User Interface Control of Responsive Devices
Among other things, a user interface device has a sensor configured to detect, at a wrist of a human, nerve or other tissue electrical signals associated with an intended contraction of a muscle to cause a rapid motion of a finger. An output provides information representative of the nerve or other tissue electrical signals associated with the intended contraction of the muscle to an interpreter of the information.
1 . An apparatus comprising
a sensor configured to detect, at a top of a wrist of a human, nerve or other tissue electrical signals associated with activation of tension-generating sites in muscle fibers, and
an output configured to provide marker data based on at least individual or sequential amplitude, pattern, timing, or length of the nerve or other tissue electrical signals unique to the human to an authentication system for use in authenticating identity of the human.
2 . The apparatus of claim 1 comprising the authentication system for generating an authentication output with respect to the identity of the human based on the provided marker data.
3 . The apparatus of claim 2 in which the authentication system is configured to control the human's access to a responsive device based on the authentication output.
4 . (canceled)
5 . The apparatus of claim 1 in which the marker data is indicative of wrist acceleration, wrist orientation, or other motion or position of the wrist of the human.
6 . The apparatus of claim 3 in which the marker data is provided during a passive mode of operation of the user interface device in which the responsive device is not being controlled by the human through the user interface device.
7 . The apparatus of claim 3 in which the marker data is provided during an active mode of operation in which the the responsive device is being controlled by the human through the user interface device.
8 . The apparatus of claim 2 in which the authentication output is generated repeatedly at successive times.
9 . The apparatus of claim 2 in which the authentication output is generated continuously.
10 . An apparatus comprising
a user interface device having
a sensor configured to detect, at a top of a wrist of a human, nerve or other tissue electrical signals associated with an intended contraction of a muscle to cause a motion of a part of a human, and
an output to provide information representative of the nerve or other tissue electrical signals associated with the intended contraction of the muscle to a controller associated with a responsive device, the information including marker data based on individual or sequential amplitude, pattern, timing, or length of the nerve or other tissue electrical signals unique to an identity of the human.
11 . The apparatus of claim 10 comprising the controller.
12 . The apparatus of claim 10 in which the controller is at least partly in the user interface device.
13 . The apparatus of claim 10 in which the controller is at least partly in a responsive device.
14 . The apparatus of claim 10 in which the controller is configured to effect an action by a responsive device.
15 . The apparatus of claim 14 in which the controller is configured to effect the action by altering a presentation by the responsive device.
16 . The apparatus of claim 15 in which the controller is configured to alter the presentation by unlocking the responsive device.
17 . (canceled)
18 . The apparatus of claim 15 in which the controller is configured to alter the presentation by presenting a selection.
19 . (canceled)
20 . (canceled)
21 . (canceled)
22 . The apparatus of claim 10 in which the controller is configured to generate an output that unlocks a functionality of a responsive device.
23 . (canceled)
24 . (canceled)
25 . (canceled)
26 . (canceled)
27 . The apparatus of claim 10 in which the controller is configured to cause the responsive device to capture an image, video, or a sound, or a combination of them.
28 . The apparatus of claim 18 in which the selection is performed on alphanumerical characters.
29 . The apparatus of claim 22 in which the responsive device is configured to operate compatibly with a peripheral device that can generate an output for controlling the action of the responsive device.
30 . The apparatus of claim 29 in which the controller is configured to cause the responsive device to perform an action that can also be caused by the output generated by the peripheral device.
31 . The apparatus of claim 30 in which the controller is configured not to control the action of the responsive device unless the human is in contact with the peripheral device.
32 . The apparatus of claim 29 in which the peripheral device comprises a handheld peripheral device.
33 . The apparatus of claim 14 in which the action of the responsive device is controlled without the human touching the responsive device.
34 . The apparatus of claim 10 in which the controller is configured to send the output to the responsive device based on a Bluetooth round robin.
35 . The apparatus of claim 14 comprising an intermediary routing device that manages connections with the responsive device.
36 . The apparatus of claim 14 in which the controller is configured to send the output to the responsive device through the intermediary routing device.
37 . The apparatus of claim 14 in which the responsive device is configured to provide a presentation to a user of the user interface device.
38 . The apparatus of claim 37 in which the presentation comprises a display or sound or both.
39 . The apparatus of claim 10 comprising a second user interface device configured to detect additional nerve or other tissue electrical signals of a human and generate data representative of the additional nerve or other tissue electrical signals, and one or more interpreters are configured to make interpretations of the data representative of the additional nerve or other tissue electrical signals.
40 . The apparatus of claim 39 in which the controller is configured to generate the output based on a joint consideration of the interpretations of the data representative of the nerve or other tissue electrical signals and the interpretations of the data representative of the additional nerve or other tissue electrical signals.
41 . The apparatus of claim 39 in which the controller is configured to generate the output based on a separate consideration of the interpretations of the data representative of the nerve or other tissue electrical signals and the interpretations of the data representative of the additional nerve or other tissue electrical signals.
42 . The apparatus of claim 10 in which the controller is configured to generate the output based on audio input.
43 . The apparatus of claim 10 in which the controller is configured to send the output with a time delay.
44 . The apparatus of claim 43 in which the time delay corresponds to a time required for interpretation of the data representative of the nerve or other tissue electrical signals.
45 . The apparatus of claim 10 in which the nerve or other tissue electrical signals of the human detected by the sensor correspond to one or more gestures or intended gestures.
46 . The apparatus of claim 10 in which the nerve or other tissue electrical signals of the human detected by the sensor correspond to one or more motions or intended motions of the human.
47 . The apparatus of claim 46 in which the one or more interpreters are configured to provide one or more interpretations indicative of the one or more motions or intended motions of the human.
48 . The apparatus of claim 46 in which the one or more motions or intended motions of the human comprise one or more muscle contractions or extensions in an upper extremity of the human.
49 . An apparatus comprising
a first sensor configured to detect, at a skin surface at a top of a wrist of a human, nerve or other tissue electrical signals associated with activation of tension-generating sites in muscle fibers of the human,
a processing unit configured to process the nerve or other tissue electrical signals into marker data based on individual or sequential amplitude, pattern, timing, or length of the nerve or other tissue electrical signals unique to the human; and
an authentication unit configured to process the marker data for use in authenticating identity of the human.
50 . The apparatus of claim 49 , further comprising a second sensor configured to detect position, orientation, velocity, acceleration, or motion of the wrist and output signals indicative of the detected position, orientation, velocity, acceleration, or motion of the wrist, and wherein the marker data are further based on individual or sequential amplitude, pattern, timing, or length of signals indicative of position, orientation, velocity, acceleration, or motion of the wrist.
51 . The apparatus of claim 50 , wherein the marker data are indicative of interaction habits unique to the human as sensed by the first sensor.
52 . The apparatus of claim 50 , wherein the marker data are indicative of interaction habits unique to the human as sensed by the second sensor.
53 . The apparatus of claim 50 , wherein the marker data are indicative of interaction habits unique to the human as sensed by both the first sensor and the second sensor.
54 . The apparatus of claim 49 , wherein the marker data are indicative of interaction habits unique to the human as sensed by the first sensor.
55 . The apparatus of claim 49 , wherein the nerve or other tissue electrical signals related to contraction or extension movement of one or more fingers of a hand connected to the wrist of the human.
56 . The apparatus of claim 50 , wherein the output signals of the first sensor relate to motion of a forearm connected to the wrist of the human.