Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
ALI-013CON1PCT
WELLNESS APPLICATION FOR DATA-CAPABLE BAND
FIELD
The present invention relates generally to electrical and electronic hardware,
computer
software, wired and wireless network communications, and computing devices.
More specifically,
techniques for a wellness application for a data-capable personal worn or
carried device, are
described.
BACKGROUND
With the advent of greater computing capabilities in smaller personal and/or
portable
form factors and an increasing number of applications (i.e., computer and
Internet software or
programs) for different uses, consumers (i.e., users) have access to large
amounts of personal data.
Information and data arc often readily available, but poorly captured using
conventional data capture
devices. Conventional devices typically lack capabilities that can capture,
analyze, communicate, or
use data in a contextually-meaningful, comprehensive, and efficient manner.
Further, conventional
solutions are often limited to specific individual purposes or uses, demanding
that users invest in
multiple devices in order to perform different activities (e.g., a sports
watch for tracking time and
distance, a GPS receiver for monitoring a hike or run, a cyclometer for
gathering cycling data, and
others). Although a wide range of data and information is available,
conventional devices and
applications fail to provide effective solutions that comprehensively capture
data for a given user
across numerous disparate activities.
Some conventional solutions combine a small number of discrete functions.
Functionality for data capture, processing, storage, or communication in
conventional devices such
as a watch or timer with a heart rate monitor or global positioning system
("GPS") receiver are
available conventionally, but are expensive to manufacture and purchase. Other
conventional
solutions for combining personal data capture facilities often present
numerous design and
manufacturing problems such as size restrictions, specialized materials
requirements, lowered
tolerances for defects such as pits or holes in coverings for water-resistant
or waterproof devices,
unreliability, higher failure rates, increased manufacturing time, and
expense. Subsequently,
conventional devices such as fitness watches, heart rate monitors, GPS-enabled
fitness monitors,
health monitors (e.g., diabetic blood sugar testing units), digital voice
recorders, pedometers,
altimeters, and other conventional personal data capture devices are generally
manufactured for
conditions that occur in a single or small groupings of activities.
Problematically, though,
conventional devices do not provide effective solutions to users in teens of
providing a
comprehensive view of one's overall health or wellness as a result of a
combined analysis of data
gathered. This is a limiting aspect of the commercial attraction of the
various types of conventional
devices listed above.
1
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
Al.I-O13CON I I'CI'
Generally, if the number of activities performed by conventional personal data
capture
devices increases, there is a corresponding rise in design and manufacturing
requirements that results
in significant consumer expense, which eventually becomes prohibitive to both
investment and
commercialization. Further, conventional manufacturing techniques are often
limited and ineffective
at meeting increased requirements to protect sensitive hardware, circuitry,
and other components that
are susceptible to damage, but which are required to perform various personal
data capture activities.
As a conventional example, sensitive electronic components such as printed
circuit board assemblies
("PCBA"), sensors, and computer memory (hereafter "memory") can be
significantly damaged or
destroyed during manufacturing processes where ovcrmoldings or layering of
protective material
occurs using techniques such as injection molding, cold molding, and others.
Damaged or destroyed
items subsequently raises the cost of goods sold and can deter not only
investment and
commercialization, but also innovation in data capture and analysis
technologies, which are highly
compelling fields of opportunity.
Thus, what is needed is a solution for data capture devices without the
limitations of
conventional techniques.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Various embodiments or examples ("examples") of the invention are disclosed in
the
following detailed description and the accompanying drawings:
FIG. I illustrates an exemplary data-capable band system;
FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary data-capable band;
FIG. 3 illustrates sensors for use with an exemplary data-capable band;
FIG. 4 illustrates an application architecture for an exemplary data-capable
band
FIG. 5A illustrates representative data types for use with an exemplary data-
capable band,
FIG. 5B illustrates representative data types for use with an exemplary data-
capable band
in fitness-related activities,
FIG. 5C illustrates representative data types for use with an exemplary data-
capable band
in sleep management activities;
FIG. 5D illustrates representative data types for use with an exemplary data-
capable band
in medical-related activities;
FIG. 5E illustrates representative data types for use with an exemplary data-
capable band
in social media/networking-related activities;
FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary communications device system implemented with
multiple exemplary data-capable bands;
FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary wellness tracking system for use with or
within a
distributed wellness application;
2
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
A1.1-O 13C)iN 7 PCT
FIG. 8 illustrates representative calculations executed by an exemplary
conversion module
io determine an aggregate value for producing a graphical representation of a
user's wellness;
FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary process for generating and displaying a
graphical
representation of a user's wellness based upon the user's activities;
FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary graphical representation of a user's wellness
over a time
period;
FIG. II illustrates another exemplary graphical representation of a user's
wellness over a
time period;
FIGS. 12A-I2F illustrate exemplary wireframes of exemplary webpages associated
with a
wellness marketplace portal; and
FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary computer system suitable for implementation
of a
wellness application and use with a data-capable band.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Various embodiments or examples may be implemented in numerous ways, including
as
a system, a process, an apparatus, a user interface, or a series of program
instructions on a computer
readable medium such as a computer readable storage medium or a computer
network where the
program instructions are sent over optical, electronic, or wireless
communication links. In general,
operations of disclosed processes may be performed in an arbitrary order,
unless otherwise provided
in the claims.
A detailed description of one or more examples is provided below along with
accompanying figures. The detailed description is provided in connection with
such examples, but is
not limited to any particular example. The scope is limited only by the claims
and numerous
alternatives, modifications, and equivalents are encompassed. Numerous
specific details are set forth
in the following description in order to provide a thorough understanding.
These details are provided
for the purpose of example and the described techniques may be practiced
according to the claims
without some or all of these specific details. For clarity, technical material
that is known in the
technical fields related to the examples has not been described in detail to
avoid unnecessarily
obscuring the description. .
FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary data-capable band system. Here, system 100
includes
network 102, bands 104-112, server 114, mobile computing device 116, mobile
communications
device 118, computer 120, laptop 122, and distributed sensor 124. Bands 104-
112 may be
implemented as data-capable device that may be wom as a strap or band around
an ann, leg, ankle,
or other bodily appendage or feature. In other examples, bands 104-112 may be
attached directly or
indirectly to other items, organic or inorganic, animate, or static. In still
other examples, bands 104-
112 may be used differently.
3
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
ALI-0 t 3CON I I'CT
As described above, bands 104-112 may be implemented as wearable personal data
or
data capture devices (e.g., data-capable devices) that are worn by a user
around a wrist, ankle, arm,
car, or other appendage, or attached to the body or affixed to clothing. One
or more facilities,
sensing; elements, or sensors, both active and passive, may be implemented as
part of bands 104-112
in order to capture various types of data from different sources. Temperature,
environmental,
temporal, motion, electronic, electrical, chemical, or other types of sensors
(including those
described below in connection with FIG. 3) may be used in order to gather
varying amounts of data,
which may be configurable by a user, locally (e.g., using user interface
facilities such as buttons,
switches, motion-activated/detected command structures (e.g., accelerometer-
gathered data from
user-initiated motion of bands 104-112), and others) or remotely (e.g.,
entering rules or parameters in
a website or graphical user interface ("GUI") that may be used to modify
control systems or signals
in firmware, circuitry, hardware, and software implemented (i.e., installed)
on bands 104-112).
Bands 104-112 may also be implemented as data-capable devices that are
configured for data
communication using various types of communications infrastructure and media,
as described in
greater detail below. Bands 104-112 may also be wearable, personal, non-
intrusive, lightweight
devices that are configured to gather large amounts of personally relevant
data that can be used to
improve user health, fitness levels, medical conditions, athletic performance,
sleeping physiology,
and physiological conditions, or used as a sensory-based user interface ("Ul")
to signal social-related
notifications specifying the state of the user through vibration, heat, lights
or other sensory based
notifications. For example, a social-related notification signal indicating a
user is on-line can be
transmitted to a recipient, who in turn, receives the notification as, for
instance, a vibration.
Using data gathered by bands 104-112, applications may be used to perform
various
analyses and evaluations that can generate information as to a person's
physical (e.g., healthy, sick,
weakened, or other states, or activity level), emotional, or mental state
(e.g., an elevated body
temperature or heart rate may indicate stress, a lowered heart rate and skin
temperature, or reduced
movement (e.g., excessive sleeping), may indicate physiological depression
caused by exertion or
other factors, chemical data gathered from evaluating outgassing from the
skin's surface may be
analyzed to determine whether a person's diet is balanced or if various
nutrients are lacking, salinity
detectors may be evaluated to determine if high, lower, or proper blood sugar
levels are present for
diabetes management, and others). Generally, bands 104-112 may be configured
to gather from
sensors locally and remotely.
