Privacy-Aware Motion Tracking via Gesture Registration

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing motion tracking technologies, particularly computer-vision based systems, fail to effectively monitor consenting individuals while preserving the privacy of non-consenting subjects due to indiscriminate tracking and compliance with privacy regulations like HIPAA, limiting their use in workplaces such as hospitals and nursing homes.

Innovation Solution

A system utilizing programmable wearable devices and computer-vision based motion sensors that require consenting subjects to register through a predefined gesture, allowing only registered individuals to be tracked while discarding data from non-consenting subjects, and providing real-time feedback via haptic alerts for posture and movement violations.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If computer-vision based motion sensors are used to track human activities, then motion tracking accuracy is improved, but privacy of non-consenting individuals is compromised

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemotion tracking accuracyVSAvoidprivacy violation

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary registration by detecting predefined gestures (e.g., clapping hands, touching ears) before正式开始 tracking. This preliminary action establishes consent status in advance, allowing the system to differentiate between consenting and non-consenting individuals before motion tracking data is collected, thus preventing privacy violations while maintaining tracking accuracy for authorized subjects

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces an intermediary consent mechanism that acts as a mediator between the motion sensing system and individuals. This intermediary layer (gesture-based registration) determines whether tracking should occur, allowing the system to maintain high measurement precision for consenting subjects while automatically excluding non-consenting ones from tracking, thereby resolving the privacy conflict

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Productivity

If motion tracking is implemented to monitor worker activities and provide real-time feedback, then job performance improvement and injury prevention are achieved, but compliance with privacy regulations like HIPAA becomes difficult

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvejob performanceVSAvoidregulatory compliance

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary gesture-based registration to establish consent status before beginning motion tracking. This preliminary action ensures regulatory compliance by obtaining consent in advance, while enabling subsequent productivity monitoring and injury prevention activities to proceed legally and ethically

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system extracts and processes only motion data from registered consenting individuals, automatically discarding data from non-consenting subjects. This extraction approach maintains regulatory compliance by separating consented from non-consented data streams, while preserving full functionality for authorized workers

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

3Reliability

If indiscriminate tracking is used to ensure all individuals are monitored, then comprehensive safety monitoring is achieved, but privacy rights of non-consenting individuals are violated

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesafety monitoring coverageVSAvoidprivacy infringement

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary gesture detection to identify consenting individuals before initiating comprehensive safety monitoring. This preliminary action ensures that only those who have explicitly consented through predefined gestures are included in the monitoring scope, maintaining both safety coverage and privacy rights

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

Instead of monitoring everyone and then filtering, the system inverts the approach by first identifying consenting individuals through gesture recognition and then monitoring only them. This inverted approach achieves comprehensive safety monitoring for authorized personnel while automatically excluding non-consenting individuals, thus preserving their privacy rights

Inventive Principle:

Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

Data Source

PatentUS11727780B2Systems and methods for privacy-aware motion tracking with notification feedback

Publication Date: 2023.08.15 CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY

AI summary

Systems and methods to perform privacy-aware computer-vision-based human activity monitoring with real-time haptic feedback. The system and method described in this disclosure employing a registration process for consenting human subjects before their activities are monitored. The registration process involves the corroboration of human motion captured in different modalities, i.e., computer-vision-based via the programmable computer-vision-based motion sensor and accelerometer-based via the wearable device. The tracked human activities are assessed in real-time and upon detection of activities that violated predefined rules, haptic feedback is delivered in real-time to the tracked human subject via the wearable device worn by the caregiver.