Wearable device

• US 8,581,700 B2
• Filed: 02/21/2007
• Issued: 11/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kawamura, Takashi, Misaki, Masayuki, Kawanishi, Ryouichi, Yamauchi, Masaki
• Primary Examiner(s): Bugg, George
• Assistant Examiner(s): OBINIYI, PAULSON IDOWU
• Application Number:
  US12/279,011
• Publication Number:
  US 20090058611A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,456 Days
• Field of Search: 340/7.57, 340/10.2, 340/10.1, 340/12.23, 340/539.11, 340/573.1, 340/8.1, 340/12.24, 345/327, 345/376, 345/378, 345/2.1, 381/315, 381/327, 381/376, 381/378
• US Class Current: 340/10.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41407 embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42203 sound input device, e.g. microphone
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4223 Cameras H04N23/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/185 from a mobile camera, e.g. for remote control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds

Abstract

A wearable device is worn by a person participating in an event in which a plurality of other people are participating and wearing other wearable devices. The wearable device includes a request unit for transmitting a request signal to other wearable devices that are in a predetermined range, and receiving a response to the request signal from each of the other wearable devices, and a communication unit for determining, with use of the received responses, one or more of the other wearable devices to be a communication partner, and performing data communication with the determined one or more other wearable devices. The data received in the communication is data collected by the one or more other wearable devices determined to be communication partners, and the data is used as a profile component when creating a profile of the event.

Claims

1. A wearable device comprising:

a same conversation group detection unit operable to request that each of a plurality of other wearable devices transmit a response including first audio information acquired by the other wearable devices;

a communication unit operable to receive the responses from the plurality of other wearable devices; and

an overlap rate calculation unit operable to calculate an overlap rate between (i) an utterance interval in second audio information acquired by said wearable device at the same time and location the first audio information is acquired by the other wearable devices and (ii) an utterance interval in the first audio information acquired by each of the other wearable devices and received by said communication unit, wherein

said same conversation group detection unit is further operable to detect, from among the plurality of other wearable devices, a group-participant wearable device of the plurality of other wearable devices that belongs to a same conversation group as said wearable device, by using at least the calculated overlap rates.

2. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein

the same conversation group detection unit detects, as the group-participant wearable device in the same conversation group, the group-participant wearable device for which the overlap rate pertaining thereto is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold value.

3. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein,

one or more of the utterance intervals in the first audio information include an interjectory response, which is an utterance interval portion in which a vowel sound continues for a predetermined time period, and

the overlap rate calculation unit excludes the one or more utterance intervals including the interjectory response when calculating the overlap rates.

4. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein

each of the responses further includes location information,

said wearable device further comprises:

a distance calculation unit operable to calculate a distance between said wearable device and each of the other wearable devices with use of own location information of the wearable device and the location information received from the other wearable devices by said communication unit, and

said same conversation group detection unit detects the other wearable device that belongs to the same conversation group further with use of the calculated distances.

5. The wearable device of claim 4, wherein

said same conversation group detection unit detects, as the group-participant wearable device in the same conversation group, the group-participant wearable device for which at least the overlap rate pertaining thereto is less than or equal to a first threshold value, and furthermore the distance pertaining thereto is less than or equal to a second threshold value.

6. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein

said same conversation group detection unit is further operable to compare (i) audio of a wearer of said wearable device included in the second audio information acquired by said wearable device and (ii) environmental audio included in the second audio information acquired by said wearable device, and

said same conversation group detection unit detects the group-participant wearable device that belongs to the same conversation group further with use of a result of the comparison.

7. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein

said same conversation group detection unit is further operable to compare (i) environmental audio included in the second audio information acquired by said wearable device and (ii) environmental audio included in the first audio information of each response received by said communication unit, and

said same conversation group detection unit detects the group-participant wearable device that belongs to the same conversation group further with use of a result of the comparison.

8. The wearable device of claim 4, wherein

each of the responses further includes first orientation information,

said wearable device further comprises:

an orientation change amount calculation unit operable to calculate an orientation change amount of said wearable device and each of the other wearable devices with use of second orientation information of said wearable device and the first orientation information included in the responses received from the other wearable devices, and

said same conversation group detection unit detects the other wearable that belongs to the same conversation group further with use of the calculated orientation change amounts.

9. The wearable device of claim 8, wherein

said same conversation group detection unit detects, as the group-participant wearable device in the same conversation group, the group-participant wearable device for which (i) the overlap rate pertaining thereto is less than or equal to a first threshold value, (ii) the distance pertaining thereto is less than or equal to a second threshold value, and (iii) a difference between the orientation change amount of said wearable device and the orientation change amount of the group-participant wearable device targeted for detection is in a predetermined range.

10. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein

data that has been acquired by the other wearable devices is used as components for a profile.

11. The wearable device of claim 10, wherein

said wearable device creates the profile, and

said communication unit is further operable to transmit the created profile to the other wearable devices.

12. The wearable device of claim 10, wherein

the data includes image data and/or audio data.

13. The wearable device of claim 10, further comprising:

a recording unit operable to record the data.

14. A method used by a wearable device, comprising the steps of:

requesting that each of a plurality of other wearable devices transmit a response including first audio information acquired by the other wearable devices;

receiving the responses from the plurality of other wearable devices; and

calculating an overlap rate between (i) an utterance interval in second audio information acquired by the wearable device at the same time and location the first audio information is acquired by the other wearable devices and (ii) an utterance interval in the first audio information acquired and received by each of the other wearable devices, wherein

with use of at least the calculated overlap rates, a group-participant wearable device that belongs to a same conversation group as the wearable device is detected from among the plurality of other wearable devices.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having recorded thereon a program that is used by a wearable device and is for causing a computer to execute the steps of:

requesting each of a plurality of other wearable devices to transmit a response including first audio information acquired by the other wearable devices;

receiving the responses from the plurality of other wearable devices; and

calculating an overlap rate between (i) an utterance interval in second audio information acquired by the wearable device at the same time and location the first audio information is acquired by the other wearable devices and (ii) an utterance interval in the first audio information acquired and received by each of the wearable devices, wherein

with use of at least the calculated overlap rates, a group-participant wearable device that belongs to a same conversation group as the wearable device is detected from among the plurality of other wearable devices.

16. A server apparatus that performs communication with a plurality of wearable devices, the server apparatus comprising:

a communication unit operable to receive information including audio information from each of the wearable devices; and

a conversation group detection unit operable to calculate overlap rates between (i) an utterance interval in first audio information acquired by a first one of the wearable devices and (ii) an utterance interval in second audio information acquired by other wearable devices at the same time and location as the first audio information is acquired by the first one of the wearable devices, and detect a plurality of conversation groups with use of the calculated overlap rates.

17. The server apparatus of claim 16, wherein

the information received from each of the wearable devices further includes location information,

said conversation group detection unit includes,

a clustering subunit operable to, when the conversation group detection unit is detecting a plurality of conversation groups, divide the plurality of wearable devices into a predetermined number of clusters with use of the location information received from each of the wearable devices,

an utterance information generation subunit operable to generate utterance information for each speaker in each of the conversation groups, and

a compatibility rate calculation subunit operable to calculate a conversation group compatibility rate with use of the generated utterance information, and

in each of the clusters, if a wearable device does not belong to any of the conversation groups, said conversation group detection unit determines to which conversation group said wearable device should belong, with use of the calculated conversation group compatibility rate.