Abstract:
Disclosed is a wrist-wearable electronic interface movably mounted on an arm-attachment mechanism. Interface moves from under-sleeve wrist-adjacent position to palm-adjacent position where it can be manipulated by the hand of the arm wearing the device. Alternately adaptable to telephones, audio recorders, remote controls, auto ID equipment, telephone call-blocking, and more. Alternative embodiment provides a wrist-mounted docking station. Another alternative embodiment includes a superior carpal tunnel syndrome therapy device. The system also includes novel battery chargers: (1) window-mounted, solar-powered; (2) mounted in an automobile that also includes an improved odometer, license plate, and cabin air filtration system.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/724,701, filing date Nov. 28, 2000 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,595,424, which was a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/117,150, filed Jul. 23, 1998, which has now matured into U.S. Pat. No. 6,184,804. The latter application was the United States national case filing of PCT filing PCT/US97/01356, filing date Jan. 22, 1997, which claimed the priority filing date of provisional patent application No. 60/010,648, filed on Jan. 26, 1996. This application also claims the priority filing date of provisional patent application No. 60/381,624, filed May 17, 2002; provisional patent application No. 60/383,526, filed May 28, 2002; and provisional patent application No. 60/395,367, filed Jul. 12, 2002. All of these related applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety into the present disclosure. 

   STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 
   None. 
   REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING APPENDIX 
   None. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documents or patent disclosure, as it appears in the patent trademark office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all rights whatsoever. 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to wearable electronic systems and devices, physical therapy devices, solar energy collectors, and automobile dashboards. 
   2. Description of Related Art 
   The related art descriptions in the above cited related applications are hereby incorporated in full by reference. Briefly summarizing, a number of wrist-wearable electronic devices have been proposed, such as Olsen, U.S. Pat. No. 4,847,818; Russell, U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,658; Swartz, U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,861; Blonder, U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,387; Seager, U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,623; and Houlihan, U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,324. But these devices are not ideal in that they do not provide a convenient manual interface for the hand of the arm upon which the device is worn. Moreover, no wrist-wearable docking mechanism, whereby numerous attachments can be interchanged for wrist-wearable use using the same arm attachment mechanism, is provided, nor is a system of movable couplings that is sufficient to allow swiveling, tilting, revolving, and/or linear movement of entire electronic devices, such as telephones or credit card readers, while being worn on the arm. 
   One noteworthy effort appears in Moore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,841, which provides a wrist brace with built-in keys that can be accessed by the fingers of the arm upon which the brace is worn. However, Moore provides no means for retracting this keypad under the user&#39;s sleeve when not in use nor any means for using these keys to control or interact with swiveling, tilting, or otherwise movable, wrist-wearable electronic components. 
   What is needed, therefore, is a wrist-wearable electronic device for data entry, computing, and other applications which provides a manual interface that can be manipulated by the hand of the arm upon which the unit is worn and can also be retracted into a less obtrusive position when not being used. What is also needed is a device that provides a wrist-wearable foundation upon which components that are larger than a typical wristwatch can be mounted in such a way as rotate, tilt, and/or revolve while in place on a user&#39;s forearm. What is also needed is a wrist-wearable docking station that enables a single arm attachment mechanism to be used with a wide variety of interchangeable, electronic attachments or accessories while allowing electrical power and/or data exchange between components in the arm attachment mechanism and the given attachment. 
   Medical research indicates that carpal tunnel syndrome (“CTS”) results from and is aggravated by certain causes, including: (1) physical pressure upon the hand, wrist or forearm, as in the case of resting the wrist on a computer keyboard for extended periods of time; (2) repetitive motion, such as repeated use of the buttons of a computer mouse; (3) pressure exerted upon the carpal tunnel and the nerves of the palm by overdeveloped hand muscles or muscles which are subject to involuntary tension and spasm; (4) trauma to the hand and wrist, as in the case of injuries caused by a car wreck. 
   Existing devices used to protect or treat the human hand, wrist or forearm often do as much damage as they do good. In particular, the wrist braces most commonly available and often prescribed by doctors and physical therapists for people at risk for CTS or who already suffer from it serve to prevent some harmful motions of the wrist, but the potential gains from eliminating dangerous motions are more than offset by the harm caused by the pressure of the brace itself upon the wrist or palm of the user. Some offerings have avoided this problem, such as Working, U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,460, which provides a splint that makes contact with the back of the hand rather than the carpal tunnel region. 
   However, Working introduces other problems. Specifically, in gripping the fingers as a group, Working crushes the phalanges and metacarpals together. Moreover, braces that resist the motion of the wrist and fingers have a second unintended, potentially harmful result: in resisting flexing of the wrist and fingers, a brace can serve as a “resistance training” device against which the spasming hand and forearm muscles of a CTS sufferer can push, thereby further aggravating the overdevelopment of these muscles. Other noteworthy CTS-related offerings which are onto the right idea but suffer from this fault include Eck, U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,707, and Spits, U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,994. 
   Existing solutions also include highly invasive surgeries that cost CTS sufferers a great deal of time, money and pain and which are associated with a high degree of risk of further damage to the patient&#39;s hand or wrist. 
   What is needed is a device that deters motion without applying pressure to the wrist or the bones of the hand, particularly pressure to the carpal tunnel area. What is also needed is a device that deters but does not prevent motion and does not provide resistance to the flexor muscles of the hand and fingers sufficient to allow a user to continue to build up the hand and forearm muscles unintentionally. What is also needed is a solution to CTS that is noninvasive, inexpensive, low-risk, adjustable to fit many different hand sizes, inflatable, and/or reusable. 
