Activity Monitoring Systems and Methods of Operating Same

Abstract

The present inventions, in one aspect, are directed to an activity monitoring system comprising a portable monitoring device and a base device. In one embodiment, the portable monitoring device includes a housing having a physical size and shape that is adapted to couple to the body of the user, a motion sensor, disposed in the housing, to detect motion of a user and, in response thereto, to generate data which is representative of motion of the user, processing circuitry, disposed in the housing, to calculate a calorie burn of the user and/or number of steps taken by the user using the data which is representative of motion of the user. The portable monitoring device also includes a display to display data to the user, wherein the display includes a data transfer mode to optically transmit data which is representative of the calorie burn of the user and/or number of steps taken by the user. The base device includes a visual sensor to detect the data which is representative of the calorie burn of the user and/or number of steps taken by the user transmitted by the display.

1 . An activity monitoring system comprising:
 a portable monitoring device adapted to couple to a body of a user, the portable monitoring device including:
 a housing having a physical size and shape that is adapted to couple to the body of the user; 
 a motion sensor, disposed in the housing, to detect motion of a user and, in response thereto, to generate data which is representative of motion of the user; 
 processing circuitry, disposed in the housing and coupled to the motion sensor, to calculate a number of steps taken by the user using the data which is representative of motion of the user; and 
 a display, coupled to the processing circuitry, to display data which is representative of the number of steps, wherein the display includes a data transfer mode to optically transmit data which is representative of the number of steps taken by the user; and 
   a base device including a visual sensor to detect the data which is representative of the number of steps taken by the user transmitted by the display of the portable monitoring device.   
     
     
         2 . The activity monitoring system of  claim 1  wherein the portable monitoring device includes a user interface to receive a user input, wherein, in response to the user input, the display enters the data transfer mode to optically transmit data which is representative of the number of steps taken by the user. 
     
     
         3 . The activity monitoring system of  claim 1  wherein the portable monitoring device receives an instruction via wireless transmission wherein, in response, the display enters the data transfer mode data to optically transmit data which is representative of the number of steps taken by the user. 
     
     
         4 . The activity monitoring system of  claim 1  wherein the portable monitoring device receives an instruction via vibration sequence wherein, in response, the display enters the data transfer mode data to optically transmit data which is representative of the number of steps taken by the user. 
     
     
         5 . The activity monitoring system of  claim 1  wherein the portable monitoring device transmits identification data to the base station so that the optically transmitted data which is representative of the number of steps taken by the user is correlated with the user associated with the portable monitoring device. 
     
     
         6 . The activity monitoring system of  claim 1  wherein, in the transfer mode, the display optically transmits a sequence of one or more characters or symbols that are representative of the number of steps taken by the user. 
     
     
         7 . The activity monitoring system of  claim 6  wherein the characters or symbols are a binary sequence of bits. 
     
     
         8 . The activity monitoring system of  claim 1  wherein, in the transfer mode, the display outputs display data to allow the user to physically align the display relative to the visual monitoring sensor. 
     
     
         9 . The activity monitoring system of  claim 8  wherein the display data to align the display relative to the visual monitoring sensor includes one or more visual landmarks to indicate proper alignment between the display and the visual monitoring sensor. 
     
     
         10 . The activity monitoring system of  claim 1  wherein, in the transfer mode, the display transmits data using an intensity of one or more pixels of the display and/or one or more colors of one or more pixels of the display. 
     
     
         11 . The activity monitoring system of  claim 1  wherein, in the transfer mode, the display transmits data by switching on/off one or more pixels of the display. 
     
     
         12 . The activity monitoring system of  claim 1  wherein, in the transfer mode, the display transmits data using one or more LCD segments of the display. 
     
     
         13 . The activity monitoring system of  claim 1  wherein the visual sensor of the base device includes a camera. 
     
     
         14 . The activity monitoring system of  claim 1  wherein the base device is a mobile telephone, internet portal device and/or computer. 
     