As an example, band 104 may capture (i.e., record, store, communicate (i.e.,
send or
receive), process, or the like) data from various sources (i.e., sensors that
are organic (i.e., installed,
integrated, or otherwise implemented with band 104) or distributed (e.g.,
microphones on mobile
computing device 116, mobile communications device I 19, computer 120, laptop
122, distributed
sensor 124, global positioning system ("UPS") satellites, or others, without
limitation)) and exchange
4
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
Ail-013CON t PCl'
data with one or more of bands 106-112, server 114, mobile computing device
116, mobile
communications device 118, computer 120, laptop 122, and distributed sensor
124. As shown here,
a local sensor may be one that is incorporated, integrated, or otherwise
implemented with bands 104-
112. A remote or distributed sensor (e.g., mobile computing device 116, mobile
communications
device 118, computer 120, laptop 122, or, generally, distributed sensor 124)
may be sensors that can
be accessed, controlled, or otherwise used by bands 104-112. For example, band
1.12 may be
configured to control devices that are also controlled by a given user (e.g.,
mobile computing device
116, mobile communications device l 18, computer 120, laptop 122, and
distributed sensor 124). For
example, a microphone in mobile communications device 118 may be used to
detect, for example,
ambient audio data that is used to help identify a person's location, or an
ear clip (e.g., a headset as
described below) affixed to an ear may be used to record pulse or blood oxygen
saturation levels.
Additionally, a sensor implemented with a screen on mobile computing device I
16 may be used to
read a user's temperature or obtain a biometric signature while a user is
interacting with data. A
further example may include using data that is observed on computer 120 or
laptop 122 that provides
information as to a user's online behavior and the type of content that she is
viewing, which may be
used by bands 104-112. Regardless of the type or location of sensor used, data
may be transferred to
bands 104-112 by using, for example, an analog audio jack, digital adapter
(e.., USB, mini-USB),
or other, without limitation, plug, or other type of connector that may be
used to physically couple
bands 104-112 to another device or system for transferring data and, in some
examples, to provide
power to recharge a battery (not shown). Alternatively, a wireless data
communication interface or
facility (e.g., a wireless radio that is configured to communicate data from
bands 104-112 using one
or more data communication protocols (e.g., IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n (WiFi), WiMax,
ANT'"', ZigBee( ,
Bluetooth , Near Field Communications ("NFC"), and others)) may be used to
receive or transfer
data. Further, bands 104-112 may be configured to analyze, evaluate, modify,
or otherwise use data
gathered, either directly or indirectly.
In some examples, bands 104-112 may be configured to share data with each
other or
with an intermediary facility, such as a database, website, web service, or
the like, which may be
implemented by server 114. In some embodiments, server 114 can be operated by
a third party
providing, for example, social media-related services. Bands 104-112 and other
related devices may
exchange data with each other directly, or bands 104-112 may exchange data via
a third party server,
such as a third party like Facebook;. to provide social-media related
services. Examples of other
third party servers include those implemented by social networking services,
including, but not
limited to, services such as Yahoo! IM'y', GTalkThi, MSN Messenger"",
Twitter(R) and other private
or public social networks. The exchanged data may include personal
physiological data and data
derived from sensory-based user interfaces ("W"). Server 114, in some
examples, may be
implemented using one or more processor-based computing devices or networks,
including
5
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
ALI-O13CON1 PCT
computing clouds, storage area networks ("SAN"), or the like. As shown, bands
104-112 may be
used as a personal data or area network (e.g., "PDN" or "PAN") in which data
relevant to a given
user or band (e.g., one or more of bands 104-112) may be shared. As shown
here, bands 104 and
112 may be configured to exchange data with each other over network 102 or
indirectly using server
114. Users of bands 104 and 112 may direct a web browser hosted on a computer
(e.g., computer
120, laptop 122, or the like) in order to access, view, modify, or perform
other operations with data
captured by bands 104 and 112. For example, two runners using bands 104 and
112 may be
geographically remote (e.g., users are not geographically in close proximity
locally such that bands
being used by each user are in direct data communication), but wish to share
data regarding their race
times (pre, post, or in-race), personal records (i.e., target split times,
results, performance
characteristics (e.g., target heart rate, target V02 max, and others), and
other information. If both
runners (i.e., bands 104 and 112) are engaged in a race on the same day, data
can be gathered for
comparative analysis and other uses. Further, data can be shared in
substantially real-time (taking
into account any latencies incurred by data transfer rates, network
topologies, or other data network
factors) as well as uploaded after a given activity or event has been
performed. In other words, data
can be captured by the user as it is worn and configured to transfer data
using, for example, a
wireless network connection (eg., a wireless network interface card, wireless
local area network
("LAN") card, cell phone, or the like). Data may also be shared in a
temporally asynchronous
manner in which a wired data connection (e.g., an analog audio plug (and
associated software or
firmware) configured to transfer digitally encoded data to encoded audio data
that may be transferred
between bands 104-112 and a plug configured to receive, encode/decode, and
process data
exchanged) may be used to transfer data from one or more bands 104-112 to
various destinations
(e.g, another of bands 104-112, server 114, mobile computing device 116,
mobile communications
device 118, computer 120, laptop 122, and distributed sensor 124). Bands 104-
112 may be
implemented with various types of wired and/or wireless communication
facilities and are not
intended to be limited to any specific technology. For example, data may be
transferred from bands
1.04-112 using an analog audio plug (e.g,, MRS, TRS, or others). In other
examples, wireless
communication facilities using various types of data communication protocols
(e.g., WiFi,
Bluctooth , ZigBcc , ANT''M, and others) may be implemented as part of bands
104-112, which
may include circuitry, firmware, hardware, radios, antennas, processors,
microprocessors, memories,
or other electrical, electronic, mechanical, or physical elements configured
to enable data
communication capabilities of various types and characteristics.
As data-capable devices, bands 104-112 may be configured to collect data from
a wide
range of sources, including onboard (not shown) and distributed sensors (e.g.,
server 114, mobile
computing device 116, mobile communications device 118, computer 120, laptop
122, and
distributed sensor 124) or other bands. Some or all data captured maybe
personal, sensitive, or
6
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
AEl-013CON IPC] `
confidential and various techniques for providing secure storage and access
may be implemented.
For example, various types of security protocols and algorithms may be used to
encode data stored or
accessed by bands 104-112. Examples of security protocols and algorithms
include authentication,
encryption, encoding, private and public key infrastructure, passwords,
checksums, hash codes and
hash functions (e.g., SHA, SHA-1, MD-S, and the like), or others may be used
to prevent undesired
access to data captured by bands 104-112. In other examples, data security for
bands 104-112 may
be implemented differently.
Bands 104-112 may be used as personal wearable, data capture devices that,
when worn,
are configured toidentify a specific, individual user. By evaluating captured
data such as motion
data from an accelerometer, biometric data such as heart rate, skin galvanic
response, and other
biometric data, and using long-term analysis techniques (e.g., software
packages or modules of any
type, without limitation), a user may have a unique pattern of behavior or
motion and/or biometric
responses that can be used as a signature for identification. For example,
bands 104-112 may gather
data regarding an individual person's gait or other unique biometric,
physiological or behavioral
characteristics. Using, for example, distributed sensor 124, a biometric
signature (eg., fingerprint,
retinal or iris vascular pattern, or others) may be gathered and transmitted
to bands 104-112 that,
when combined with other data, determines that a given user has been properly
identified and, as
such, authenticated. When bands 104-112 are worn, a user may be identified and
authenticated to
enable a variety of other functions such as accessing or modifying data,
enabling wired or wireless
data transmission facilities (ie., allowing the transfer of data from bands
104-112), modifying
functionality or functions of bands 104-112, authenticating financial
transactions using stored data
and information (e.g., credit card, PIN, card security numbers, and the like),
running applications that
allow for various operations to be performed (e.g., controlling physical
security and access by
transmitting a security code to a reader that, when authenticated, unlocks a
door by turning off
current to an electromagnetic lock, and others), and others. Different
functions and operations
beyond those described may be performed using bands 104-112, which can act as
secure, personal,
wearable, data-capable devices- The number, type, function, configuration,
specifications, structure,
or other features of system 100 and the above-described elements may be varied
and are not limited
to the examples provided.
FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary data-capable band. Here,
band 200
includes bus 202, processor 204, memory 206, notification facility 208,
accelerometer 210, sensor
212, battery 214, and communications facility 216. In some examples, the
quantity, type, function,
structure, and configuration. of band 200 and the elements (e.g., bus 202,
processor 204, memory
206, notification facility 208, accelerometer 210, sensor 212, battery 214,
and communications
facility 216) shown may be varied and arc not limited to the examples
provided. As shown,
processor 204 may be implemented as logic to provide control functions and
signals to memory 206,
7
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
AL1-0I3CON I PCT
notification facility 208, accelerometer 210, sensor 212, battery 214, and
communications facility
216. Processor 204 may be implemented using any type of processor or
microprocessor suitable for
packaging within bands 104-112 (FIG. 1). Various types of microprocessors may
be used to provide
data processing capabilities for band 200 and are not limited to any specific
type or capability. For
example, a MSP430F5528-type microprocessor manufactured by Texas Instruments
of Dallas, Texas
may be configured for data communication using audio tones and enabling the
use of an audio plug-
Jack system (e.g., TRRS, TRS, or others) for transferring data captured by
band 200. Further,
and-
different processors may be desired if other functionality (e.g., the type and
number of sensors (e.g.,
sensor 212)) are varied. Data processed by processor 204 may be stored using,
for example, memory
206.
