Wearable Sensor Systems for Touch-Based Collaborative Play
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current technologies lack the ability to facilitate meaningful connections and interactions between children with disabilities and their parents, leading to developmental delays and increased emotional stress for families, due to the absence of systems that leverage human touch and collaborative play.
Innovation Solution
Systems utilizing wearable sensors, such as pressure sensors, proximity sensors, and human body communication sensors, configured to detect collaborative interaction events, and a microcontroller to analyze these events, generating control commands for interactive environments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If current gaming platforms are used, then children with disabilities can play games, but meaningful connections and interactions between children and parents are not enabled
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces wearable sensors as intermediary devices that detect touch and collaborative interaction events, serving as a mediator between children with disabilities and parents. The sensors capture physical contact information and transmit it to a computing device, enabling meaningful connections without requiring traditional gaming controllers. This intermediary approach allows parents and children to interact through shared physical experiences rather than isolated screen interactions.
2Reliability
If wearable sensors detect collaborative interaction events, then meaningful connections are enabled, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into separate functional modules: wearable sensors for detection, wireless transceivers for communication, and a computing device for processing. Each component performs a specific function independently, making the overall system more manageable. The sensors are worn on children's bodies, microcontrollers process local sensor data, and the main computing device handles game logic, allowing complexity to be distributed across multiple simple units rather than concentrated in one complex system.
3Measurement precision
If multiple wearable sensors are used to detect interaction events, then interaction detection accuracy improves, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The wearable sensors are designed with multi-functionality, serving both as detection devices for collaborative interaction events and as part of the collaborative play experience itself. The same sensors that detect touch events also provide feedback to children during games, eliminating the need for separate detection and feedback systems. This universal design simplifies manufacturing by reducing the number of different components that need to be produced and assembled.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances collaborative interaction and play experiences, reducing developmental delays and emotional stress by enabling meaningful connections through wearable technology.
Implementation Method 1
The wearable sensor is a pressure sensor
Implementation Method 2
The wearable sensor is a proximity sensor
Implementation Method 3
The wearable sensor is a human body communication sensor
Implementation Method 4
the microcontroller is configured to receive a sensor signal from the wearable sensor; and transmit, using the wireless transceiver, the sensor signal
Data Source
AI summary
Described herein are systems for collaborative interaction using wearable technology. An example system includes a wearable sensor configured to sense a collaborative interaction event, a microcontroller including a wireless transceiver, where the microcontroller is in operable communication with the wearable sensor, and where the microcontroller is configured to receive a sensor signal from the wearable sensor, and transmit, using the wireless transceiver, the sensor signal. The system also includes a computing device in operable communication with the microcontroller. The computing device includes a processor and a memory, the memory having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: receive the sensor signal from the microcontroller; analyze the sensor signal to detect the collaborative interaction event; and generate a control command in response to detecting the collaborative interaction event, where the control command is configured to manipulate an object within a gaming environment.