Confirming sleep based on secondary indicia of user activity

• US 10,383,568 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2015
• Issued: 08/20/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Tribble, Guy L., Raymann, Roy J., Dougherty, Wren N., Nag, Divya, Lambert, Deborah M., Greer, Stephanie, Gruber, Thomas R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dougherty, Sean P
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kolderman, Nicholas E
• Application Number:
  US14/871,887
• Publication Number:
  US 20170086732A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,420 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/002 Monitoring the patient using a local or closed circuit, e.g. in a room or building A61B5/0017 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1118 Determining activity level
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4809 Sleep detection, i.e. determining whether a subject is asleep or not
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6803 Head-worn items, e.g. helmets, masks, headphones or goggles
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/681 Wristwatch-type devices
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6898 Portable consumer electronic devices, e.g. music players, telephones, tablet computers
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7221 Determining signal validity, reliability or quality A61B5/7207 and A61B5/7217 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/746 Alarms related to a physiological condition, e.g. details of setting alarm thresholds or avoiding false alarms alarms per se G08B

Abstract

In some implementations, a computing device can confirm a sleep determination for a user based on secondary indicia of user activity. For example, the computing device can be a user'"'"'s primary computing device. The primary device can predict and/or determine when the user is sleeping based on the user'"'"'s use (e.g., primary indicia), or lack of use, of the primary device. After the primary device determines that the user is sleeping, the primary device can confirm that the user is asleep based on secondary indicia of user activity. In some implementations, the secondary indicia can include user activity reported to the primary computing device by other secondary computing devices (e.g., a second user device, a household appliance, etc.). In some implementations, the secondary indicia can include user activity detected by sensors of the primary computing device (e.g., sound, light, movement, etc.).

Claims

1. A method for providing a sleep determination for a user with a first computing device programmed to perform the method, comprising:

provisionally determining, by the first computing device, that the user of the first computing device is sleeping based on data indicating that the user is not currently using the first computing device to provide a provisional determination that the user is sleeping;

receiving, by the first computing device, a communication from a second device indicating that conscious human activity is being performed with respect to the second device that is unrelated to the first computing device, wherein the communication includes a second identifier that identifies a user account corresponding to an operator of the second device;

comparing, by the first computing device, the second identifier received from the second computing device to a first identifier that identifies a user account corresponding to the user of the first computing device;

determining, by the first computing device, whether the conscious human activity is being performed by the user of the first computing device based on the comparison of the first identifier and the second identifier; and

revising, by the first computing device, the provisional determination that the user is sleeping to indicate that the user is awake in response to a determination that the conscious human activity is being performed by the user of the first computing device in order to provide a more accurate sleep determination for the user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

confirming, by the first computing device, that the user is sleeping in response to a determination that the conscious human activity is being performed by someone other than the user of the first computing device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting, by the first computing device, sounds generated by second conscious human activity;

determining, by the first computing device, that the detected sounds correspond to the user of the first computing device; and

determining, by the first computing device, that the second conscious human activity is being performed by the user of the first computing device in response to a determination that the detected sounds correspond to the user of the first computing device.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting, by the first computing device, sounds generated by second conscious human activity;

determining, by the first computing device, that the detected sounds are inconsistent with sounds associated with the user of the first computing device; and

determining, by the first computing device, that the second conscious human activity is being performed by someone other than the user of the first computing device in response to a determination that the detected sounds are inconsistent with sounds associated with the user of the first computing device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting, by the first computing device, sleep sounds generated by unconscious human activity;

determining, by the first computing device, whether the sleep sounds are being performed by the user of the first computing device; and

maintaining, by the first computing device, the provisional determination that the user is sleeping in response to a determination that the sleep sounds are being performed by the user of the first computing device.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining that the second device is a personal device of the user of the first computing device, and

wherein the determining whether the conscious human activity is being performed by the user of the first computing device further comprises determining, by the first computing device, that the conscious human activity is being performed by the user of the first computing device in response to the second device being the personal device of the user.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication from the second device further indicates that the conscious human activity is being performed with respect to a third device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the conscious human activity is positioning of the second device within communications range of the third device.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium including one or more sequences of instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes:

provisionally determining, by a first computing device, that a user of the first computing device is sleeping based on data indicating that the user is not currently using the first computing device to provide a provisional determination that the user is sleeping;

receiving, by the first computing device, a communication from a second device indicating that conscious human activity is being performed with respect to the second device that is unrelated to the first computing device, wherein the communication includes a second identifier that identifies a user account corresponding to an operator of the second device;

