VIBRATING ALARM SYSTEM AND OPERATING METHODS
Introduced are methods and systems for: gathering human biological signals, such as heart rate, breathing rate, or temperature; analyzing the gathered human biological signals; and controlling an alarm based on the analysis.
1 . A system for automatically activating a vibrating alarm strip in response to a biological signal associated with a user, said system comprising:
a sensor strip configured to measure said biological signal associated with said user, wherein said sensor strip comprises a piezo sensor, and a temperature sensor, and further wherein said biological signal comprises a breathing rate associated with said user, a heart rate associated with said user, a motion associated with said user, and a temperature associated with said user;
a database configured to store a history of biological signals associated with said user;
said vibrating alarm strip, attached to a mattress, configured to receive a control signal and to vibrate based on said control signal, said vibrating alarm strip comprising a plurality of zones corresponding to a plurality of users, wherein each zone in said plurality of zones is configured to vibrate independently;
a computer processor communicatively coupled to said sensor strip, said vibrating alarm strip, and said database, said computer processor configured to:
identify said user based on at least one of: said heart rate associated with said user, said breathing rate associated with said user, said motion associated with said user, or said temperature associated with said user;
based on said user identification, obtain a wake-up time associated with said user;
based on said history of biological signals and said biological signal, identify a sleep phase associated with said user, said sleep phase comprising a wakefulness phase, a light sleep phase, a deep sleep phase, or a rapid eye movement sleep phase; and
when said sleep phase comprises said light sleep phase and a current time is at most one hour before said wake-up time, send said control signal to said vibrating alarm strip, said control signal comprising an instruction to vibrate.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein said history of biological signals comprises a normal heart rate range associated with each sleep phase, a normal breathing rate range associated with each sleep phase, a normal motion range associated with each sleep phase, and a normal temperature range associated with each sleep phase.
3 . A system for automatically activating a vibrating alarm in response to a biological signal associated with a user, said system comprising:
a sensor strip configured to measure said biological signal associated with said user, wherein said sensor strip comprises a piezo sensor, and a temperature sensor, and further wherein said biological signal comprises a breathing rate associated with said user, a heart rate associated with said user, a motion associated with said user, and a temperature associated with said user;
said vibrating alarm, coupled to said user, configured to receive a control signal and to vibrate based on said control signal;
a computer processor communicatively coupled to said sensor strip, and said vibrating alarm, said computer processor configured to:
identify said user based on at least one of: said heart rate associated with said user, said breathing rate associated with said user, said motion associated with said user, or said temperature associated with said user;
based on said user identification, obtain a wake-up time associated with said user;
based on said biological signal, detect when said user is in a light sleep phase; and
when said user is in said light sleep phase and a current time is at most one hour before said wake-up time, send said control signal to said vibrating alarm, said control signal comprising an instruction to vibrate.
4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein said computer processor is configured to detect when said user is in said light sleep phase by detecting: a slowdown in said heart rate, a drop in said temperature, and a regular breathing rate.
5 . The system of claim 3 , wherein said computer processor is configured to detect when said user is in said light sleep phase by detecting an end of said rapid eye movement sleep phase.
6 . The system of claim 3 , said vibrating alarm comprising a vibrating alarm strip, said vibrating alarm strip coupled to said user, and further said vibrating alarm strip comprising a plurality of zones corresponding to a plurality of users, wherein each zone in said plurality of zones is configured to vibrate independently.
7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein said control signal comprises an identification associated with said zone in said plurality of zones.
8 . The system of claim 3 , said vibrating alarm comprising a vibrating alarm strip attached to a bed pad.
9 . The system of claim 3 , said vibrating alarm comprising a vibrating alarm strip attached to a bed cover.
10 . The system of claim 3 , said vibrating alarm comprising a vibrating alarm strip attached to a bed sheet.
11 . The system of claim 3 , said vibrating alarm comprising a wearable user device.
12 . The system of claim 3 , further comprising a database configured to store a history of biological signals associated with said user, wherein said history of biological signals comprises a normal heart rate range associated with each sleep phase, a normal breathing rate range associated with each sleep phase, a normal motion range associated with each sleep phase, and a normal temperature range associated with each sleep phase.
