Abstract:
A wearable accoutrement such as a wristwatch records noises within a wearer&#39;s vicinity, and white noises may be filtered out to output pure human voices. The voice recording feature can be activated manually or automatically during a “panic mode” as indicated by a loud noise or sudden biological changes such as an increase in heart rate or body temperature. The accoutrement can also monitor other environmental elements such as light, motion and audio and may be paired with a wireless phone such that noise from a stressful event can be sent to a remote server which processes the data. A motion sensor in the accoutrement may also activate an audible alarm in the event of physical trauma to the wearer to induce an attacker to flee.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present application relates generally to wearable items such as wristwatches which can automatically start recording or the transmission of recording and alarm, as security measures. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Personal protection is a ubiquitous concern. In recent decades the participation of women in many solo activities formerly undertaken mostly by men has heightened this concern. Highly publicized criminal cases abound in which lone female joggers, for instance, are assaulted. 
         [0003]    Present principles recognize that while the use of fingerprints and DNA analysis is value in determining criminal guilt, such evidence is not always available. As further understood herein, voice frequency of an attacker may be used as evidence to prosecute in a criminal case. Additionally, given that evidence preservation does nothing for a victim at the time of the crime, and given that a victim of a sudden assault cannot always be expected to take deliberated action to activate self-defense measures, present principles are provided. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    Accordingly, a human-wearable accoutrement that may be configured as a watch includes a housing, a processor in the housing, and a shock sensor in the housing and sending signals representing physical shock to the processor. A speaker also is on the housing and is controlled by the processor. A computer readable storage medium is in the housing and is accessible to the processor. The medium bears instructions executable by the processor to generate an audible alarm responsive to a determination that a signal from the shock sensor indicates that a physical shock has occurred. 
         [0005]    In some embodiments, the processor presents an onscreen display (OSD) on a display to enable a wearer of the accoutrement to select sound recording options (SRO). A first SRO can be for the accoutrement always to be recording ambient sounds which may be stored on the medium. The sounds can be continuously transmitted wirelessly by the accoutrement or in burst transmissions to a wireless telephone. In example implementations a second SRO on the OSD can be to begin recording only upon entry into a panic mode. 
         [0006]    If desired, the processor can present an onscreen display (OSD) on a display to enable a wearer of the accoutrement to select an alarm causing option (ACO) defining when to cause an alarm to be sounded on the speaker. A first ACO can be a physical shock and a second ACO can be one or more selected from a voice command, a loud bang, a sudden increase in a biological function of the wearer, and a manipulation of an alarm selector. 
         [0007]    In another aspect, a human-wearable watch includes a housing, a processor in the housing, and a shock sensor in the housing and sending signals representing physical shock to the processor. A speaker also is on the housing and is controlled by the processor. A computer readable storage medium is in the housing and is accessible to the processor. The medium bears instructions executable by the processor to monitor a sensor on the watch sending signals to the processor. The processor, responsive to a determination that the signals indicate a trigger event, begins recording ambient audio and/or uploads audio to a wireless telephone. 
         [0008]    In another aspect, a method executed by a computerized server includes receiving, from a wireless telephony device, a signal representing audio recorded by a human-wearable accoutrement. The method then includes determining whether a noise filter is to be applied to the audio to remove all audio except voice audio from the signal, and responsive to a determination that the noise filter is not to be applied, recording the signal received from the telephony device. On the other hand, responsive to a determination that the noise filter is to be applied, the method includes filtering out non-voice audio from the signal for the purpose of voice printing using voice frequencies to generate a voice-only output and recording the voice-only output. 
