Patent Application
20130123570
This invention relates to a human-computer interface that may be worn, carried, or otherwise used in physical contact with an individual for sensing information about the individual as well as communicating with the individual in physical and non-physical ways.
Breathing, while often an involuntary act, is known to have beneficial and calming effects on the human body and mind when controlled. Eastern religious and meditative techniques, for example, teach that stowing one's breath has many physical and mental positive effects, such as increased happiness, self-control, and a general sense of calm. These techniques have entered the mainstream due to the popularity of activities such as meditation and yoga. It is also known that individuals may sense subtle physical and biological signals from others in close proximity. For example, two individuals sitting near each other may unintentionally match each other's breathing patterns while engaged in conversation. Meditation leaders sometimes use a method of breathing loudly or in an exaggerated manner to induce people to match the rhythm and shift into another breathing pattern. Matching breathing helps to establish a rapport and emotional connection between people. Studies have shown that someone who has synchronized their breathing with another person causes both people to feel a deeper connection with one another. (Altfeld, Jonathon. Mirroring Breathing for Profound NLP Rapport, Retrieved from http://www.altfeld.com/mastery/geninfo/mirroring-nlp-rapport.html/ on Dec. 14, 2012.) Known meditative techniques, while useful, require an individual to act as the meditation leader, which may not be cost effective.
Touch-based therapies are in the early stages of development for autism, autism like disorders, mood, anxiety and borderline personality disorders. It is believed that these devices can bring relief and assist clinical therapy for mental health by simulating touch through haptic feedback. Visceral or physical interactions with such devices may facilitate therapeutic exchange. The combination of, for example, breathing effects and touch-based effects are evident in the interactions between newborn babies and their mothers. Early research indicates that infants who sleep alone experience more erratic sleeping than do babies who sleep with their mothers (Delp, Valorie. Sharing Sleep With Your Baby, Retrieved from http://www.families.com/blog/co-sleeping-and-safety-debunking-the-myth on Dec. 14, 2012). It is thought that the mother acts as a pacemaker to help regulate an infant's breathing. When in close proximity or physical contact with an infant, it will start to breathe in sync with their mother. Mechanical breathing teddy bears placed next to apnea-prone human newborns replicate the effect of the mother's body and have the effect of reducing infant apneas sometimes by as much as 40-60 percent. In cases of apnea, it is thought that the mother, in effect, “reminds” the baby to breathe. In addition, mothers also tend to regulate their babies temperature and heartbeat when they are in close proximity. (McKenna, James and McDade, Thomas. Why Babies Should Never Sleep Alone, Retrieved from http://cosleeping.nd.edu/assets/31970/mckenna_why_babies_should_n.pdf on Dec. 14, 2012). However, a mechanical/medical teddy bear or other machine therapy may not be useful or appropriate in all circumstances, for example for individuals who are not infants, or in places where such a device is inconvenient or socially inappropriate.
It is also known that there are many health benefits to hugs. Hugs have been shown to reduce heart rates, improve overall mood, lower blood pressure, and increase nerve activity. Research shows that by hugging, we reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol and increase levels of oxytocin, a chemical responsible for feelings of love. (Health Benefits of Hugs. Retrieved from http://ic.steadyhealth.com/health_benefits_of_hugs.html on Dec. 14, 2012). According to some research, a person needs seven hugs a day to be healthy. (Hull, Darlene. Defrazzle with hug therapy. http://www.notjustthekitchen.com/family-relationships/defrazzle-with-hug-therapy/) However, no suitable automatic hugging mechanism for people, containing the features described herein, is known or available.
Companion robots are devices designed to aid, monitor and care for the elderly by helping an individual achieve certain defined medical statistics related to their health and wellness. Companion robots do not communicate their own status to a user, hut merely comfort, serve, survey and medicate. (Dobson, Kelly. Machine Therapy. Aug. 20, 2007. Published as a thesis paper at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, see also US Patent Application 2010/0112537 A1) However, known companion robots do not track the user's current emotional state and do not have the capability to communicate wirelessly or remotely over the Internet. Un-lifelike robots may frequently seem emotionally cold and are for this reason rejected by users, Likewise, very lifelike robots may fall into the “uncanny valley,” whereby their close, but not exact, similarity to a person makes them repulsive to individuals. Companion robots and similar mechanisms are also of interest in rehabilitation, (Patel. S, Park. H, Bonato. P. Chan, L, Rodgers, M, A review of wearable sensors and systems with application in rehabilitation. Journal of Neuroengineering and Rehabilitation 2012. Retrieved from http://www.jneuroengrehab.com/content/9/1/21 on Apr. 20, 2012.)