13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein said computer processor is further configured to:
based on said user identification, retrieve from said database, said history of biological signals associated with said user; and
based on said biological signal and said history of biological signals, determine said sleep phase associated with said user.
14 . A method for automatically activating a vibrating alarm strip in response to a biological signal associated with a user, said method comprising:
measuring said biological signal associated with said user with a sensor strip, wherein said sensor strip comprises a piezo sensor, and a temperature sensor, and further wherein said biological signal comprises a breathing rate associated with said user, a heart rate associated with said user, a motion associated with said user, and a temperature associated with said user;
storing a history of biological signals associated with said user in a database;
identifying said user based on at least one of: said heart rate associated with said user, said breathing rate associated with said user, said motion associated with said user, or said temperature associated with said user;
based on said user identification, obtaining a wake-up time associated with said user;
based on said history of biological signals and said biological signal, identifying a sleep phase associated with said user, said sleep phase comprising a wakefulness phase, a light sleep phase, a deep sleep phase, or a rapid eye movement sleep phase; and
when said sleep phase comprises said light sleep phase and a current time is at most one hour before said wake-up time, sending a control signal to said vibrating alarm strip, said control signal comprising an instruction to vibrate.
15 . The method of claim 14 , comprising configuring said vibrating alarm strip to attach to a mattress, to receive said control signal and to vibrate based on said control signal, said vibrating alarm strip comprising a plurality of zones corresponding to a plurality of users, wherein each zone in said plurality of zones is configured to vibrate independently.
16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein said history of biological signals comprises a normal heart rate range associated with each sleep phase, a normal breathing rate range associated with each sleep phase, a normal motion range associated with each sleep phase, and a normal temperature range associated with each sleep phase.
17 . A method for automatically activating a vibrating alarm in response to a biological signal associated with a user, said method comprising:
configuring a computer processor to:
identify said user based on at least one of: a heart rate associated with said user, a breathing rate associated with said user, a motion associated with said user, or a temperature associated with said user, wherein said biological signal comprises said heart rate, said breathing rate, said motion, and said temperature;
based on said user identification, obtain a wake-up time associated with said user;
based on said biological signal, detect when said user is in a light sleep phase; and
when said user is in said light sleep phase and a current time is at most one hour before said wake-up time, send a control signal to said vibrating alarm coupled to said user, said control signal comprising an instruction to vibrate.
18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising:
configuring a sensor strip to measure said biological signal associated with said user, wherein said sensor strip comprises a piezo sensor, and a temperature sensor.
19 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising:
configuring said vibrating alarm to receive said control signal and to vibrate based on said control signal.
20 . The method of claim 19 , said vibrating alarm comprising a vibrating alarm strip attached to a bed pad.
21 . The method of claim 19 , said vibrating alarm comprising a vibrating alarm strip attached to a bed cover.
22 . The method of claim 19 , said vibrating alarm comprising a vibrating alarm strip attached to a bed sheet.
23 . The method of claim 19 , said vibrating alarm comprising a wearable user device.
24 . The method of claim 19 , wherein said vibrating alarm comprises a vibrating alarm strip coupled to said user, and further wherein said vibrating alarm strip comprises a plurality of zones corresponding to a plurality of users, wherein each zone in said plurality of zones is configured to vibrate independently.
25 . The method of claim 24 , wherein said control signal comprises an identification associated with said zone in said plurality of zones.
26 . The method of claim 17 , wherein said configuring said computer processor to detect when said user is in said light sleep phase comprises detecting a slowdown in said heart rate, a drop in said temperature, and a regular breathing rate.
27 . The method of claim 17 , wherein said configuring said computer processor to detect when said user is in said light sleep phase comprises detecting an end of said rapid eye movement sleep phase.
28 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising configuring a database to store a history of biological signals associated with said user, wherein said history of biological signals comprises a normal heart rate range associated with each sleep phase, a normal breathing rate range associated with each sleep phase, a normal motion range associated with each sleep phase, and a normal temperature range associated with each sleep phase.
29 . The method of claim 28 , further comprising:
configuring said computer processor to, based on said user identification, retrieve from said database, said history of biological signals; and
configuring said computer processor to, based on said biological signal and said history of said biological signals, determine said sleep phase associated with said user.