Electronic device with relative humidity sensor

Abstract

An electronic device may include a housing and a relative humidity sensor in the housing. The relative humidity sensor may include a relative humidity sensitive layer, a light emitter that emits light into the relative humidity sensitive layer, and a light detector that detects light that has passed through the relative humidity sensitive layer. The relative humidity may be determined based on the detected light. For example, light may be measured interferometrically to determine the path length of the light, thereby determining the relative humidity. Alternatively, light may be scattered by plasmon nanoparticles in the relative humidity sensitive material to determine the relative humidity. As other examples, polarized light may pass through the relative humidity sensitive layer and be measured to determine the relative humidity, or light may be used to form an acoustic wave, which may be measured to determine the relative humidity. In this manner, the light-based relative humidity sensor may make relative humidity measurements.

Description

[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 18 / 754,521 filed on June 26, 2024 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 585,827 filed on September 27, 2023, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Technical Field

[0002] The present invention relates generally to electronic devices, and more particularly to electronic devices having environmental sensors. Background Art

[0003] Electronic devices such as laptop computers, cell phones, and other equipment are sometimes provided with environmental sensors such as ambient light sensors, image sensors, and microphones. Summary of the invention

[0004] An electronic device such as a wristwatch device or other wearable electronic device may include a housing and a display in the housing. The electronic device may also include a relative humidity sensor in the housing. For example, the housing may have an opening, and the relative humidity sensor may be overlapped by the opening to receive moisture from outside the device.

[0005] The relative humidity sensor may include a relative humidity sensitive layer, a light emitter that emits light into the relative humidity sensitive layer, and a light detector that detects light that has passed through the relative humidity sensitive layer. The relative humidity sensitive layer may have at least one property that changes in response to changes in relative humidity, such as a refractive index. Therefore, the relative humidity can be determined based on the detected light.

[0006] For example, light can be measured interferometrically to determine the path length of the light and thereby determine the relative humidity. Alternatively, light can be scattered by plasmonic nanoparticles in a relative humidity sensitive material to determine the relative humidity. As other examples, polarized light can pass through a relative humidity sensitive layer and be measured to determine the relative humidity, or light can be used to form an acoustic wave that can be measured to determine the relative humidity. In this way, a light-based relative humidity sensor can perform relative humidity measurements. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] Figure 1 is a perspective view of an illustrative wearable electronic device according to some embodiments.

[0008] Figure 2 is a perspective view of an illustrative portable electronic device according to some embodiments.

[0009] Figure 3 is a diagram of an illustrative electronic device according to some embodiments.

[0010] Figure 4is a side view of an illustrative electronic device having a relative humidity sensor for interferometrically measuring relative humidity according to some embodiments.

[0011] Figure 5 is a side view of an illustrative electronic device having a relative humidity sensor for measuring relative humidity based on light scattering from nanoparticles according to some embodiments.

[0012] Figure 6 is a graph of an illustrative shift in the power of light scattered by nanoparticles in a relative humidity sensor due to changes in relative humidity, according to some embodiments.

[0013] Figure 7 is a side view of an illustrative electronic device having a relative humidity sensor that measures relative humidity based on polarization of light in a relative humidity sensitive layer according to some embodiments.

[0014] Figure 8 is a side view of an illustrative electronic device having a relative humidity sensor that measures relative humidity based on sound waves generated by light passing through a water absorbing layer, according to some embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] Electronic devices are often carried by users as they conduct daily activities. For example, a user may carry an electronic device with them throughout the day while walking, commuting, working, exercising, etc. In some cases, a user may need to know the relative humidity in the device's environment. For example, relative humidity may be used in combination with fitness applications (e.g., to determine whether a user is suffering from hypothermia, which is more likely to occur at high relative humidity levels), weather sensing and / or forecasting, and / or other desired functionality.

[0016] In order to perform relative humidity measurements, an electronic device may include a relative humidity sensor. The relative humidity sensor may include a light source, a relative humidity sensitive layer through which the light source emits light, and a light detector. The relative humidity sensitive layer may change the behavior of the light before the light reaches the light detector. For example, at different relative humidity levels, the relative humidity sensitive coating may have a different refractive index. Therefore, the relative humidity may be determined based on the amount / intensity of light reaching the light detector.