   Solar panels for use on rooftops are commonly known, but inhabitants of multistory apartments and condominium buildings typically do not have access to or control of the roofs of buildings. Many such inhabitants use window-mounted air conditioners, however. What is needed is a solar panel that can be installed in a manner similar to window-mounted air conditioners. 
   Conventional automobile cabin air purification systems fall into two categories: (1) usage of a single, central filter, such as that of MicronAir; and (2) aftermarket solutions that provide a filter that attaches to each single vent in a car dashboard, such as that provided by FreshAir Filters as per U.S. Pat. No. 6,293,860 to Kim. Neither of these solutions is ideal. The centralized system requires periodic changing of the filter by opening of the hood of the car and changing the filter just as some other engine part. Many automobile owners do not work on their own cars and forget to have the filter changed by someone else. Meanwhile, the aftermarket solution is clearly not as aesthetically pleasing as an OEM solution would be; sticking filters to the dashboard of a car diminishes the intended appearance of that dashboard. 
   What is needed therefore is an OEM solutions that leverages the benefits of a centralized system of filtration while also allowing automobile owners to change their own cabin air filters from within the passenger cabin rather than from under the hood. 
   Conventional automobile odometers and license plates are not ideal in that they require the reading of actual numerical digits by an observer or an instrument, such as a camera or scanner. One attempted solution is provided in Bone, U.S. Pat. No. 5,171,976, which provides a bar-code odometer. This device is nonetheless less than ideal in that it is still too complicated to be read at large distances. 
   What is needed therefore is an improved odometer and license plate that can be read by a human or a machine at far greater distances. 
   Other technologies related to the system and device disclosed herein include: 
   The Quicktionary OCR scanning and translating pen; the IOGEAR phaser handheld RF wireless mouse with laser pointer; the wearable RFID tag reader developed by Schmidt, Gellersen, and Merz; the Syscan plug-in RFID reader; Rooftrac roof-mounted photovoltaic solar panel; the OneTouch network tester; AEMC megohmmeter; Panasonic handheld nose hair trimmer; Symbol arm wearable bar-code scanner; Testo handheld digital manometer; MicroPhotonics handheld ultrasonic hardness tester; Goldeneye battery energy gauge; Intermec Sabre 1555 handheld bar-code scanner/RFID interrogator; Archos handheld digital video recorder; Dictaphone personal dictation machine; Voice-It handheld personal digital audio recorder/dictation machine; Xybernaut and ViA wearable computers; and the other cited related art. Many of these devices appear to have been first created and/or made public after the filing date of the parent application hereof and priority filing dates enumerated above. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The disclosed invention provides a mechanism by which a manual interface for an electronic system can be worn under a user&#39;s sleeve when not in use and then popped out into his hand when interaction with the device is desired. An alternate docking station mechanism is also provided that is suitable for coupling with any number of attachments such that the same wrist-wearable device can be used to support a wide variety of electronic devices that are typically handheld, now wearable. 
   Thus, the present invention discloses numerous alternative embodiments, including a wrist-wearable audio recorder/dictation machine, wireless phone, remote control, cursor-positioning/point-and-click device, digital stylus/pen interface, laser pointer, bar-code scanner, hair clipper, microphone, credit card reader, electric screwdriver, drill, toothbrush, camera, and a variety of other devices which can be made as removable attachments to the wrist-wearable docking station. 
   Also disclosed are a number of alternative arm attachment mechanisms which include rotating, revolving and/or tilting elements, including such elements as a touchscreen monitor, audio I/O devices, printer, keypad, credit card reader, and a bar-code scanner. 
   Also disclosed is a laptop computer that can be reconfigured with the removal of one element so as to be optimized for wearing. 
   Also disclosed is a carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) therapy device that can be integrated with the above wrist-wearable devices. 
   Also disclosed are novel battery chargers for use in recharging the batteries of the wrist-wearable device. These chargers include a solar-powered, window-mounted battery charger system and an automobile dashboard-mounted battery charger system. The novel automobile dashboard includes additional features for use with the remainder of the disclosed system, such as a color-coded odometer and improved cabin air purification system. 
   Also disclosed is a telephone system by which unwanted calls made to the wrist-wearable phone may be screened such that unwanted callers are required to pay in order to have their call placed. 
   The attainment of the foregoing and related objects, advantages and features of the invention should be more readily apparent to those skilled in the art, after review of the following more detailed description of the invention, taken together with the drawings, in which: 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  depicts a side view of a user interface device in wrist-adjacent position, from which position the device can move in a line which is substantially parallel to a depicted line described by the user&#39;s forearm to the position depicted in  FIG. 2 . 
       FIG. 2  depicts a side view of a user interface device in palm-adjacent position. 
       FIG. 3  depicts a side view of a user&#39;s shirt sleeve covering a user interface device in wrist-adjacent position. 
       FIGS. 4 and 5  depict a side view of the basic parts of a wrist-wearable apparatus that supports a user interface device in such a way as to allow it to move from wrist-adjacent to palm-adjacent position. 
       FIG. 6  depicts a side view of the movable components of a wrist-wearable device being worn and manipulated by a user. 
       FIGS. 7 and 8  depict a perspective view of a wrist-wearable audio recorder in use, wherein a keypad for manual input of electronic data is provided so that it can move from wrist-adjacent position to palm-adjacent position and back to wrist-adjacent position as desired by the user. 
       FIG. 9  depicts a perspective view of a wrist-wearable remote control. 
