Abstract:
The Bluetooth wearable device can include a single ring which fits over the user&#39;s thumb or other finger. The wearable device interfaces with specialized software to provide two primary functions. First, the ring in combination with specialized software maps the rest of the user&#39;s hand in order to take input from fingers that are not currently wearing a device. Two contact points touch the screen of a device and conduct the electric current along the user&#39;s skin to interact with a capacitive screen. Second, the ring acts as a broker to connect a paired device with a touchscreen device. Between the twin contacts is a color sensor. The software on the touchscreen device displays a color to indicate how the devices should establish their connection. Using this information, the ring initiates the connection.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    1. Technical Field 
         [0002]    The present application relates to wearable technology which facilitates interaction with paired or otherwise connected devices. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    Bluetooth enabled wearable technology often comes in the form of a ring or bracelet. These “wearables” can act as intermediaries between the user and the device so that the user does not need to handle the device to perform basic functions. For example, a ring might switch between songs when paired with a music player. Wearables can also act as interfaces. Where some users might use a trackpad as a mouse, other users may wear a single ring to map a single finger&#39;s movements to a paired device. Software interacting with these devices generally only accommodates one finger identified by the ring. Whichever finger has contact with the touchscreen using the wearable is the finger the software recognizes. 
         [0005]    These systems can be improved to utilize the full hand. Technology users are quickly entering an age of software where gaining the full use of their hands would be a vast improvement over single finger point and click. 
         [0006]    Wearables can act as an intermediary between devices. For example, some wearables provide methods for data exchange where the wearable holds data to transfer between two devices. The user, however, may need to be in the middle of the transfer as well, adding time to the transaction and difficulty for unsophisticated users. Handling multiple devices at once can also be difficult for some users who would now have to use all three devices (both paired devices and the wearable) to move data back and forth. 
         [0007]    These systems, too, can be improved. The user can be removed from the transaction so that data transfer or connection mechanisms happen behind the scenes between the user&#39;s myriad devices. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0008]    The novel features believed characteristic of the system of the present application are set forth in the appended claims. The system itself, as well as a preferred mode of use, and further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
           [0009]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of one example embodiment of the ring; 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a bottom view of the ring showing the contact surface with two contact points and the color sensor; 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a wiring diagram of the ring housing; 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a method diagram showing how the software in conjunction with the ring apparatus can map the geometry of a user&#39;s hand; 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the ring in use accompanied by a diagram of the vector calculation between two contact points if the touch screen of the target devices was viewed as a coordinate plane; 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is a method diagram showing how the software in conjunction with the ring apparatus can detect the difference between normal touch functions and mapped touched functions; 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  is a method diagram showing how the software in conjunction with the ring apparatus can broker a connection between two devices; and 
           [0016]      FIG. 8  is a method diagram showing how the software in conjunction with the ring apparatus may exchange data. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0017]    Illustrative embodiments of the system of the present application are described below. All features of an actual implementation may not be described in this specification. The development of any such actual embodiment may include numerous implementation-specific decisions to achieve the developer&#39;s goals which will vary from one implementation to another. Such development effort, though complex and time-consuming, would nevertheless be a routine undertaking for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. 
         [0018]    The present application can be thought of as two components that interact to create a system allowing the user to handle their devices in a new way. These two components consist of the physical ring and the ring interface software resident on the user&#39;s devices. 
         [0019]      FIG. 1  shows the physical ring according to one example embodiment. Ring member  101  is a sleeve that fits snugly around the user&#39;s thumb. The user can wear the ring apparatus on any finger; however, it is preferred that the ring be coupled to the user&#39;s thumb. Accordingly, the example embodiment is illustrated with the ring apparatus on the user&#39;s thumb. The material of ring member  101  is configured to keep ring housing  103  stable while still allowing full range of motion for the thumb. In alternate embodiments, ring member  101  may be made of an elastic material or rigid material with adjustable strap  102  to fit different sizes of thumbs or fingers. The embodiment shown in  FIG. 1  can be made of conductive, nonconductive, or anti-static materials and still be able to simulate touch on the target touch screen device. The material of ring member  101  can be flexible enough to allow the user to flex and move their fingers along the screen similar to how they might use a track pad mouse or type on a touchscreen. 
         [0020]    Referring also to  FIG. 2 , contact point  201  and contact point  203  can be located on a contact surface  204 . Contact points  201  and  203  align along the side of the thumb that would naturally rest against a touchscreen. It should be appreciated that the exact location of contact points  201  and  203  is implantation specific; however, it is preferable that both contact points  201  and  203  are on the same plane as the touch screen surface of the target device. As the user moves his or her thumb, contact points  201  and  203  glide across the touch screen surface. The configuration of contact points  201  and  203  allow for the full range of motion of the thumb along the plane of the touch screen surface.  FIG. 5  demonstrates how the user can rest his or her hand against the screen for use of both contact points  201  and  203  and the rest of his or her hand. 
