Wristwatch Interface Activation via Motion and Ultrasound Proximity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Portable electronic devices face challenges in balancing power management and user interaction efficiency, as fully shutting down or returning from a lower power mode consumes significant power, and simple user interactions can lead to unintentional power wastage.
Innovation Solution
A wristwatch with a combination of motion sensors and an ultrasound proximity detector to activate the user interface by detecting the user's wrist raise and hand movement towards the device, reducing power consumption and minimizing false activations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If the electrical device is fully shut down or returned from lower power mode, then power consumption during operation is reduced, but significant power is used when turning on and re-booting the device
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-loading essential data and maintaining a standby state with critical functions active before full shutdown is needed. This allows the device to resume operation faster with less power expenditure during activation, as the boot process is partially completed in advance.
Solution Approach 2:
The device implements dynamic power management with multiple operational states (deep sleep, standby, active) rather than binary on/off states. This allows the system to adapt its power consumption profile based on usage patterns, reducing both operational power loss and activation power requirements by intelligently transitioning between states.
2Ease of operation
If the user interaction required to return the device to full power mode is made simple, then the user can easily and quickly return the device to full power mode, but the simple user interaction may result in unintentional activation and wasting electrical power
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an intermediary gesture recognition layer between the user and the power activation function. Instead of direct button presses triggering immediate activation, the system uses gesture sensors to detect specific wrist movements as an intermediary step, which then triggers a confirmation sequence before full activation occurs. This mediates between simple user intent and deliberate activation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical button presses with gesture-based detection using motion sensors and proximity detectors. This substitution allows for more nuanced gesture recognition that can distinguish between intentional activation gestures and accidental movements, reducing false activations while maintaining ease of use through natural hand movements.
3Device complexity
If motion sensors alone are used to detect wrist raise for interface activation, then the system is simple to implement, but false activations may occur when the user raises their wrist without intending to interact
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges multiple sensing modalities (motion sensors, proximity detectors, and gesture recognition algorithms) into a unified activation detection system. By combining these sensors, the system cross-validates detection signals, ensuring that activation only occurs when both motion patterns and proximity conditions align, significantly reducing false activations while maintaining reasonable system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback loops where sensor data is continuously monitored and analyzed to distinguish between intentional activation gestures and accidental movements. The gesture recognition algorithm learns from usage patterns and provides feedback to adjust sensitivity thresholds, improving detection accuracy over time while maintaining system simplicity through adaptive algorithms.
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
This approach effectively reduces power wastage by ensuring that the user interface is only activated when the user intends to interact with the device, thereby conserving battery life while enhancing interaction reliability.
Implementation Method 1
the proximity detector may be an ultrasound system
Implementation Method 2
the digital audio processor may be configured to determine proximity based on time of flight of an ultrasound signal generated by the speaker and detected by the microphone
Data Source
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AI summary
A wrist watch and method of activating a user interface of the wrist watch are described. The wrist watch comprises a display for providing a user interface for a user when wearing the wrist watch on a wrist, a first motion sensor arranged to detect motion of the wrist watch and a proximity detector arranged to detect the proximity of a hand of the user when wearing the wrist watch. A data processor is configured to activate the user interface when the first motion sensor detects that the wrist of the user has been raised and the proximity detector detects that the hand of the user has moved toward the wrist watch.