[0017] Generally speaking, any suitable electronic device may include a relative humidity sensor. Figure 1As shown, the wearable electronic device 10, which may be a wristwatch device, may have a housing 12, a display 14, and a strap 16. Specifically, the display 14 may be on the front of the wearable device 10. The wristwatch may be attached to the user's wrist via the strap 16. When worn on the user's wrist, the back of the wearable device 10 (i.e., the back surface of the housing 12) may contact the user's wrist or be oriented toward the user's wrist. In some embodiments, the device 10 may include various sensors that contact the user's wrist, and the sensors may collect the user's health or activity data (e.g., heart rate data or blood oxygen data). Additionally or alternatively, the device 10 may include an opening 13. The opening 13 may allow moisture to pass through the wall of the housing 12 (e.g., the side wall of the housing 12), thereby allowing the relative humidity sensor to determine the relative humidity outside the device 10. The opening 13 may be covered by a net or other material, or may not be covered.

[0018] although Figure 1 The electronic device 10 is shown as a wristwatch device, but this is merely illustrative. In general, the electronic device 10 can be any desired device. For example, in Figure 2 In the illustrative example of , device 10 may be a cellular phone (e.g., a smart phone) having a display 14 on the front of a housing 22 and an opening 23 for a relative humidity sensor on a side wall of the housing 22. Alternatively, device 10 may be a media player (e.g., a smart speaker), or other handheld or portable electronic device, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a wristband device, a pendant device, a headset, a speaker, a smart speaker, an earbud or earpiece device, a head-mounted device such as glasses, goggles, a helmet, or other equipment worn on a user's head, or other wearable or miniature device, a navigation device or other accessory, and / or equipment that implements the functionality of two or more of these devices.

[0019] Illustrative configurations in which electronic device 10 is a portable electronic device such as a cellular phone, a head-mounted device, earbuds, a wristwatch, or a portable computer may sometimes be described herein as an example. Figure 3 An illustrative schematic diagram of the device 10 is shown in FIG.

[0020] like Figure 3As shown, an electronic device such as electronic device 10 may have a control circuit 112. Control circuit 112 may include storage and processing circuits for controlling the operation of device 10. Circuit 112 may include storage devices, such as hard disk drive storage devices, non-volatile memory (e.g., electrically programmable read-only memory configured to form a solid-state drive), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamic random access memory), etc. The processing circuits in control circuit 112 may be based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, baseband processors, power management units, audio chips, graphics processing units, application-specific integrated circuits, and other integrated circuits. Software code may be stored on a storage device in circuit 112 and run on processing circuits in circuit 112 to implement control operations for device 10 (e.g., data acquisition operations, operations involving the use of control signals to adjust components of device 10, etc.).

[0021] Electronic device 10 may include communication circuitry 114, which may include wired and / or wireless communication circuitry. For example, electronic device 10 may include radio frequency transceiver circuitry, such as cellular telephone transceiver circuitry, wireless local area network transceiver circuitry (e.g., circuits), short-range RF transceiver circuits that use ultra-high frequency radio waves to communicate over short distances (e.g., circuits or other short-range transceiver circuits), millimeter wave transceiver circuits, and / or other wireless communication circuits.

[0022] Device 10 may include input-output devices 116. Input-output devices 116 may be used to allow a user to provide user input to device 10. Input-output devices 116 may also be used to gather information about the environment in which device 10 operates. Output components in device 116 may allow device 10 to provide output to a user, and may be used to communicate with external electrical equipment.

[0023] Input-output devices 116 may include one or more optional displays, such as display 14. Display 14 may be an organic light emitting diode display or other display having light emitting diodes, a liquid crystal display, a micro-LED display, or other display. Display 14 may be touch sensitive (e.g., display 14 may include a two-dimensional touch sensor for capturing touch input from a user) and / or display 14 may not be touch sensitive.

