Adjusting alarms based on sleep onset latency

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11109798-B2
Application number	US-202016934983-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 21, 2020
Priority date	Sep 30, 2015
Publication date	Sep 7, 2021
Grant date	Sep 7, 2021

Abstract

In some implementations, a mobile device can adjust an alarm setting based on the sleep onset latency duration detected for a user of the mobile device. For example, sleep onset latency can be the amount of time it takes for the user to fall asleep after the user attempts to go to sleep (e.g., goes to bed). The mobile device can determine when the user intends or attempts to go to sleep based on detected sleep ritual activities. Sleep ritual activities can include those activities a user performs in preparation for sleep. The mobile device can determine when the user is asleep based on detected sleep signals (e.g., biometric data, sounds, etc.). In some implementations, the mobile device can determine recurring patterns of long or short sleep onset latency and present suggestions that might help the user sleep better or feel more rested.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
receiving, by a computing device, indication of a desired sleep duration;
calculating, by the computing device, a suggested time for a user to go to sleep based on a scheduled alarm time, an average intended sleep time, the desired sleep duration, and an average sleep onset latency; and
presenting, by the computing device, a message including the suggested sleep time on a display of the computing device prior to the suggested sleep time.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, by the computing device over a set of previous days, a daily intended sleep time indicating when the user attempted to go to sleep; and
determining, by the computing device, the average intended sleep time for the user based on each of the daily intended sleep times over the set of previous days.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
calculating, by the computing device over the set of previous days, a daily sleep onset latency based on a difference between the daily intended sleep time and a daily actual sleep time; and
calculating, by the computing device, the average sleep onset latency based on each of the daily sleep onset latencies over the set of previous days.

4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
detecting, by the computing device over the set of previous days, pressure applied to a pressure sensor of the computing device at each of the daily intended sleep times; and
determining, by the computing device over the set of previous days, a reduction in an amount of the pressure applied to the pressure sensor indicating the daily actual sleep time.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
presenting, by the computing device, a user interface on a display of the computing device; and
prompting, by the computing device, for entry of the indication of the desired sleep duration.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising receiving, by the computing device, selection of a sleep timer setting via the user interface, the sleep timer setting being a timed sleep setting which sets an alarm timer to the desired sleep duration without consideration of the average sleep onset latency duration.

7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising receiving, by the computing device, selection of a sleep timer setting via the user interface, the sleep timer setting being a timed nap setting which sets an alarm timer to ensure that the desired sleep duration is achieved by considering the average sleep onset latency.

8. A system, comprising:
one or more processors; and
a non-transitory computer-readable medium including one or more sequences of instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause:
receiving, by a computing device, indication of a desired sleep duration;
calculating, by the computing device, a suggested time for a user to go to sleep based on a scheduled alarm time, an average intended sleep time, the desired sleep duration, and an average sleep onset latency; and
presenting, by the computing device, a message including the suggested sleep time on a display of the computing device prior to the suggested sleep time.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the one or more sequences of instructions further cause:
determining, by the computing device over a set of previous days, a daily intended sleep time indicating when the user attempted to go to sleep; and
determining, by the computing device, the average intended sleep time for the user based on each of the daily intended sleep times over the set of previous days.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more sequences of instructions further cause:
calculating, by the computing device over the set of previous days, a daily sleep onset latency based on a difference between the daily intended sleep time and a daily actual sleep time; and
calculating, by the computing device, the average sleep onset latency based on each of the daily sleep onset latencies over the set of previous days.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the one or more sequences of instructions further cause:
detecting, by the computing device over the set of previous days, pressure applied to a pressure sensor of the computing device at each of the daily intended sleep times; and
determining, by the computing device over the set of previous days, a reduction in an amount of the pressure applied to the pressure sensor indicating the daily actual sleep time.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the one or more sequences of instructions further cause:
presenting, by the computing device, a user interface on a display of the computing device; and
prompting, by the computing device, for entry of the indication of the desired sleep duration.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the one or more sequences of instructions further cause receiving, by the computing device, selection of a sleep timer setting via the user interface, the sleep timer setting being a timed sleep setting which sets an alarm timer to the desired sleep duration without consideration of the average sleep onset latency duration.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the one or more sequences of instructions further cause receiving, by the computing device, selection of a sleep timer setting via the user interface, the sleep timer setting being a timed nap setting which sets an alarm timer to ensure that the desired sleep duration is achieved by considering the average sleep onset latency.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium including one or more sequences of instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause:
receiving, by a computing device, indication of a desired sleep duration;
calculating, by the computing device, a suggested time for a user to go to sleep based on a scheduled alarm time, an average intended sleep time, the desired sleep duration, and an average sleep onset latency; and
presenting, by the computing device, a message including the suggested sleep time on a display of the computing device prior to the suggested sleep time.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the one or more sequences of instructions further cause:
determining, by the computing device over a set of previous days, a daily intended sleep time indicating when the user attempted to go to sleep; and
determining, by the computing device, the average intended sleep time for the user based on each of the daily intended sleep times over the set of previous days.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the one or more sequences of instructions further cause:
calculating, by the computing device over the set of previous days, a daily sleep onset latency based on a difference between the daily intended sleep time and a daily actual sleep time; and
calculating, by the computing device, the average sleep onset latency based on each of the daily sleep onset latencies over the set of previous days.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the one or more sequences of instructions further cause:
detecting, by the computing device over the set of previous days, pressure applied to a pressure sensor of the computing device at each of the daily intended sleep times; and
determining, by the computing device over the set of previous days, a reduction in an amount of the pressure applied to the pressure sensor indicating the daily actual sleep time.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the one or more sequences of in

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Raymann Roy J
• Dougherty Wren N
• Nag Divya
• Lambert Deborah M
• Greer Stephanie
• Gruber Thomas R

Classifications

• H04L67/535

  Tracking the activity of the user (network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34) · CPC title

• A61B5/01

  Measuring temperature of body parts {; Diagnostic temperature sensing, e.g. for malignant or inflamed tissue} (clinical contact thermometers G01K13/20) · CPC title

• A61B5/4809 Primary

  Sleep detection, i.e. determining whether a subject is asleep or not · CPC title

• A61B5/0816

  Measuring devices for examining respiratory frequency (measuring frequency of electric signals G01R23/00) · CPC title

• H04W4/70

  Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC] · CPC title