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

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2019000354-A1
Application number	US-201816124055-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 6, 2018
Priority date	Sep 22, 2016
Publication date	Jan 3, 2019
Grant date	—

Abstract

This relates to systems and methods for determining the axial orientation and location of the 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, on 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

1 . A method of determining a performance of a wrist of a user, the method comprising:
determining a tension of the wrist of the user using one or more sensors included in a device; determining a motion of the wrist using one or more of an accelerometer, gyroscopic sensors, and barometric sensors included in the device; simulating the performance of the wrist using the determined tension and the determined motion; analyzing the performance by comparing the simulated performance to one or more stored ideal performances; and providing the simulation and the analysis to the user.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the performance is associated with a sports performance, and the tension of the wrist includes gripping a sports instrument.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the sports performance includes weight training, and the sports instrument includes a dumbbell.

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the one or more sensors include piezoelectric sensors, and the determination of the tension of the wrist includes:
receiving one or more signals in response to a change in properties of one or more materials included in the piezoelectric sensors; and determining a movement 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 determined timing to the determined tension, wherein the simulation further uses the determined 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 determined timing and the determined tension with the determined muscle activity, wherein the simulation further uses the association.

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 determined heart rate with the determined timing and the determined tension.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing suggestions to the user on how to improve the performance of the wrist, wherein the suggestions are based on the analysis.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the motion of the wrist comprises a series of movements corresponding to a specific sports motion, wherein 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 simulation of the performance of the wrist 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 determination 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 determination of the tension of the wrist includes:
sensing one or more changes in capacitance using the capacitance 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, the determination comprising:
activating one or more sensors to detect one or more tendons of the user,
determining a location of the one or more sensors on the device body or on a strap attached to the device body, and
associating the one or more axial orientations to the determination location; and
determining one or more axial locations of the device body, the determination comprising:
detecting a plurality of motions of the wrist of the user,
comparing the detected plurality of motions to one or more stored ranges of motion, and
associating the detected plurality of motions to the one or more axial locations.

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 automatic.

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

• G06F1/163

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

• A63B2230/60

  muscle strain, i.e. measured on the user · CPC title

• A61B5/02416

  using photoplethysmograph signals, e.g. generated by infrared radiation (A61B5/14552 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A63B71/0619

  Displays, user interfaces and indicating devices, specially adapted for sport equipment, e.g. display mounted on treadmills · CPC title

• A63B2071/0663

  worn on the wrist, e.g. wrist bands · CPC title