Several other types of robot-like devices are known but suffer flaws. For example, the Sleep Sheep is a plush toy that produces four soothing sounds, one of which simulates a heartbeat, that is meant to help infants and children fall asleep. (See (http://www.sleepsheepandffiends.com/sheep.html. Retrieved on Dec. 14, 2012). However, the toy only uses sounds to calm a baby; it has no mechanical feature that allows the user to feel the heartbeat. Further, the Sleep Sheep cannot sense and receive biological feedback from the user; it is not wearable; it is incapable of giving ‘hugs’ or otherwise responding with physical communication; it cannot communicate with other devices or send notifications to an individual; and it does not react to petting or stroking.
Perfect Petzzz are stuffed animals that mimic breathing. (See http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=psgNjqCftoU. Retrieved on Dec. 14, 2012.) As toys, Perfect Petzzz are not useful or appropriate for therapeutic relief in all circumstances, for example, when carrying around a stuffed toy is inappropriate. Furthermore, the toys do not sense the user's biological feedback, do not have the capability to mimic heartbeats, are not wearable, are not capable of giving “hugs,” cannot receive data from the cloud or send notifications to the wearer, and do not react to “petting” or stroking.
The Hug Machine, also known as a hug box, a squeeze machine or a squeeze box, is a deep-pressure device designed to calm hyper-sensitive persons, usually individuals with autism disorders. (See Grandin, Temple 1965, European Patent Application EP 1871329 A2.) However, this device does not have the capability to mimic heartbeats or breathing; it is not portable; it cannot sense and receive biological feedback from the user; it cannot receive data from the cloud or send notifications to the wearer. Also, it does not react to “petting” or stroking. Similarly, a device known as the pressure-applying garment for animals (European Patent EP 2442638 A2) is a device placed on an animal used to reduce an animal's anxiety, fearfulness or overexcitement, using flaps or a cinch to apply pressure and reduce the animal's anxiety, fearfulness or overexcitement. The garment is designed only for animals, not humans. Furthermore, it tacks the capability to sense biological feedback from the user, nor does it have a mechanical structure that can imitate the mechanical and physical functions of living organisms. The Snug Vest is an inflatable vest for providing deep pressure therapy. (See http://snugvest.com/products/snug-vest/. Retrieved on Dec. 14, 2012.) However, the Snug Vest does not take into account the user's physiology or current state. It does not have the ability to sense the user's current anxiety/breathing rate. It is thus not modified and tailored for each individual. The user needs to manually indicate the amount of pressure that the vest should apply. There is no automatic tracking mechanism that responds to biological feedback from the body.
The invention described herein is, in certain embodiments, a human-computer interface that that may be worn, carried, or otherwise be in physical contact with an individual for sensing information about the individual as well as communicating with the individual in physical and non-physical ways, Optionally, the Haptic Communicator can be integrated into a backpack and worn by a user. Optionally, the Haptic Communicator can be integrated into other accessories or articles of clothing. Optionally, the Haptic Communicator can be programmed to sense and respond to the individual's own breathing rate, heart rate, or to external information, communication, or signals and to communicate information, including information received over a network, to the user.
In some embodiments, the invention is practiced by an apparatus for haptic feedback. The apparatus includes a wearable article including, without limitation, a backpack, jacket, shirt, vest, or harness. The apparatus further includes a computing device including, without limitation, a microcontroller, cell phone, laptop, desktop computer, tablet computer, or other device capable of computation. The apparatus further includes a haptic stimulator such as, without limitation, a breathing apparatus, a heartbeat apparatus, a hugging apparatus, or a vibrator. The apparatus further includes a sensor, such as, without limitation, a heartbeat sensor, a stroke sensor, a breathing sensor, a temperature sensor, a skin conductivity sensor, a sweat sensor, or any other type of sensor. The sensor and haptic stimulator are incorporated into the wearable article. The sensor and the haptic stimulator are configured to be in communication with a computing device. In some embodiments, the computing device is incorporated into the apparatus. In some embodiments, the computing device is external to the apparatus and the sensor and haptic stimulator are in communication with it. The computing device is configured to receive biometric information from the sensor and actuate the haptic stimulator in response to the biometric information.
