Biological Characteristics Middleware for Head-Mountable Displays

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Solution Overview

Problem

Head-mountable display (HMD) devices with biological sensors face challenges in handling unexpected user characteristics, such as physical disorders or unusual conditions, which can lead to incorrect interpretation of biological data, affecting the user's immersive experience, as existing software applications are not equipped to handle these edge-cases effectively.

Innovation Solution

A middleware platform is introduced that operates between the HMD and the host computing system, receiving biological user data, detecting user characteristics, and taking predefined actions to compensate for unusual conditions, allowing software vendors to focus on normal user scenarios, thereby simplifying development and ensuring consistent handling of edge-cases.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If software applications are designed to handle all possible user characteristics including edge-cases, then user experience reliability is improved, but device complexity and development cost increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser experience reliabilityVSAvoidsoftware complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the handling of user characteristics into two distinct layers: a core layer that handles normal user scenarios and an edge-case layer that handles unexpected biological characteristics. This segmentation allows the main software application to remain simple while a separate module handles complex edge-cases, resolving the contradiction between reliability and complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces an intermediary module (biological characteristics handler) that sits between the sensor data collection and the software application. This intermediary detects and manages unexpected biological characteristics, preventing them from reaching the main application and causing errors. This mediator approach maintains reliability without requiring the main application to handle all edge-cases directly.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Adaptability or versatility

If software applications are customized for each user characteristic, then user experience quality is improved, but development time and cost increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser experience adaptabilityVSAvoiddevelopment time

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent creates a universal handler module that can manage multiple types of unexpected biological characteristics through a single interface. This biological characteristics handler provides multi-functional capability to detect and respond to various edge-cases (such as unusual heart rates, abnormal eye movements, atypical skin conductance patterns) without requiring separate custom software for each condition, thus maintaining adaptability while reducing development time.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary detection and classification of user characteristics before the main software application processes the data. By pre-identifying unexpected biological characteristics and applying appropriate handling strategies in advance, the system avoids the need for extensive customization during application development, reducing development time while maintaining adaptability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Measurement precision

If biological sensors continuously monitor all user parameters, then detection accuracy is improved, but energy consumption increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebiological data accuracyVSAvoidsensor energy consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements partial monitoring by focusing sensor attention only on detecting unexpected biological characteristics rather than continuously analyzing all parameters at full resolution. The system uses low-power threshold-based detection that activates full monitoring only when anomalies are detected, thereby maintaining detection accuracy for critical events while significantly reducing overall energy consumption during normal operation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentUS12157051B2Interfaces and processes for biological characteristics handling in head-mountable devices

Publication Date: 2024.12.03 HEWLETT PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LP

AI summary

According to aspects of the present disclosure, there are provided methods and apparatus for providing a user characteristics determination module for use with a head-mountable display device, comprising: a biological characteristics handler to determine whether biological sensor data is indicative of a predefined biological characteristic of the user; and determination logic to determine and output a predefined response to the determined biological characteristic of the user.