Patent Publication Number: US-2016239710-A1

Title: Visual assist system and wearable device employing same

Description:
FIELD 
     The subject matter herein generally relates to a visual assist system, and particularly relates to a visual assist system and a wearable device employing the visual assist system. 
     BACKGROUND 
     People with weak eyesight need more assistant instruments, such as a walking stick or a navigating instrument with audio indication. However, a limit detecting distance of the walking stick or an unclear audio indication in noise environment may do harm to the user. Therefore, a smarter assist system is needed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Implementations of the present technology will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the attached figures. 
         FIG. 1  is an isometric view of an exemplary embodiment of a wearable device. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a visual assist system. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, where appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the different figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. In addition, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments described herein. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments described herein can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, methods, procedures and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the related relevant feature being described. Also, the description is not to be considered as limiting the scope of the embodiments described herein. The drawings are not necessarily to scale and the proportions of certain parts may be exaggerated to better illustrate details and features of the present disclosure. 
     The term “comprising,” when utilized, means “including, but not necessarily limited to”; it specifically indicates open-ended inclusion or membership in the so-described combination, group, series and the like. 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  illustrate at least one embodiment of a wearable device  200  applied to people with weak eyesight to help better get into daily life. 
     The wearable device  200  includes a frame  210  and a visual assist system  100  coupled to the frame  210 . The frame  210  includes a support portion  211  and two foldable extending arms  213  coupled to two opposite ends of the support portion  210 . The support portion  211  and the extending arms  213  can be supported by a nose and ears of a user. 
     The visual assist system  100  includes a touch module  20 , a communication module  30 , an audio module  40 , a storage module  50 , a visual assist module  60 , and a power source module  70 . In at least one embodiment, the touch module  20 , the communication module  30 , the audio module  40 , the storage module  50 , and the power source module  70  are mounted on one of the extending arms  213 . The visual assist module  60  is mounted on the support portion  211 . 
     The touch module  20  is configured to receive user touch command to control the visual assist system  100 . The touch module  20  converts the touch command input by the user to instruction code to control the visual assist system  100  to execute a motion corresponding to the instruction code, therefore, to further control a portable terminal  300  via the visual assist system  100 . For instance, after establishing communication between the visual assist system  100  and the portable terminal  300 , and when the portable terminal  300  has an incoming call, user may slide towards the support portion  211  on the touch module  20  to answer the call. Contrarily, user may slide away from the support portion  211  on the touch module  20  to reject the call. 
     The communication module  30  is configured to establish communication with the portable terminal  300 . The communication module  30  includes a GPS unit  31  and a Bluetooth® unit  33 . The GPS unit  31  is configured to locate the wearable device  200  and output the location data. The Bluetooth® unit  33  is configured to establish communication with the portable terminal  300  to exchange data between the visual assist system  100  and the portable terminal  300 . 
     The audio module  40  is configured to input and output audio signal. The audio module  40  includes a microphone unit  41 , a coding unit  43 , a decoding unit  45 , and a speaker unit  47 . The microphone unit  41  is configured to receive audio from the user and convert the audio to a first analog audio signal. The coding unit  43  is configured to convert the first analog audio signal to digital audio signal and code the digital signal for transmitting to the portable terminal  300  via the Bluetooth® unit  33 . The decoding unit  45  is configured to receive digital audio signal from the portable terminal  300  via the Bluetooth® unit  33  and decode the digital audio signal, and then further convert the digital audio signal to a second analog audio signal for being played by the speaker unit  47 . 
     The storage module  50  is configured to store data, for example touch data of the touch module  20 , location data of the communication module  30 , audio data of audio module  40 , and visual assist data of the visual assist module  60 . In addition, the storage module  50  further stores predetermined data, for example image data of traffic instruction, emergency exit information, etc. The visual assist module  60  captures image of the predetermined data and identifies the captured image for indicating the user the environment by broadcasting audio indication by the audio module  40 . 