         [0009]    The details of the present invention, both as to its structure and operation, can be best understood in reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts, and in which: 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an example wearable accoutrement, in this case, a wristwatch, in accordance with present principles, communicating with a paired wireless telephone, showing the server and portions of the telephone schematically; 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of an example watch; 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is a screen shot of an example onscreen display (OSD) enabling a user to define when to record sounds; 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is a screen shot of an example OSD enabling a user to define conditions under which the audible alarm is to be activated; 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is a flow chart of example accoutrement logic; and 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  is a flow chart of example server logic. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0016]    Referring initially to  FIG. 1 , a system is shown, generally designated  10 , which includes a wearable accoutrement  12  wirelessly communicating with a wireless telephone  14  using a short range communication link such as Bluetooth. In the example shown in  FIG. 1 , the accoutrement  12  is configured as a wristwatch having a watch body  16  bearing a time indication  18 , either digital or analog ( FIG. 1  shows a digital time display window for illustration purposes only). One or more manipulable buttons  20  may be arranged on the watch body as shown for purposes to be shortly disclosed. In other embodiments, the accoutrement  12  may be configured as something other than a wristwatch but with functionality apart from those divulged below, e.g., the accoutrement  12  may be configured as a bracelet, ring, belt, etc. When configured as a wristwatch, a flexible wristband  22  is engaged with the watch body  16  to hold the watch body  16  onto a person&#39;s wrist. 
         [0017]    Before turning to the details of the wireless telephone  14 , it is to be understood that in some embodiments, wireless telephony capability may be built in to the accoutrement  12 . In the example shown, however, the wireless telephone  14  is separate from the accoutrement  12  and includes a visual display  24  supported on a portable hand held housing  26 . A keypad  28  ordinarily is provided to enable a user to input a telephone number to a processor  30  accessing a computer readable storage medium  32  such as disk-based or solid state storage. The processor  30  communicates with the accoutrement  12  using a short range transceiver  34  such as a Bluetooth transceiver. The processor enables wide area telephony communication to one or more computerized servers  35  through a telephony transceiver  36  such as but not limited to a code division multiple access (CDMA) transceiver or variant thereof, a global system for communication (GSM) transceiver or variant thereof, or an orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) transceiver or variant thereof 
         [0018]      FIG. 2  shows details of the watch body  16  of the example accoutrement  12 . A processor  38  in the body  16  accesses a computer readable storage medium  39  such as disk-based or solid state storage bearing instructions executable by the processor  38  to undertake logic described below. The processor  38  outputs audible sounds such as alarms on one or more speakers  40 . Also, the processor  38  receives input from one or more biological sensors  42  such as a pulse sensor or body temperature sensor representing biological functions of the wearer of the accoutrement  12 . The processor  38  may also receive data from a microphone  44  representing voice and other sounds. Communication with the wireless telephone  14  is effected using a short range transceiver  46  such as a Bluetooth transceiver. The processor  38  may receive geographic location information from a global position satellite (GPS) receiver  48  or other position receiver, and may receive signals representing images from an imager  50  such as but not limited to a charge coupled device (CCD). Motion of the accoutrement  12  including physical shocks may be sensed by a motion sensor  51  such as but not limited to a gyroscope communicating with the accoutrement processor  38 . 
         [0019]    With the example structures set forth above in mind, an onscreen display (OSD)  52  shown in  FIG. 3  may be presented on the watch display  18  or wireless telephone display  24  to enable a person to select sound recording options. Note that the options shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4  may alternatively be hard-coded into the accoutrement  12  by the manufacturer if it is desired to relieve the user of making choices or if it is desired to ensure that a particular option always is invoked by the accoutrement  12 . A combination of user-selected and manufacturer-coded options may be used. 
         [0020]    One option is for the accoutrement  12  always to be recording ambient sounds for storage on the accoutrement medium  39  and/or continuous or burst transmission of signals representing the sounds to the wireless telephone  14  via Bluetooth, which can continuously or periodically upload the signals to a server on the wireless telephony network. 
         [0021]    The server may be used to provide a subscription-based security service to the wearer of the accoutrement  12 , such that, for a monthly fee for example, the wearer of the accoutrement  12  can access the server to have captured audio stored there for later retrieval by the wearer or by law enforcement agencies. Or, the server may itself be controlled by a law enforcement agency which may constantly monitor (using, e.g., computerized sound analysis that automatically generates a human-perceptible alarm) for suspicious sounds in signals received from the accoutrement  12  via the telephone  14 , such as loud bangs indicating gunshots or voices of potential victims seeking help or voices of criminals assaulting the wearer. Further details of server side processing are divulged below. 
