Granted Patent B2

US 12,478,835 · App. 17/033,027 · Granted Nov 25, 2025

Inventors: Gunes Dervisoglu (Santa Clara, CA); Hung A. Pham (Oakland, CA); Bharath Narasimha Rao (Mountain View, CA); James P. Ochs (San Francisco, CA); Erin Paeng (Portland, OR); Jonathan M. Beard (San Jose, CA); Vinay R. Majjigi (Mountain View, CA); Karthik Jayaraman Raghuram (Mountain View, CA)

Assignee: Apple Inc.

A63B24/0062A63B24/0021H04W4/021H04W4/023H04W4/029A63B2024/0025A63B2220/12A63B2220/803

Abstract

Claims (74)

1 . A method for improving performance of a wearable device while recording a hiking activity, the method comprising:

starting a hiking activity on the wearable device;

measuring, by a motion sensing module of the wearable device, motion data of a user;

measuring, by a GPS module of the wearable device, location data of the user;

determining, by a processor circuit of the wearable device, a starting location of the hiking activity based on the location data;

generating, by the processor circuit, a geo-fence around the starting location, such that the starting location is inside of the geo-fence;

calculating, by the processor circuit, performance information of the user during the hiking activity;

determining, by the processor circuit, a location of the user at multiple points during the hiking activity based on the location data; and

detecting, by the processor circuit, an end of the hiking activity based on a re-entry into the geo-fence, wherein in response to starting the hiking activity,

sending, by the processor circuit, a request for permission to track the location data of the user during the hiking activity; and

receiving consent from the user to have the wearable device track the location data of the user during the hiking activity.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the detecting the end of the hiking activity includes:

in response to starting the hiking activity, determining a hiking activity duration;

comparing the hiking activity duration to a hiking duration threshold;

in response to detecting a value for the hiking activity duration that exceeds the hiking duration threshold, continuously tracking a user location relative to the geo-fence during the hiking activity; and

detecting re-entry into the geo-fence in response to determining the user location is inside a boundary of the geo-fence.

3 . The method of claim 2 , comprising:

in response to detecting the re-entry, ending, by the processor circuit, the hiking activity and stopping calculation of the performance information of the user; and

sending, by processor circuit, a notification to the user requesting confirmation of the end of the hiking activity.

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the continuously tracking the user location relative to the geo-fence includes:

determining a current location of the user at a time point during the hiking activity;

generating a distance vector that measures a straight-line distance between the current location of the user and a center point of the geo-fence; and

comparing the distance vector to a geo-fence radius measuring a straight line distance from the center point of the geo-fence to the geo-fence boundary.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the location data comprises one or more latitude and longitude fixes generated by triangulating three or more GPS signals.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the starting location of the hiking activity includes:

setting a dwell time for determining the starting location;

receiving a plurality of location data measurements during the dwell time;

selecting one or more accurate location data measurements having a value for one or more error metrics below an error threshold; and

determining the starting location based on the one or more accurate location data measurements.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the performance information of the user includes an elevation change and at least one of a number of calories burned, a number of steps, a hiking time, and a hiking distance.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the calculating the elevation change includes:

measuring, by a pressure sensor of the wearable device, pressure data during the hiking activity;

accessing, by the processor circuit, a digital elevation map including topographical data of an area traversed by the user during the hiking activity; and

calculating, by the processor circuit, the elevation change during the hiking activity based on the pressure data and the digital elevation map.

9 . The method of claim 1 , comprising:

confirming the end of the hiking activity based on one or more cues included in sensor data measured by the wearable device.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the one or more cues include motion features, timing cues, activity level cues, and user cues.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the geo-fence has circular geo-fence boundaries formed around a center point of the geo-fence, the geo-fence boundaries separated from the center point by a geo-fence radius.

12 . The method of claim 1 , comprising:

generating, by the processor circuit, a hiking route trace displaying the hiking route traversed during the hiking activity overlaid on a map illustrating an area traveled through during the hiking activity.

13 . The method of claim 12 comprising:

in response to ending the hiking activity, displaying, by the processor circuit, the hiking route trace and the performance information on a display screen of the wearable device.

14 . A system for improving performance of a wearable device while recording a hiking activity, the system comprising:

a motion sensing module configured to measure motion data of a user;

a GPS module configured to measure location data of the user; and

a processor circuit in communication with the motion sensing module and the GPS module and configured to execute instructions causing the processor circuit to:

start the hiking activity;

determine a starting location of the hiking activity based on the location data;

generate a geo-fence around the starting location such that the starting location is inside of the geo-fence;

calculate performance information of the user during the hiking activity;

determine a location of the user at multiple points during the hiking activity based on the location data; and

detect an end of the hiking activity based on a re-entry into the geo-fence, wherein in response to starting the hiking activity,

sending a request for permission to track the location data of the user during the hiking activity; and

receiving consent from the user to have the wearable device track the location data of the user during the hiking activity.

15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the processor circuit is further configured to:

in response to starting the hiking activity, determine a hiking activity duration;

compare the hiking activity duration to a hiking duration threshold;

in response to detecting a value for the hiking activity duration that exceeds the hiking duration threshold, continuously track a user location relative to the geo-fence during the hiking activity;

detect re-entry into the geo-fence in response to determining the user location is inside a boundary of the geo-fence; and

detect the end of the hiking activity based on the detected re-entry.

16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the processor circuit is further configured to:

end the hiking activity and stop calculation of the performance information of the user in response to detecting the re-entry; and

send a notification to the user requesting confirmation of the end of the hiking activity.

17 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the processor circuit is further configured to:

set a dwell time for determining the starting location;

receive a plurality of location data measurements during the dwell time;

select one or more accurate location data measurements having a value for one or more error metrics below an error threshold; and

determine the starting location based on the one or more accurate location data measurements.

18 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the performance information of the user includes an elevation change and at least one of a number of calories burned, a number of steps, a hiking time, and a hiking distance.

19 . The system of claim 18 , further comprising:

a pressure sensor configured to measure pressure data during the hiking activity,

wherein the processor circuit is further configured to:

access a digital elevation map including topographical data of an area traversed by the user during the hiking activity; and

calculate the elevation change during the hiking activity based on the pressure data and the digital elevation map.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (360)