In some examples, memory 206 may be implemented using various types of data
storage
technologies and standards, including, without limitation, read-only memory
("ROM"), random
access memory ("RAM"), dynamic random access memory ("DRAM"), static random
access
memory ("SRAM"), static/dynamic random access memory ("SDRAM"), magnetic
random access
memory ("MRAM"), solid state, two and three-dimensional memories, Flash, and
others. Memory
206 may also be implemented using one or more partitions that are configured
for multiple types of
data storage technologies to allow for non-modifiable (i.e., by a user)
software to be installed (e.g:,
firmware installed on ROM) while also providing for storage of captured data
and applications using,
for example, RAM. Once captured and/or stored in memory 206, data may be
subjected to various
operations performed by other elements of band 200.
Notification facility 209, in some examples, may be implemented to provide
vibratory
energy, audio or visual signals, communicated through band 200 As used herein,
"facility" refers to
any, some, or all of the features and structures that are used to implement a
given set of functions. In
some examples, the vibratory energy may be implemented using a motor or other
mechanical
structure. In some, examples, the audio signal may be a tone or other audio
cue, or it may be
implemented using different sounds for different purposes. The audio signals
may be emitted
directly using notification facility 208, or indirectly by transmission via
communications facility 216
to other audio-capable devices (e.g., headphones (not shown), a headset (as
described below with
regard to FIG. 12), mobile computing device 116, mobile communications device
118, computer
120, laptop 122, distributed sensor 124, etc.). In some examples, the visual
signal may be
implemented using any available display technology, such as lights, light-
emitting diodes (LEDs),
interferometric modulator display (IMOD), electrophoretic ink (E Ink), organic
light-emitting diode
(OLED), or other display technologies. As an example, an application stored on
memory 206 may
be configured to monitor a clock signal from processor 204 in order to provide
timekeeping
functions to band 200. For example, if an alarm is set for a desired time,
notification facility 208
may be used to provide a vibration or an audio tone, or a series of vibrations
or audio tones, when the
8
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
Al.1-013CON 1 PC'r
desired time occurs. As another example, notification facility 208 may be
coupled to a framework
(not shown) or other structure that is used to translate or communicate
vibratory energy throughout
the physical structure of band 200. In other examples, notification facility
208 may be implemented
differently.
Power may be stored in battery 214, which may be implemented as a battery,
battery
module, power management module, or the like. Power may also be gathered from
local power
sources such as solar panels, thereto-electric generators, and kinetic energy
generators, among others
that are alternatives power sources to external power for a battery. These
additional sources can
either power the system directly or can charge a battery, which, in turn, is
used to power the system
(e.g., of a band). In other words, battery 214 may include a rechargeable,
expendable, replaceable, or
other type of battery, but also circuitry, hardware, or software that may be
used in connection with in
lieu of processor 204 in order to provide power management, charge/recharging,
sleep, or other
functions. Further, battery 214 may be implemented using various types of
battery technologies,
including Lithium Ion ("Ll"), Nickel Metal Hydride ("NiMH"), or others,
without limitation. Power
drawn as electrical current may be distributed from battery via bus 202, the
latter of which may be
implemented as deposited or formed circuitry or using other forms of circuits
or cabling, including
flexible circuitry. Electrical current distributed from battery 204 and
managed by processor 204 may
be used by one or more of memory 206, notification facility 208, accelerometer
210, sensor 212, or
communications facility 216.
As shown, various sensors may be used as input sources for data captured by
band 200.
For example, accelerometer 210 may be used to gather data measured across one,
two, or three axes
of motion. In addition to accelerometer 210, other sensors (i.e., sensor 212)
maybe implemented to
provide temperature, environmental, physical, chemical, electrical, or other
types of sensed inputs.
As presented here, sensor 212 may include one or multiple sensors and is not
intended to be limiting
as to the quantity or type of sensor implemented. Data captured by band 200
using accelerometer
210 and sensor 212 or data requested from another source (i.e., outside of
band 200) may also be
exchanged, transferred, or otherwise communicated using communications
facility 216. For
example, communications facility 216 may include a wireless radio, control
circuit or logic, antenna,
transceiver, receiver, transmitter, resistors, diodes, transistors, or other
elements that are used to
transmit and receive data from band 200. In some examples, communications
facility 216 may be
implemented to provide a "wired" data communication capability such as an
analog or digital
attachment, plug, jack, or the like to allow for data to be transferred. In
other examples,
communications facility 216 may be implemented to provide a wireless data
communication
capability to transmit digitally encoded data across one or more frequencies
using various types of
data communication protocols, without limitation.. In still other examples,
band 200 and the above-
9
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
ALI-013CON I PC I'
described elements may be varied in function, structure, configuration, or
implementation and are not
limited to those shown and described.
FIG. 3 illustrates sensors for use with an exemplary data-capable band. Sensor
212 may
be implemented using various types of sensors, some of which are shown. Like-
numbered and
named elements may describe the same or substantially similar element as those
shown in other
descriptions. Here, sensor 212 (FIG. 2) may be implemented as accelerometer
302,
altimeter/barometer 304, light/infrared ("IR'" sensor 306, pulselheart rate
("HR") monitor 308, audio
sensor (e.g., microphone, transducer, or others) 310, pedometer 312,
velocimeter 314, GPS receiver
316, location-based service sensor (e.g., sensor for determining location
within a cellular or micro-
cellular network, which may or may not use GPS or other satellite
constellations for fixing a
position) 318, motion detection sensor 320, environmental sensor 322, chemical
sensor 324,
electrical sensor 326, or mechanical sensor 328.
As shown, accelerometer 302 may be used to capture data associated with motion
detection along 1, 2, or 3-axes of measurement, without limitation to any
specific type of
specification of sensor. Accelerometer 302 may also be implemented to measure
various types of
user motion and may be configured based on the type of sensor, firmware,
software, hardware, or
circuitry used. As another example, altirneter/barorneter 304 may be used to
measure environment
pressure, atmospheric or otherwise, and is not limited to any specification or
type of pressure-reading
device. In some examples, altimeterfbarometer 304 may be an altimeter, a
barometer, or a
combination thereof. For example, altimeter/barometer 304 may be implemented
as an altimeter for
measuring above ground level ("AGL") pressure in band 200, which has been
configured for use by
naval or military aviators. As another example, altimeterlbarometer 304 may be
implemented as a
barometer for reading atmospheric pressure for marine-based applications. In
other examples,
altimeteribarometer 304 may be implemented differently.
Other types of sensors that may be used to measure light or photonic
conditions include
lilht/JR sensor 306, motion detection sensor 320, and environmental sensor
322, the latter of which
may include any type of sensor for capturing data associated with
environmental conditions beyond
light. Further, motion detection sensor 320 may be configured to detect motion
using a variety of
techniques and technologies, including, but not limited to comparative or
differential light analysis
(e.g., comparing foreground and background lighting), sound monitoring, or
others. Audio sensor
310 may be implemented using any type of device configured to record or
capture sound.
In some examples, pedometer 312 may be implemented using devices to measure
various
types of data associated with pedestrian-oricntcd activities such as running
or walking. Footstrikes,
stride length, stride length or interval, time, and other data may be
measured. Velocimeter 314 may
be implemented, in some examples, to measure velocity (e.g., speed and
directional vectors) without
limitation to any particular activity. Further, additional sensors that may be
used as sensor 212
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
A1,1-0I3CON111CT
include those configured to identify or obtain location-based data. For
example, GPS receiver 316
may be used to obtain coordinates of the geographic location of band 200
using, for example, various
types of signals transmitted by civilian and/or military satellite
constellations in low, medium, or
high earth orbit (e.g., "LEO," "MEO," or "GEO"). In other examples,
differential GPS algorithms
may also be implemented with GPS receiver 316, which may be used to generate
more precise or
accurate coordinates. Still further, location-based services sensor 318 may be
implemented to obtain
location-based data including, but not limited to location, nearby services or
items of interest, and the
like. As an example, location-based services sensor 318 may be configured to
detect an electronic
signal, encoded or otherwise, that provides information regarding a physical
locale as band 200
1(1 passes. The electronic signal may include; in some examples, encoded data
regarding the location
and information associated therewith. Electrical sensor 326 and mechanical
sensor 328 may be
configured to include other types (e.g., haptic, kinetic, piezoelectric,
piezomechanical, pressure,
touch, thermal, and others) of sensors for data input to band 200, without
limitation. Other types of
sensors apart from those shown may also be used, including magnetic flux
sensors such as solid-state
compasses and the like, including gyroscopic sensors. While the present
illustration provides
numerous examples of types of sensors that may be used with band 200 (FIG. 2),
others not shown or
described may be implemented with or as a substitute for any sensor shown or
described.
