Patent Application
20140018058
The present disclosure generally relates to electronic devices.
Electronic devices such as mobile phones, for example, are capable of exhibiting various modes of operations. Each mode typically is associated with a different user interface that is often provided by an application. By way of example, a smartphone may exhibit a mode associated with the playing of music that displays information about a song that is being played. In another mode, the smartphone may display a map corresponding to the location of the smartphone. Unfortunately, each of the modes is initiated in response to user activation of the associated application.
Systems and methods with device interaction are provided. Briefly described, one embodiment, among others, is a system for interacting with a secondary device comprising: an electronic device selectively operative in a first mode and a second mode, the electronic device having a device detection system operative to detect presence of the secondary device and a mode selection system operative to automatically alter operation of the electronic device from the first mode to the second mode based, at least in part, on the detected presence of the secondary device.
Another embodiment is a method for interacting with a secondary device comprising: operating an electronic device in a first mode, in which a first user interface is displayed; detecting, at the electronic device, presence of the secondary device; and automatically altering operation of the electronic device to a second mode based, at least in part, on the detected presence of the secondary device such that a second user interface is displayed.
Another embodiment is a method for interacting with a secondary device comprising: operating an electronic device in a first mode; detecting, at the electronic device, presence of the secondary device; and automatically altering operation of the electronic device to a second mode based, at least in part, on the detected presence of the secondary device.
Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will be or may become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the present disclosure, and be protected by the accompanying claims.
Many aspects of the disclosure may be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
Having summarized various aspects of the present disclosure, reference will now be made in detail to that which is illustrated in the drawings. While the disclosure will be described in connection with these drawings, there is no intent to limit the scope of legal protection to the embodiment or embodiments disclosed herein. Rather, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents included within the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims.
In this regard, systems and methods involving device interaction are provided. In some embodiments, a secondary device (i.e., an inanimate object) provides a stimulus for altering the mode of operation of an electronic device. This may be accomplished by the secondary device communicating information to the electronic device that informs the electronic device of its presence. Responsive to the information, the electronic device may alter a current mode of operation. In some embodiments, the mode of operation of the electronic device may be altered to complement functionality provided by the device. For instance, the secondary device may be a bicycle and the mode of the electronic device may be altered to display a moving map function, which may be desirable to a user of the bicycle. In some embodiments, the altered mode may be one that is previously selected by the user as being associated with the secondary device.
In operation, the secondary device provides device information 110, which is input to device detection system 106. The device detection system interprets the device information and may interact with the mode selection system to facilitate altering a mode of operation of the electronic device. In this embodiment, the device detection system attempts to identify attributes of the secondary device from the device information so enable selection of an appropriate mode of operation of the electronic device.
Responsive to information provided by the device detection system, the mode selection system may alter the mode of operation of the electronic device. In some embodiments, this may involve launching of an application that may be intuitively associated with the device. For instance, if the secondary device is a skateboard, the mode selection system may launch a music player application so that the user may listen to music while skateboarding. Additionally, or alternatively, the new mode may have a simplified User Interface (UI) that is optimized for use while on a skateboard. Moreover, in some embodiments, an application that is to be launched may be predetermined by user.
In this embodiment, the generator converts a mechanical input (e.g., pedaling) provided by a user of the secondary device to electricity (e.g., 5.5V). For instance, a rotor of the generator may be mechanically coupled to rotating component of the secondary device (e.g., an axle).
The electricity is routed to the transmitter, which transmits the device information. It should be noted that the transmitter may be configured for transmitting the device information in various manners. In this embodiment, the transmitter is a Bluetooth transmitter. In other embodiments, the transmitter may support NFC, WiFi, Ethernet and/or other transmission protocols.
The electronic device incorporates a receiver 142, a device detection system 144 and a mode selection system 146. The receiver, which is a Bluetooth receiver in this embodiment, is operative to receive device information 138. The device detection system interprets the device information and may interact with the mode selection system to facilitate altering a mode of operation of the electronic device. Notably, the device information in this embodiment uniquely identifies the secondary device (e.g., type, style and possibly Bluetooth ID or serial number). As such, the device detection system associates the identified secondary device with an appropriate mode of operation of the electronic device. In some embodiments, the secondary device 102 and the electronic device 104 may be paired for further communication or integration. Notably, the pairing may be initiated by the secondary device 102 or the electronic device 104.
Responsive to information provided by the device detection system, the mode selection system may alter the mode of operation of the electronic device. Notably, in some embodiments, it may be inappropriate to alter the current mode of operation, such as when the electronic device is a smartphone and the user is engaged in a phone call, for example. However, if considered appropriate, the mode of operation may be altered by the mode selection system. Note that the mode of operation may include a UI change more suitable for interaction while using the secondary device. For example, on a bicycle, the UI may use a larger font, operate in landscape, disable auto-screen off, etc. When the mode of operation change includes playing music, “customized” content (e.g., bicycle riding music) may be activated, among others.