       FIG. 10  depicts a perspective view of a spring-loaded, wrist-wearable manual interface device. 
       FIGS. 11 through 13  depict perspective views of a handpiece which is a wireless telephone that is mounted upon a connection member by way of a ball-and-socket joint. 
       FIGS. 14 and 15  depict perspective views of an alternative embodiment that provides a particular handpiece that includes a cradle and an electronic port for electrical coupling to a removable attachment so as to serve as a docking station for said attachment. 
       FIGS. 16 and 17  depict anterior views of the attachment being placed in the handpiece docking station. 
       FIGS. 18 and 19  depict side views of the handpiece docking station and other parts of the wrist-wearable mechanism in use with two different attachment pieces. 
       FIG. 20  depicts a side view of the movable components of the wrist-wearable docking station device in use with a PDA. 
       FIGS. 21 and 22  depict charts of components and mechanisms which may be used in making the arm piece, handpiece, and/or attachment piece under the presently disclosed system. 
       FIGS. 23 through 35  depict side views of different attachments that can be used with the handpiece docking station system. 
       FIGS. 36 and 37  depict perspective views of such attachments. 
       FIGS. 38 and 39  depict side views of an alternative embodiment that provides a handpiece that is a camera mounted upon a telescoping support mechanism of the arm piece. 
       FIG. 40  depicts a schematic diagram of electronic components typically used in a handpiece, attachment, and/or arm piece. 
       FIGS. 41 and 42  depict perspective views of an alternative embodiment that provides a touchscreen monitor mounted on an arm piece so as to move in a line that is substantially parallel to the line described by the user&#39;s forearm when the arm piece is being worn on said arm. 
       FIG. 43  depicts an exploded view of an alternative embodiment that provides a mechanism by which a pre-existing PDA, such as the Apple Newton or Palm PDA, can be removably mounted on an arm-attachment mechanism. 
       FIG. 44  depicts a perspective view of an alternative embodiment that provides an arm-attachment mechanism that includes a pen-like bar-code scanner tethered to the arm piece, a clip for holding this scanner when not in use, and a bar-code sheet holder. 
       FIG. 45  depicts a perspective view of an alternative embodiment that provides a wrist-wearable POS terminal that includes a credit card reader and a printer. 
       FIG. 46  depicts a perspective view of certain components of an alternative embodiment that provides an arm attachment mechanism that includes a track to allow a housing to revolve around a user&#39;s arm. 
       FIGS. 47 and 48  depict perspective views of a housing movably mounted upon a track mechanism so as to be able to revolve around the user&#39;s arm. 
       FIGS. 49 and 50  depict cross-sectional views of alternate mechanisms by which a housing can be movably mounted upon a track mechanism. 
       FIG. 51A  depicts a perspective view of an alternative embodiment that provides a housing that includes a ball-and-socket joint. 
       FIG. 51B  depicts a side view of certain components of an arm-attachment mechanism being worn on the arm of a user. 
       FIGS. 52 and 53  depict perspective views of a second housing mounted upon the ball-and-socket joint included in the first housing depicted in  FIG. 51A  so as to be able to swivel and tilt in place relative to the remainder of the arm-attachment mechanism. 
       FIGS. 54 and 55  depict perspective views of an alternate housing that provides a display hingedly mounted so as to be able to tilt relative to the housing. 
       FIG. 56A  depicts a perspective view of an alternative embodiment that provides a monitor mounted upon a ball-and-socket joint which is in turn mounted upon an arm-attachment mechanism that is being worn by a user. 
       FIG. 56B  depicts a perspective view of a handpiece used in the above alternative embodiment wherein a peg by which the handpiece is attached to a support mechanism can be seen, such method of attachment allowing the handpiece to rotate relative to the support mechanism. 
       FIGS. 57 through 60  depict perspective views of components of a notebook-style computer that can be reconfigured for wearable use as an alternative to the housings depicted elsewhere herein. 
       FIG. 61  depicts an anterior view of a window and a window-mountable solar-powered battery charger for use in charging the batteries of a wrist-wearable device. 
       FIGS. 62A ,  62 B and  63  depict side views of alternate embodiments of the window-mountable, solar-powered battery charger. 
       FIG. 64  depicts a flowchart illustrating the process by which telephone callers are screened and, in some cases, charged to place a call to a wrist-wearable phone. 
       FIG. 65  depicts a flowchart illustrating the process by which a wrist-wearable device according to the present invention is constructed and utilized with the other related devices, applications, methods and systems disclosed herein. 
       FIGS. 66 through 81  depict perspective views of alternative arm pieces that include a wrist-wearable carpal tunnel therapy device. 
       FIG. 82  depicts a perspective view of a dashboard that provides a battery charger for the wrist-wearable device, an odometer that can be scanned or photographed by the wrist-wearable device, and removable/resealable lids through which access to air filters is gained. 
       FIG. 83  depicts a color-to-number matrix for use in the presently disclosed system. 
       FIG. 84  depicts an anterior view of an odometer in which the color-to-number matrix is used. 
       FIG. 85  depicts a perspective view of an attachment piece in use with the odometer. 
       FIG. 86  depicts an anterior view of a license plate in which the color-to-number matrix is used. 
       FIG. 87  depicts a cross-sectional view of the dashboard in which can be seen an air vent, air duct, air filter, and lid movably mounted on the top of the dashboard covering the air filter chamber. 