FIG. 4 illustrates an application architecture for an exemplary data-capable
band. Here,
application architecture 400 includes bus 402, logic module 404,
communications module 406,
security module 408, interface module 410, data management 412, audio module
414, motor
controller 416, service management module 418, sensor input evaluation module
420, and power
management module 422. In some examples, application architecture 400 and the
above-listed
elements (e:g1, bus 402, logic module 404, communications module 406, security
module 408,
interface module 410, data management 412, audio module 414, motor controller
416, service
management module 418, sensor input evaluation module 420, and power
management module 422)
may be implemented as software using various computer programming and
formatting languages
such as Java, C++, C, and others, As shown here, logic module 404 may be
firmware or application
software that is installed in memory 206 (FIG. 2) and executed by processor
204 (FIG. 2). Included
with logic module 404 may be program instructions or code (e.g., source,
object, binary executables,
or others) that, when initiated, called, or instantiated, perform various
functions.
For example, logic module 404 may be configured to send control signals to
communications module 406 in order to transfer, transmit, or receive data
stored in memory 206, the
latter of which may be managed by a database management system ("DBMS") or
utility in data
management module 412. As another example, security module 408 may be
controlled by logic
module 404 to provide encoding, decoding, encryption, authentication, or other
functions to band
200 (FIG. 2). Alternatively, security module 408 may also be implemented as an
application that,
11
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
Al:1-013COi31I'CT
using data captured from various sensors and stored in memory 206 (and
accessed by data
management module 412) may be used to provide identification functions that
enable band 200 to
passively identify a user or wearer of band 200. Still further, various types
of security software and
applications may be used and are not limited to those shown and described.
Interface module 410, in some examples, may be used to manage user interface
controls
such as switches, buttons, or other types of controls that enable a user to
manage various functions of
band 200. For example, a 4-position switch may be turned to a given position
that is interpreted by
interface module 410 to determine the proper signal or feedback to send to
logic module 404 in order
to generate a particular result. In other examples, a button (not shown) may
be depressed that allows
a user to trigger or initiate certain actions by sending another signal to
logic module 404. Still
further, interface module 410 may be used to interpret data from, for example,
accelerometer 21.0
(FIG. 2) to identify specific movement or motion that initiates or triggers a
given response. In other
examples, interface module 410 may be used to manage different types of
displays (e.g., LED,
IMOD, E Ink, OLED, etc.). In other examples, interface module 410 may be
implemented
differently in function, structure, or configuration and is not limited to
those shown and described.
As shown, audio module 414 may be configured to manage encoded or unencoded
data
gathered from, various types of audio sensors. In some examples, audio module
414 may include one
or more codecs that are used to encode or decode various types of audio
waveforms. For example,
analog audio input may be encoded by audio module 414 and, once encoded, sent
as a signal or
collection of data packets, messages, segments, frames, or the like to logic
module 404 for
transmission via communications module 406. In other examples, audio module
414 may be
implemented differently in function, structure, configuration, or
implementation and is not limited to
those shown and described. Other elements that may be used by band 200 include
motor controller
416, which may be firmware or an application to control a motor or other
vibratory energy source
(e.g., notification facility 208 (FIG. 2)). Power used for band 200 may be
drawn from battery 214
(FIG. 2) and managed by power management module 422, which may be firmware or
an application
used to manage, with or without user input, how power is consumer, conserved,
or otherwise used by
band 200 and the above-described elements, including one or more sensors
(e.g., sensor 212 (FIG.
2), sensors 302-328 (FIG. 3)). With regard to data captured, sensor input
evaluation module 420
may be a software engine or module that is used to evaluate and analyze data
received from one or
more inputs (e.g., sensors 302-328) to band 200. When received, data may be
analyzed by sensor
input evaluation module 420, which may include custom or"off the-shelf'
analytics packages that
are configured to provide application-specific analysis of data to determine
trends, patterns, and
other useful information. In other examples, sensor input module 420 may also
include firmware or
software that enables the generation of various types and formats of reports
for presenting data and
any analysis performed thereupon.
12
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
ALI-013CONIPCT
Another clement of application architecture 400 that may be included is
service
management module 418. In some examples, service management module 418 may be
firnnvare,
software, or an application that is configured to manage various aspects and
operations associated
with executing software-related instructions for band 200. For example,
libraries or classes that are
used by software or applications on band 200 may be served from an online or
networked source.
Service management module 418 may be implemented to manage how and when these
services are
invoked in order to ensure that desired applications are executed properly
within application
architecture 400. As discrete sets, collections, or groupings of functions,
services used by band 200
for various purposes ranging from communications to operating systems to call
or document libraries
may be managed by service management module 418. Alternatively, service
management module
418 may be implemented differently and is not limited to the examples provided
herein. Further,
application architecture 400 is an example of a software/system/application-
level architecture that
may be used to implement various software-related aspects of band 200 and may
be varied in the
quantity, type; configuration, function, structure, or type of programming or
formatting languages
used, without limitation to any given example.
FIG. 5A illustrates representative data types for use with an exemplary data-
capable band.
Here, wearable device 502 may capture various types of data, including, but
not limited to sensor
data 504, manually-entered data 500, application data 508, location data 510,
network data 512,
system/operating data 514, and user data 516. Various types of data may be
captured from sensors,
such as those described above in connection with FIG. 3. Manually-entered
data, in some examples,
may be data or inputs received directly and locally by band 200 (FIG. 2). In
other examples,
manually-entered data may also be provided through a third-party website that
stores the data in a
database and may be synchronized from server 114 (FIG. 1) with one or more of
bands 104-112.
Other types of data that may be captured including application data 508 and
system/operating data
514, which may be associated with firmware, sof ware, or hardware installed or
implemented on
band 200. Further, location data 510 may be used by wearable device 502, as
described above. User
data 516, in some examples, may be data that include profile data,
preferences, rules, or other
information that has been previously entered by a given user of wearable
device 502. Further,
network data 512 may be data is captured by wearable device with regard to
routing tables, data
paths, network or access availability (e.g., wireless network access
availability), and the like. Other
types of data may be captured by wearable device 502 and are not limited to
the examples shown and
described. Additional context-specific examples of types of data captured by
bands 104-112 (FIG... 1)
are provided below.
FIG. 5B illustrates representative data types for use with an exemplary data-
capable band
in fitness-related activities. Here, band 519 may be configured to capture
types (i.e., categories) of
data such as heart rate/pulse monitoring data 520, blood oxygen saturation
data 522, skin temperature
13
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
A1.1-013CON 11'C T
data 524, salinity/emission/outgassing data 526, location/GPS data 528,
environmental data 530, and
accelerometer data 532. As an example, a runner may use or wear band 519 to
obtain data associated
with his physiological condition (i.e., heart rate/pulse monitoring data 520,
skin temperature,
salinity/emissio /outgassing data 526, among others), athletic efficiency
(i.e., blood oxygen
saturation data 522), and performance (i.e., location/GPS data 528 (e.g.,
distance or laps run),
environmental data 530 (e.g., ambient temperature, humidity, pressure, and the
like), accelerometer
532 (e.g., biomechanical information, including gait, stride, stride length,
among others)). Other or
different types of data may be captured by band 519, but the above-described
examples are
illustrative of some types of data that may be captured by band 519. Further,
data captured may be
uploaded to a website or online/networked destination for storage and other
uses. For example,
fitness-related data may be used by applications that are downloaded from a
"fitness marketplace or
"wellness marketplace," where athletes, or other users, may find, purchase, or
download
applications, products, information, etc., for various uses, as well as share
information with other
users. Some applications may be activity-specific and thus may be used to
modify or alter the data
capture capabilities of band 519 accordingly. For example, a fitness
marketplace may be a website
accessible by various types of mobile and non-mobile clients to locate
applications for different
exercise or fitness categories such as running, swimming, tennis, golf,
baseball, football, fencing, and
many others. When downloaded, applications from a fitness marketplace may also
be used with
user-specific accounts to manage the retrieved applications as well as usage
with band 519, or to use
the data to provide services such as online personal coaching or targeted
advertisements, More,
fewer, or different types of data may be captured for fitness-related
activities.
In some examples, applications may be developed using various types of schema,
including using a software development kit or providing requirements in a
proprietary or open source
software development regime. Applications may also be developed by using an
application
programming interface to an application marketplace in order for developers to
design and build
applications that can be downloaded on wearable devices (e.g., bands 104-106
(FIG. 1)).