[0024] The input-output devices 116 may include sensors 118. The sensors 118 may include, for example, temperature sensors (e.g., thermistors or thermocouples), three-dimensional sensors (e.g., three-dimensional image sensors such as structured light sensors that emit a light beam and use a two-dimensional digital image sensor to collect image data for a three-dimensional image from light points generated when a target is illuminated by the light beam, a binocular three-dimensional image sensor that uses two or more cameras in a binocular imaging arrangement to collect a three-dimensional image, a three-dimensional lidar (light detection and ranging) sensor, a three-dimensional radio frequency sensor, or other sensors that collect three-dimensional image data), cameras (e.g., infrared and / or visible light digital image sensors), gaze tracking sensors (e.g., gaze tracking systems based on image sensors and, if necessary, also based on light sources that emit one or more light beams that are reflected from the user's eyes using an image sensor). tracking), touch sensors, capacitive proximity sensors, light-based (optical) proximity sensors, other proximity sensors, force sensors, sensors such as switch-based contact sensors, gas sensors, pressure sensors, humidity sensors, magnetic sensors (e.g., magnetometers), audio sensors (microphones), ambient light sensors, microphones for collecting voice commands and other audio inputs, sensors configured to collect information about motion, position and / or orientation (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes, pressure sensors, compasses, and / or inertial measurement units including all of these sensors or a subset of one or both of these sensors), health sensors that measure various biometric information (e.g., heart rate sensors such as photoplethysmography sensors, electrocardiogram sensors, and perspiration sensors), and / or other sensors.

[0025] Sensors 118 may also include one or more relative humidity sensors 120. Relative humidity sensor 120 may be incorporated into device 10 and may measure the relative humidity outside of electronic device 10.

[0026] If desired, input-output devices 116 may include other devices 124, such as tactile output devices (e.g., vibrating components), light emitting diodes and other light sources, speakers such as ear speakers for producing audio output, circuits for receiving wireless power, circuits for wirelessly transmitting power to other devices, batteries and other energy storage devices (e.g., capacitors), joysticks, buttons, and / or other components.

[0027] An illustrative example of a device having a relative humidity sensor is shown in Figure 4 As shown in Figure 4 As shown, device 10 may include relative humidity sensor 120. Specifically, relative humidity sensor 120 may be positioned behind opening 25 of layer 24. Layer 24 may be a housing of device 10, such as Figure 1Housing 12 or Figure 2 Alternatively, layer 24 may be another layer that overlaps relative humidity sensor 120 and separates interior 11 from exterior 15. Figure 1 Opening 13 or Figure 2 The opening 25 of the opening 23 can allow moisture from the environment at the exterior 15 to reach the relative humidity sensor 120 in the interior 11. The opening 25 can overlap with the sensor 120, such as Figure 4 As shown, or the sensor 120 can be partially or completely offset from the opening 25. In other words, the relative humidity sensor 120 can be in the interior 11 and can be exposed to the environment at the exterior 15. A protective mesh 26 can be included in the opening 25 to protect the relative humidity sensor 120 and / or other components in the interior 11 from various granular materials or other intrusive materials. The protective mesh 26 can be a metal mesh, a polymer mesh, or a mesh of any other suitable material. In some embodiments, the protective mesh 26 can be coated with a hydrophobic material to protect the sensor 120 from liquid water while allowing the sensor 120 to change one or more characteristics due to changes in relative humidity at the exterior 15.

[0028] The relative humidity sensor 120 may include a light emitter 28 (also referred to herein as a light source 28), which may be a laser diode, a light emitting diode, or any other desired light emitter. The sensor 120 may also include a light detector 34, which may be a photodiode or other photosensitive device. In addition, the relative humidity sensor 120 may include a relative humidity sensitive layer 30 and a mirror coating 32 on the side of the relative humidity sensitive layer 30 opposite to the light emitter 28. The mirror coating 32 may be formed of a reflective material, such as a metal; a reflective coating, such as a stack of thin film dielectric layers having a reflectivity of at least 75%, at least 80%, at least 90%, or other suitable reflectivity; or other suitable reflective materials.

[0029] The light emitter 28 can emit light 38 into a first side of a relative humidity sensitive layer 30 (also referred to herein as a relative humidity sensitive material 30). The relative humidity sensitive layer 30 can be an inorganic porous film that can include voids and / or nanoparticles. The thickness of the layer 30 can be at least 1 micron, between 1 micron and 100 microns, less than 150 microns, at least 50 microns, or other suitable thicknesses. The nanoparticles can be inorganic, such as silicon dioxide nanoparticles, titanium dioxide nanoparticles, zinc oxide nanoparticles, or other suitable nanoparticles. Due to the presence of nanoparticles and voids, the relative humidity sensitive layer 30 can exhibit a change in refractive index in response to changes in relative humidity.

[0030] As another example, the relative humidity sensitive layer 30 may be a polymer layer that exhibits a change in refractive index when the relative humidity changes.

