Meta patents wristband tech that saves battery by checking hand gestures in two steps
This patent describes a method for wearable devices to read electrical signals from muscles to detect hand gestures without draining the battery. It uses a low-power sensor to quickly check for simple moves and only activates a high-power processor for complex gestures that need confirmation.
In the filing’s own words
The various implementations described herein include methods and systems for power-efficient processing of neuromuscular signals. In one aspect, a method includes: (i) obtaining a first set of neuromuscular signals; (ii) after determining, using a low-power detector, that the first set of neuromuscular signals require further processing to confirm that a predetermined in-air hand gesture has been performed: (a) processing the first set of neuromuscular signals using a high-power detector; and (b) in accordance with a determination that the processing indicates that the predetermined in-air hand gesture did occur, registering an occurrence of the predetermined in-air hand gesture; (iii) receiving a second set of neuromuscular signals; and (iv) after determining, using the low-power detector and not using the high-power detector, that a different predetermined in-air hand gesture was performed, performing an action in response to the different predetermined in-air hand gesture.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A method of power-efficient processing of neuromuscular signals to confirm occurrence of a predetermined event, the method comprising: obtaining a first set of neuromuscular signals from a neuromuscular-signal sensing component of a wearable device; determining, using a low-power detector of the wearable device, that a respective neuromuscular signal of the first set of neuromuscular signals requires further processing to confirm that a predetermined in-air hand gesture has been performed at the wearable device: processing the first set of neuromuscular signals using a high-power detector of the wearable device to generate processed neuromuscular signals, the high-power detector configured to detect a first set of in-air hand gestures while consuming a first amount of power from the wearable device and the low-power detector configured to detect a second set of in-air hand gestures while consuming a second amount of power from the wearable device, the second set of in-air hand gestures includes less in-air hand gestures than the first set of in-air hand gestures and the second amount of power is less than the first amount of power; and in accordance with a determination, based on the processed neuromuscular signals that the predetermined in-air hand gesture did occur, registering an occurrence of the predetermined in-air hand gesture; receiving a second set of neuromuscular signals from the neuromuscular-signal sensing component of the wearable device; and after determining, based on a respective neuromuscular signal of the second set of neuromuscular signals and using the low-power detector and not using the high-power detector, that a different predetermined in-air hand gesture, distinct from the predetermined in-air hand gesture, was performed at the wearable device: performing an action in response to the different predetermined in-air hand gesture at the wearable device.
Facts
- Company
- Meta (Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC)
- Official title
- Power-efficient processing of neuromuscular signals to confirm occurrences of user gestures, and systems and methods of use thereof
- Patent number
- US12724491B2
- Application number
- 18470306
- Filed
- Sep 19, 2023
- Granted
- Sep 1, 2026
- Inventors
- 14
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
G06F 3/017 Physics & computingG06F 1/163 Physics & computingG06F 1/3231 Physics & computingG06F 3/015 Physics & computingMore from Meta in Wearables
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.