Alternatively, application can be developed for download and installation on
devices that may be in
data communication over a shared data link or network connection, wired or
wireless. For example,
an application may be downloaded onto mobile computing device 116 (FIG. 1)
from server 114
(FIG.]), which may then be installed and executed using data gathered from one
or more sensors on
band 104. Analysis, evaluation, or other operations performed on data gathered
by an application
downloaded from server 114 may be presented (i.e., displayed) on a graphical
user interface (e.g., a
micro web browser, WAP web browser, Java/Java-script-based web browser, and
others, without
limitation) on mobile computing device 116 or any other type of client. Users
may, in some
examples, search, find, retrieve, download, purchase, or otherwise obtain
applications for various
types of purposes from an application marketplace. Applications may be
configured for various
14
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
AH-013CON 1 PCT
types of purposes and categories, without limitation. Examples of types of
purposes include running,
swimming, trail running, diabetic management, dietary, weight management,
sleep management,
caloric burn rate tracking, activity tracking, and others, without limitation.
Examples of categories of
applications may include fitness, wellness, health, medical, and others,
without limitation. In other
examples, applications for distribution via a marketplace or other download
website or source may
be implemented differently and is not limited to those described.
FIG. 5C illustrates representative data types for use with an exemplary data-
capable band
in sleep management activities. Here, band 539 may be used for sleep
management purposes to track
various types of data, including heart rate monitoring data 540, motion sensor
data 542,
accelerometer data 544, skin resistivity data 546, user input data 548, clock
data 550, and audio data
552. In some examples, heart rate monitor data 540 may be captured to evaluate
rest, waking, or
various states of sleep. Motion sensor data 542 and accelerometer data 544 may
be used to
determine whether a user of band 539 is experiencing a restful or fitful
sleep. For example, some
motion sensor data 542 may be captured by a light sensor that measures ambient
or differential light
patterns in order to determine whether a user is sleeping on her front, side,
or back. Accelerometer
data 544 may also be captured to determine whether a user is experiencing
gentle or violent
disruptions when sleeping, such as those often found in afflictions of sleep
apnea or other sleep
disorders. Further, skin resistivity data 546 may be captured to determine
whether a user is ill (e.g.,
running a temperature, sweating, experiencing chills, clammy skin, and
others). Still further, user
input data may include data input by a user as to how and whether band 539
should trigger
notification facility 208 (FIG. 2) to wake a user at a given time or whether
to use a series of
increasing or decreasing vibrations or audio tones to trigger a waking state.
Clock data (550) may be
used to measure the duration of sleep or a finite period of time in which a
user is at rest. Audio data
may also be captured to determine whether a user is snoring and, if so, the
frequencies and amplitude
therein may suggest physical conditions that a user may be interested in
knowing (e.g., snoring,
breathing interruptions, talking in one's sleep, and the like). More, fewer,
or different types of data
may be captured for sleep management-related activities.
FIG. 5D illustrates representative data types for use with an exemplary data-
capable band
in medical-related activities. Here, band 539 may also be configured for
medical purposes and
related-types of data such as heart rate monitoring data 560, respiratory
monitoring data 562, body
temperature data 564, blood sugar data 566, chemical protein/analysis data
568, patient medical
records data 570, and healthcare professional (e.g., doctor, physician,
registered nurse, physician's
assistant, dentist, orthopedist, surgeon, and others) data 572, In some
examples, data may be
captured by band 539 directly from wear by a user. For example, band 539 may
be able to sample
and analyze sweat through a salinity or moisture detector to identify whether
any particular
chemicals, proteins, hormones, or other organic or inorganic compounds are
present, which can be
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
Al-1-013CONIPCT
analyzed by band 539 or communicated to server 114 to perform further
analysis. If sent to server
114, further analyses may be performed by a hospital or other medical facility
using data captured by
band 539. In other examples, more, fewer, or different types of data may be
captured for medical-
related activities.
FIG. 5E illustrates representative data types for use with an exemplary data-
capable band
in social media/networking-related activities. Examples of social
mediainetworking-related activities
include activities related to Internet-based Social Networking Services
("SNS"), such as FacebookO ,
Twitter?, etc. Here, band 519, shown with an audio data plug, may be
configured to capture data for
use with various types of social media and networking-related services,
websites, and activities.
Accelerometer data 580, manual data 582, other user/friends data 584, location
data 586, network
data 588, clock/timer data 590, and environmental data 592 are examples of
data that may be
gathered and shared by, for example, uploading data from band 519 using, for
example, an audio
plug such as those described herein. As another example, accelerometer data
580 may be captured
and shared with other users to share motion, activity, or other movement-
oriented data. Manual data
582 may be data that a given user also wishes to share with other users.
Likewise, other user/friends
data 584 may be from other bands (not shown) that can be shared or aggregated
with data captured
by band 519. Location data 586 for band 519 may also be shared with other
users. In other
examples, a user may also enter manual data 582 to prevent other users or
friends from receiving
updated location data from band 519. Additionally, network data 588 and
clock/timer data may be
captured and shared with other users to indicate, for example, activities or
events that a given user
(i.e., wearing band 519) was engaged at certain locations. Further, if a user
of band 519 has friends
who are not geographically located in close or near proximity (e.g., the user
of band 519 is located in
San Francisco and her friend is located in Rome), environmental data can be
captured by band 519
(e.g., weather, temperature, humidity, sunny or overcast (as interpreted from
data captured by a light
sensor and combined with captured data for humidity and temperature), among
others). In other
examples, more, fewer, or different types of data may be captured for medical-
related activities.
FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary communications device system implemented with
multiple exemplary data-capable bands. The exemplary system 600 shows
exemplary lines of
communication between some of the devices shown in FIG. I, including network
102, bands 104-
110, mobile communications device 118, and laptop 122. In FIG. 6, examples of
both peer-to-peer
communication and peer-to-hub communication using bands 104-110 are shown.
Using these
avenues of communication, bands worn by multiple users or wearers (the term
"wearer" is used
herein to describe a user that is wearing one or more bands) may monitor and
compare physical,
emotional, mental states among wearers (e.g., physical competitions, sleep
pattern comparisons,
resting physical states, etc.).
16
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
Al1-O13CON11'Cl'
Peer-to-hub communication may be exemplified by bands 104 and 108, each
respectively
communicating with mobile communications device 118 or laptop 122, exemplary
hub devices.
Bands 104 and 108 may communicate with mobile communications device 118 or
laptop 122 using
any number of known wired communication technologies (e.g., Universal Service
Bus (USB)
connections, TRS/TRRS connections, telephone networks, fiber-optic networks,
cable networks,
etc.). In some examples, bands 104 and 108 may be implemented as lower power
or lower energy
devices, in which case mobile communications device 118, laptop 122 or other
hub devices may act
as a gateway to route the data from bands 104 and 108 to software applications
on the hub device, or
to other devices. For example, mobile communications device 1 I8 may comprise
both wired and
wireless communication capabilities, and thereby act as a hub to further
communicate data received
from band 104 to band 110, network 102 or laptop 122, among other devices.
Mobile
communications device 118 also may comprise software applications that
interact with social or
professional networking services ("SNS') (e.g_, Facebook ', Twitter`, Linkedln
', etc.), for example
via network 102, and thereby act also as a hub to further share data received
from band 1.04 with
other users of the SNS. Band 104 may communicate with laptop 122, which also
may comprise both
wired and wireless communication capabilities, and thereby act as a hub to
further communicate data
received from band 104 to, for example, network 102 or laptop 122, among other
devices. Laptop
122 also may comprise software applications that interact with SNS, for
example via network 102,
and thereby act also as a hub to further share data received from band 104
with other users of the
SNS. The software applications on mobile communications device 118 or laptop
122 or other hub
devices may further process or analyze the data they receive from bands 104
and 108 in order to
present to the wearer, or to other wearers or users of the SNS, useful
information associated with the
wearer's activities.
In other examples, bands 106 and 110 may also participate in peer-to-hub
communications
with exemplary hub devices such as mobile communications device 118 and laptop
122. Bands 106
and 110 may communicate with mobile communications device 118 and laptop 122
using any
number of wireless communication technologies (e.g., local wireless network,
near field
communication, Bluctooth`', Bluctooth ' low energy, ANT, etc.). Using wireless
communication
technologies, mobile communications device 118 and laptop 122 may be used as a
hub or gateway
device to communicate data captured by bands 106 and 110 with other devices,
in the same way as
described above with respect to bands 104 and 108, Mobile communications
device 118 and laptop
122 also may be used as a hub or gateway device to further share data captured
by bands 106 and
110 with SNS, in the same way as described above with respect to bands 104 and
108.
Peer-to-peer communication may be exemplified by bands 106 and 110, exemplary
peer
devices, communicating directly. Band 106 may communicate directly with band
110, and vice
versa, using known wireless communication technologies, as described above.
