Method and apparatus for tracking liquid consumption behavior

A method for detecting when a user is consuming a fluid during an individual sip and estimating an amount of fluid being consumed, comprising:

• providing an electronic device capable of being worn on an extremity of a user,
• detecting movement, position, or orientation of said electronic device and said extremity by way of a motion sensor provided by said electronic device,
• receiving and analyzing signals from said motion sensor by way of a microprocessor capable of running a programmed algorithm,
• detecting whether the user performs one or more actions that indicate the user is preparing to take an individual sip, using said programmed algorithm, wherein the following gestures are detected to indicate the user is preparing to take an individual sip:
• i) Lifting drink to mouth;
• ii) Tilting until liquid touches lips;
• detecting and marking when fluid consumption has begun, using said programmed algorithm to recognize the following gestures:
• iii) Tilting while consuming, which is recognized by the following criteria:
• a) detecting continuous increases in a measured x-axis acceleration and allowing for measured x-axis accelerations greater than −0.8 g and less than 1 g;
• b) a root mean square of a y-axis acceleration and a z-axis acceleration is greater than 0.5 g and less than 1.4 g;
• c) a measured total acceleration is greater than 0.8 g and less than 1.2 g and/or a measured total acceleration standard deviation is less than 0.05 g within a window equal to or less than 1 second;
• and
• d) a change in the measured x-axis acceleration is greater than 0 g and less than 1.1 g every 1 second;
• detecting and marking an end of fluid consumption, using said programmed algorithm to recognize one or more of the following gestures:
• iv) Untilting by reversing the drinking tilt to normal holding position;
• v) Lowering drink, and
• calculating the estimate of an amount of fluid consumed during the individual sip by measuring a magnitude of the x-axis accelerations during the tilting while consuming gesture and/or by measuring a duration of the tilting while consuming gesture.

An apparatus comprising:

• A device capable of being worn on an extremity by a user, wherein the device comprises a motion sensor, microprocessor, and programmed algorithm, and wherein the device is capable of being programmed to detect when the user is taking an individual sip, and to detect an amount of fluid consumed, comprising:
• detecting movement, position, or orientation of the device and said extremity by way of said motion sensor provided by said device,
• receiving and analyzing signals from said motion sensor by way of said microprocessor capable of running said programmed algorithm, and
• detecting when the user performs one or more actions that indicate the user is consuming a fluid by determining and marking when the user starts consuming the fluid during the individual sip and when the user stops consuming the fluid during the individual sip, using said programmed algorithm, wherein said one or more actions are recognized by the following criteria:
• a) comparing total acceleration (total g) of the device to individual accelerations of one or more x-, y-, or z-axes, position, or orientation of said user's extremity and/or said device and wherein the total acceleration is determined by:
• total g=√{square root over (x2+y2+z2)} where x, y, and z are the individual accelerations of the x-, y-, and z-axes, respectively;
• b) a root mean square of a y-axis acceleration and a z-axis acceleration is greater than 0.5 g and less than 1.4 g;
• c) the total acceleration is greater than 0.8 g and less than 1.2 g and/or a total acceleration standard deviation is less than 0.05 g within a window equal to or less than 1 second;
• and
• d) a change in an x-axis acceleration is greater than 0 g and less than 1.1 g every 1 second;
• wherein the amount of fluid being consumed is calculated based on a magnitude of the x-axis accelerations between the marked start of the fluid consumption and the marked end of the fluid consumption, wherein a sip is capable of being detected between −0.8 g and 1 s.