[0031] Alternatively, the relative humidity sensitive layer 30 can be formed by a holographic layer. For example, the relative humidity sensitive layer 30 can be formed by a photopolymer such as dichromated gelatin in which or on which a holographic pattern is recorded. The holographic pattern can be an interference pattern including multiple gratings and / or can include lenses or reflectors. The photopolymer can be sensitive to humidity and / or temperature and can have a refractive index change or a thickness change at different relative humidities. When exposed to different relative humidity levels, the holographic interference pattern (e.g., the distance between the gratings of the interference pattern) may change, thereby affecting the behavior of light passing through the relative humidity sensitive layer 30.

[0032] Regardless of the material used to form relative humidity sensitive layer 30, light 38 may travel through relative humidity sensitive layer 30 and reflect from mirror coating 32 on the side of relative humidity sensitive layer 30 opposite light emitter 28. Reflected light 40 may then be detected by light detector 34.

[0033] Light emitter 28 may also emit light 36 directly to light detector 34. By comparing light 36 to light 40, such as by interferometrically measuring the optical path lengths of light 36 and light 40 (e.g., with a self-mixing interferometer), the refractive index of relative humidity sensitive layer 30 may be determined.

[0034] The refractive index of the relative humidity sensitive layer 30 can change with changes in relative humidity. Specifically, at low relative humidity, the refractive index of the relative humidity sensitive layer 30 can be relatively low, such as between 1.0 and 1.25, or other suitable values. However, as the relative humidity increases, water can increase the refractive index of the layer 30, such as by accumulating on the surface of the nanoparticles and / or filling the voids in the layer 30 (if the layer 30 is formed by an inorganic porous film). In an exemplary embodiment, when the relative humidity changes from 30% to 90%, the refractive index of the relative humidity sensitive layer 30 can change from 1.38 to 1.43. However, this is merely exemplary. In general, the refractive index of the layer 30 can change with changes in relative humidity based on the material forming the layer 30.

[0035] As a result of the change in refractive index, the path length of light 40 will change relative to the path length of light 36 that has not passed through relative humidity sensitive layer 30. Therefore, the refractive index of relative humidity sensitive layer 30, and thus the relative humidity, can be determined by comparing the path length of light 40 to the path length of light 36. In other words, relative humidity sensor 120 can determine relative humidity directly based on the path length of light 40 / 36, or control circuitry (such as Figure 3The control circuit 112 of can be used to determine the relative humidity based on the measured path length. In this way, interferometry (such as self-mixing interferometry) can be used to determine the relative humidity.

[0036] A partial mirror coating 42 may optionally be incorporated on the surface of the relative humidity sensitive layer 30 opposite the mirror coating 32. For example, the partial mirror coating 42 may be formed by a stack of dielectric films having alternating refractive indices. The stack may allow selected wavelengths of light to pass while partially blocking other wavelengths of light. Specifically, the partial mirror coating 42 may allow light 38 to enter the relative humidity sensitive layer 30 while reflecting the light additional times within the relative humidity sensitive layer 30. This may extend the path length of the light 38 / 40 and allow for more accurate and / or more sensitive relative humidity measurements.

[0037] Figure 4 The use of interferometry to determine relative humidity is shown to be exemplary only. In general, any measurement method may be used to determine relative humidity using light passing through a relative humidity sensitive layer. For example, a relative humidity sensor including a relative humidity sensitive material having plasmonic nanoparticles may be used. Exemplary examples are shown in FIG. Figure 5 Shown in.

[0038] like Figure 5 As shown, the relative humidity sensitive layer 30 of the relative humidity sensor 120 can include nanoparticles 46 in the binder 44. The nanoparticles 46 can be, for example, plasmonic nanoparticles including gold nanoparticles, silver nanoparticles, and / or platinum nanoparticles. In general, the nanoparticles 46 can be any suitable nanoparticles that scatter the light emitted by the light source 28.

[0039] For example, adhesive 44 may be a relative humidity sensitive polymer layer. In general, adhesive 44 may be any suitable material that exhibits a change, such as a change in refractive index, when relative humidity changes.

[0040] In operation, light source 28 may emit light 48 into relative humidity sensitive layer 30. Light 48 may be scattered from one or more nanoparticles 46, and light detector 34 may detect the scattered light. Specifically, light detector 34 may detect the power of the scattered light. Based on changes in the power of the scattered light, relative humidity may be determined. In other words, relative humidity sensor 120 may directly determine relative humidity based on the power of the scattered light, or a control circuit (such as a Figure 3 The control circuit 112 of FIG. 1 can be used to determine the relative humidity based on the power of the scattered light. An exemplary graph showing the power variation of the scattered light is shown in FIG. Figure 6 Shown in.

