1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a wearable device capable of indicating direction, in particular, to a wearable device capable of indicating direction adapted to be worn on a portion of the body of a hearing-impaired user, and a method for recognizing direction and a control method thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, pedestrians not only pay attention to their surroundings to identify the potential threats while walking on the street using their eyes, but also by their hearing. However, if the pedestrian does not rely on hearing, it is difficult to perceive external objects which come from the pedestrian's back.
As far as the hearing impaired persons are concerned, they have difficulty in perceiving by hearing the vehicles or external objects which come from the back. For example, when a vehicle approaches and the driver honks a horn behind a hearing impaired person, the hearing impaired person is incapable of immediately recognizing the direction of the vehicle and the horn. In addition, when someone is calling behind a hearing impaired person, they are not able to sense it.
Although hearing aids facilitate the hearing-impaired person to hear sounds, they cannot provide the user with the function of promptly recognizing the direction of the sound. That is, the hearing-impaired user is unable to recognize the direction of the sound despite the hearing aid.
In view of the mentioned shortcomings, the present disclosure provides a wearable device capable of indicating direction to enable the hearing impaired person to recognize the direction of the sound.
An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure provides a wearable device capable of indicating direction and a method for recognizing direction and a control method thereof.
According to one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a wearable device capable of indicating direction is provided, which includes a wearable module, a plurality of acoustic wave sensors, a plurality of vibrators and a control module. The wearable module is adapted to be worn on a portion of the body of a user. The plurality of acoustic wave sensors and the plurality of vibrators are disposed on the wearable module in different directions, and the control module is disposed on the wearable module and electrically connected to the plurality of acoustic wave sensors and the plurality of vibrators. Each acoustic wave sensor senses a sound signal generated by an external object, and then is driven by the sound signal to generate a response signal. The signal strength of the response signal generated by each acoustic wave sensor varies with the sound intensity of the sound signal. The response signal generated by each acoustic wave sensor is transmitted to the control module. The control module compares the signal strength of the response signal generated by each acoustic wave sensor to recognize a direction from which the external object is approaching, and then controls the vibrator which corresponds to the direction which the external object is approaching from to generate a vibration signal.
The present disclosure further discloses a method for recognizing direction and a control method which are adapted to the wearable device capable of indicating direction, comprising the following steps: a plurality of acoustic wave sensors disposed on a wearable module in different directions sensing a sound signal generated by an external object; each acoustic wave sensor driven by the sound signal to generate a response signal and then transmitting the response signal to a control module; the control module receiving the response signal generated by each acoustic wave sensor and comparing the signal strength of the response signal generated by each acoustic wave sensor to recognize a direction from which the external object is approaching, wherein the control module is electrically connected with the plurality of vibrators; and when the direction from which the external object is approaching has been determined by the control module, the control module controlling one or more vibrators which correspond to the direction from which the external object is approaching to generate a vibration signal.
To sum up, the present disclosure is capable of recognizing the direction of sound or object, and generating a vibration to alert the user by the vibrator to potential threats. Thus the user, in particular the hearing impaired person, can recognize the direction of the sound or object to ensure the personal safety.
In order to further understand the techniques, means and effects of the present disclosure, the following detailed descriptions and appended drawings are hereby referred to, such that, and through which, the purposes, features and aspects of the present disclosure can be thoroughly and concretely appreciated; however, the appended drawings are merely provided for reference and illustration, without any intention to be used for limiting the present disclosure.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure.
Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.
Please refer to
As shown in
Please refer to
Please refer to
As shown in
By adjusting the signal strength value through the input interface 46, the user can perceive the surroundings easily. For example, when in a noisy environment, the user increases the signal strength value through the input interface 46 to enable the control module 40 to control the vibrator 20 to vibrate only when the signal strength of the response signal generated by the acoustic wave sensor 30 is higher than the signal strength value. Thus it can prevent the vibrator 20 from generating unnecessary vibration when the acoustic wave sensor 30 receives a louder sound signal, thereby facilitating the sensitivity of the vibrator 20.
Please refer to
Please refer to
Please return to the flowchart shown in
The method of the control module 40 recognizing the direction from which the external object 50 is approaching and the vibrator 20 generating the vibration signal 70 in S4 to S6 is described as follows. As shown in
Please refer to
As shown in
Similarly, when an external object 50 approaches the wearable device of the present disclosure from another direction, the control module 40 can determine the direction from which the external object 50 is approaching according to the above-mentioned method.
