Light-based shielding detection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10324032-B2
Application number	US-201715845937-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 18, 2017
Priority date	Sep 25, 2015
Publication date	Jun 18, 2019
Grant date	Jun 18, 2019

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a sunscreen detector for use with portable device, such as a mobile and/or wearable device. One variation of a sunscreen detector comprises an illumination system that is configured to illuminate a target skin area with ultraviolet and/or infrared spectrum light and a sensor system that is configured to detect the amount of ultraviolet and/or infrared spectrum light that is reflected from the target skin area. The sunscreen detector is configured to analyze the data collected by the sensor system to generate a notification to the user as to whether they should apply sunscreen.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A device comprising:
a sensor system comprising:
a first sensor configured to detect only ultraviolet (UV) light that has reflected off a user, wherein the UV light includes light having a reflectance in a range of UV wavelengths, and
a second sensor configured to detect only infrared (IR) light that has reflected off the user, wherein the IR light includes light having a reflectance in a range of IR wavelengths,
wherein the sensor system is configured to generate one or more first signals indicative of the detected UV light that has reflected off the user and one or more second signals indicative of the detected IR light that has reflected off the user; and

a controller configured to:
receive the one or more second signals,
compare the one or more second signals to an IR threshold,
receive the one or more first signals,
compare the one or more first signals to a UV threshold, and
in accordance with the one or more second signals being greater than the IR threshold, generate an indication associated with a level of UV light exposure of the user based on the one or more first signals.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are included in a single sensor system, the single sensor system including one or more filters disposed over the sensor system to filter wavelengths outside the range of UV wavelengths, outside the range of IR wavelengths, or both.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to generate an indication associated with measurement conditions based on the one or more second signals.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first sensor is configured to simultaneously sense two different wavelength bands.

5. The device of claim 1 , further comprising a first optic configured to modify one or more properties of light incident on a respective sensor of the sensor system, wherein the one or more properties include at least one of a direction, size, and shape of the incident light.

6. The device of claim 5 , wherein the first optic is configured to form a first field of view, the device further comprising a second optic configured to form a second field of view, the second field of view different from the first field of view.

7. The device of claim 6 , wherein the first and second fields of views are associated with different regions of a skin of the user.

8. The device of claim 1 , further comprising an illumination system including one or more emitters configured to emit UV light, IR light, or both.

9. The device of claim 8 , wherein the one or more emitters are configured to emit light having different UV wavelength bands.

10. The device of claim 1 , further comprising an illumination system including one or more emitters configured to emit visible light at the user.

11. The device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
determine whether UV levels included in the one or more first signals exceeds one or more UV thresholds; and
generate a notification to the user indicative of the determination.

12. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first sensor has a first field of view and the second sensor has a second field of view, and
wherein the first field of view at least partially overlaps with the second field of view.

13. A method for determining an amount of ultraviolet (UV) light exposure to a user, the method comprising:
scanning a skin of the user;
detecting UV light that has reflected off the skin of the user using only one or more first sensors, wherein the UV light includes light having a reflectance in a range of UV wavelengths;
generating one or more first signals indicative of the detected UV light;
detecting IR light that has reflected off the skin of the user using only one or more second sensors, wherein the IR light includes light having a reflectance in a range of IR wavelengths;
generating one or more second signals indicative of the detected IR light;
comparing the one or more second signals to an IR threshold;
comparing the one or more first signals to a UV threshold; and
in accordance with the one or more second signals being greater than the IR threshold, generating an indication associated with a level of UV light exposure of the user using the generated one or more first signals.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
providing an indication to the user when the amount of UV light exposure exceeds the UV threshold value.

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
providing an indication to the user when the amount of IR levels is less than the IR threshold value.

16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising emitting UV light at the skin of the user using one or more first emitters, wherein at least a portion of the detected UV light includes the emitted UV light.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising using the at least portion of the detected UV light to, at least partially, determine one or more baseline reflectance values for a given lighting condition.

18. The method of claim 16 , further comprising emitting IR light at the skin of the user using one or more second emitters, wherein at least a portion of the detected IR light includes the emitted IR light.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the emitted UV light has a UV illumination field and the emitted IR light has an IR illumination field, wherein at least a portion of the UV illumination field and at least a portion of the IR illumination field overlap.

20. The method of claim 13 , further comprising determining whether an environment has elevated UV levels based on the one or more first signals and notifying the user with information associated with the elevated UV levels.

21. The method of claim 13 , further comprising mapping the amount of UV light exposure to multiple regions of the skin of the user and providing the mapped information to the user.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Isikman Serhan O
• Land Brian R
• Klaassen Erno H

Classifications

• A61B5/445

  Evaluating skin irritation or skin trauma, e.g. rash, eczema, wound, bed sore · CPC title

• G01N21/3563

  for analysing solids; Preparation of samples therefor · CPC title

• A61B5/681

  Wristwatch-type devices · CPC title

• G01N2201/0221

  Portable; cableless; compact; hand-held · CPC title

• G01N2021/3181

  using LEDs · CPC title