         [0021]    The preferred embodiment requires at least two contact points, namely contact points  201  and  203 . In order to determine the orientation of the user&#39;s hand, the software performs a vector calculation to find the direction of a line between the two contact points. Contact points  201  and  203  are each capable of emitting a detectable frequency. Contact points  201  and  203  can emit different frequencies or the same frequency for the software of the target device to detect depending how the hardware is being used. 
         [0022]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , a small color sensor  202  can be located between contact points  201  and  203 .  FIG. 2  shows an example of how color sensor  202  may be aligned with contact points  201  and  203 . In order to be effective, color sensor  202  should be located on contact surface  204  so that it can detect and identify color displayed by the software on the target device&#39;s screen. 
         [0023]    Referring now to  FIG. 3 , contact points  303  and  305  as well as color sensor  304  communicate with microcontroller  302 . Microcontroller  302  causes contact points  303  and  305  to emit a frequency via electric switches  306  and  307  when momentary switches  308  and  309  are pushed in. Microcontroller  302  is equipped with a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Module and powered by battery  301 . Microcontroller  302  is flashed with software to handle the input and output from and to contact points  303  and  305 , color sensor  304 , and the BLE Module. The ring member  101  can have two states that govern what information the microcontroller is handling, for example: a touch mode and a broker mode. 
       Touch Mode 
       [0024]    Touch mode is triggered when momentary switches  308  and  309  are pushed in. When the ring apparatus is pushed against the touchscreen of the target device, momentary switches  308  and  309  close and complete the circuit. In touch mode, microcontroller  302  causes one frequency to be emitted through contact point  303  and a different frequency through contact point  305 . This difference in frequencies is how the ring apparatus identifies which contact point is on “top” and which is on “bottom.” This information is received by software on the target device to calculate a vector between contact points  303  and  305 . Microcontroller  302  emits the frequencies via contact points  303  and  305  briefly and only so long as is necessary for the touchscreen device software to recognize the ring member  101 . 
         [0025]    Software on the touch screen device interacts with the ring apparatus to map the user&#39;s hand.  FIG. 4  describes an example method to map the other fingers on the user&#39;s hand. In step  401 , the software first detects the presence of the ring apparatus. Step  402  is the training phase where the user performs a series of gestures using the ring apparatus to show the user&#39;s natural hand movements to the software. The software learns these natural positions in step  403 . Finally in step  404 , the software stores the learned hand map in a profile that can be accessed by other software on the target touch screen device. 
         [0026]    While training the software to map the user&#39;s hand, the software detects these frequencies and assigns a position to contact points  303  and  305  based on the coordinate plane of the touch screen surface. For example,  FIG. 5  shows contacts points  303  and  305  assigned a position on the screen. In this example, contact  303  is emitting the “top” frequency at position  503  (for the sake of the example, let position  503  be coordinate (5, 2)) and contact point  305  is emitting the “bottom” frequency (for the sake of the example, let position  504  be coordinate (3, 4)). These points can be given position vectors from the origin of the plane as: 
         [0000]      contact point  303 =         = î +2 ĵ   
         [0000]      contact point  305 =         =3 i +4 j    
         [0027]    Knowing the position vectors from the origin for these points, the software can find a displacement vector, or directional vector, by subtracting the position vector for “bottom” contact point  504  from the position vector for “top” contact point  503 . This calculation is as follows: 
         [0000]      directional vector=         =         −         
 
         [0000]                =(5 î +2 ĵ)   −(3   î +4 ĵ)    
         [0000]                =5 î +2 ĵ −3 î −4 ĵ 
 
         [0000]                =2 î −2 ĵ 
 
         [0028]    Knowing           gives the software the direction the user&#39;s thumb is pointing in. This vector gives the orientation of the hand on the touch screen. In addition to finding the direction vector from the ring, the software monitors for four other contacts from the other fingers. The user can slide his or her fingers along the screen to give the software information on how the fingers naturally move in relation to the thumb and in the orientation given by the vector. Once training has completed, the software stores the hand data in a user profile to be used later by the software. 