In the present embodiment, there are four acoustic wave sensors 30 respectively disposed on the wearable module 10 in different directions, such as front, rear, left and right. Table 1 shows the relationship between the signal strength of the response signal generated by each acoustic wave sensors 30 disposed on the wearable module 10 in different directions and the direction from which the external object 50 is approaching Thus the control module 40 can recognize the direction from which the external object 50 is approaching according the signal strength of the response signal generated by each acoustic wave sensor 30. As shown in table 1, when the external object 50 comes from the front, the acoustic wave sensor 30 disposed in front of the wearable module 10 generates a response signal having strong signal strength because the acoustic wave sensor 30 faces directly the external object 50, and at this point of time, the acoustic wave sensors 30 respectively disposed at left and right of the wearable module 10 both generate response signals having normal signal strength and the acoustic wave sensor 30 disposed at the rear of the wearable module 10 generates a weak signal strength. Thus the control module 40 determines that the external object 50 is coming from the front. When the external object 50 comes from the right front, the acoustic wave sensors 30 respectively disposed in front and at the right of the wearable module 10 both generate the response signal having strong signal strength while the acoustic wave sensors 30 respectively disposed at the left and rear of the wearable module 10 both generate response signals having weak signal strength. Thus the control module 40 determines that the external object 50 comes from the right front according to the signal strength. The method of the control module 40 determining the other directions from which the external object 50 is approaching is similar to that mentioned above, and unnecessary details are not given herein.
The relationship between the signal strength of the response signal generated by each acoustic wave sensor 30 and the direction from which the external object 50 is approaching is listed in Table 1 which can be used by the control module 40 as the determination logic for recognizing the direction from which the external object 50 is approaching
It is noteworthy to mention that in the first embodiment of the present disclosure, the four acoustic wave sensors 30 respectively disposed in the directions of front, rear, left and right of the wearable module 10 are used to sense the eight directions including front, right front, right, right rear, rear, left rear, left and left front. In practice, an amount of the acoustic wave sensors 30 disposed on the wearable module 10 can be increased to recognize the direction from which the external object 50 is approaching more precisely.
As shown in
In the present embodiment, each vibrator 20 is disposed corresponding to each acoustic wave sensor 30. When the direction from which the external object 50 is approaching has been determined by the control module 40, the control module 40 controls one or more vibrators 20 which correspond to one or more acoustic wave sensors 30 that generates the response signal having strong signal strength to generate the vibration signal, so that the vibration signal generated by the one or more vibrators 20 corresponds to the direction from which the external object 50 is approaching
As shown in
The wearable module 10 of the wearable device capable of indicating direction of the first embodiment includes the flexible strap 11 adapted to be worn on a portion of the body of the user. The flexible strap 11 shown in
In addition to being worn on the user's head, the flexible strap 11 can feasibly be worn on the user's neck as shown in
Please refer to
As shown in
In the second embodiment, the plurality of acoustic wave sensors 30 and the control module 40 are integrally disposed to be an assembly, and there are four acoustic wave sensors 30 disposed on the wearable module 10 in different directions. In the present embodiment, the operations of the control module 40, the acoustic wave sensor 30 and the vibrator 20 are the same as that mentioned in the first embodiment. Thus unnecessary details are not given herein.
The second embodiment discloses another aspect of the wearable device capable of indicating direction of the present disclosure and another configuration of the acoustic wave sensor 30 and the vibrator 20. In the present embodiment, the two fastening bands 14 of the wearable module 10 are detachably disposed on the hat 13, and the wearable device capable of indicating direction of the present embodiment is adapted to be disposed on different types of hat, thereby promoting the utility thereof
Please refer to
In the present embodiment, the control module 40 is disposed in the central portion of the hat 13, and electrically connected with the plurality of acoustic wave sensors 30 and the plurality of vibrators 20 by wires. The control module 40 can control the plurality of acoustic wave sensors 30 and the plurality of vibrators 20 according to the above-mentioned method because the operations of each component described in each embodiment are the same.
It is noteworthy that the wires used to connect the plurality of acoustic wave sensors 30 and the plurality of vibrators 20 with the control module 40 are disposed outside the hat 13, but it is not limited thereto. In practice, the wires, the plurality of acoustic wave sensors 30, the plurality of vibrators 20 and the control module 40 all can be disposed inside the hat 13, thereby maintaining the appearance of the hat 13.
In summary, the wearable device capable of indicating direction of the present disclosure can identify the direction of the sound signal generated by an external object to recognize the direction from which the external object is approaching, and then alert the user to the direction from which the external object is approaching by means of vibration. Thus the wearable device capable of indicating direction of the present disclosure enables the hearing-impaired user to recognize the direction from which the external object is approaching to perceive potential damage from the surroundings, thereby ensuring personal safety.
The wearable device capable of indicating direction of the present disclosure can be formed as a hat, a bracelet, a neck ring, a chest band, and so on. In addition, it can integrate with clothes, accessories . . . etc. so as to be worn on the user easily, thereby promoting the usability thereof
The above-mentioned descriptions represent merely the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, without any intention to limit the scope of the present disclosure thereto. Various equivalent changes, alterations or modifications based on the claims of present disclosure are all consequently viewed as being embraced by the scope of the present disclosure.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
104123714 | Jul 2015 | TW | national |