[0041] like Figure 6As shown, graph 50 may include exemplary curves 52 and 54 of scattered power at different wavelengths. For example, curve 52 may represent scattered light measured by light detector 34 at a first relative humidity, while curve 54 may represent scattered light measured by light detector 34 at a second relative humidity. As shown, the peak wavelength λ2 of curve 54 may be greater than the peak wavelength λ1 of curve 52. This may be due to a change in the refractive index of relative humidity sensitive material 30 (which may cause a change in plasmon resonance), and / or may be due to a shift in the distance between nanoparticles 46 when adhesive 44 expands / contracts due to changes in relative humidity. For example, the relative humidity of curve 54 may be higher than that of curve 52.

[0042] The relative humidity can be determined by taking the ratio of the scattered power at wavelength λ 1 to the scattered power at wavelength λ 2. In this way, plasmon resonance can be used to determine relative humidity.

[0043] Back to Figure 5 , an optional light source 29 can also be used to emit light into the relative humidity sensitive layer 30. Specifically, the light source 29 can emit light 49 into the relative humidity sensitive layer 30. For example, the light 49 can have a different wavelength than the light 48 emitted by the light emitter 28. The light 49 can be scattered from one or more nanoparticles 46, and the light detector 34 can detect the scattered light. Specifically, the light detector 34 can detect the power of the scattered light. By comparing the power offset of the scattered light 48 and the scattered light 49, a larger relative humidity change can be measured and / or the relative humidity sensor 120 can be more sensitive to relative humidity changes.

[0044] In other embodiments, light polarization can be used to determine relative humidity. Figure 7 Shown in.

[0045] like Figure 7 As shown, the electronic device 10 may include a relative humidity sensor 120 having a relative humidity sensitive material 30. The relative humidity sensitive layer 30 may be formed of a birefringent material that exhibits a change in polarization in response to a change in relative humidity.

[0046] Polarizer 56 may overlap light emitter 28, and mirror coating 32 may be formed on a side of relative humidity sensitive layer 30 opposite light source 28. Relative humidity sensor 120 may also include light detector 34, which may be a polarization detector.

[0047] In operation, light emitter 28 may transmit light 60 through polarizer 56 to polarize light 60. Polarized light 60 may pass through relative humidity sensitive material 30 and reflect from mirror coating 32 as light 62. Light detector 34 may detect light 62.

[0048] Because relative humidity sensitive material 30 is birefringent, its polarization changes based on relative humidity, so the polarization of light 62 will depend on the relative humidity. Therefore, by measuring the polarization of light 62 using light detector 34, the relative humidity can be determined. In other words, relative humidity sensor 120 can directly determine the relative humidity based on the measured polarization of light 62, or control circuitry (such as a Figure 3 The control circuit 112) can be used to determine the relative humidity based on the polarization of the measured light 62.

[0049] Although Figure 7 32, but if desired, the mirror coating 32 may be heated, such as using a built-in heater or a separate heater, to prevent moisture from being trapped between the mirror coating 32 and the relative humidity sensitive layer 30. However, using a heater to heat the mirror coating 32 is merely exemplary. In general, the mirror coating 32 may be heated to a temperature of 100°. Figures 4 to 7 The relative humidity sensitive layer 30 of any of the above is heated to reduce moisture within the layer 30 between relative humidity measurements.

[0050] Additionally or alternatively, if desired, the light emitters 28 and light detectors 34 may be formed on a common control board, such as a printed circuit board.

[0051] exist Figures 4 to 7 In the example of , a light detector is used to measure the light passing through the relative humidity sensitive material to determine the relative humidity. However, these embodiments are merely exemplary. If desired, other sensors, such as acoustic sensors, may be used to determine the relative humidity. The exemplary example is in Figure 8 Shown in.

[0052] like Figure 8 As shown, electronic device 10 may include relative humidity sensor 120, which includes relative humidity sensitive material 30 formed of water absorbing material 64. Light emitter 28 may emit pulses of light 66 into water absorbing material 64 at a wavelength in the water absorption band. For example, light 66 may have a wavelength of about 970 nm, about 1200 nm, or about 1450 nm, as examples. In some illustrative examples, light 66 may be near infrared light in the water absorption band.

