of the physical segment with respect to a user'"'"'s line of sight.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein causing the virtual segment being presented to be replaced with the presentation of the other virtual segment occurs in an instance in which the display of the physical segment is outside the user'"'"'s line of sight with respect to displays of other physical segments of the multi-segment wearable accessory.

17. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the program code instructions are further configured for detecting rotation of the multi-segment wearable accessory via an inertial measurement unit (IMU).

18. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the program code instructions are further configured for associating additional virtual segments with additional physical segments of the multi-segment wearable accessory, such that each virtual segment being presented on a display of a respective physical segment is sequentially replaced with presentation of another virtual segment associated with the same respective physical segment.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein virtual segments being presented on displays of adjacent physical segments provide a user with continuous scrolling of content.

20. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the program code instructions are further configured for, in response to rotation of the multi-segment wearable accessory, determining whether to power down the display of the physical segment.