Method and apparatus for providing biofeedback during meditation exercise
Inventors
Venkatraman, Subramaniam • Pantelopoulos, Alexandros
Assignees
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Publication Number
US-12150778-B2
Publication Date
2024-11-26
Expiration Date
Abstract
A method and apparatus for providing biofeedback during a meditation exercise are disclosed. In one aspect, the wearable device includes one or more biometric sensors and a user interface. The method may involve prompting the user, via the user interface, to perform a meditation exercise, the meditation exercise being associated with a target physiological metric related to the physiology of the user. The method may involve measuring, based on output of at least one of the one or more biometric sensors, a physiological metric of the user during the meditation exercise. The method may involve determining a performance score indicating the user's performance during the meditation exercise based on comparing the measured physiological metric with the target physiological metric. The method may involve providing, via the user interface, based on the performance score, feedback information indicative of the user's performance during the meditation exercise.
Core Innovation
The invention provides a wearable device and related method/system that obtains one or more physiological metrics via one or more optical biometric sensors while a user performs a meditation exercise in which the user inhales and exhales according to a breathing pattern. The wearable device also obtains motion data via one or more motion sensors and determines whether the user’s movement is within a tolerance range for the meditation exercise, where the tolerance range is defined so that changes in the physiological metric associated with the meditation exercise result from the meditation exercise rather than movement not associated with the meditation exercise.
Responsive to determining that movement is within the tolerance range, the system generates a notification to prompt the user to start the meditation exercise and activates a haptic feedback circuit during the meditation exercise to prompt the user to inhale and exhale according to the breathing pattern. During the meditation exercise, the invention compares a value of the physiological metric obtained from the optical biometric sensors with a target value for the physiological metric.
The invention further causes feedback information indicative of results of the comparison to be displayed through a graphical user interface or via a client device concurrently with activating the haptic feedback circuit. In some embodiments, a transceiver communicates with the client device, and program code causes display instructions so the client device displays a message including the notification, meditation-exercise instruction text and/or graphics, and/or feedback information.
Claims Coverage
The independent claims are directed to a wearable device, a method, and a system including the wearable device and a client device. The inventive coverage centers on motion-tolerance gating of meditation, optical-sensor physiological metric acquisition, haptic and GUI feedback, and comparison to target values, with five inventive features across the independent claims.
Wearable meditation biofeedback with motion tolerance gating and optical physiological metrics
A wearable device comprising one or more motion sensors, one or more optical biometric sensors, a haptic feedback circuit, at least one processor, and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program code, configured to obtain one or more physiological metrics via the optical biometric sensors, determine based on motion data that movement is within a tolerance range for a meditation exercise with inhale/exhale according to a breathing pattern, generate a notification to prompt the user to start, activate the haptic feedback circuit during the meditation exercise to prompt inhale and exhale, compare a value of the physiological metric with a target value, and cause feedback information indicative of results of the comparison to be displayed through a graphical user interface concurrently with activating the haptic feedback circuit.
Method for wearable meditation biofeedback using motion tolerance gating, haptic prompting, and concurrent GUI feedback
A method comprising providing outputs from one or more optical biometric sensors disposed in a wearable device to one or more processors, obtaining one or more physiological metrics for a user wearing the wearable device, obtaining motion data via the one or more processors from one or more motion sensors, determining based on the motion data that movement is within a tolerance range for a meditation exercise, responsive to determining that the movement is within the tolerance range, causing a notification to be generated to prompt the user to start, activating a haptic feedback circuit during the meditation exercise to prompt inhale and exhale according to the breathing pattern, comparing a value of the physiological metric obtained during the meditation exercise with a target value, and causing feedback information indicative of results of the comparison to be displayed through a graphical user interface concurrently with activating the haptic feedback circuit.
System for wearable meditation biofeedback with client-device concurrent feedback
A system comprising a wearable device including one or more optical biometric sensors, one or more motion sensors, at least one processor, a haptic feedback circuit, and a transceiver configured to communicate with a client device, and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program code executed by the at least one processor, configured to obtain one or more physiological metrics based on data from at least one optical biometric sensor, determine based on motion data that movement is within a tolerance range for a meditation exercise, responsive to determining movement within the tolerance range, cause a notification to prompt the user to start, activate the haptic feedback circuit during the meditation exercise to prompt inhale and exhale, compare a value of the physiological metric with a target value, and cause the client device to display feedback information concurrently with activating the haptic feedback circuit prompting the user to inhale and exhale.
Across the independent claims, the inventive coverage consistently ties together optical biometric physiological metric acquisition, motion-sensor determination of movement being within a tolerance range for the meditation exercise, haptic prompting of inhale/exhale, comparison of the physiological metric to a target value, and concurrent presentation of results via a graphical user interface or a client device through communications enabled by a transceiver.
Stated Advantages
Provides notifications to prompt the user to start the meditation exercise.
Uses haptic feedback to prompt the user to inhale and exhale according to the breathing pattern.
Displays feedback information indicative of results of comparing the physiological metric to a target value concurrently with haptic prompting.
Ensures that changes in the physiological metric associated with the meditation exercise are attributable to the meditation exercise rather than movement not associated with the meditation exercise.
Documented Applications
Wearable-based meditation exercise performance feedback in which a user inhales and exhales according to a breathing pattern, including notification prompting, haptic inhale/exhale prompting, and concurrent graphical user interface/client-device feedback based on physiological metric comparison to a target.
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