In some embodiments, the invention is practiced by methods for providing an apparatus as described herein so as to provide haptic feedback or haptic communication.
In some embodiments, the invention is practiced by an apparatus for haptic communication. The haptic communication apparatus may be a wearable article such as, without limitation, a backpack, jacket, wristband, or any other wearable article. The apparatus includes a sensor such as, without limitation, a stroke sensor, a heartbeat sensor, a breathing sensor, or user buttons that a user may manipulate. The apparatus includes a haptic stimulator such as, without limitation, a heartbeat apparatus, a breathing apparatus, a hugging apparatus, or a vibrator. The sensor is incorporated into the wearable article and configured to sense an intentional physical communication, such as stroking the sensor, and transmit message data to a computing device. The haptic stimulator is incorporated into the wearable article and is configured to receive message data from the computing device and provide haptic stimulation such as, without limitation, hugging the user in response to the message data.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of embodiments, including the preferred embodiment, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which reference designations refer to the same parts throughout the various views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. It will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that these exemplary figures do not limit the invention but rather depict various embodiments of the invention.
Throughout this description examples may be presented. These examples are intended only to illustrate the principles of the invention and do not limit it. In the interest of eliminating unnecessary repetition and elevating substance over form in this written description of the invention, where examples are provided the example will not be repeated for each of the items in a list or category because it will be apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art that the description of the set, list or category provided, alone or in combination with the illustrative example, figures, or other descriptions, describes in sufficient detail, distinctly points out, and enables a person of ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention disclosed herein by generalizing any provided illustrative example across the set of similar items to which the example applies. Indeed, even where no example is provided, such a person of ordinary skill in the art will be able to read this written description and know how to predictably practice any of the multiple aspects or embodiments of this invention. Likewise, the examples presented herein expand on, and are expanded upon by, the descriptions elsewhere in this disclosure and description of the invention. Further, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the various aspects, embodiments and/or features of the invention as disclosed and described herein may be combined to form new or alternative embodiments and that such embodiments are within the bounds of the invention.
The apparatus, systems, and methods of the invention employ one or more computing devices to connect with one or more sensors and/or feedback mechanisms, including haptic feedback mechanisms. Optionally, the feedback mechanisms may simulate breathing-like motions, heart beat-like pulses and sounds and/or hugging-like sensations in an individual. A breathing-like motion can be effectuated. by any structure that allows for inhaling (expanding) and/or exhaling (contracting) movement, such as an expanding or contracting air bladder, a bending and unbending element or a slowly flexing frame. Pulses can be effectuated by any structure that allows for a beat and/or sound, including a vibrating device as are commonly found in cellular phones, an air bladder, two joined air bladders and/or a speaker or subsonic wave generating system. A squeezing and/or hugging sensation can be produced by any structure that allows for a pressure or constriction to be achieved, such as a winding or tensing element, a contracting fiber, an inflatable bladder or other systems.
One of the aspects of the invention is the ability to sense and/or measure various physiological or environmental information. Physiological information which. may be measured by the appropriate sensor(s) includes any information which would be of interest in rehabilitation or emotional communication between machines and humans, including but not limited to heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, blood oxygen saturation, perspiration, stress levels, electro-encephalogram (“EEG”) activity, and muscle activity. Environmental information could include location (from television or cell tower triangulation, GPS, inertial measurement, pedometer, or user input), temperature, ambient air pressure, humidity, ambient light conditions, and other environmental information. Information measured can provide indications of health status and has both diagnostic and therapeutic value. As an example, sensors to monitor vital signs (e.g. heart rate and respiratory rate) can be deployed when monitoring patients with anxiety disorders or autism. Sensors to monitor EEG activity can be deployed when monitoring patients with epileptic disorders. Wireless communication can be used to transmit a patient's data from an embodiment of the invention to a computer or network such as the internet. Likewise, information from the internet, including communications from other individuals, can be communicated through the device(s) embodying the invention to the user. The operation of the device may optionally be dynamically configured white the device is deployed or in operation based on the sensory data received and processed. For example, the sensory data may be used to compute the amount or type of haptic or tactile feedback to provide to the user based on indicated clinical or therapeutic specifications and requirements.