Peer-to-peer
17
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
Al1-O I3CON I PCT
communication may also be exemplified by communications between bands 104 and
108 and bands
106 and 110 through a hub device, such as mobile communications device 118 or
laptop 122.
Alternatively, exemplary system 600 may be implemented with any combination of
communication capable devices, such as any of the devices depicted in FIG. 1,
communicating with
each other using any communication platform, including any of the platforms
described above.
Persons of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the examples of peer-
to-hub communication
provided herein, and shown in FIG. 6, are only a small subset of the possible
implementations of
peer-to-hub communications involving the bands described herein.
FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary wellness tracking system for use with or
within a
distributed wellness application. System 700 comprises aggregation engine 710,
conversion module
720, band 730, band 732, textual input 734, other input 736, and graphical
representation 740. Bands
730 and 732 may be implemented as described above. In some examples,
aggregation engine 710
may receive input from various sources. For example, aggregation engine 710
may receive sensory
input from band 730, band 732, and/or other data-capable bands. This sensory
input may include
any of the above-described sensory data that may be gathered by data-capable
bands. In other
examples, aggregation engine 710 may receive other (e.g., manual) input from
textual input 734 or
other input 736. Textual input 734 and other input 736 may include information
that a user types,
uploads, or otherwise inputs into an application (e.g., a web application, an
iPhoneC application,
etc.) implemented on any of the data and communications capable devices
referenced herein (e.g.,
computer, laptop, computer, mobile communications device, mobile computing
device, etc.). In
some examples, aggregation engine 720 may be configured to process (e.g.,
interpret) the data and
information received from band 730, band 732, textual input 734 and other
input 736, to determine
an aggregate value from which graphical representation 740 may be generated.
In an example,
system 700 may comprise a conversion module 720, which may be configured to
perform
calculations to convert the data received from band 730, band 732, textual
input 734 and other input
736 into values (e.g., numeric values). Those values may then be aggregated by
aggregation engine
710 to generate graphical representation 740. Conversion module 720 may be
implemented as part
of aggregation engine 710 (as shown), or it may be implemented separately (not
shown). In some
examples, aggregation engine 710 may be implemented with more or different
modules. In other
examples, aggregation engine 710 may be implemented with fewer or more input
sources. In some
examples, graphical representation 740 may be implemented differently, using
different facial
expressions, or any image or graphic according to any intuitive or
predetermined set of graphics
indicating various levels and/or aspects of wellness. As described in more
detail below, graphical
representation 740 may be a richer display comprising more than a single
graphic or image (e.g.,
FIGS. 10 and l l )_
18
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
AI_I-013CON 1 PCI
In some examples, aggregation engine 710 may receive or gather inputs from one
or more
sources over a period of time, or over multiple periods of time, and organize
those inputs into a
database (not shown) or other type of organized form of information storage.
In some examples,
graphical representation 740 may be a simple representation of a facial
expression, as shown. In
other examples, graphical representation 740 may be implemented as a richer
graphical display
comprising inputs gathered over time (e.g., FIGS. 10 and t 1 below).
FIG. 8 illustrates representative calculations executed by an exemplary
conversion
module to determine an aggregate value for producing a graphical
representation of a user's
wellness. In some examples, conversion module 820 may be configured to process
data associated
with exercise, data associated with sleep, data associated with eating or food
intake, and data
associated with other miscellaneous activity data (e,g., sending a message to
a friend, gifting to a
friend, donating, receiving gifts, etc.), and generate values from the data.
For example, conversion
module 820 may perform calculations using data associated with activities
('activity data") to
generate values for types of exercise (e.g., walking, vigorous exercise, not
enough exercise, etc.)
(810), types of sleep (e.g., deep sleep, no sleep, not enough deep sleep,
etc.) (812), types of meals
(e.g., a sluggish/heavy meal, a good meal, an energizing meal, etc.) (814), or
other miscellaneous
activities (e.g., sending a message to a friend, gifting to a friend,
donating, receiving gifts, etc.)
(81 6). In some implementations, these values may include positive values for
activities that are
beneficial to a user's wellness and negative values for activities that are
detrimental to a user's
wellness, or for lack of activity (e.g., not enough sleep, too many minutes
without exercise, etc.). In
one example, the values may be calculated using a reference activity, For
example, conversion
module 820 may equate a step to the numerical value 0.0001, and then equate
various other activities
to a number of steps (810, 8127 814, 816). In some examples, these values may
be weighted
according to the quality of the activity. For example, each minute of deep
sleep equals a higher
number of steps than each minute of other sleep (812). As described in more
detail below (FIGS. 10
and 114, these values may be modulated by time. For example; positive values
for exercise may be
modulated by negative values for extended time periods without exercise (810).
In another example,
positive values for sleep or deep sleep may be modulated by time without sleep
or not enough time
spent in deep sleep (812). In some examples, conversion module 820 is
configured to aggregate
these values to generate an aggregate value 830. In some examples, aggregate
value 830 may be
used by an aggregation engine (e.g,, aggregation engine 710 described above)
to generate a graphical
representation of a user's wellness (e.g., graphical representation 740
described above, FIGS. 10 and
I 1 described below, or others).
FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary process for generating and displaying a
graphical
representation of a user's wellness based upon the user's activities. Process
900 may be
implemented as an exemplary process for creating and presenting a graphical
representation of a
19
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
AL1-013CON1PC"l
user's wellness. In some examples, process 900 may begin with receiving
activity data from a
source (902). For example, the source may comprise one of the data-capable
bands described herein
(e.g., band 730, band 732, etc.). In another example, the source may comprise
another type of data
and communications capable device, such as those described above (e.g.,
computer, laptop,
computer, mobile communications device, mobile computing device, etc.), which
may enable a user
to provide activity data via various inputs (e.g., textual input 734, other
input 736, etc.), For
example, activity data may be received from a data-capable band. In another
example, activity data
may be received from data manually input using an application user interface
via a mobile
communications device or a laptop. In other examples, activity data may be
received from sources
or combinations of sources. After receiving the activity data, another
activity data is received from
another source (904). The another source also may be any of the types of
sources described above.
Once received, the activity data from the source, and the another activity
data from another source, is
then used to determine (e.g., by conversion module 720 or 730, etc.) an
aggregate value (906). Once
determined, the aggregate value is used to generate a graphical representation
of a user's present
wellness (908) (e.g., graphical representation 740 described above, etc.). The
aggregate value also
may be combined with other information, of the same type or different, to
generate a richer graphical
representation (e.g., FIGS. 10 and l I described below, etc.).
In other examples, activity data may be received from multiple sources. These
multiple
sources may comprise a combination of sources (e.g., a band and a mobile
communications device,
two bands and a laptop, etc.) (not shown). Such activity data may be
accumulated continuously,
periodically, or otherwise, over a time period. As activity data is
accumulated, the aggregate value
may be updated and/or accumulated, and in turn, the graphical representation
may be updated. In
some examples, as activity data is accumulated and the aggregate value updated
and/or accumulated,
additional graphical representations may be generated based an the updated or
accumulated
aggregate value(s). In other examples, the above-described process may be
varied in the
implementation, order, function, or structure of each or all steps and is not
limited to those provided.
FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary graphical representation of a user's wellness
over a time
period, Here, exemplary graphical representation 1000 shows a user's wcllncss
progress over the
course of a partial day. Exemplary graphical representation 1000 may comprise
a rich graph
displaying multiple vectors of data associated with a user's wellness over
time, including a status
1002, a time 1004, alarm graphic 1006, points progress line 1008, points
gained for completion of
activities 1012-1016, total points accumulated 1.010, graphical
representations 1030-1034 of a user's
wellness at specific times over the time period, activity summary data and
analysis over time (1018-
1022), and an indication of syncing activity 1024. Here, status 1002 may
comprise a brief (e.g.,
single word) general summary of a user's wellness. In some examples, time 1004
may indicate the
current time, or in other examples, it may indicate the time that graphical
representation 1000 was
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
l-1-013CONIt'CT
generated or last updated. In some other examples, time 1004 may be
implemented using different
time zones. In still other examples, time 1004 may be implemented differently.