       FIG. 88  depicts a flowchart illustrating the process by which the dashboard is used in a cabin air filtration system, wherein gross particles are filtered and held by a central air filter and fine particles are captured by dashboard-accessed individual filters such as that depicted in  FIG. 87 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention provides a device, method and system for mounting a user-accessed electronic or mechanical interface or tool on a user&#39;s arm. Numerous supporting technologies are also provided, as well as several alternative embodiments and optional features, applications, components, and manners of usage. 
   Aspects of the invention generally fall into the following categories: (I) arm attachment mechanism (sometimes called “AAM” or “arm piece”); (II) user-accessed device (sometimes mounted upon the arm piece and sometimes upon a “handpiece,” which is a component positioned to be accessed by the hand/fingers of the arm upon which the arm piece is worn); (III) means of attaching user-accessed device to arm piece or handpiece; (IV) movable coupling between a user-accessed device and the arm piece; (V) removable attachment configured to fit in a wrist-wearable docking station; (VI) wrist-wearable docking station; (VII) battery charger; (VIII) process in which the user-accessed device is used; (IX) therapeutic features of the arm piece; and (X) external devices which, through interaction with the user-accessed device, form a larger system. 
     FIG. 1  depicts a side view of a user interface device  11  in “wrist-adjacent” position  12 .  FIG. 2  depicts this user interface device  11  in “palm-adjacent” position  22 . When the user interface device  11  is in palm-adjacent position  22 , the user  10  can manually interact with the device  11  using the fingers  14  proximate to the device  11 . When the interface device is in wrist-adjacent position  12 , the device can be covered with a user&#39;s shirt sleeve  31  as depicted in  FIG. 3 . As shown, the interface device  11  or “handpiece”, which can be or include any number of data entry or other electronic or mechanical parts as described below, moves from wrist-adjacent position to palm-adjacent position in a line that is substantially parallel to the line  13  described by the forearm of the user  10 . 
     FIG. 4  depicts a side view of a user interface device  11  inside a housing  42 . A base member  44  also resides in the housing  42  and is attached to the interface device  11  by way of a connection member  43 . The connection member  43  collapses into the base member  44  and the interface device  11 . The housing  42  is mounted upon an arm-attachment mechanism  41 , which can be any of the specific arm-attachment mechanisms depicted and described below. A battery  45  is removably mounted in the base member  44  to provide power to the user interface device  11  by way of the connection member  43 ; alternately the handpiece  11  can include its own power source. The base member  44  and interface device  11  are movably attached to the housing  42  so that the interface device  11  can be deployed as depicted in  FIG. 5 . The connection member  43  comes partly out of the base member  44  and the interface device  11  while remaining attached thereto, and the base member  44  comes partly out of the housing  42  while remaining attached thereto. 
   The connection member  43  is flexible so that it can bend and/or twist to accommodate repositioning of the interface device  11  by the user  10  as depicted in  FIG. 6 . The connection member  43  may be made of a flexible material, such as rubber or plastic, or can be a metal coil spring so that it can bend and then return to its normal shape. 
     FIG. 7  depicts an arm attachment mechanism  41  that includes a microphone  71  and a display  72 . The interface device  11  is a keypad  73  that includes several buttons  74  for controlling a digital audio recorder included in the arm attachment mechanism  41  so as to serve as a personal dictation machine. As depicted in  FIG. 7 , the keypad  73  is in palm-adjacent position  22 , such that the interface device  11  and connection member  43  are fully deployed, and the base member  44  is partly deployed. In  FIG. 8 , the interface device  73  is in wrist-adjacent position  12 . It provides buttons  74  for “start” and “stop” recording functions, “rewind” and “fast forward”, etc., which commands are communicated to the audio recorder on the arm piece electrically by wire or wireless transmission. Alternately, the microphone, loudspeaker, and digital audio recorder and data storage medium can all be included in the handpiece  73 . When retracted, the manually operable keys of the manual interface  73  remain accessible to the opposite hand of the user but are out of the way of the hand of the arm upon which the device is worn. 
     FIG. 9  depicts an alternate arm-attachment mechanism  92  that includes a number of manually operable keys  93 . The deployable interface device  91  is a dedicated multi-media remote control for a television set, stereo, or other audiovisual equipment, including a number of keys as well as a radio transmitter. It provides buttons for volume, channel, TV/VCR mode selection, etc., and may alternately be used in conjunction with an arm piece which provides a full set of miniature alphanumeric keys as shown or used separately. 
     FIG. 10  depicts an alternate arm attachment mechanism  103  whereof the housing  102  is spring-loaded so that the interface device  101  pops out automatically when released similar to the action of a switchblade or jack-in-the-box. The deployed device  101  can be collapsed back into the housing  102  when manual pressure is applied in the opposite direction of the ejection force. 
     FIG. 11  depicts the back of an interface device  111  that is mounted on the connection member  112  by way of a ball-and-socket joint  114 . The connection member  112  rests in a groove  113  that grasps the connection member  112 . The connection member  112  can be released from this groove  113  so as to allow relative motion between the connection member  112  and the interface device  111  as depicted in  FIG. 12 . 
     FIG. 13  depicts the front of this interface device  111  which is a wireless telephone  111 , that includes several keys  131  for manual entry of a telephone number, a loudspeaker  132 , and a deployable microphone  133 . 
     FIG. 14  depicts a perspective view of an alternate deployable interface device. In the depicted case, the interface device  141  includes a cradle  142  into which any number of attachments can be inserted. An attachment piece  143  that includes a trackball  144  for use as a cursor positioning device is also depicted. This attachment  143  fits into the cradle  142  and locks into position by virtue of the spring-loaded pegs  145  that fit into sockets  146  in the walls of the cradle  142 . 
