Wearable device including self-mixing interferometry sensor
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsTong Chen, Edward Vail, Ahmet Fatih Cihan, Mengshu Huang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A wearable device includes a band and a set of one or more SMI sensors. The band has a band interior opposite a band exterior, and is operable to attach the wearable device to a user. The band defines a cavity, and a portion of the band interior separates the cavity from the user. The set of one or more SMI sensors are disposed in the cavity. The set of one or more SMI sensors are configured to emit electromagnetic radiation toward the portion of the band interior and generate a set of one or more SMI signals including information indicative of movement of the portion of the band interior.
Claims19
A wearable device, comprising:
- a band having a band interior opposite a band exterior, the band operable to attach the wearable device to a user, the band defining a cavity, and a portion of the band interior separating the cavity from the user;
- a set of one or more self-mixing interferometry (SMI) sensors disposed in the cavity and configured to:
- emit electromagnetic radiation toward the portion of the band interior;
- and
- generate a set of one or more SMI signals including information indicative of movement of the portion of the band interior;
- and
- processing circuitry configured to:
- determine motion of one or more tendons or ligaments of a portion of the user positioned in the band interior based, at least in part, on the set of one or more SMI signals;
- and
- determine a gesture performed by the user based, at least in part, on the determined motion of the one or more tendons or ligaments.
A method of operating a wearable device, the method comprising:
- generating a plurality of self-mixing interferometry (SMI) signals, each from a respective SMI sensor disposed in a band and positioned to emit electromagnetic radiation toward a band interior of the band, the band operable to attach the wearable device to a user;
- identifying, by a processor of the wearable device, a first subset of the plurality of SMI signals relevant to a determination of biometric data about the user;
- determining, by the processor of the wearable device and based, at least in part, on the first subset of the plurality of SMI signals, the biometric data about the user;
- identifying, by a processor of the wearable device, a second subset of the plurality of SMI signals relevant to the determination of movement of a portion of the user positioned in the band interior;
- and
- determining, by the processor of the wearable device and based, at least in part, on the second subset of the plurality of SMI signals, movement of a portion of the user positioned in the band interior.
A wearable device, comprising:
- a band operable to attach the wearable device to a user;
- a first set of self-mixing interferometry (SMI) sensors disposed in the band and configured to:
- emit electromagnetic radiation toward a first anatomical feature of the user;
- and
- generate a first set of SMI signals including information about the first anatomical feature;
- a second set of SMI sensors disposed in the band and configured to:
- emit electromagnetic radiation toward a second anatomical feature of the user;
- and
- generate a second set of SMI signals including information about the second anatomical feature;
- and
- processing circuitry communicably coupled to the first set of SMI sensors and the second set of SMI sensors and configured to determine information about the user using one or more SMI signals from the first set of SMI sensors and one or more SMI signals from the second set of SMI sensors.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.