In some examples,
alarm graphic 1006 may indicate the time that the user's alarm rang, or in
other examples, it may
indicate the time when a band sensed the user awoke, whether or not an alarm
rang. In other
examples, alarm graphic 1006 may indicate the time when a user's band began a
sequence of
notifications to wake up the user (e.g., using notification facility 208, as
described above), and in still
other examples, alarm graphic 1006 may represent something different. As shown
here, graphical
representation 1000 may include other graphical representations of the user's
wellness at specific
times of the day (1030, 1032, 1034), for example, indicating a low level of
wellness or low energy
level soon after waking up (1030) and a more alert or higher energy or
`wellness level after some
activity (1032, 1034). Graphical representation 1000 may also include displays
of various analyses
of activity over time. For example, graphical representation may include
graphical representations of
the user's sleep (10 18), including how many total hours slept and the quality
of sleep (e.g., bars may
represent depth of sleep during periods of rime). In another example,
graphical representation may
include graphical representations of various aspects of a user's exercise
level for a particular
workout, including the magnitude of the activity level (1020), duration
(1020), the number of steps
taken (1022), the user's heart rate during the workout (not shown), and still
other useful information
(e.g., altitude climbed, laps of a pool, number of pitches, etc.). Graphical
representation 1000 may
further comprise an indication of syncing activity (1024) showing that
graphical representation 1000
is being updated to include additional information from a device (e.g., a data-
capable band) or
application. Graphical representation 1000 may also include indications of a
user's total
accumulated points 1010, as well as points awarded at certain times for
certain activities (1012,
1014, 1016). For example, shown here graphical representation 1000 displays
the user has
accumulated 2,017 points in total (e.g., over a lifetime, over a set period of
time, etc.) (1010).
In some examples, points awarded may be time-dependent or may expire after a
period of
time. For example, points awarded for eating a good meal may be valid only for
a certain period of
time, This period of time may be a predetermined period of time, or it may be
dynamically
determined. In an example where the period of time is dynamically determined,
the points may be
valid only until the user next feels hunger. In another example where the
period of time is
dynamically determined, the points may be valid depending on the glycemic load
of the meal (e.g., a
meal with low glycemic load may have positive effects that meal carry over to
subsequent meals,
whereas a meal with a higher glycemic load may have a positive effect only
until the next meal). In
some examples, a user's total accumulated points 1010 may reflect that certain
points have expired
and are no longer valid.
In some examples, these points may be used for obtaining various types of
rewards, or as
virtual or actual currency, for example, in an online wellness marketplace, as
described herein (e.g., a
21
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
Al.I-0I3CON I I'CI
fitness marketplace). For example, points may be redeemed for virtual prizes
(e.g., for games,
challenges, etc.), or physical goods (e.g., products associated with a user's
goals or activities, higher
level bands, which may be distinguished by different colors, looks and/or
features, etc.). In some
examples, the points may automatically be tracked by a provider of data-
capable bands, such that a
prize (e.g., higher level band) is automatically sent to the user upon
reaching a given points threshold
without any affirmative action by the user. In other examples, a user may
redeem a prize (e.g.,
higher level band) from a store. In still other examples, a user may receive
deals. These deals or
virtual prizes may be received digitally via a data-capable band, a mobile
communications device, or
otherwise.
FIG. 11 illustrates another exemplary graphical representation of a user's
wellness over a
time period; Here, exemplary graphical representation 1100 shows a summary of
a user's wellness
progress over the course of a week. Exemplary graphical representation 1100
may comprise a rich
graph displaying multiple vectors of data associated with a user's wellness
over time, including a
status 1102, a time 1104, summary graphical representations 1106-1116 of a
user's wellness on each
days, points earned each day 1120-1130, total points accumulated 1132, points
progress line 1134, an
indication of syncing activity 1118, and bars 1136-1140. Here, as with status
1002 in FIG. 10, status
1102 may comprise a brief(e.g., single word) general summary of a user's
wellness. In some
examples, time 1104 may indicate the current time, or in other examples, it
may indicate the time
that graphical representation 1100 was generated or last updated. In some
other examples, time 1104
may be implemented using different time zones. In still other examples, time
1104 may be
implemented differently. As shown here, graphical representation 1100 may
include summary
graphical representations 1106-1116 of the user's wellness on each day, for
example, indicating a
distress or tiredness on Wednesday (1110) or a positive spike in wellness on
Friday (1116). In some
examples, summary graphical representations 1106-1116 may indicate a summary
wellness for that
particular day_ In other examples, summary graphical representations 1106-1116
may indicate a
cumulative wellness, e.g., at the end of each day. Graphical representation
1100 may further
comprise an indication of syncing activity 1118 showing that graphical
representation 1100 is being
updated to include additional information from a device (e.g., a data-capable
band) or application.
Graphical representation 1100 may also include indications of a user's total
accumulated points
1132, as well as points earned each day 1120-1130. For example, shown here
graphical
representation 1100 displays the user has accumulated 2,017 points thus far,
which includes 325
points earned on Saturday (1130), 263 points earned on Friday (1128), 251
points earned on
Thursday (1126), and so on. As described above, these points may be used for
obtaining various
types of rewards, or as virtual or actual currency, for example, in an online
wellness marketplace
(e.g., a fitness marketplace as described above). In some examples, graphical
representation 1100
also may comprise bars 1136-1140. Each bar may represent an aspect of a user's
wellness (e.;;.,
22
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
ALI-013 CON 11'C I'
food, exercise, sleep, etc.). In some examples, the bar may display the user's
daily progress toward a
personal goal for each aspect (e.g., to sleep eight hours, complete sixty
minutes of vigorous exercise,
etc.). In other examples, the bar may display the user's daily progress toward
a standardized goal
(e.g., a health and fitness expert's published guidelines, a government
agency's published guidelines,
etc.), or other types of goals.
FIG. 12A-12F illustrate exemplary wireframes of exemplary webpages associated
with a
wellness marketplace. Here, wirefrarne 1200 comprises navigation 1202,
selected page 1204A, sync
widget 1216, avatar and goals element 1206, statistics element 1208,
information ticker 1210, social
feed 1212, check-in/calendar element 1214, deal element 1218, and team summary
element 1220.
As described above, a wellness marketplace may be implemented as a portal,
website or application
where users, may find, purchase, or download applications, products,
information, etc., for various
uses, as well as share information with other users (e.g., users with like
interests). Here, navigation
1202 comprises buttons and widgets for navigating through various pages of the
wellness
marketplace, including the selected page 1204A-1204F (e.g., the Home page,
Team page, Public
page, Move page, Eat page, Live page, etc.) and sync widget 1216. In some
examples, sync widget
1216 may be implemented to sync a data-capable band to the user's account on
the wellness
marketplace. In some examples, the Home page may include avatar and goals
element 1206, which
may be configured to display a user's avatar and goals. Avatar and goals
element 1206 also may
enable a user to create an avatar, either by selecting from predetermined
avatars, by uploading a
user's own picture or graphic, or other known methods for creating an avatar.
Avatar and goals
element 1206 also may enable a user to set goals associated with the user's
health, eating/drinking
habits, exercise, sleep, socializing, or other aspects of the user's wellness,
The Home page may
further include statistics element 1208, which may be implemented to display
statistics associated
with the user's wellness (e.g., the graphical representations described
above). As shown here, in
some examples, statistics element 1208 may be implemented as a dynamic
graphical, and even
navigable, element (e.g., a video or interactive graphic), wherein a user may
view the user's wellness
progress over time. In other examples, the statistics element 1208 may be
implemented as described
above (e.g., FIGS_ 10 and 11). The Home page may further include information
ticker 1210, which
may stream information associated with a user's activities, or other
information relevant to the
wellness marketplace. The Home page may further include social feed 1212,
which may be
implemented as a scrolling list of messages or information (e.g.,
encouragement, news, feedback,
recommendations, comments, etc.) from friends, advisors, coaches, or other
users. The messages or
information may include auto-generated encouragement, comments, news,
recommendations,
feedback, achievements, opinions, actions taken by teammates, or other
information, by a wellness
application in response to data associated with the user's wellness and
activities (e.g., gathered by a
data-capable band). In some examples, social feed 1212 may be searchable. In
some examples,
23
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
AL C-013COiN 11'Cr
social feed 1212 may enable a user to filter or select the types of messages
or information that shows
up in the feed (e.g., from the public, only from the team, only from the user,
etc.). Social feed 1212
also may be configured to enable a user to select an action associated with
each feed message (e.g.,
cheer, follow, gift, etc.). In some examples, check-in/calendar element 1214
may be configured to
allow a user to log their fitness and nutrition. In some examples, check-
in/calendar clement 1214
also may be configured to enable a user to maintain a calendar, Deal element
1218 may provide a
daily deal to the user. The daily deal may be featured for the marketplace, it
may be associated with
the user's activities, or it may be generated using a variety of known
advertising models. Team
summary element 122(1 may provide summary information about the user's team.
As used herein,
the teen "team." may refer to any group of users that elect to use the
wellness marketplace together.
In some examples, a user may be part of more than one team, In other examples,
a group of users
may form different teams for different activities, or they may form a single
team that participates in,
tracks, and shares information regarding, more than one activity. A Home page
may be implemented
differently than described here.
Wireframe 1230 comprises an exemplary Team page, which may include a
navigation
1202, selected page 120413, sync widget 1216, team manager clement 1228,
leaderboard element
1240, comparison element 1242, avatar and goals element 1206A, statistics
element 1208A, social
feed 1212A, and scrolling member snapshots element 1226. Avatar and goals
element 1206A and
statistics element I208A may be implemented as described above with regard to
like-numbered or
corresponding elements. Navigation 1202, selected page 1204E and sync widget
1216 also may be
implemented as described above with regard to like-numbered or corresponding
elements: In some
examples, team manager element 1228 may be implemented as an area for
displaying information, or
providing widgets, associated with team management. Access to team manager
element 1228 may
be restricted, in some examples, or access may be provided to the entire team.