     FIG. 15  depicts this attachment  143  after it has been placed in the cradle so as to form an integrated whole with the remainder of the interface device  141 , which is in turn mounted on the connection member  43  that is movably connected to the base member  44 . 
     FIG. 16  depicts an anterior view of the same interface device  141  including the cradle  142  into which the attachment  143  can be inserted. Also visible from the depicted angle is a port  161  in the interface device  141  that is configured to electrically couple to a corresponding port  162  on the back of the attachment  143 . This electrical coupling is similar to that used in the case of a Palm PDA and Palm docking station. This coupling makes possible both exchange of information between devices and powering and/or recharging of internal electrical components of the attachment  143 .  FIG. 17  depicts an anterior view of the attachment piece  143  after it has been inserted into the interface device  141  so that the electrical coupling between these devices is accomplished thereby making possible the exchange of electrical power and digital data between the attachment piece  143  and the interface device  141  as well as any other components in electrical communication with the interface device  141 . 
     FIG. 18  depicts a side view of the interface device  141 , from which protrudes the trackball  144  mounted on the attachment piece  143 .  FIG. 19  depicts a side view of the same interface device  141  after a different attachment has been inserted into the interface device  141 . This attachment includes a short, rigid stylus  191  for use with a touchscreen display such as that of a Palm PDA.  FIG. 20  depicts the device  141  in  FIG. 19  in use by a user  10  so as to interact with a PDA  201 . 
     FIGS. 21 and 22  depict components of the present system in schematic form. 
     FIG. 23  depicts a side view of an attachment  231  that includes a laser pointer  232  for use in presentations, similar to the IOGEAR laser pointer/mouse. The attachment  231  also includes a port  233  for connecting to the corresponding port  161  (in  FIG. 16 ) in the deployable docking station  141 . A similar mechanism can be used in a laser-based distance meter. 
     FIG. 24  depicts a side view of an attachment  241  that includes a scanner  242  for optical character recognition (OCR), similar to the Quicktionary scanner. 
     FIG. 25  depicts a side view of an attachment  251  that includes electrical blades  252  so as to serve as an electric hair clipper or razor. 
     FIG. 26  depicts a side view of an attachment  261  that includes prongs  262  configured for use in voltage testing. 
     FIG. 27  depicts a side view of an attachment  271  that includes a microphone  272  for use in vocal performances, similar to common wireless lavaliere mics. 
     FIG. 28  depicts a side view of an attachment  281  that includes a digital camera lens  282 . 
     FIG. 29  depicts a side view of an attachment that includes a magnetic strip reader  291  for use in credit card transactions. 
     FIG. 30  depicts a side view of an attachment that includes an RF transceiver  301  for use in RFID applications. 
     FIG. 31  depicts a side view of an attachment that includes an electric rotor  310  for turning a screwdriver  311 . 
     FIG. 32  depicts a side view of an attachment that includes an electric rotor  320  for turning a drill bit  321 . 
     FIG. 33  depicts a side view of an attachment that includes an electric toothbrush  331  and internal vibrator  330 . 
     FIG. 34  depicts a side view of an attachment that includes an ultrasonic hardness tester  341 . 
     FIG. 35  depicts a side view of an attachment that includes a bottle opener  351 , demonstrating that the wrist-wearable docking station can be used with attachment pieces that are non-electronic. 
     FIG. 36  depicts a perspective view of an attachment that includes a touchscreen display  361 . 
     FIG. 37  depicts a perspective view of an attachment that includes a thermometer with a digital display  371 . 
     FIGS. 38 and 39  depict side views of an alternate user-accessed device that includes a retractable camera  382  and viewfinder  381  in use. The viewfinder  381  and the remainder of the camera  382  are mounted on at least one rail  383  that is collapsible/extendable by telescoping function so that the handpiece  382  can move from wrist-adjacent position as in  FIG. 38  to palm-adjacent position as in  FIG. 39 . Power supply, data storage, and other heavier components are mounted on/in the arm piece  384 . 
     FIG. 40  schematically depicts the basic data-processing and other electrical components of a user interface device, attachment piece, base member, and/or arm-attachment mechanism that may be used in the present system. 
     FIGS. 41 and 42  depict perspective views of an alternate arm-attachment mechanism  411  that includes a space  412  for the user&#39;s forearm and rails  414  upon which a touchscreen monitor  413  is movably mounted. The AAM  411  includes both an inner tube and an outer tube that can revolve independently of each other so as to allow revolution of external components about the user&#39;s forearm. 
     FIG. 43  depicts an exploded view of certain components of an alternative embodiment in which a PDA  431  is removably held by a grasping cradle  435 . The cradle  435  is in turn movably mounted upon a post  433  that is mounted upon a backplate  434  so as to allow relative swiveling motion of the cradle  435  with respect to the backplate  434 . Two tubes  436  to be attached to the rails  414  in  FIG. 41  are movably mounted on the backplate  434 . 
     FIG. 44  depicts an alternate arm attachment mechanism  440  that includes a picture frame-like display  441  into which paper panels bearing barcodes  442  can be removably inserted. A bar-code scanner stylus  443  is tethered to the remainder of the arm piece  440  by way of an electrical cable  444 . The scanner  443  can be removably inserted into a clip  445  when not in use. 
     FIG. 45  depicts an alternate arm-attachment mechanism  450  that includes a magnetic strip reader  455 , keys for manual entry of data  454 , paper  452 , and a printer  453  so as to serve as a portable point-of-sale (POS) terminal for credit card transactions. 
