User gesture input to wearable electronic device involving outward-facing sensor of device

Abstract

In one embodiment, a wearable apparatus includes a sensor, a processor coupled to the sensor, and a memory coupled to the processor that includes instructions executable by the processor. When executing the instructions, the processor detects by the sensor movement of at least a portion of an arm of a user; detects, based at least in part on the movement, a gesture made by the user; and processes the gesture as input to the wearable apparatus.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A wearable apparatus comprising:
 a display;   a motion sensor configured to detect a movement;   a pulse sensor configured to detect a pulse of a user and located at a side opposite to the display to contact a wrist of the user wearing the wearable apparatus;   a processor communicably coupled to the motion sensor; and   a memory communicably coupled to the processor, the memory storing instructions executable by the processor, and the processor being operable, when executing the instructions, to:
 in response to a detection of the pulse by the pulse sensor, determine a gesture made by an arm of the user based at least in part on the movement which is detected by the motion sensor; and 
 activate or deactivate a functionality of at least one component of the wearable apparatus based on at least a part of the determined gesture. 
   
     
     
         2 . The wearable apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further operable, when executing the instructions, to:
 in response to sensor data obtained by at least one from among the motion sensor and the pulse sensor, determine a context and a contextual face corresponding to the context.   
     
     
         3 . The wearable apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the contextual face is associated with a suppression of at least one notification. 
     
     
         4 . The wearable apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further operable, when executing the instructions, to:
 recognize the determined gesture as a predefined gesture type; and   switch a mode of the display between a sleep mode and an active mode in response to the recognition of the predefined gesture type.   
     
     
         5 . The wearable apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the motion sensor is further configured to detect the movement based on a change of at least one from among a direction and a magnitude of a gravity vector. 
     
     
         6 . The wearable apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the processor is further operable, when executing the instructions to determine the gesture, to:
 detect that a hand of the user is not beside a body of the user by determining a gravity orientation of the gravity vector;   detect that the hand is in motion;   detect an acceleration of the hand that is higher than a predetermined level along a path of the motion;   detect a reversal of the acceleration in a direction of the motion; and   detect at least one from among a stoppage of the motion and the hand being beside the body of the user in response to the acceleration being lower than the predetermined level for a predetermined period.   
     
     
         7 . The wearable apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the processor is further operable, when executing the instructions to determine the gesture, to:
 start gesture determination by detecting that a hand of the user is not beside a body of the user by determining a gravity orientation of the gravity vector;   detect a motion of the hand; and   complete the gesture determination by detecting at least one from among a stoppage of the motion and the hand being beside the body of the user in response to an acceleration of the hand being lower than a predetermined level for a predetermined period.   
     
     
         8 . The wearable apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the processor is further operable, when executing the instructions to determine the gesture, to:
 detect, at a first time, that a hand of the user is beside a body of the user by determining a first relative gravity orientation of the gravity vector; and   detect, at a second time which is later than the first time, that the hand of the user is not beside the body of the user by determining a second relative gravity orientation of the gravity vector.   
     
     
         9 . The wearable apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further operable, when executing the instructions, to:
 control the motion sensor to detect a motion of at least one from among at least one finger of the user and a portion of a hand of the user across a face of the apparatus; and   determine, based at least in part on the detected motion, the gesture made by the user.   
     
     
         10 . The wearable apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the gesture is determined based on at least one from among:
 a number of the at least one finger that corresponds to the detected motion;   a relative direction of the detected motion with respect to a face of the apparatus;   a duration of the detected motion;   a proximity of the at least one from among at least one finger of the user and the portion of the hand of the user with respect to the face of the apparatus;   the portion of the hand that corresponds to the detected motion; and   whether the portion of the hand is initially within a predetermined angle of view of the sensor, and whether the portion of the hand is finally in the predetermined angle of view of the sensor.   
     
     
         11 . The wearable apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the wearable apparatus further comprises an optical sensor component which is communicably coupled to the display, and wherein the optical sensor component is positioned in at least one from among under the display, on the display, or above the display. 
     
     
         12 . The wearable apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein an activation of the optical sensor component is determined based on at least one from among an application and a current operational mode of the wearable apparatus. 
     
     
         13 . A wearable apparatus, comprising:
 a display which has a substantially circular shape;   a touch-sensitive outer element disposed around the display;   a processor communicably coupled to the outer element and the display; and   a memory communicably coupled to the processor which comprises instructions executable by the processor, the processor being operable, when executing the instructions, to:
 detect at least one touch gesture made by a user with respect to the touch-sensitive outer element; 
 process the detected at least one touch gesture as a corresponding at least one input which is usable for performing at least one function; and 
 in response to the detection of the at least one touch gesture made by the user with respect to the touch-sensitive outer element, facilitate a user interaction with a graphical user interface presented on the display. 
   
     
     
         14 . The wearable apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein a set of input modalities of the touch-sensitive outer element comprises at least one from among swiping, rotation, clicking, pressing, and squeezing, and
 wherein the processor is further operable, when executing the instructions, to:   interpret an input provided by a user variably based on the input including a single input modality from among the set of input modalities or the input including a combination of input modalities from among the set of input modalities.   
     
     
         15 . The wearable apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the user interaction with the graphical user interface comprises:
 displaying, based on a first touch gesture, a first screen comprising data detected by a first sensor; and   displaying, based on a second touch gesture, a second screen comprising data detected by a second sensor,   wherein the first sensor comprises at least one from among a heart rate sensor and a motion sensor.   
     
     
         16 . The wearable apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the user interaction with the graphical user interface comprises at least one from among:
 a selection of a movement of an indicator;   a scrolling operation;   a highlighting for a selection of an item;   a browsing operation;   a pointing operation;   a pairing operation for facilitating a connecting of the apparatus to a target device;   a transmitting of data to a target device; and   a receiving of data from a target device.   
     
     
         17 . The wearable apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the processor is further operable, when executing the instructions, to:
 display, on the display, a graphical user interface comprising a plurality of indicators, each respective indicator indicating a corresponding item from among a plurality of items,
 wherein one indicator indicating a currently selected item is visually distinguishable from the other indicators. 
   
     
     
         18 . A method which is performable by a wearable apparatus which includes at least one sensor, the method comprising:
 detecting, by the at least one sensor, a movement of at least a portion of an arm of a user;   determining, based at least in part on the detected movement, a gesture made by the user; and   processing the determined gesture as an input which is usable for activating or deactivating a functionality of at least one component of the wearable apparatus.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 detecting, by the at least one sensor, a motion of at least one from among at least one finger of the user and a portion of a hand of the user across a face of the apparatus; and   determining, based at least in part on the detected motion, the gesture made by the user.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 detecting at least one gesture made by the user with respect to an outer element disposed around a display of the wearable apparatus; and   facilitating a user interaction with a graphical user interface presented on the display, in response to the detection of the at least one gesture made by the user with respect to the outer element.