Biking activity recognition through combination of electric field sensing and accelerometer

1. An electronic device, comprising:

a static electric field sensor for detecting a static electric field;

at least one other sensor for detecting one of motion or sound; and

a control circuit operative to determine an activity performed by a user, the control circuit configured to:

obtain first data from the static electric field sensor data corresponding to a static electric field about the electronic device;

obtain second data from the at least one other sensor data corresponding to motion of the electronic device;

form from the first and second data a characteristic signature; and

identify the user activity based on a comparison of the characteristic signature with a plurality of baseline signatures.

2. The electronic device according to claim 1 , further comprising a database for storing the plurality of baseline signatures.

3. The electronic device according to claim 2 , wherein the database includes a plurality of baseline signatures, at least one baseline signature of the plurality of baseline signatures corresponding at least in part to a static electric field about the user.

4. The electronic device according to claim 2 , wherein the database includes a plurality of baseline signatures, at least one baseline signature of the plurality of baseline signatures corresponding at least in part to firing of a vehicle ignition system.

5. The electronic device according to claim 2 , wherein the database includes a plurality of baseline signatures, at least one baseline signature of the plurality of baseline signatures corresponding at least in part to an electrical frequency of a power source.

6. The electronic device according to claim 5 , wherein the at least one baseline signature of the plurality of baseline signatures corresponding at least in part to the electrical frequency of a power source includes a baseline signature corresponding to an A/C power source operating at 50 or 60 Hz.

7. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of baseline signatures corresponds to at least one of walking, running, biking, riding in a motor vehicle, or flying in an airplane.

8. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one other sensor comprises at least one of an accelerometer, a gyroscope or a magnetometer.

9. An electronic device, comprising:

a static electric field sensor for detecting a static electric field;

at least one other sensor for detecting one of motion or sound;

a sound capture device; and

a control circuit operative to determine an activity performed by a user, the control circuit configured to:

obtain first data from the static electric field sensor corresponding to a static electric field about the electronic device;

obtain second data from the at least one other sensor corresponding to motion of the electronic device;

form from the first and second data a characteristic signature;

identify the user activity based on a comparison of the characteristic signature with a plurality of baseline signatures;

obtain third data from the sound capture device, the third data corresponding to sound in an environment of the electronic device; and

form the characteristic signature from the first, second data and third data.

10. The electronic device according to claim 9 , wherein the database includes a plurality of baseline signatures, at least one baseline signature of the plurality of baseline signatures corresponding at least in part to sound created by pedaling a bicycle or sound within a cabin of an aircraft.

11. A method of determining a user activity, comprising:

defining a plurality of baseline signatures, each baseline signature corresponding to a type of user activity and including data formed from a first data representing a varying static electric field and a second data representing motion;

obtaining from a first sensor data responsive to a varying static electric field;

obtaining from a second sensor data responsive to motion;

forming a characteristic signature from the combination of the first data and the second data; and

identifying the user activity based on a comparison of the characteristic signature with the plurality of baseline signatures.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the first data corresponds to a static electric field about the user.

13. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the first data corresponds to firing of a vehicle ignition system.

14. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the first data corresponds to an electrical frequency of a power source.

15. The method according to claim 14 , wherein the power source is an A/C power source operating at 50 or 60 Hz.

16. The method according to claim 11 , wherein obtaining from the first sensor includes using an electric field sensor as the first sensor.

17. The method according to claim 11 , wherein obtaining from the second sensor includes using at least one of an accelerometer, a gyroscope or a magnetometer as the second sensor.

18. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the activity comprises at least one of walking, running, biking, riding in a motor vehicle, or flying in an airplane.

19. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

further forming the each baseline signature from sound data;

obtaining from a third sensor ambient sound data; and

combining the first and second data with the third data.

20. The method according to claim 19 , wherein the sound data is characteristic of at least one of sound created by pedaling a bicycle or sound within a cabin of an aircraft.