     
         15 . An activity monitoring system comprising:
 a portable monitoring device adapted to couple to a body of a user, the portable monitoring device including:
 a housing having a physical size and shape that is adapted to couple to the body of the user; 
 a motion sensor, disposed in the housing, to detect motion of a user and, in response thereto, to generate data which is representative of motion of the user; 
 processing circuitry, disposed in the housing and coupled to the motion sensor, to calculate a calorie burn of the user using the data which is representative of motion of the user, and 
 a display, coupled to the processing circuitry, to display data to the user, wherein the display includes a data transfer mode to optically transmit data which is representative of the calorie burn of the user; and 
   a base device including a visual sensor to detect the data which is representative of the calorie burn of the user transmitted by the display of the portable monitoring device.   
     
     
         16 . The activity monitoring system of  claim 15  wherein the portable monitoring device includes a user interface to receive a user input, wherein, in response to the user input, the display enters the data transfer mode to optically transmit data which is representative of the calorie burn of the user. 
     
     
         17 . The activity monitoring system of  claim 15  wherein the portable monitoring device receives an instruction via wireless transmission wherein, in response, the display enters the data transfer mode data to optically transmit data which is representative of the number of steps taken by the user. 
     
     
         18 . The activity monitoring system of  claim 15  wherein the portable monitoring device receives an instruction via vibration sequence wherein, in response, the display enters the data transfer mode data to optically transmit data which is representative of the number of steps taken by the user. 
     
     
         19 . The activity monitoring system of  claim 15  wherein the portable monitoring device transmits identification data to the base station so that the optically transmitted data which is representative of the number of steps taken by the user is correlated with the user associated with the portable monitoring device. 
     
     
         20 . The activity monitoring system of  claim 15  wherein, in the transfer mode, the display optically transmits a sequence of one or more characters or symbols that are representative of the calorie burn of the user. 
     
     
         21 . The activity monitoring system of  claim 20  wherein the characters or symbols are a binary sequence of bits. 
     
     
         22 . The activity monitoring system of  claim 15  wherein, in the transfer mode, the display outputs display data to allow the user to physically align the display relative to the visual monitoring sensor. 
     
     
         23 . The activity monitoring system of  claim 22  wherein the display data to align the display relative to the visual monitoring sensor generates one or more visual landmarks to indicate proper alignment between the display and the visual monitoring sensor. 
     
     
         24 . The activity monitoring system of  claim 15  wherein, in the transfer mode, the display transmits data using an intensity of one or more pixels of the display and/or one or more colors of one or more pixels of the display. 
     
     
         25 . The activity monitoring system of  claim 15  wherein, in the transfer mode, the display transmits data by switching on/off one or more pixels of the display. 
     
     
         26 . The activity monitoring system of  claim 15  wherein, in the transfer mode, the display transmits data using one or more LCD segments of the display. 
     
     
         27 . The activity monitoring system of  claim 15  wherein the visual sensor of the base device includes a camera. 
     
     
         28 . The activity monitoring system of  claim 15  wherein the base device is a mobile telephone, internet portal device and/or computer. 
     
     
         29 . An activity monitoring system comprising:
 a portable monitoring device adapted to couple to a body of a user, the portable monitoring device including:
 a housing having a physical size and shape that is adapted to couple to the body of the user; 
 a motion sensor, disposed in the housing, to detect motion of a user and, in response thereto, to generate data which is representative of motion of the user; 
 an altitude sensor, disposed in the housing, to detect an altitude of the user, and, in response thereto, to generate data which is representative of a change in altitude of the user; 
 processing circuitry, disposed in the housing and coupled to the motion sensor and the altitude sensor, to calculate a calorie burn of the user using (i) the data which is representative of motion of the user and (ii) the data which is representative of a change in altitude of the user, and 
 a display, coupled to the processing circuitry, to display data to the user, wherein the display includes a data transfer mode to optically transmit data which is representative of the calorie burn of the user; and 
   a base device including a visual sensor to detect the data which is representative of the calorie burn of the user transmitted by the display of the portable monitoring device.