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US 12,622,606 B2Granted
Apparel with ultrasonic position sensing and haptic feedback for activities
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorErnest Kim
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An article of apparel, a system, and methods include a fabric configured to conform to a body of a wearer. A plurality of ultrasonic positioning sensors are secured with respect to the fabric at a first set of predetermined locations, each of the ultrasonic positioning sensors configured to emit a sound wave configured to be detected by other ones of the plurality of ultrasonic positioning sensors and output an electronic signal indicative of having emitted or detected a sound wave. A plurality of feedback devices secured with respect to the fabric at a second set of predetermined locations, each of the feedback devices configured to output a feedback signal configured to be detectable by the wearer of the article of apparel.
Claims20
An article of apparel, comprising:
- a fabric configured to conform to a body of a wearer;
- a plurality of positioning sensors secured with respect to the fabric at a first set of predetermined locations, each of the positioning sensors configured to:
- emit a first signal that propagates through air or the fabric and is configured to be detected by one or more of the plurality of positioning sensors, and
- output a second signal indicative of having emitted or detected the first signal that propagates through the air or the fabric, the second signal indicative of having detected the first signal including an indication of a direction from which the first signal was detected;
- a plurality of feedback devices secured with respect to the fabric at a second set of predetermined locations;
- and
- a processor is configured to:
- based, at least in part, on the second signal output by the plurality of positioning sensors, determine positional values indicative of a relative position of each of the plurality of positioning sensors and directional values indicative of the direction from which the first signal was received for each of the plurality of positioning sensors;
- and
- cause at least some of the plurality of feedback devices to output a feedback signal based, at least in part, on the positional values and the directional values.
7 more elements
A method, comprising:
- based, at least in part, on electronic signals output by a plurality of positioning sensors, determining, with a processor, positional values indicative of a relative position of each of the plurality of positioning sensors and directional values of the plurality of positioning sensors secured with respect to a fabric at a first set of predetermined locations, wherein each directional value, of the directional values, is indicative of a direction from which an electronic signal, of the electronic signals, is received by a respective positioning sensor through air or the fabric from another respective positioning sensor, wherein the fabric is configured to conform to a body of a wearer;
- and
- causing, with the processor, at least some of a plurality of feedback devices secured with respect to the fabric to output a feedback signal based, at least in part, on a difference between the positional values and the directional values.
A system, comprising:
- a fabric configured to conform to a body of a wearer;
- a plurality of positioning sensors secured with respect to the fabric at a first set of predetermined locations, each of the positioning sensors configured to emit a first signal and output a second signal indicative of having emitted or detected the first signal, the second signal indicative of having detected the first signal including an indication of a direction from which the first signal was received from another positioning sensor;
- a plurality of feedback devices secured with respect to the fabric at a second set of predetermined locations, each of the plurality of feedback devices configured to output a feedback signal configured to be detectable by the wearer of the fabric;
- and
- a processor is configured to:
- based, at least in part, on the second signal output by the plurality of positioning sensors, determine positional values indicative of a relative position of each of the plurality of positioning sensors and directional values indicative of the direction from which the first signal is received from the another positioning sensor for the plurality of positioning sensors;
- and
- cause at least some of the plurality of feedback devices to output the feedback signal based, at least in part, on the positional values and the directional values.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.