Optionally, any other type of user interface or interfaces could be incorporated into an embodiment of the invention. By way of non-limiting example, these interfaces could include buttons, touchpads, touchscreens, wheels, dials, sliders, switches, toggles and the like. In addition to the other capabilities of the invention, these other interfaces augment the ability of the user to communicate with the device, and through the device, to other individuals.
By alternately increasing and decreasing the pressure on any deformable object, the apparatus moves either in an inhaling and/or exhaling motion or heartbeat-like pulse. Many other devices could be used to create the breathing and/or heartbeat like effects, including vibration devices as are commonly found in cell phone or video game controllers, piezoelectric devices, materials which contract when electricity is applied to them and the like. Optionally, the breathing or heartbeat apparatus may consist of a pump which inflates or deflates the inflatable device described herein. Optionally, the breathing or heartbeat apparatus may consist of a set of one or more valves which control the escape of gas from a compressed source, for example a carbon dioxide cartridge or tank, or another source or pressurized air. Optionally, the breathing or heartbeat apparatus may consist of one or more valves which permit a source of vacuum to deform a flexible structure. Each of these different embodiments, and others which would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, could be used to implement the heartbeat and/or breathing motion device. The breathing or heartbeat apparatus may be connected in various ways to containers, bags, pouches, articles of clothing, or other structures. Optionally, the invention may resemble a functional backpack, a side-curried “messenger-style” bag, bedding, furniture, a small garment worn on the torso of the individual, a jacket or other article of clothing with a pouch or pocket that contains the breathing apparatus, or any other form or structure wearable by a person and/or in contact with that person. For example, it may be incorporated into a backpack, a jacket, a car seat, an office chair, a bar stool, a tabletop, a steering wheel, or any other thing where it would be in contact with a person and could therefore physically and/or emotionally communicate with a that person. In some embodiments, the invention may be incorporated into other types of bags or wearable articles. By way of non-limiting example, the invention could be practiced in the form of a dress, uniform, purse, belt, belt pouch, wallet, bandolier, helmet, or harness. In such embodiments, the various asp-cis and features of the invention, namely the sensors, haptic stimulation apparatus, computing devices, communications devices, and so on may be integrated into any portion of a wearable article or other article in physical contact with the user such that they would be operable, as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. These aspects and features of the invention may be combined with any other aspect of the invention described herein.
In some of the embodiments described and disclosed herein, various aspects of the invention such as a computing device, a haptic stimulator, a communications device, a mobile device, and so on may be described as separate components, though the invention is not so limited. The invention may be practiced by any combination of the various features and aspects of the invention whether they be separate components or combined in any fashion. For example, a device such as a mobile phone may serve as both a computing device and a communications device. Combining one or more of the features and aspects of the invention into one device does not take such a device outside the scope of this invention.
By way of non-limiting example, the computing device 40010 may be programmed to react any time a Twitter message that references the individual's Twitter username and the word “love.” The computing device's reaction may be to cause a breathing, hugging, vibrating, or heartbeat devices to indicate to the user that they have received a message with the word “love” in it by actuating or changing the behavior of the haptic stimulation device including, for example, beating, breathing, vibrating, or hugging, doing one of the aforementioned differently, e.g. slower, faster, in a particular rhythm, pausing, or in any other way configurable by the user or system builder to indicate to the user of the invention that he/she has received such a communication. Reactions could be combined, including without limitation by combining a “hug” with a “shudder,” or a stronger heartbeat with an increased breathing rate. Varying reactions could be configured in response to different information received, for example, the system could react to incoming emails, tweets, blog posts, text messages, Facebook posts, Tweets, or other incoming communications. Various words, phrases, or other logical conditions could trigger an emotional communication from the system. By way of non-limiting example, the phrases “love,” “love you,” “miss you,” “hello,” “hey,” “goodbye,” “help,” “lonely,” “buy,” “sell,” or other phrases could trigger varying responses. Likewise, the system could monitor feeds or websites and notify the user if, for example, the stock market or a particular security was increasing or decreasing or had reached a certain price level. In certain embodiments the computing device 40010 may also be able to receive updated software instructions, or “patches,” through this or another interface. These aspects and features of the invention may be combined with any other aspect of the invention described herein.