The processing device 152 may include a custom made or commercially available processor, a central processing unit (CPU) or an auxiliary processor among several processors, a semiconductor based microprocessor (in the form of a microchip), a macroprocessor, one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), a plurality of suitably configured digital logic gates, and other electrical configurations comprising discrete elements both individually and in various combinations to coordinate the overall operation of the system.
The memory 160 may include any one of a combination of volatile memory elements (e.g., random-access memory (RAM, such as DRAM, and SRAM, etc.)) and nonvolatile memory elements. The memory typically comprises native operating system 162, one or more native applications, emulation systems, or emulated applications for any of a variety of operating systems and/or emulated hardware platforms, emulated operating systems, etc. For example, the applications may include application specific software which may comprise some or all the components of the system. In accordance with such embodiments, the components are stored in memory and executed by the processing device. Note that although depicted as not being resident in memory 160, device detection system 144 and mode selection system 146 may be stored in memory 160.
Touchscreen interface 158 is configured to detect contact within the display area of the display 156 and provides such functionality as on-screen buttons, menus, keyboards, soft-keys, etc., that allows users to navigate user interfaces by touch.
One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the memory may, and typically will, comprise other components which have been omitted for purposes of brevity. Note that in the context of this disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores one or more programs for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
With further reference to
In the first scenario (A), the user is walking with the electronic device. This results in the electronic device operating in a first mode 204, in which a default user interface (UI) is displayed to the user.
In the second scenario (B), the user is in a vicinity of a secondary device 210. Here, secondary device 210 is configured as a skateboard and the user is riding the skateboard. In scenario B, device information (not shown) has been transmitted from secondary device 210 to electronic device 200. Responsive to the device information, the electronic device alters operation such that a second mode 206 is exhibited. In this example, the second mode is associated with the execution of a music application. Notably, if this were the first time the electronic device detected secondary device 210 (or a secondary device of similar type), a user may be provided for the user to associate a desired mode of operation with this secondary device so that the electronic device will operate in the pre-selected mode in response to detection of the secondary device. The information corresponding to the secondary device and selected mode may be stored by the electronic device.
In this embodiment, secondary device 210 is configured to transmit the device information responsive to use, such as responsive to movement of the device causing an onboard generator to power an associated transmitter.
In the third scenario (C), the mode of the electronic device changes back to mode 204 (i.e., the mode exhibited during scenario A). The electronic device exhibits this behavior responsive to the discontinuation of receipt of the device information. Notably, in this embodiment, device information is only transmitted when the device is being used in a manner that generates electricity. In this case, the device is being carried by the user, thus, no electricity is generated by the onboard generator. In other embodiments, such as those in which presence is detected without the use of continuously transmitted device information during use, change of mode of operation may be the result of the electronic device no longer detecting the presence of the secondary device (e.g., a discontinuance in communication between the electronic device and the secondary device).
In the fourth scenario (D), the mode of the electronic device changes to a third mode 216 associated with a different secondary device. Specifically, secondary device 220 is a bicycle, which is configured to transmit corresponding device information. Responsive to receiving the device information associated with the bicycle, the electronic device alters the mode of operation to display a map and an indication of speed. On a bicycle, some options may include, but are not limited to: auto answer, automatic use of Text-to-speech and Speech-to-text, simplified UI, etc.
It should be noted that one or more of the modes that the electronic device exhibited in the example of
In block 232, the electronic device is operated in a first mode, which may or may not be a user selected mode and, in block 234, presence of a secondary device is detected (e.g., a communications connection may be established). By way of example, the secondary device may include an electronic tag that may emit information and/or may be sensed by the electronic device. Thereafter, a determination is made as to whether a current mode of operation of the electronic device is to be altered (block 238). Notably, this may include determining whether the current use of the electronic device exhibits a higher priority than the mode associated with newly received device information. By way of example, if a user is currently using a particular functionality of an electronic device, it may not be desirable to alter the mode of operation until that functionality is no longer being used. If it is determined in block 238 that the mode may be altered, the process proceeds to block 240. However, if the mode may not be altered, the process returns to block 238.
In block 240, a determination is made as to whether the detected secondary device corresponds to a user-selected mode. For instance, if device information received at the electronic device does correspond to a user-selected mode, the process proceeds to block 242, in which operation of the electronic device is altered to the user-selected mode. However, if not, the process proceeds to block 244, in which operation of the device may be altered to a second mode. It should be noted that selection of the second mode may be based, at least in part, on information contained in the device information (such as an identity and/or attributes of the device).
Following block 244 (or, alternatively, block 242), the process proceeds to block 246, in which a determination is made as to whether presence of the secondary device is still detected. For instance, the electronic device may determine that the device information has discontinued if the transmission of the device information has terminated or the electronic device has moved out of reception range.
Regardless of the manner in which this determination is made, in block 248, the mode of operation of the electronic device is altered back to the first mode responsive to the presence of the secondary device no longer being detected. However, if the presence is still detected, the process may return to block 246 such that the electronic device exhibits the second mode of operation.
If embodied in software, it should be noted that each block depicted in the flowchart of
It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments are merely examples of possible implementations. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the principles of the present disclosure. By way of example, the systems described may be implemented in hardware, software or combinations thereof. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims.