         [0029]    Referring now to  FIG. 6 , the software can differentiate between ordinary screen touches and touches that are aligned with the ring member  101 . In steps  601  and  602 , the software detects a touch on the touch screen. In step  603 , the software determines whether ring member  101  has already been detected. If ring member  101  has been detected, then in step  604  the software accesses the user&#39;s stored hand profile to determine if the touch was in a mapped area in relation to the ring member  101 . This determination is made in step  605 . If the touch is within the hand profile&#39;s finger area, then the software will perform some associated finger function in step  606 . If the touch was not in the hand profile&#39;s finger area, then the software proceeds to step  609  and treats the touch as a normal touch outside the hand area. If the device has not already been detected in step  603 , then the software checks for two touch points that are the same distance apart as contact points  303  and  305  and emitting the correct frequency in step  607 . If the software discovers these points, then it has found the ring member  101  in step  609  and will loop back to step  601  to check for touches. If not, then the touch is treated as a normal touch in step  608 . 
       Broker Mode 
       [0030]    In broker mode, as described in  FIG. 7 , microcontroller  302  communicates with contact points  303  and  305 , color sensor  304 , and the BLE Module. After both contact points  303  and  305  have made contact in step  701 , microcontroller  302  triggers an initializer signal in step  702  through contact points  303  and  305 . In steps  703  and  704 , microcontroller  302  monitors for a recognizable signal from color sensor  304 . While in broker mode, the ring apparatus is paired with a home device. The ring apparatus can broker a connection between the paired home device and a target foreign device. 
         [0031]    Color sensor  304  monitors for a color sequence from the target foreign device. This color sequence is displayed on the screen of the foreign device by the foreign device&#39;s software. The foreign software maintains a list of available connection methods that are mapped to a color sequence. Once detected by the ring member  101 , microcontroller  302  proceeds to step  705  and commences a handshake to determine device ID, connection type, and address. The color sequence detected by color sensor  304  is translated into a proposed connection method. Microcontroller  302  also received information on device ID (identifying the device is either the home device a foreign device which wants to connect) and addresses to identify the devices for connection. If the device is a home device, then the device is already connected and the method ends in step  707 . If the device is a foreign device, the software and microcontroller  302  continue with the connection handshake in step  708 . Microcontroller  302  uses the BLE Module to relay this information back to the paired home device. 
         [0032]    The software on the paired home device responds either that it accepts the connection method suggested or that it needs a different method. This response determines whether the handshake was successful in step  709 . If it was successful, then either the paired home device or the foreign device will initiate the connection in step  711  and establish a connection in step  712 . If it was not successful, then the process starts over, but with a different color sequence indicating a different connection method. If all connection methods are exhausted with no alternative remaining, then the process will error out and no connection will be made. 
         [0033]    While in broker mode, the ring member  101  can also assist in data transfer as seen in  FIG. 8  after a connection has been established between the paired home device, ring member  101 , and the foreign device. Similar to connection brokering, the ring member  101  can identify itself to the touchscreen device through an initializing signal via contact points  303  and  305  in steps  801  and  802 . In step  803 , microcontroller  302  checks for a screen response through color sensor  304 . If the signal is not recognized in step  807 , the method ends or starts over. If the signal is recognized, then the microcontroller  302  determines whether the home and foreign devices are already connection. If they are not, then a connection is established in step  806 . 
         [0034]    Using the ring member  101 , the user can perform two functions: copy or paste. In steps  808  and  809 , the user will indicate his or her intention to the software of the foreign device. If the user is copying in step  810 , the ring member  101  will move application specific context data to the clipboard of the paired home device. If the user is pasting in step  811 , then the ring member  101  will move the paired home device&#39;s clipboard data to the foreign device. Because a connection has already been established between the home device and the foreign device, the ring member  101  is not actually holding any of this data. The data can transfer over whatever communication protocol was selected when brokering the connection. Instead, the ring member  101  triggers the home device and foreign devices to move data between each other. 
         [0035]    The embodiments of the present application provide a more natural and intuitive experience when using a touchscreen. A software application which implements this technology can cater to the user by ensuring that the most commonly used functions are always at their fingertips. The user spends less time moving their hands around a screen to get to these functions. Adaptive, personalized user interfaces make a completely flat touchscreen have a similar convenience to physical interfaces like a keyboard or video gaming controller. 
         [0036]    The technology also brings more convenience when needing to transfer data between touchscreen devices. The abstraction of a simple copy and paste between touchscreen devices lets the user feel as if they are physically carrying and placing the data. 
         [0037]    The particular embodiments disclosed are illustrative only, as the system may be modified and practiced in different but equivalent manners apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings herein. Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the apparatuses described herein without departing from the scope of the invention. The components of the system may be integrated or separated. Moreover, the operations of the system may be performed by more, fewer, or other components. 
         [0038]    Furthermore, no limitations are intended to the details of construction or design herein shown, other than as described in the claims below. It is therefore evident that the particular embodiments disclosed above may be altered or modified and all such variations are considered within the scope and spirit of the application. Accordingly, the protection sought herein is as set forth in the claims below.