Optionally, the computing device may be programmed to turn the motors 50800 at a range of speeds and/or intervals, allowing the breathing-like motion to take place faster or slower. In certain embodiments, the computing device 50010 may also be connected to one or more sensors 50080 including but not limited to force-sensing resistors or other pressure sensors, skin conductivity sensors, temperature sensors, blood oxygen level sensors, blood sugar level sensors, alcohol sensors, or any other type of biometric sensor. The sensors 50080 may be integrated into the devices' structure in a way that they interface with the individual through the clothing of the individual, directly with the skin of an individual, or via another interface device worn by the individual such as a watch, bracelet, ring, patch, armband, or other accessory. The sensor 50080 may optionally capture the breathing motion or pulse of the individual and transmit that information to the computing device 50010. The computing device 50010 may then use any received or recorded information to modify the breathing-like motion of the apparatus, communicate that information to another computing device, store the information, or use it for other purposes as described herein. The computing device 50010 may be programmed to control the motors or actuators in such a way as to respond to any information received, recorded, or sensed. These aspects and features of the invention may be combined with any other aspect of the invention described herein.
As has been described and disclosed herein, the figures, examples and descriptions of the invention as practiced herein are merely exemplary and do not limit the invention. It will be apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art that the invention may be practiced by combining any of the features, embodiments, or other aspects of the invention with any other features, embodiments or other aspects as disclosed herein, or as disclosed in the other references cited herein. All such references are hereby fully incorporated by reference into this application.
Unless specifically stated otherwise herein, it is appreciated that throughout this description, discussions utilizing terms such as “processing” or “computing” or “collecting” or “analyzing” or “calculating” or “determining” or “displaying” or “presenting” or “storing” or “software” or “module” or “subroutine” or “program” or the like, can refer to the action, processes of a data processing system, or similar electronic device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic, magnetic, nuclear or quantum) quantities within the system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the system's memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.
The exemplary embodiments can relate to an apparatus for performing one or more of the functions described herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes, or it may comprise a general-purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a machine (e.g. computer) readable storage medium, such as, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CDROMs and magnetic-optical disks, read only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs) erasable programmable ROMs (EPROMs), electrically erasable programmable ROMs (EEPROMs), flash memory, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each coupled to a bus.
Some exemplary embodiments described herein may be described as software executed on at least one computer, though it is understood that embodiments can be configured in other ways and retain functionality. The embodiments can be implemented on known devices such as a server, a personal computer, a special purpose computer, a programmed microprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral integrated circuit element(s), ASIC or other integrated circuit, a digital signal processor, a hardwired electronic or logic circuit such as a discrete element circuit, a server, a tablet computer, a wireless handheld device, a cell phone or smartphone, a netbook, an electronic flight bag, or the like. Specific devices which might be used as a computing component of the system include iPad, Android, Surface, Kindle or other tablet computers; iPhone, Android or other cellphones or smart-phones; or laptop computers such as those commonly manufactured by Apple, Lenovo, Dell or HP; or microcontrollers such as the Arduino, Beagleboard, or Raspberry Pi. In general, any device or devices capable of implementing the processes described herein can be used to implement the systems and techniques according to this invention.
It is to be appreciated that the various components of the technology can be located at distant portions of a distributed network and/or the Internet, or within a dedicated secure, unsecured and/or encrypted system. Thus, it should be appreciated that the components of the system can be combined into one or more devices or co-located on a particular node of a distributed network, such as a telecommunications network. As will be appreciated from the description, and for reasons of computational efficiency, the components of the system can be arranged at any location within a distributed network without affecting the operation of the system. Moreover, the components could be embedded in a dedicated machine.
Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the various links connecting the elements can be wired or wireless inks, or any combination thereof, or any other known or later developed element(s) that is capable of supplying and/or communicating data to and from the connected elements. For example, the links or networks might be 802.11 Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, 3G, 4G, LTE, satellite network links, fiber optic links, HAM radio, peer-to-peer, mesh network, or any other type of data communications network. it shall be understood that the invention may dynamically update its data and outputs depending on the incoming data and information received from these links or networks. The terms determine, calculate and compute, and variations thereof, as used herein are used interchangeably and include any type of methodology, process, mathematical operation or technique.
The invention described and claimed herein is not to be limited in scope by the specific embodiments herein disclosed since these embodiments are intended as illustrations of several aspects of the invention. Any equivalent embodiments are intended to be within the scope of this invention. Indeed, various modifications of the invention in addition to those shown and described herein will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description. Such modifications are also intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims.