[0053] Because the pulse of light 66 is in the water absorption band, acoustic waves 68 may be generated by thermal expansion from localized heating as the pulse of light 66 travels through the water in the water absorbing material 64. Specifically, the amount (e.g., intensity) of the acoustic waves 68 may depend on the water content in the water absorbing material 64, and therefore may depend on the relative humidity.

[0054] Detector 72 may be a microphone or other acoustic detector that can detect sound waves 68 as they travel in direction 70 to detector 72. By measuring the intensity / amount of sound waves 68, relative humidity may be determined. In other words, relative humidity sensor 120 may determine relative humidity directly based on measured sound waves 68, or control circuitry (such as a Figure 3 The control circuit 112) can be used to determine the relative humidity based on the measured sound waves 68.

[0055] although Figure 8 The light emitter 28 is shown emitting unfocused light 66 into the water absorbing material 64, but this is merely illustrative. In some embodiments, the light emitter 28 can emit pulses of focused light into the water absorbing material 64 (either by emitting unfocused light through a lens, or by including a specialized lens within the light emitter 28) to form acoustic waves that can be detected by the detector 72.

[0056] As described above, one aspect of the present technology is to collect and use information, such as information from input-output devices. The disclosure contemplates that, in some cases, data including personal information data may be collected that uniquely identifies or can be used to contact or locate a specific person. Such personal information data may include demographic data, location-based data, phone numbers, email addresses, Twitter IDs, home addresses, data or records related to the user's health or fitness level (e.g., vital sign measurements, medication information, exercise information), date of birth, user name, password, biometric information, or any other identification or personal information.

[0057] The present disclosure recognizes that the use of such personal information in the present technology can be used to benefit users. For example, the personal information data can be used to deliver targeted content that users are more interested in. Therefore, the use of such personal information data enables users to have planned control over the content delivered. In addition, the present disclosure also anticipates other uses of personal information data that benefit users. For example, health and fitness data can be used to provide insights into the user's overall health status, or can be used as positive feedback to individuals who use technology to pursue health goals.

[0058] The disclosure anticipates that entities responsible for the collection, analysis, disclosure, transmission, storage or other purposes of such personal information data will comply with sound privacy policies and / or privacy measures. Specifically, such entities should implement and adhere to the use of privacy policies and practices that are recognized as meeting or exceeding the industry or government requirements for maintaining the privacy and security of personal information data. Such policies should be easy for users to access and should be updated as changes in the collection and / or use of data occur. Personal information from users should be collected for legal and reasonable entity purposes and should not be shared or sold outside these legal purposes. In addition, such collection / sharing should be carried out after receiving the informed consent of the user. In addition, such entities should consider taking any necessary steps to protect and safeguard access to such personal information data, and ensure that other entities with access to personal information data comply with their privacy policies and procedures. In addition, such entities can subject themselves to third-party assessments to prove that they comply with widely accepted privacy policies and practices. In addition, policies and practices should be adapted to specific types of personal information data collected and / or accessed, and to applicable laws and standards including considerations of special jurisdictions. For example, in the United States, the collection or access of certain health data may be governed by federal and / or state laws such as the Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), while health data in other countries may be subject to other regulations and policies and should be handled accordingly. Therefore, different privacy measures should be advocated for different types of personal data in each country.

[0059] Regardless of the foregoing, the present disclosure also contemplates implementation schemes in which users selectively block the use or access of personal information data. That is, the present disclosure contemplates hardware elements and / or software elements to prevent or block access to such personal information data. For example, the technology of the present invention may be configured to allow users to choose to "opt in" or "opt out" to participate in the collection of personal information data at any time during or after registration for a service. For another example, a user may choose not to provide certain types of user data. For another example, a user may choose to limit the length of time that user-specific data is retained. In addition to providing "opt-in" and "opt-out" options, the present disclosure also contemplates providing notifications related to access or use of personal information. For example, a user may be notified that their personal information data will be accessed when downloading an application ("app"), and then the user may be reminded again before the personal information data is accessed by the app.

[0060] In addition, it is the intention of the present disclosure that personal information data should be managed and processed in a manner that minimizes the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use. Once the data is no longer needed, the risk can be minimized by limiting the collection of data and deleting the data. In addition, and when applicable, including in certain health-related applications, data de-identification can be used to protect the privacy of users. Where appropriate, de-identification can be facilitated by removing specific identifiers (e.g., date of birth, etc.), controlling the amount or characteristics of stored data (e.g., collecting location data at the city level rather than the address level), controlling how the data is stored (e.g., aggregating data between users), and / or other methods.

