Modular wearable device for conveying affective state

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10854103-B2
Application number	US-201815905582-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 26, 2018
Priority date	Nov 6, 2014
Publication date	Dec 1, 2020
Grant date	Dec 1, 2020

Abstract

A wearable device conveys information to a user. The device includes a master soft circuit cell and a plurality of actuation soft circuit cells. These cells are physically interconnected to form a garment that is worn by a user and each of these cells includes an electrically non-conductive fabric covering. Each of the actuation cells is electrically connected to and operates under the control of the master cell. The master cell is configured to wirelessly receive actuation instructions and activate a combination of the actuation cells based on the received actuation instructions. Each of the actuation cells is configured to generate a particular actuation that is perceived by one or more senses of the user whenever the actuation cell is activated by the master cell. A system also conveys affective state information to a user.

First claim

Wherefore, what is claimed is:

1. A system for conveying affective state information to a user, comprising:
a computing device; and
a computer program stored on the computing device having program modules executable by the computing device, the computing device being directed by the program modules of the computer program to:
receive quantified self data about the user from one or more sensors,
determine a current affective state of the user from said quantified self data,
generate actuation instructions specifying a set of actuations which distinctly conveys said current affective state to the user, and
transmit said actuation instructions to a wearable device being worn by the user.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein said quantified self data comprises one or more of:
data about a physiology of the user; or
data about activities of the user.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein, whenever the current affective state of the user is stressed said set of actuations comprises a short sequence of vibration pulses followed by removing heat from the body of the user, playing music of a subset of available audio, and applying pressure to the body of the user.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein, whenever the current affective state of the user is sad said set of actuations comprises a short sequence of vibration pulses followed by applying heat to the body of the user, playing music of a subset of the available audio, and displaying a lighting effect.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein, whenever the current affective state of the user is calm said set of actuations comprises a short sequence of vibration pulses.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein, whenever the current affective state of the user is happy said set of actuations comprises a short sequence of vibration pulses followed by playing music of a subset of available audio, and displaying a predetermined type of lighting effect.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein, whenever the current affective state of the user is excited said set of actuations comprises a short sequence of vibration pulses followed by removing heat from the body of the user, playing music of a subset of the available audio, and displaying a predetermined type of lighting effect.

8. A system for conveying affective state information to a user, comprising:
one or more computing devices, said computing devices being in communication with each other via a computer network whenever there is a plurality of computing devices; and
a computer program stored on the computing device having program modules executable by said computing devices, said computing devices being directed by the program modules of the computer program to,
receive quantified self data about the user from another computing device located in the vicinity of the user,
determine a current affective state of the user from said quantified self data,
generate actuation instructions specifying a set of actuations which distinctly conveys said current affective state to the user, and
transmit said actuation instructions to said other computing device.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein, whenever the current affective state of the user is stressed said set of actuations comprises a short sequence of vibration pulses followed by applying heat to the body of the user, playing music of a subset of available audio, and applying pressure to the body of the user.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein, whenever the current affective state of the user is sad said set of actuations comprises a short sequence of vibration pulses followed by applying heat to the body of the user, and playing music of a subset of available audio.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein, whenever the current affective state of the user is calm said set of actuations comprises a short sequence of vibration pulses.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein, whenever the current affective state of the user is happy said set of actuations comprises a short sequence of vibration pulses followed by playing music of a subset of available audio.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein, whenever the current affective state of the user is excited said set of actuations comprises a short sequence of vibration pulses followed by playing music of a subset of available audio.

14. A computer-implemented process for conveying affective state information to a user, the process comprising the actions of:
using one or more computing devices to perform the following process actions, the computing devices being in communication with each other via a computer network whenever a plurality of computing devices is used:
receiving quantified self data about the user from another computing device located in the vicinity of the user,
determining a current affective state of the user from said quantified self data,
generating actuation instructions specifying a set of actuations which distinctly conveys said current affective state to the user, and
transmitting said actuation instructions to said other computing device.

15. The process of claim 14 , wherein said quantified self data comprises one or more of:
data about a physiology of the user; or
data about activities of the user.

16. The process of claim 14 , wherein, whenever the current affective state of the user is stressed said set of actuations comprises a short sequence of vibration pulses followed by removing heat from the body of the user, playing music of a subset of available audio, and applying pressure to the body of the user.

17. The process of claim 14 , wherein, whenever the current affective state of the user is sad said set of actuations comprises a short sequence of vibration pulses followed by applying heat to the body of the user, playing music of a subset of available audio, and displaying a predetermined type of lighting effect.

18. The process of claim 14 , wherein, whenever the current affective state of the user is calm said set of actuations comprises a short sequence of vibration pulses.

19. The process of claim 14 , wherein, whenever the current affective state of the user is happy said set of actuations comprises a short sequence of vibration pulses followed by playing music of a subset of available audio, and displaying a predetermined type of lighting effect.

20. The process of claim 14 , wherein, whenever the current affective state of the user is excited said set of actuations comprises a short sequence of vibration pulses followed by removing heat from the body of the user, playing music of a subset of available audio, and displaying a predetermined type of lighting effect.

21. A system for conveying affective state information, comprising:
a computing device; and
a computer program stored on the computing device having a plurality of sub-programs executable by said computing device, wherein the sub-programs configure said computing device to,
receive quantified self data about a user from one or more sensors,
determine a current affective state of the user from said quantified self data,
generate affective state information which conveys said current affective state to the user, and
output said affective state information.

22. The system of claim 21 , wherein outputting said affective state information comprises outputting the affective state information to the user.

23. The system of claim 21 , wherein outputting said affective state information comprises outputting the affective state information to a computing device.

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• O'Dowd Chris
• Roseway Asta
• Czerwinski Mary
• Morris Meredith
• Williams Michele A

Classifications

• G06F1/163 Primary

  Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt · CPC title

• A41D1/04

  Vests, jerseys, sweaters or the like · CPC title

• G06F3/015 Primary

  Input arrangements based on nervous system activity detection, e.g. brain waves [EEG] detection, electromyograms [EMG] detection, electrodermal response detection · CPC title

• G06F3/011

  Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality (blind teaching G09B21/00) · CPC title

• G06F3/016

  Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user · CPC title