USING CONTINUOUS GESTURES FOR SELECTIVELY PROCESSING FACIAL MOVEMENTS

1 . A system for selectively employing a processing mode based on a continuous gesture, the system comprising:

a wearable housing configured to be worn on a head of an individual;

at least one sensor associated with the wearable housing, the at least one sensor configured to capture data indicative of facial micromovements; and

at least one processor configured to:

detect, during a period when the at least one sensor captures the data, an existence of a mode-selection gesture by the individual;

upon detecting the existence of the mode-selection gesture, initially implement a first mode for processing the facial micromovements;

following the initial implementation of the first mode, continuously detect the mode-selection gesture;

in response to the continuous detection of the mode-selection gesture, continuously implement the first mode for processing the data indicative of the facial micromovements;

following the continuous detection of the mode-selection gesture, detect a cessation of the mode-selection gesture; and

upon detection of the cessation of the mode-selection gesture, cease implementation of the first mode, and implement a second mode different from the first mode.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first mode includes a message-composition function.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the mode-selection gesture is at least one of a hand gesture, a head gesture, eye gazing, or a facial expression.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the mode-selection gesture includes portions of a hand in proximity to a mouth of the individual.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to detect the existence of the mode-selection gesture or the cessation of the mode-selection gesture based on output of the at least one sensor.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor includes at least one of an optical sensor, bioelectric sensor, acoustic sensor, or time-of-flight sensor.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to detect the existence of the mode-selection gesture or the cessation of the mode-selection gesture based on output of at least one detector other than the at least one sensor.

8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the at least one detector is part of a wirelessly paired computing device.

9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein a sampling frequency of the first mode is greater than the sampling frequency of the second mode.

10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first mode is used for executing a first action and the second mode is used for executing a second action.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the first action includes generating a message based on non-vocalized words articulated during the mode-selection gesture and the second action includes a function other than message generation.

12 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the first action is associated with a private output, and the second action is associated with a non-private output.

13 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the first action includes determining nonvocalized words and the second action includes at least one of: sending a message with specific nonvocalized words articulated during the mode-selection gesture, storing the specific nonvocalized words in a database, or translating the specific nonvocalized words.

14 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive a selection of a type of first action to execute prior to detecting the existence of the mode-selection gesture.

15 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive a selection of settings associated with the first action prior to detecting the existence of the mode-selection gesture.

16 . A method for selectively employing a processing mode based on a continuous gesture, the method comprising:

capturing data indicative of facial micromovements of an individual;

detecting, during a period when the data is captured, an existence of a mode-selection gesture by the individual;

upon detecting the existence of the mode-selection gesture, initially implementing a first mode for processing the facial micromovements;

following the initial implementation of the first mode, continuously detecting the mode-selection gesture;

in response to the continuous detection of the mode-selection gesture, continuously implementing the first mode for processing the data indicative of the facial micromovements;

following the continuous detection of the mode-selection gesture, detecting a cessation of the mode-selection gesture; and

upon detection of the cessation of the mode-selection gesture, ceasing implementation of the first mode, and implementing a second mode different from the first mode.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein a duration of the mode-selection gesture is between 1 to 10 seconds.

18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein implementing the first mode includes generating a message based on words articulated in an absence of perceptible vocalization by the individual.

19 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising: detecting an additional instance of the mode-selection gesture within a predefined time period after the detection of the cessation of the mode-selection gesture; determining additional words articulated in an absence of perceptible vocalization by the individual while the additional instance of the mode-selection gesture is detected; and joining the words and the additional words into a single message.

20 . A non-transitory computer readable medium containing instructions that when executed by at least one processor cause the at least one processor to perform operations for selectively employing a processing mode based on a continuous gesture, the operations comprising:

capturing data indicative of facial micromovements of an individual;

detecting, during a period when the data is captured, an existence of a mode-selection gesture by the individual;

upon detecting the existence of the mode-selection gesture, initially implementing a first mode for processing the facial micromovements;

following the initial implementation of the first mode, continuously detecting the mode-selection gesture;

in response to the continuous detection of the mode-selection gesture, continuously implementing the first mode for processing the data indicative of the facial micromovements;

following the continuous detection of the mode-selection gesture, detecting a cessation of the mode-selection gesture; and

upon detection of the cessation of the mode-selection gesture, ceasing implementation of the first mode, and implementing a second mode different from the first mode.