[0061] Thus, while the present disclosure broadly encompasses the use of information that may include personal information data to implement one or more of the various disclosed embodiments, the present disclosure also contemplates that various embodiments may be implemented without requiring access to personal information data. That is, various embodiments of the present technology will not fail to function properly due to the lack of all or a portion of such personal information data.

[0062] According to one embodiment, an electronic device having an interior and an exterior exposed to an environment is provided, the electronic device including a housing separating the interior from the exterior, the housing having an opening, and a relative humidity sensor in the housing and exposed to the environment, the relative humidity sensor including a relative humidity sensitive layer, a light emitter configured to emit light into the relative humidity sensitive layer, and a detector configured to generate relative humidity measurement results.

[0063] According to another embodiment, the light emitter includes a laser diode, the detector includes a photodetector, and the laser diode is further configured to emit additional light toward the photodetector.

[0064] According to another embodiment, the laser diode is configured to emit light into a first side of the relative humidity sensitive layer, and the relative humidity sensor includes a mirror coating on a second side of the relative humidity sensitive layer opposite the first side.

[0065] According to another embodiment, the light detector is further configured to interferometrically generate a relative humidity measurement based on the detected optical path lengths of the light and the additional light.

[0066] According to another embodiment, a relative humidity sensor includes a partial mirror coating on a first side of a relative humidity sensitive layer.

[0067] According to another embodiment, the relative humidity sensitive layer includes plasmonic nanoparticles in a relative humidity sensitive material.

[0068] According to another embodiment, the detector is a photodetector configured to measure changes in power of light scattered by the plasmonic nanoparticles to generate a relative humidity measurement.

[0069] According to another embodiment, the light emitter is configured to emit light having a first wavelength, and the relative humidity sensor includes an additional light emitter configured to emit additional light having a second wavelength different from the first wavelength, and the light detector is configured to measure power changes of light at the first wavelength and the second wavelength scattered by the plasmonic nanoparticles to generate relative humidity measurements.

[0070] According to another embodiment, the relative humidity sensor includes a polarizer overlapping the light emitter and configured to polarize the light, and the detector is a polarization detector that detects the polarization of the light that has passed through the relative humidity sensitive layer.

[0071] According to another embodiment, the light emitter is configured to emit light into a first surface of the relative humidity sensitive layer, and the relative humidity sensor includes a mirror coating on a second surface of the relative humidity sensitive layer opposite to the first surface, the mirror coating being configured to reflect light to the polarization detector.

[0072] According to another embodiment, the relative humidity sensitive layer comprises a water absorbing material.

[0073] According to another embodiment, the light emitter is configured to emit light as pulsed light having a wavelength in a water absorption band to generate sound waves when the light heats water in the water absorbing material, and the detector includes a microphone that detects the sound waves.

[0074] According to another embodiment, the relative humidity sensitive layer includes a film containing voids and metal oxide nanoparticles.

[0075] According to one embodiment, a relative humidity sensor is provided that includes a relative humidity sensitive layer, a light emitter configured to emit light into the relative humidity sensitive layer, and a light detector configured to detect the light that has passed through the relative humidity sensitive layer to determine the relative humidity.

[0076] According to another embodiment, the relative humidity sensitive layer includes a polymer layer, and the light detector is configured to measure the path length of the light after passing through the polymer layer.

[0077] According to another embodiment, the relative humidity sensitive layer includes plasmonic nanoparticles in the relative humidity sensitive material, and the plasmonic nanoparticles are configured to scatter the light.

[0078] According to another embodiment, the light detector is configured to measure the power of the scattered light to determine the relative humidity.

[0079] According to another embodiment, the relative humidity sensitive layer is configured to change the polarization of light based on the relative humidity, and the light detector is configured to measure the polarization to determine the relative humidity.

[0080] According to one embodiment, an electronic device is provided, which includes: a housing; a relative humidity sensor in the housing, the relative humidity sensor including: a relative humidity sensitive layer, the relative humidity sensitive layer configured to exhibit a change in refractive index in response to a change in relative humidity; a light emitter, the light emitter configured to emit light into the relative humidity sensitive layer; and a light detector, the light detector configured to detect light that has passed through the relative humidity sensitive layer; and a control circuit, the control circuit configured to determine the relative humidity based on the light detected by the light detector.