comparing, by the first computing device, the second identifier received from the second computing device to a first identifier that identifies a user account corresponding to the user of the first computing device;

determining, by the first computing device, whether the conscious human activity is being performed by the user of the first computing device based on the comparison of the first identifier and the second identifier; and

revising, by the first computing device, the provisional determination that the user is sleeping to indicate that the user is awake in response to a determination that the conscious human activity is being performed by the user of the first computing device in order to provide a more accurate sleep determination for the user.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the instructions cause:

confirming, by the first computing device, that the user is sleeping in response to a determination that the conscious human activity is being performed by someone other than the user of the first computing device.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the instructions cause:

detecting, by the first computing device, sounds generated by second conscious human activity;

determining, by the first computing device, that the detected sounds correspond to the user of the first computing device; and

determining, by the first computing device, that the second conscious human activity is being performed by the user of the first computing device in response to a determination that the detected sounds correspond to the user of the first computing device.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the instructions cause:

detecting, by the first computing device, sounds generated by second conscious human activity;

determining, by the first computing device, that the detected sounds are inconsistent with sounds associated with the user of the first computing device; and

determining, by the first computing device, that the second conscious human activity is being performed by someone other than the user of the first computing device in response to a determination that the detected sounds are inconsistent with sounds associated with the user of the first computing device.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the instructions cause:

detecting, by the first computing device, sleep sounds generated by unconscious human activity;

determining, by the first computing device, whether the sleep sounds are being performed by the user of the first computing device; and

maintaining, by the first computing device, the provisional determination that the user is sleeping in response to a determination that the sleep sounds are being performed by the user of the first computing device.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the instructions cause:

determining that the second device is a personal device of the user of the first computing device, and

wherein the determining whether the conscious human activity is being performed by the user of the first computing device further comprises determining, by the first computing device, that the conscious human activity is being performed by the user of the first computing device in response to the second device being the personal device of the user.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the communication from the second device further indicates that the conscious human activity is being performed with respect to a third device.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the conscious human activity is positioning of the second device within communications range of the third device.

17. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium including one or more sequences of instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, causes;

provisionally determining, by a first computing device, that a user of the first computing device is sleeping based on data indicating that the user is not currently using the first computing device to provide a provisional determination that the user is sleeping;

receiving, by the first computing device, a communication from a second device indicating that conscious human activity is being performed with respect to the second device that is unrelated to the first computing device, wherein the communication includes a second identifier that identifies a user account corresponding to an operator of the second device;

comparing, by the first computing device, the second identifier received from the second computing device to a first identifier that identifies a user account corresponding to the user of the first computing device;

determining, by the first computing device, whether the conscious human activity is being performed by the user of the first computing device based on the comparison of the first identifier and the second identifier; and

revising, by the first computing device, the provisional determination that the user is sleeping to indicate that the user is awake in response to a determination that the conscious human activity is being performed by the user of the first computing device in order to provide a more accurate sleep determination for the user.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the instructions cause:

confirming, by the first computing device, that the user is sleeping in response to a determination that the conscious human activity is being performed by someone other than the user of the first computing device.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the instructions cause:

detecting, by the first computing device, sounds generated by second conscious human activity;

determining, by the first computing device, that the detected sounds correspond to the user of the first computing device; and

determining, by the first computing device, that the second conscious human activity is being performed by the user of the first computing device in response to a determination that the detected sounds correspond to the user of the first computing device.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the instructions cause:

detecting, by the first computing device, sounds generated by second conscious human activity;

determining, by the first computing device, that the detected sounds are inconsistent with sounds associated with the user of the first computing device; and

determining, by the first computing device, that the second conscious human activity is being performed by someone other than the user of the first computing device in response to a determination that the detected sounds are inconsistent with sounds associated with the user of the first computing device.

21. The system of claim 17, wherein the instructions cause:

detecting, by the first computing device, sleep sounds generated by unconscious human activity;

determining, by the first computing device, whether the sleep sounds are being performed by the user of the first computing device; and

maintaining, by the first computing device, the provisional determination that the user is sleeping in response to a determination that the sleep sounds are being performed by the user of the first computing device.

22. The system of claim 17, wherein the instructions cause:

determining that the second device is a personal device of the user of the first computing device, and

wherein the determining whether the conscious human activity is being performed by the user of the first computing device further comprises determining, by the first computing device, that the conscious human activity is being performed by the user of the first computing device in response to the second device being the personal device of the user.

23. The system of claim 17, wherein the communication from the second device further indicates that the conscious human activity is being performed with respect to a third device.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the conscious human activity is positioning of the second device within communications range of the third device.