Wearable sends message on fall when worn

• US 9,818,282 B2
• Filed: 09/12/2014
• Issued: 11/14/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Plantronics, Inc.
• Inventors: Burton, Joe, Johnston, Timothy P, Sarkar, Shantanu
• Primary Examiner(s): BLOUNT, ERIC
• Application Number:
  US14/485,509
• Publication Number:
  US 20160078739A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,159 Days
• Field of Search: 3405391-53913
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0446 worn on the body to detect changes of posture, e.g. a fall, inclination, acceleration, gait
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/08 using communication transmission lines G08B13/19658, G08B21/0286, G08B25/016 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/10 using wireless transmission systems G08B25/009 takes precedence

Abstract

Wearable electronic communication devices having corresponding methods and computer-readable media comprise: an accelerometer; a don/doff detector; a transmitter; a processor configured to i) determine whether the wearable electronic communication device has experienced a fall based on information produced by the accelerometer, ii) determine whether the wearable electronic communication device was being worn during the fall based on information produced by the don/doff detector, and iii) cause the transmitter to transmit a message from the wearable electronic communication device responsive to the processor determining both i) the wearable electronic communication device has experienced a fall and ii) the wearable electronic communication device was being worn during the fall.

Claims

1. A wearable electronic communication device comprising:

an accelerometer;

a don/doff detector;

a transmitter;

a processor configured to

i) determine that the wearable electronic communication device has experienced a fall based on information produced by the accelerometer,

ii) in response to determining that the wearable electronic communication device has experienced the fall based on the information produced by the accelerometer, determine that the wearable electronic communication device was being worn during the fall by determining that the wearable electronic communication device was being worn during a first portion of the fall but not being worn during a second portion of the fall based on information produced by the don/doff detector, and

iii) cause the transmitter to transmit a message from the wearable electronic communication device responsive to the processor determining both i) the wearable electronic communication device has experienced the fall and ii) the wearable electronic communication device was being worn during the fall, wherein the message includes information that represents a location.

2. The wearable electronic communication device of claim 1, wherein:

the message is a first message; and

the first message instructs a connected device to transmit a second message.

3. The wearable electronic communication device of claim 1, further comprising:

a memory configured to store a phone number;

wherein the message instructs a connected device to call the phone number.

4. The wearable electronic communication device of claim 1, wherein:

the processor is further configured to determine a severity of the fall based on the information produced by the accelerometer.

5. The wearable electronic communication device of claim 4, wherein:

the transmitter is further configured to transmit the message only responsive to the determined severity of the fall exceeding a threshold severity.

6. The wearable electronic communication device of claim 4, wherein the message includes information representing the severity of the fall.

7. The wearable electronic communication device of claim 1, further comprising:

a biometric sensor;

wherein the message includes information collected by the biometric sensor.

8. The wearable electronic communication device of claim 1:

wherein the processor is further configured to

a) cause the wearable electronic communication device to prompt a user to cancel transmission of the message, and

b) cause the transmitter to transmit the message responsive to the user not cancelling transmission of the message.

9. The wearable electronic communication device of claim 1, wherein the wearable electronic communication device is a headset.

19. The wearable electronic communication device of claim 1, wherein the don/doff detector includes one or more capacitive sensors.

20. The wearable electronic communication device of claim 8, wherein causing the wearable electronic communication device to prompt the user to cancel the transmission of the message includes causing a visual message to be generated on a display of a wirelessly connected device.

10. Computer-readable media embodying instructions executable by a computer in a wearable electronic communication device to perform functions comprising:

determining that the wearable electronic communication device has experienced a fall based on information produced by an accelerometer of the wearable electronic communication device;

in response to determining that the wearable electronic communication device has experienced the fall based on the information produced by the accelerometer, determining that the wearable electronic communication device was being worn during the fall by determining that the wearable electronic communication device was being worn during a first portion of the fall but not being worn during a second portion of the fall based on information produced by a don/doff detector of the wearable electronic communication device; and

causing a transmitter of the wearable electronic communication device to transmit a message from the wearable electronic communication device responsive to determining both i) the wearable electronic communication device has experienced the fall and ii) the wearable electronic communication device was being worn during the fall, wherein the message includes information that represents a location.

11. The computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein:

the message is a first message; and

the first message instructs a connected device to transmit a second message.

12. The computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein the functions further comprise:

storing a phone number in a memory of the wearable electronic communication device;

wherein the message instructs a connected device to call the phone number.

13. The computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein the functions further comprise:

determining a severity of the fall based on the information produced by the accelerometer.

14. The computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the functions further comprise:

transmitting the message only responsive to the determined severity of the fall exceeding a threshold severity.

15. The computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the message includes information representing the severity of the fall.

16. The computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein:

the message includes information collected by a biometric sensor of the wearable electronic communication device.

17. The computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein the functions further comprise:

causing the wearable electronic communication device to prompt a user to cancel transmission of the message, and

causing the transmitter to transmit the message only responsive to the user not cancelling transmission of the message.

18. A method for a wearable electronic communication device, the method comprising:

determining that the wearable electronic communication device has experienced a fall based on information produced by an accelerometer of the wearable electronic communication device;

in response to determining that the wearable electronic communication device has experienced the fall based on the information produced by the accelerometer, determining that the wearable electronic communication device was being worn during the fall by determining that the wearable electronic communication device was being worn during a first portion of the fall but not being worn during a second portion of the fall based on information produced by a don/doff detector of the wearable electronic communication device; and

transmitting a message from the wearable electronic communication device responsive to determining both i) the wearable electronic communication device has experienced the fall and ii) the wearable electronic communication device was being worn during the fall, wherein the message includes information that represents a location.