     FIG. 46  depicts an alternate arm-attachment mechanism  460  that includes bars  461  that can be attached by straps (shown in  FIG. 51B ) to a user&#39;s forearm. Mounted on these bars  461  are two tracks/rails  462  and two telescoping support members  463 . An alternate handpiece  464  is movably mounted upon these support members  463  so as to be accessible to the hand of the arm upon which the unit  460  is worn. 
     FIGS. 47 and 48  depict a display  471  that is movably mounted upon the rails  462  so that it can revolve around the axis described by the user&#39;s forearm to different positions as shown. 
   The display  471  can be movably attached to the rails  462  in a number of ways.  FIG. 49  provides one example, wherein wheels  491  are set in a track on a rail  462 .  FIG. 50  provides another example, wherein the leg  501  of the monitor housing  471  interlocks with a groove in the rail  462 . 
     FIG. 51A  depicts a platform member  511  which is movably mounted upon the rails  462  and which includes a ball-and-socket joint  512 .  FIG. 51B  depicts the manner in which the bars  461  may be attached to the user&#39;s forearm by way of straps  515 . 
     FIG. 52  depicts a housing  521  that has been mounted upon the ball-and-socket joint  512  so that it can swivel and/or tilt relative to the platform member  511 .  FIG. 53  depicts this housing  521  after it has swiveled into a new position. This housing  521  can include a touchscreen monitor, manually operable keys, audio input and output devices, or other electrical components. 
     FIGS. 54 and 55  depict a video monitor  541  that is jointed to a housing  542  so that it can tilt with respect to the housing  542  and then be stabilized by a movable prop rod  551 . Such a housing can be alternately mounted on the various arm pieces disclosed herein. 
     FIG. 56A  depicts an arm attachment mechanism  562  upon which a display  561  is movably mounted by way of a ball-and-socket joint  567 . Manually operable keys  563  are also provided, as is a hand piece  566  movably mounted upon cantilevered support members  565  born by the arm piece  562 . When being worn, the hand piece  566  can be accessed by the fingers  564  of the hand of the arm upon which the unit is worn. 
     FIG. 56B  depicts the hand piece  566  removed from the support members  565  so that one peg  568  of the two pegs by which the hand piece  566  is connected to the support mechanism  565  can be seen. The hand piece  566  can swivel on these pegs with respect to the support mechanism  565 . 
     FIGS. 57 through 60  depict a notebook-type computer that can be reconfigured so that it can either be used as a laptop/palmtop computer or can be worn on a user&#39;s forearm by way of the disclosed arm-attachment mechanisms. The keyboard  571  can be physically and electrically coupled to a removable extension piece  575  by way of socket  573  and plug  574  mechanism. When this extension piece  575  is removed, the unit is ideally suited for wearable use as per the mechanisms described above for arm-mounting a housing. The monitor  572  is also set on rails  581  so that it can be spaced apart from the keyboard  571  so as to accommodate a larger extension piece  591 . When this larger extension piece is in place  591 , thereby providing additional keys and/or other means of data entry, the unit is ideally suited for use as a laptop. 
     FIG. 61  depicts a sliding window  612  in a window frame  611 . Also mounted in the window frame  611  is a window-mounted air-conditioner  613 . This air-conditioning unit  613  is similar to conventional window-mounted air-conditioners except that this unit also provides a battery recharger  614  in which are shown two batteries  615 .  FIG. 62A  depicts a side view of this air-conditioning unit  613  in the window frame  611 . From the side, a solar energy collector panel  623  can be seen. Equipped with photovoltaic cells like a standard solar panel, this panel  623  is movably mounted upon the air-conditioner  613  by way of a hinge  622 . Air is taken into the air-conditioner by way of the side air vents  621  since the use of a rear intake is made difficult by the presence of a solar panel  623 . 
     FIG. 62B  depicts a side view of an alternative embodiment wherein there is no air-conditioner. A smaller window-mountable unit  625  fits in the window frame  611  and bears the hingedly mounted solar panel  623 . Such a unit can be used to power an included battery charger as shown in  FIG. 61  or other electrical components. 
   By function of the hinge  622 , the solar panel  623  can be moved into a horizontal position such as that depicted in  FIG. 63  so as to collect light from the sun, convert it to electricity, and conduct this electricity to the battery charger  614  by way of a conduit  631  inside the air-conditioner  613 . A prop rod  624  provides additional support for the solar panel  623  when it is deployed. Batteries  615 , once charged, can be placed back into the base member  44  to power the wrist-wearable device disclosed herein. 
     FIG. 64  depicts a flowchart of a process that can be used with the wrist-wearable mobile phone depicted above so as to decrease the incidence of unwanted telephone calls, such as those from telemarketers. First, an approved callers list is created by the user and stored in his phone or in a database maintained by his telephone carrier  641 . When an incoming call is placed to the user&#39;s phone number  642 , the caller&#39;s telephone number is compared to the approved callers list  643 . If the incoming call is from a number on the approved callers list, the call is placed as normal  644 . If the call is coming from a number that is not on the approved callers list, the call is forwarded to a “900” number by standard call forwarding procedure  645 . As with conventional 900 numbers, the caller is given the option to proceed with the call or hangup; if the caller chooses to proceed with the call, he is billed a specified amount for use of the 900 number  646 . The call is then placed through the 900 number carrier to the user&#39;s telephone as a normal call, except that it comes from the 900 number carrier initially and then the caller is added to the line once the user answers his phone  648 . When the call is over, the user is given the option of adding the caller to the approved callers list  649   a . The charge incurred by the caller for the incoming call is refunded if the user adds the caller to the approved caller list immediately after the call  647 . Otherwise, the fee for the call can be split between the 900 number carrier, the user&#39;s telephone carrier (if different from the 900 number carrier), and the telephone user who has opted for participation in the disclosed call-screening system  649   b.    
