Systems and methods for determining axial orientation and location of a user's wrist

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11045117-B2
Application number	US-201816124055-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 6, 2018
Priority date	Sep 22, 2016
Publication date	Jun 29, 2021
Grant date	Jun 29, 2021

Abstract

The provided disclosure relates to systems and methods for determining the axial orientation and location of a user's wrist using one or more sensors located on the strap, the device underbody, or both. For example, the strap can include a plurality of elastic sections and a plurality of rigid sections. Each elastic section can include one or more flex sensors. In some examples, one or more electromyography (EMG) sensors can be included to measure the user's electrical signals, and the user's muscle activity can be determined. In some examples, a plurality of strain gauges can be included to generate one or more signals indicative of any changes in shape, size, and/or physical properties of the user's wrist. In some examples, the device can include a plurality of capacitance sensors for increased granularity and/or sensitivity in measuring the amount of tension exerted by the user's wrist.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of determining a performance of a wrist of a user, the method comprising:
measuring a tension of the wrist of the user using one or more sensors included in a device;
measuring a motion of the wrist using one or more of an accelerometer, a gyroscopic sensor, or a barometric sensor included in the device;
determining the performance of the wrist using the measured tension and the measured motion;
determining a type of the performance;
accessing one or more stored performances corresponding to the type of the performance;
analyzing the performance by comparing the performance to the one or more stored performances; and
providing feedback to the user, the feedback generated from analyzing the performance and configured to show differences between the performance and the one or more stored performances.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the performance is associated with an action performed during a sport; and
the tension corresponds to a grip of a sports instrument.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein:
the sports instrument is a dumbbell; and
the action is lifting the dumbbell.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein:
the one or more sensors include piezoelectric sensors; and
measuring the tension of the wrist comprises:
receiving one or more signals in response to a change in properties of one or more materials included in the piezoelectric sensors; and
determining the tension of the wrist based on the one or more signals.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising determining a location of the tension by separately receiving and analyzing each of the one or more signals.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a timing of the motion of the wrist; and
associating the timing to the tension, wherein the feedback incorporates the timing.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
determining a muscle activity associated with the motion using one or more electromyography sensors; and
associating the timing and the tension with the muscle activity, wherein the feedback further incorporates the muscle activity.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
determining a heart rate of the user using one or more optical sensors included in the device; and
associating the heart rate with the timing and the tension.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the feedback includes suggestions on how to improve the performance of the user.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the motion of the wrist comprises a series of movements corresponding to a specific sports motion; and
the specific sports motion includes one or more of swinging a golf club, throwing a football, and lifting a dumbbell.

11. The method of claim 1 , where the feedback includes simulating one or more of an acceleration of the wrist and a trajectory of a sports instrument.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining whether the device is located on a left wrist of the user or a right wrist of the user, wherein the determination of whether the device is located on the left wrist or the right wrist comprises:
associating a range of motion with the left wrist and associating another range of motion with the right wrist; and
determining whether the determined motion of the user matches the range of motion of the left wrist or the another range of motion of the right wrist.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measurement of the tension of the wrist includes:
measuring a change in electrical resistance; and
determining whether the wrist is expanding or contracting based on the change in electrical resistance.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the one or more sensors include capacitance sensors; and
the measurement of the tension of the wrist includes:
sensing one or more changes in capacitance using the one or more sensors; and
determining whether the wrist is expanding or contracting based on the changes in capacitance.

15. A method comprising:
determining one or more axial orientations of a device body on a wrist of a user by activating one or more sensors to measure a tension of the wrist;
determining one or more axial locations of the device body by activating the one or more sensors to measure a motion of the wrist;
determining a performance of the wrist using the one or more axial orientations and the one or more axial locations;
determining a type of the performance;
accessing a stored performance corresponding to the type of the performance;
comparing the performance to the stored performance; and
providing feedback to the user, the feedback generated by comparing the performance to the stored performance and configured to show differences between the performance and the stored.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
determining one or more of a shape and a size of the wrist of the user;
comparing the determined one or more shape and size of the wrist of the user to one or more stored user profiles; and
unlocking the device when the determined one or more shape and size of the wrist of the user match the one or more stored user profiles.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising restoring one or more of calibration settings and preferences unique to the user.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the determining the one or more axial orientations and the determining the one or more axial locations are performed automatically.

19. The method of claim 15 , further comprising detecting a coupling of the device body to the user, wherein the determining the one or more axial orientations and the determining the one or more axial locations are performed in response to the detected coupling.

20. The method of claim 15 , further comprising detecting a change in one or more of the one or more axial orientations and one or more axial locations, wherein the determining the one or more axial orientations and the determining the one or more axial locations are performed when an amount of the detected change is greater than a predetermined amount.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Lor Jason
• Nangia Siddharth

Classifications

• A63B2220/50

  Force related parameters · CPC title

• G06F3/017

  Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures (interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883) · CPC title

• A63B24/0062

  Monitoring athletic performances, e.g. for determining the work of a user on an exercise apparatus, the completed jogging or cycling distance · CPC title

• A61B5/486

  Biofeedback (using electroencephalography [EEG] A61B5/375) · CPC title

• G06F1/163

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