     The visual assist module  60  is electrically connected to the touch module  20 , the communication module  30 , the audio module  40 , and the storage module  50 . The visual assist module  60  is configured to capture image and output corresponding visual assist data. The visual assist module  60  includes a processing module  61 , a detecting module  63 , and an image identifying module  65 . The processing module  61  is configured to control the detecting module  63  and the image identifying module  65  and process data output by the detecting module  63  and the image identifying module  65 . The detecting module  63  is configured to detect objects in front of the user of the wearable device  100  and output detection data. The image identifying module  65  is configured to capture images of objects in front of the user and identify the images to output identification data. The detection data and the identification data are stored in the storage module  50 . The processing module  61  transmits corresponding audio instruction to the audio module  40  according to the detection data and the identification data, thereby the audio module  40  broadcasts the audio instruction to indicate the user. 
     The detecting module  63  includes an ultrasonic transceiver unit  631  and a converter unit  633 . The ultrasonic transceiver unit  631  is configured to transmit ultrasonic wave to objects in front to detect distance of the object and output distance data. The ultrasonic transceiver unit  631  transmits ultrasonic wave forward and timing begins, the ultrasonic wave travels in the air and returns when meets any objects on the way. The ultrasonic transceiver unit  631  receives the return ultrasonic wave and timing stops. The processing module  61  calculates a distance between the wearable device  200  and the object in front according to a travelling speed of the ultrasonic wave in the air and a time from transmitting the ultrasonic wave to receiving the ultrasonic wave. In at least one embodiment, the ultrasonic transceiver unit  631  may transmit a group of ultrasonic waves to the object due to irregular surface of the object, thereby the ultrasonic transceiver unit  631  may receive a group of distances to increase a detection precision. The converter unit  633  is configured to generate a geometry figure of the object according to the group distances detected by the ultrasonic transceiver unit  631  to obtain a general dimension of the object, and further output dimension data. The processing module  61  outputs corresponding audio instruction to the audio module  40  according to the distance data of the ultrasonic transceiver unit  631  and the dimension data of the converter unit  633  to indicate the user that the distance and dimension of the object via the audio instruction. 
     The image identifying module  65  includes an image capturing unit  651  and an identifying unit  653 . The image capturing unit  651  can be a camera module and configured to capture image data in front of the wearable device  200 . The identifying unit  653  is configured to compare the image data captured by the image capturing unit  651  with the predetermined image data stored in the storage module  50  to determine whether equated to the predetermined image data, thereby outputting identifying data. For instance, the storage module  50  stores face feature image data of some frequent contact people of the user. When the user of the wearable device  200  needs to meet one of the frequent contact people, the image capturing unit  651  captures face feature image data of the person in front of the user, the identifying unit  653  compares the captured face feature image data with the face feature image data of the frequent contact people stored in the storage module  50  to determine whether the person is one of the frequent contact people. When the captured face feature image data is equated to the stored face feature image data, the image identifying module  65  outputs a contact person&#39;s confirmation information, the processing module  61  transmits audio instruction to the audio module  40  according to the contact person&#39;s confirmation information to indicate the user that the person in front is one of the frequent contact people. 
     The power source module  70  is configured to provide power for the visual assist system  100 . The power source module  70  includes a power management unit  71  and a battery  73 . The power management unit  71  is a rechargeable circuit unit and configured to be connected to a power adapter via a charger interface for charging the battery  73 . The battery  73  is configured to provide power for the touch module  20 , the communication module  30 , the audio module  40 , the storage module  50 , and the visual assist module  60 . 
     The wearable device  200  having the visual assist system  100  that uses the detecting module  63  to detect a distance between the user and the object and a dimension of the object, and then the image identifying module  65  captures image and identifies the image of the object, the processing module  61  transmits audio instruction to the audio module  40  according to the detection data of the detecting module  63  and the identification data of the image identifying module  65 . Thereby the audio module  40  broadcasts audio according to the audio instruction to indicate the user. Therefore, the people with weak eyesight may use the wearable device  200  to help to determine the environment around the user, which can help user to better adapt to the daily life. 
     It is believed that the embodiments and their advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the disclosure or sacrificing all of its advantages, the examples hereinbefore described merely being illustrative embodiments of the disclosure.