Interactive Fabric

• US 20170325518A1
• Filed: 05/15/2017
• Published: 11/16/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2016
• Status: Active Application

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Poupyrev, Ivan, Schwesig, Carsten C., Karagozler, Mustafa Emre, Raja, Hakim K., Allmon, David Scott, Pallipuram, Gerard George, Fukuhara, Shiho, Gong, Nan-Wei
• Granted Patent: US 10,285,456 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A41D 1/005 with embedded cable or connector
• CPC Class Codes: D02G 3/12 Threads containing metallic filaments or strips
• CPC Class Codes: D02G 3/36 Cored or coated yarns or threads D02G3/34, D02G3/40 take precedence; elastic yarns or threads D02G3/32
• CPC Class Codes: D02G 3/441 Yarns or threads with antistatic, conductive or radiation-shielding properties electroconductive, anti-static or radiation-shielding filaments D01F1/09, D01F1/106; anti-static fabrics D03D15/533; conducting, insulating or anti-static layers for floor coverings D06N7/0042
• CPC Class Codes: D03D 1/0088 Fabrics having an electronic function
• CPC Class Codes: D10B 2101/20 Metallic fibres
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/163 Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04102 Flexible digitiser, i.e. constructional details for allowing the whole digitising part of a device to be flexed or rolled like a sheet of paper
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/044 by capacitive means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0446 using a grid-like structure of electrodes in at least two directions, e.g. using row and column electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

This document describes techniques using, and objects embodying, an interactive fabric which is configured to sense user interactions in the form of single or multi-touch-input (e.g., gestures). The interactive fabric may be integrated into a wearable interactive garment (e.g., a jacket, shirt, or pants) that is coupled (e.g., via a wired or wireless connection) to a gesture manager. The gesture manager may be implemented at the interactive garment, or remote from the interactive garment, such as at a computing device that is wirelessly paired with the interactive garment and/or at a remote cloud based service. Generally, the gesture manager recognizes user interactions to the interactive fabric, and in response, triggers various different types of functionality, such as answering a phone call, sending a text message, creating a journal entry, and so forth.

Claims

1. An interactive garment comprising:

an interactive fabric comprising a conductive thread integrated into the interactive fabric to form a capacitive touch sensor; and

sensing circuitry coupled to the conductive thread, the sensing circuitry configured to;

detect touch-input to the conductive thread when a user wearing the interactive garment touches the conductive thread;

process the touch-input to provide touch data; and

communicate the touch data to a gesture manager to cause the gesture manager to initiate a functionality associated with the touch-input.

2. The interactive garment as recited in claim 1, further comprising a network interface, and wherein the touch data is communicated over a wireless network, via the network interface, to the gesture manager implemented at a remote computing device.

3. The interactive garment as recited in claim 1, wherein the conductive thread is woven into the interactive fabric.

4. The interactive garment as recited in claim 1, wherein the conductive thread is embroidered onto the interactive fabric.

5. The interactive garment as recited in claim 1, further comprising an output device configured to provide audio, visual, or haptic feedback when the touch-input is detected.

6. The interactive garment as recited in claim 5, wherein the output device comprises one or more of a light source, a speaker, a display, or a vibration component.

7. The interactive garment as recited in claim 1, wherein the gesture manager initiates the functionality based on the touch-input and sensor data received from one or more sensors integrated at the interactive garment or at a computing device coupled to the interactive garment.

8. The interactive garment as recited in claim 1, wherein the sensing circuitry is contained within an internal electronics module that is configured to interface with a removable electronics module.

9. The interactive garment as recited in claim 8, wherein the removable electronics module comprises a microprocessor, a power source, and a network interface.

10. A system comprising:

an interactive garment comprising;

a conductive thread integrated into the interactive garment;

an internal electronics module coupled to the conductive thread, the internal electronics module comprising sensing circuitry configured to detect touch-input to the conductive thread;

an external electronics module comprising one or more electronic components, the external electronics module removably coupled to the interactive garment; and

a communication interface configured to enable communication between the internal electronics module and the external electronics module when the external electronics module is coupled to the interactive garment.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the internal electronics module is permanently coupled to the interactive garment.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the conductive thread is woven into the interactive garment.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the conductive thread is embroidered onto the interactive garment.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the electronic components contained within the external electronics module comprises one or more of a microprocessor, a power source, or a network interface.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the electronic components contained within the external electronics module comprises:

a power source configured to provide power to the sensing circuitry, via the communication interface, to enable the sensing circuitry to detect touch-input to the conductive thread;

a network interface configured to enable communication with a remote computing device; and

a microprocessor configured to receive data representative of the detected touch-input, via the communication interface, and cause communication of the data to the remote computing device via the network interface.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the communication interface comprises a connector, the connector comprising:

a connector plug implemented at the external electronics module; and

a connector receptacle implemented at the interactive garment.

17. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, at a computing device, touch data from an interactive garment worn by a user;

determining, at the computing device, that the touch data corresponds to a request to perform a particular functionality;

performing the functionality.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the computing device is paired with the interactive garment via a wireless connection.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the performing the functionality comprises:

determining, by a gesture manager, a gesture based on the touch data; and

communicating the gesture to an application to cause the application to perform the functionality based on the gesture.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the touch data is generated at the interactive garment in response to a single gesture to the interactive garment, and wherein the functionality is performed without additional user-input other than the single gesture to the interactive garment.