     FIG. 65  is a flowchart illustrating the process by which the device disclosed herein is manufactured and applied within the context of the systems disclosed herein by reference to the various figures appearing elsewhere herein. 
     FIG. 66  depicts a perspective view of an alternate arm piece that provides a flexion-discouraging splint  662  to which are attached several open-sided rings  661 . The splint  662  is made of plastic so as to be somewhat rigid and may alternately be covered with padding and/or fabric so as to be comfortable to a user or covered with a lightweight, breathable fabric that will not accumulate moisture so that the unit can be worn for extended periods of time. The splint  662  also contains a space  663  through which a bandage, strap or other attachment device can pass. 
     FIG. 67  depicts a perspective view of a portion of the splint  662  being worn by a user  671 . The splint  662  is attached to the user&#39;s forearm and fingers by a forearm band (not shown in this FIG.) and several open-sided rings  661 . The open-sided rings  661  fit partially around each of the user&#39;s fingers and are made of a flexible material, such as rubber or plastic, so that the user&#39;s fingers can pop out of the rings when she flexes her fingers to make a fist. 
     FIG. 68  depicts the hand and fingers of the user  671  when the fingers have been flexed so as to pop out of the open-sided rings  661 . 
     FIG. 69  shows a posterior view of the same elements depicted in  FIG. 66 . From this angle, the length of the flexion-discouraging splint  662  can be seen, along with the forearm band  691  which has been inserted into the space  663 . The forearm band  691  can be made of a light, soft, breathable and flexible material, such as gauze, pantyhose material, or a typical ace bandage. 
     FIG. 70  depicts a side view of the splint  662  and the rings  661  before the unit has been placed on the user  671 .  FIG. 71  shows the unit after it has been attached to the user. 
     FIG. 72  depicts an alternative embodiment wherein each of the open-sided rings  661  are attached to the splint  720  so as to be able to move in a linear fashion along a groove  721  in the splint  720 . Specifically, each ring  661  is mounted on a peg that fits into this groove  721  similar to the track mechanism depicted in  FIG. 50 . This construction allows a single device to serve many different sized hands and fingers. 
     FIG. 73  depicts another alternative embodiment of the splint  731  wherein the open-sided rings  661  are mounted upon individual slats  732  which are hingedly mounted to the splint  731  by way of a joint  734  that allows the slats to pivot along the axis of the joint  734 . In this way, the user can spread and contract the distance between her fingers while they still remain inside the open-sided rings. Each slat  732  includes a groove  733  which allows for linear motion of the rings  661  as in the embodiment shown in  FIG. 72 . 
   Another alternative embodiment is depicted in  FIG. 74 . This alternative embodiment is made out of highly flexible, lightweight plastic that is shaped so as to be inflatable and so as to form a specific, complex shape when inflated. Essentially, this unit is constructed like a small, conventional inflatable raft. When filled sufficiently with air, the splint  741  becomes rigid as a result of air pressure. Small tendrils  742  protrude from the splint  741  so as to form curved shapes similar to the prongs of the open-sided rings appearing in other embodiments. These tendrils attach to the user&#39;s fingers just as the open-sided rings do in other embodiments. A valve  743  mounted on the back of the splint  741  can be partially seen from the depicted angle. This valve  743  is used to inflate and deflate the unit, which-inflation can be done by blowing air through the valve orally or using a small air pump. When air is removed from the unit, it is flat and limp as a deflated raft or toy. 
     FIG. 75  depicts an alternative embodiment in which a larger open-sided ring  751  is used to attach to the user&#39;s forearm, thereby diminishing the pressure the unit exerts upon the muscles of the forearm. 
     FIG. 76  depicts a portion of an alternative embodiment of the splint in which a section  761  of the splint protrudes above the user&#39;s index finger so as to serve as a sort of prosthetic finger which can be used for simple tasks when the splint is being worn. 
     FIG. 77  depicts a side view of an alternative embodiment of the splint in which a socket  771  appears in the side of the splint. This socket  771  is designed to receive and hold attachments which can be used as accessories with the splint as depicted below. 
     FIG. 78  depicts a perspective view of the splint after a particular attachment  781  has been added to it. In this embodiment, a trackball  782  for use as a cursor positioning device in conjunction with a computer system appears on the attachment so that the user can interact with a computer system without having to use a conventional mouse. Wireless data transmission and processing components can be included in the attachment  781 , the trackball housing, or the arm attachment mechanism as in other embodiments. 
     FIG. 79  depicts the same splint after a different attachment  791  has been added. This attachment  791  is shaped so as to provide a point  792  which can serve as a hands-free, wearable guitar pick. In this case, the attachment  791  can be used separately, providing a different sort of guitar pick which is easier to hold than a conventional guitar pick, since it provides a space for all four fingers to hold onto the attachment while the actual pick portion of the attachment is held between the thumb and index finger. 
     FIG. 80  depicts another alternative embodiment of the flexion-discouraging arm piece  801 . This arm piece  801  includes two buttons  802  that are mounted above the open-sided rings  803  that are positioned to grasp the user&#39;s index and middle fingers  804 . These buttons  802  are computer mouse-click buttons that can be pressed by extension—rather than flexion—of the user&#39;s index and/or middle fingers  804  when the unit is being worn. In this way, interaction with a computer system can actually serve a therapeutic value for CTS sufferer, since exercise of the extensor muscles counteracts overdevelopment or spasming of the flexor muscles. 