[0081] According to another embodiment, the relative humidity sensitive layer includes a film containing voids and metal oxide nanoparticles.

[0082] The foregoing is exemplary and various modifications may be made to the embodiments described. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented independently or in any combination.

Claims

1. An electronic device having an interior and an exterior exposed to an environment, the electronic device comprising: a housing separating the interior from the exterior, wherein the housing has an opening; and a relative humidity sensor in the housing and exposed to the environment, wherein the relative humidity sensor comprises: Relative humidity sensitive layer; a light emitter configured to emit light into the relative humidity sensitive layer; and A detector is configured to generate a relative humidity measurement. 2 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the light emitter comprises a laser diode, the detector comprises a photodetector, and the laser diode is further configured to emit additional light toward the photodetector.

3. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the laser diode is configured to emit the light into the first side of the relative humidity sensitive layer, and the relative humidity sensor further comprises: A mirror coating is provided on a second side of the relative humidity sensitive layer opposite the first side. 4 . The electronic device of claim 3 , wherein the light detector is further configured to interferometrically generate the relative humidity measurement result based on the optical path lengths detected by the light and the additional light.

5. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the relative humidity sensor further comprises: A partial mirror coating is provided on the first side of the relative humidity sensitive layer. 6 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the relative humidity sensitive layer comprises plasmonic nanoparticles in a relative humidity sensitive material. 7 . The electronic device of claim 6 , wherein the detector is a light detector configured to measure changes in power of light scattered by the plasmonic nanoparticles to generate the relative humidity measurement.

8. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the light emitter is configured to emit the light having a first wavelength, and the relative humidity sensor further comprises: an additional light emitter configured to emit additional light having a second wavelength different from the first wavelength, and the light detector configured to measure a change in power of light at the first wavelength and the second wavelength scattered by the plasmonic nanoparticles to generate the relative humidity measurement.

9. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the relative humidity sensor further comprises: A polarizer overlaps the light emitter and is configured to polarize the light, wherein the detector is a polarization detector that detects the polarization of the light that has passed through the relative humidity sensitive layer.

10. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the light emitter is configured to emit the light into the first surface of the relative humidity sensitive layer, and the relative humidity sensor further comprises: A mirror coating is on a second surface of the relative humidity sensitive layer opposite the first surface, wherein the mirror coating is configured to reflect the light to the polarization detector.

11. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the relative humidity sensitive layer comprises a water absorbing material.

12. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the light emitter is configured to emit the light as pulse light having a wavelength in a water absorption band to generate sound waves when the light heats water in the water absorbing material, and the detector comprises a microphone that detects the sound waves.

13. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the relative humidity sensitive layer comprises a film containing voids and metal oxide nanoparticles.

14. A relative humidity sensor, comprising: Relative humidity sensitive layer; a light emitter configured to emit light into the relative humidity sensitive layer; and A light detector is configured to detect light that has passed through the relative humidity sensitive layer to determine relative humidity. 15 . The relative humidity sensor of claim 14 , wherein the relative humidity sensitive layer comprises a polymer layer, and the light detector is configured to measure a path length of the light after passing through the polymer layer. 16 . The relative humidity sensor of claim 14 , wherein the relative humidity sensitive layer comprises plasmonic nanoparticles in a relative humidity sensitive material, and wherein the plasmonic nanoparticles are configured to scatter the light.

17. The relative humidity sensor of claim 16, wherein the light detector is configured to measure a power of the scattered light to determine the relative humidity.

18. The relative humidity sensor of claim 14, wherein the relative humidity sensitive layer is configured to change polarization of the light based on the relative humidity, and the light detector is configured to measure the polarization to determine the relative humidity.

19. An electronic device, comprising: shell; a relative humidity sensor in the housing, wherein the relative humidity sensor comprises: a relative humidity sensitive layer configured to exhibit a change in refractive index in response to a change in relative humidity; a light emitter configured to emit light into the relative humidity sensitive layer; and a light detector configured to detect light that has passed through the relative humidity sensitive layer; and A control circuit is configured to determine relative humidity based on the light detected by the light detector.

20. The electronic device of claim 19, wherein the relative humidity sensitive layer comprises a film containing voids and metal oxide nanoparticles.

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