Leaderboard element
1240 may be implemented to display leaders in various aspects of an activity
in which the team is
participating (e.g., various sports, social functions (e.g., clubs), drinking
abstinence, etc.). In some
examples, leaderboard element 1240 may be implemented to display leaders among
various
groupings (e.g., site-wide, team only, other users determined to be "like" the
user according to
certain criteria (e.g., similar activities), etc.). In other examples,
leaderboard element 1240 may be
organized or filtered by various parameters (e.g., date, demographics,
geography, activity level, etc.).
Comparison element 1242 may be implemented, in some examples, to provide
comparisons
regarding a user's performance with respect to an activity, or various aspects
of an activity, with the
performance of the user's teammates or with the team as a whole (e.g., team
average, team median,
team favorites, etc.). Scrolling member snapshots element 1226 may be
configured to provide brief
summary information regarding each of the members of the team in a scrolling
fashion. A Team
page may be implemented differently than described here.
24
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
.ALI-O113CON11'CI
Wireframe 1250 comprises an exemplary Public page, which may include
navigation
1202, selected page 1204C, sync widget 1216, lcaderboard element 1240A, social
feed 1212B,
statistics report engine 1254, comparison element 1242A, and challenge element
1256. Navigation
1202, selected page 1204C and sync widget 1216 may be implemented as described
above with
regard to like-numbered or corresponding elements. Leaderboard clement 1240A
also may be
implemented as described above with regard to Icaderboard element 1240, and in
some examples,
may display leaders amongst all of the users of the wellness marketplace.
Social feed 1212B also
may be implemented as described above with regard social feed 1212 and social
feed 1212A.
Comparison element 1242A may be implemented as described above with regard to
comparison
element 1242, and in some examples, may display comparisons of a user's
performance of an
activity against the performance of all of the other users of the wellness
marketplace. Statistics
report engine 1254 may generate and display statistical reports associated
with various activities
being monitored by, and discussed in, the wellness marketplace. In some
examples, challenge
clement 1256 may enable a user to participate in marketplace-wide challenges
with other users. In
other examples, challenge clement 1256 may display the status of, or other
information associated
with, ongoing challenges among users. A Public page may be implemented
differently than
described here.
Wireframc 1260 comprises an exemplary Move page, which may include navigation
1202, selected page 1204D, sync widget 1216, leaderboard element 1240B
statistics report engine
1254, comparison element 1242B, search and recommendations clement 1272,
product sales clement
1282, exercise science clement 1264, daily movement element 1266, maps clement
1280 and titles
element 1258. Navigation 1202, selected page 1204D, sync widget 1216,
leaderboard element
I240B, statistics report engine 1254, and comparison clement 1242B may be
implemented as
described above with regard to like-numbered or corresponding elements. The
Move page may be
implemented to include a search and recommendations clement 1272, which may be
implemented to
enable searching of the wellness marketplace. In some examples, in addition to
results of the search,
recommendations associated with the user's search may be provided to the user,
In other examples,
recommendations may be provided to the user based on any other data associated
with the user's
activities, as received by, gathered by, or otherwise input into, the wellness
marketplace. Product
sales element 1282 may be implemented to display products for sale and provide
widgets to enable
purchases of products by users. The products may be associated with the user's
activities or activity
level. Daily movement element 1266 may be implemented to suggest an exercise
each day. Maps
clement 1280 may be implemented to display information associated with the
activity of users of the
wellness marketplace on a map. In some examples, maps element 1280 may display
a percentage of
users that are physically active in a geographical region. In other examples,
maps element 1280 may
display a percentage of users that have eaten well over a particular time
period (e.g., currently, today,
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
AII-013CONIPC1-
this week, etc.). In still other examples, maps clement 1280 may be
implemented differently. In
some examples, titles clement 1258 may display a list of users and the titles
they have earned based
on their activities and activity levels (e.g., a most improved user, a hardest
working user, etc.), A
Move page may be implemented differently than described here.
Wireframe 1270 comprises an exemplary Eat page, which may include navigation
1202,
selected page 1204E, sync widget 1216, leaderboard elements 1240C and 1240D,
statistics report
engine 1254, comparison element 1242C, search and recommendations element
1272, product sales
clement 1282, maps clement 1280A, nutrition science element 1276, and daily
food/supplement
element 1278. Navigation 1202, selected page 1204E, sync widget 1216,
leaderboard elements
1240C and 1240D, statistics report engine 1254, comparison element I242C,
search and
recommendations element 1272, product sales element 1282, and maps element
1280A may be
implemented as described above with regard to like-numbered or corresponding
elements. The Eat
page may be implemented to include a nutrition science element 1276, which may
display, or
provide widgets for accessing, information associated with nutrition science.
The Eat page also may
be implemented with a daily food/supplement clement 1278, which may be
implemented to suggest
an food and/or supplement each day. An Eat page may be implemented differently
than described
here.
Wireframe 1280 comprises an exemplary Live page, which may include navigation
1202,
selected page 1204F, sync widget 1216, leaderboard element 1240E, search and
recommendations
element 1272, product sales element 1282, maps clement 1280B, social feed
1212C, health research
clement 1286, and product research clement 1290. Navigation 1202, selected
page 1204F, sync
widget 1216, leaderboard element 1240E, search and recommendations element
1272, product sales
element 1282, maps clement I280B and social feed 1212C may be implemented as
described above
with regard to like-numbered or corresponding elements. In some examples, the
Live page may
include health research element 1286 configured to display, or to enable a
user to research,
information regarding health topics. In some examples, the Live page may
include product research
element 1290 configured to display, or to enable a user to research,
information regarding products.
In some examples, the products may be associated with a user's particular
activities or activity level.
In other examples, the products may be associated with any of the activities
monitored by, or
discussed on, the wellness marketplace. A Live page may be implemented
differently than described
here.
FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary computer system suitable for implementation
of a
wellness application and use with a data-capable band. In some examples,
computer system 1300
may be used to implement computer programs, applications, methods, processes,
or other software to
perform the above-described techniques, Computer system 1300 includes a bus
1302 or other
communication mechanism for communicating information, which interconnects
subsystems and
26
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
AI.I-O13C ON I PCT
devices, such as processor 1304, system memory 1306 (e.g., RAM), storage
device 1308 (e.g.,
ROM), disk drive 1310 (e.g., magnetic or optical), communication interface
1312 (e.g., modem or
Ethernet card), display 1314 (e.g., CRT or LCD), input device 1316 (e.g.,
keyboard), and cursor
control 1318 (e.g., mouse or trackball).
According to some examples, computer system 1300 performs specific operations
by
processor 1304 executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions
stored in system
memory 1306. Such instructions may be read into system memory 1306 from
another computer
readable medium, such as static storage device 1308 or disk drive 1310. In
some examples, hard-
wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software
instructions for
implementation.
The term "computer readable medium" refers to any tangible medium that
participates in
providing instructions to processor 1304 for execution. Such a medium may take
many forms,
including but not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Non-
volatile media includes, for
example, optical or magnetic disks, such as disk drive 1310. Volatile media
includes dynamic
memory, such as system memory 1306.
Common forms of computer readable media includes, for example, floppy disk,
flexible
disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, CD-ROM, any other
optical medium,
punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes,
RAM, PROM, EPROM,
FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from
which a computer
can read.
Instructions may further be transmitted or received using a transmission
medium. The
term "transmission medium" may include any tangible or intangible medium. that
is capable of
storing, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the machine, and
includes digital or
analog communications signals or other intangible medium to facilitate
communication of such
instructions. Transmission media includes coaxial cables, copper wire, and
fiber optics, including
wires that comprise bus 1302 for transmitting a computer data signal.
In some examples, execution of the sequences of instructions may be performed
by a
single computer system 1300. According to some examples, two or more computer
systems 1300
coupled by communication link 1320 (e.g., LAN, PSTN, or wireless network) may
perform the
sequence of instructions in coordination with one another. Computer system
1300 may transmit and
receive messages, data, and instructions, including program, i.e., application
code, through
communication link 1320 and communication interface 1312. Received program
code may be
executed by processor 1304 as it is received, and/or stored in disk drive
1.310, or other non-volatile
storage for later execution.
Although the foregoing examples have been described in some detail for
purposes of
clarity of understanding, the above-described inventive techniques are not
limited to the details
27
CA 02796360 2012-11-16
MI-0130 ON 11'CC
provided. There are many alternative ways of implementing the above-described
ins ention
tecluiiques. The disclosed examples are illustrative and not restrictive.
28