     FIG. 81  depicts an alternative embodiment in which the arm piece  810  includes attached open sided rings  661  and a wrist-wearable, deployable manual interface  73 . 
   The inventor has found the disclosed CTS therapy device to be quite effective when worn for approximately one hour each day, as it appears to “retrain” the hand to stay in a more open rather than a contracted position when the hand is at rest. Such retraining would probably not occur with the use of a flexion-preventing rather than a flexion-discouraging device. 
     FIG. 82  depicts a novel automobile dashboard  820  according to the present invention which includes a battery charger  821 , odometer  824 , heater/air conditioner vents  825 , and movable lids  826  which correspond individually to each of the air vents  825 . Batteries  822 , such as those used in the wrist-wearable device, can be seen in the battery charger  821 . The dashboard has a top surface  827  and a front surface  828 . 
     FIG. 83  depicts a color-to-number matrix according to the present invention, whereby a specific distinguishable color is assigned uniquely to each of the ten numerals in a base- 10  numerical system. 
     FIG. 84  depicts a closer view of the odometer  824 . As with conventional odometers, the depicted odometer  824  displays numerical characters that indicate elapsed mileage. Additionally, however, this odometer  824  provides a background field that is the color uniquely assigned to the displayed numeral in the color-to-number matrix of  FIG. 83 . Thus, in the depicted example, one of the numerals being displayed is a “0”  841 . Surrounding this numeral  841  is a rectangular field  844  that is of the color white, which is the color uniquely assigned to 0 in the color-to-number matrix. Also displayed is a numeral “2”  842  which is surrounded by a background field  843  of the color violet, which is the color assigned to 2 per the color-to-number matrix. Each turning dial or drum of the odometer therefore comprises not only ten numerical digits but also ten different colored surface segments that are visible when and only when the digit surrounded thereby is also visible. Leaf indicators or a flat-panel display can alternately be used instead of the common rotating drum-style odometer. 
   It can be directly observed by the reader of this document that colors can be distinguished more easily and from longer distances than individual alphanumeric characters. We can generally tell what color words appearing in a sign are, even if we can&#39;t read the words. Thus, the color-to-number matrix system is ideally suited for enhancing the human and machine readability of meters and other indicators of numerical information. 
     FIG. 85  depicts an attachment piece  851  for use in the wrist-wearable docking station that is a digital camera being used to record the visual appearance of the odometer  824 . It is likely that individual colors recorded in the resulting digital image will be distinguishable from one another even if the individual characters cannot be recognized. Moreover, these colors will, of course, appear in a known order from right to left (e.g., tenths of a mile in the far right space, followed by the unit digit directly adjacent to the left, followed by the tens digit directly adjacent to the left, etc.). In short, by providing a color field uniquely associated with each numeral, the odometer  824  itself serves as a large, real-time updated, multicolor bar-code that can be read by both humans familiar with the color-to-number matrix and machines programmed to convert light wavelengths and light phenomena (such as black, technically an absence of light) to numbers. The disclosed color-to-number matrix is but one of many possible such matrices. 
   The resulting digital image taken in  FIG. 85  can be processed by a data processor to extract numerical values from the colors if optical character recognition fails or to verify the results obtained from OCR by comparison to the results obtained from processing the captured color sequence. 
     FIG. 86  depicts a license plate for an automobile in which the color-to-number matrix system is alternately deployed. For example, as shown, each numeral appearing on the license plate is associated with a background color field. One such numeral  862  is a numeral “1”  862  which is surrounded by a rectangular background color field  861  that is of the color black, which color uniquely corresponds to the numeral 1 according to the color-to-number matrix. The numeral  862  and/or the color field  861  can be applied to the license plate by paint, decal, or other known method of color application. 
   The color-to-number matrix-enabled license plate, therefore, is in essence a very large, human- and machine-readable barcode that increases the likelihood that blurry photographs, etc., of wanted vehicles will nonetheless result in accurate identification of the vehicle. 
     FIG. 87  depicts a cross-sectional view of the dashboard  820  shown in  FIG. 82 . In this view, the top surface  827  and the front surface  828  of the dashboard  820  can be seen, as can one of the vents  825  and the movable lid  826  that is movably coupled to the top surface  827  of the dashboard  820  by way of a hinge  873 . As can be seen, a filter  871  resides in a filter chamber  874  that intersects the air duct  872  through which air is conducted toward the vent  825  on its way into the passenger cabin of the automobile. This filter  871  can be accessed, removed, and replaced by a passenger in the passenger cabin by opening the lid  826 . 
     FIG. 88  depicts a flowchart illustrating process by which the disclosed dashboard interacts with a larger “distributed filtration” air purification system. Air is taken into the automobile air conditioner/heater by conventional means  881  and passes through a single, central air filter  882  that is a high-capacity, gross particle filter only. Such a high-capacity filter typically requires less common replacement than filters of finer particles. Air is then passed into the individual ducts serving the individual vents which open into the passenger cabin  883 . Before reaching these vents, air passes through the individual filters, such as the filter  871  depicted in  FIG. 87  that filter the air headed toward a particular vent  884 . After this second filtration, air then enters the passenger cabin  885 . The latter filter  871  is a HEPA filter suited for removing very fine particulate matter from the air. As such, this filter  871  will typically have a lower holding capacity and therefore will require relatively frequent replacement, but, by virtue of the dashboard accessible design, can be replaced from the passenger cabin  886 . 
   Licensing information may be obtained at www.epoet.com or www.wearablecomputing.com.