         [0022]    The user may be enabled to select whether to store sounds locally or upload automatically if desired. Another option shown in the OSD of  FIG. 3  is to begin recording only upon entry into a panic mode, examples of which are discussed below. The second option reduces the need for storage capacity onboard the accoutrement  12  while also avoiding the potential embarrassment of recording everything all the time should the wearer forget that recording is ongoing. 
         [0023]      FIG. 4  shows an OSD  54  which may be presented on the watch display  18  or wireless telephone display  24  to enable a person to select when to cause an alarm to be sounded on the speaker  40 . As shown, the wearer may select alarm activation to occur upon one or more events, which include a voice command (such as “alarm”) sensed by the microphone  44  and recognized as such by the processor  38  using voice recognition principles, a loud bang sensed by the microphone  44  and recognized as such by the processor  38  by, e.g., noting a sudden large spike in the amplitude of the audio signal, a physical shock as sensed by the motion sensor  51  and recognized as such by the processor  38  by, e.g., noting a sudden large spike in the amplitude of the motion signal, a sudden increase in a biological function of the wearer as indicated by the biological sensor  42  which may indicate stress, such as an increase in pulse or body temperature that is recognized by the processor  38 , and a manipulation of the button  20  shown in  FIG. 1 , which generates a signal to the processor  38  to activate the audible alarm. The above events may also double as panic mode events for purposes of starting recording if the user has selected the second option from the OSD  52  of  FIG. 3 . Or, a separate OSD may be presented similar to the OSD  54  of  FIG. 4  but informing the user that selection is for events to begin recording and/or to upload recorded audio to the telephone  14 , such that the user-selected event or events to begin recording/upload need not be the same as the user-selected event or events to activate the alarm. 
         [0024]      FIG. 5  shows example logic that may be executed by the processor  38  of the accoutrement  12  in accordance with present principles. Block  56  indicates that the processor receives user inputs from the OSDs shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4  as described above, and then at block  58  monitors the various sensors on the accoutrement  12 . When a trigger event to begin audio recording is received at decision diamond  60 , at block  62  any recorded audio is uploaded if not already uploaded to the telephone  14 . Preferably, the upload is on a last in-first out basis, meaning that the most recently recorded audio is uploaded before older recorded audio. If the user has selected to record only upon entry into a panic mode, then at block  64  recording is commenced, if desired simultaneously uploading the audio to the telephone  14  for immediate transmission to the above-described server. Note that video from the imaging device  50  may also be recorded according to the logic of  FIG. 5 . 
         [0025]    From block  64  or from decision diamond  60  if the test there was negative, the logic determines at decision diamond  66  whether an alarm-triggering event has occurred according to the user selections in  FIG. 4 . If it has, the audible alarm is activated over the speaker  40  at block  68 . Preferably, the audible alarm is loud and may be an obvious warning such as a siren or wailing sound, or a voice alarm such as “help”, intended to induce an attacker to flee. Monitoring continues at block  58  as shown. 
         [0026]    Now referring to the server-side back end logic of  FIG. 6 , audio is received by the server  35  from the accoutrement  12  via the telephone  14  at block  70 . At decision diamond  72 , if the operator of the server  35  has not elected to apply a white noise filter to remove all audio except voice audio from the signal, the audio as received from the telephone  74  is recorded at the server at block  74 . However, recognizing that it sometimes may be desirable to filter out all non-voice audio from a signal for the purpose of voice printing using voice frequencies, which has potential evidentiary uses in criminal trials, if filtering is selected then the logic moves to block  76  to filter out all non-voice sound from the audio signal. The voice-only output is then recorded. Desirably, however, the filtered-out noise (or the original signal prior to filtering) may also be recorded by the server to preserve evidence of potentially important non-voice audio data, such as gunshots. 
         [0027]    While the particular SMART WATCH WITH AUTOMATIC VOICE RECORDING AND ALARM is herein shown and described in detail, it is to be understood that the subject matter which is encompassed by the present invention is limited only by the claims.