A condition-responsive wearable device for sensing and indicating proximity of an article with a specific characteristic includes a processor and a sensor. The sensor is configured to detect an article with two or more information sources within a predetermined distance of the sensor. The information sources contain characteristic information of the article. The wearable device also includes a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to receive predefined characteristic information, select detected characteristic information from at least two of the information sources to compare with the predefined characteristic information, and compare the selected detected characteristic information with the predefined characteristic information. The wearable device includes an indicator configured to generate an alarm in response to detecting a match between the selected detected characteristic information and the predefined characteristic information.

Methods and apparatuses are disclosed that allow an electronic device to autonomously adapt one or more user alerts of the electronic device. For example, some embodiments may include a method for operating a haptic device including driving a haptic device using a control signal, measuring a frequency related to the operation of the haptic device and comparing the measured frequency with a target frequency. A control signal is adjusted based on the comparison to drive the haptic device to the target frequency.

Methods and apparatuses are disclosed that allow an electronic device to autonomously adapt one or more user alerts of the electronic device. For example, some embodiments may include a method for operating a haptic device including driving a haptic device using a control signal, measuring a frequency related to the operation of the haptic device and comparing the measured frequency with a target frequency. A control signal is adjusted based on the comparison to drive the haptic device to the target frequency.

Methods and systems of authoring audio signal(s) into haptic data file(s) are disclosed. An audio analysis module analyses the audio signal(s) using filterbank(s) or by performing a spectrogram analysis. Transients are detected in the audio signal. If present, the transients are processed to determine a transient score and a transient binary. A database stores device specific information and actuator specific information. A haptic perceptual bandwidth of an electronic computing device having an embedded actuator is determined by using information from the database. A user interface allows modification of time-amplitude values and transient values based on the determined haptic perceptual bandwidth. Authored time amplitude values are aggregated in authored audio descriptor data, which is passed to a transformation module that fits the data into the haptic perceptual bandwidth and implements algorithms to produce transformed audio descriptor data. Finally, the transformed audio descriptor data is converted to the haptic data file.

Methods and systems of authoring audio signal(s) into haptic data file(s) are disclosed. An audio analysis module analyses the audio signal(s) using filterbank(s) or by performing a spectrogram analysis. Transients are detected in the audio signal. If present, the transients are processed to determine a transient score and a transient binary. A database stores device specific information and actuator specific information. A haptic perceptual bandwidth of an electronic computing device having an embedded actuator is determined by using information from the database. A user interface allows modification of time-amplitude values and transient values based on the determined haptic perceptual bandwidth. Authored time amplitude values are aggregated in authored audio descriptor data, which is passed to a transformation module that fits the data into the haptic perceptual bandwidth and implements algorithms to produce transformed audio descriptor data. Finally, the transformed audio descriptor data is converted to the haptic data file.

A system providing various improved perceptions techniques for haptic feedback above interactive surfaces that require no contact with either tools, attachments or the surface itself is described. A range of receptors in a perceiving member which is part of the human body is identified to create substantially uniformly perceivable feedback. A vibration frequency that is in the range of the receptors in the perceiving member is chosen and dynamically altered to create substantially uniformly perceivable feedback throughout the receiving member.

A system providing various improved perceptions techniques for haptic feedback above interactive surfaces that require no contact with either tools, attachments or the surface itself is described. A range of receptors in a perceiving member which is part of the human body is identified to create substantially uniformly perceivable feedback. A vibration frequency that is in the range of the receptors in the perceiving member is chosen and dynamically altered to create substantially uniformly perceivable feedback throughout the receiving member.

A computer-implemented method includes providing a real-time environmental model of a shared virtual environment (SVE) that includes a plurality of virtual players. Display data corresponding to the SVE is transmitted to each player device. The data includes user display data that causes a display in the player device to render a portion of the SVE based on a virtual orientation of the player device and a virtual location of the virtual player in the SVE. Sensory feedback data is then transmitted to the plurality of VR devices that causes each VR device to provide a sensory indication associated with the SVE to the respective player. The sensory indication is indicative of a benefit that will be provided to a subset of the plurality of players at a predetermined future time. At the predetermined future time, the benefit is then provided to the subset of the plurality of players.

Mid-air ultrasonic haptic devices operate by manipulating an acoustic field to produce a haptic effect on a user. Addressing mid-air haptic devices which abstracts the most basic acoustic fundamental from that of a point to a “primitive” provides tools to adjust shape, location, and amplitude. A primitive can be designed to provide a haptic effect at the location targeted, removing the requirement of the designer needing to understand methods to create a haptic sensation. Further, a control scheme for a set of dynamic acoustic phased-array solvers is presented which enables a distributed system to compensate for unwanted time-of-flight artifacts at low cost. This is achieved by recursively subdividing the system into subtrees of phased-array nodes whose output can be estimated and the desired field drive distributed amongst the nodes. Timings of the desired field drive requests submitted to individual phased-array node inputs are then modified to compensate for the differences between wave coalescence/convergence and wave emission times, the time-of-flight, resulting in a more accurate acoustic field.

Mid-air ultrasonic haptic devices operate by manipulating an acoustic field to produce a haptic effect on a user. Addressing mid-air haptic devices which abstracts the most basic acoustic fundamental from that of a point to a “primitive” provides tools to adjust shape, location, and amplitude. A primitive can be designed to provide a haptic effect at the location targeted, removing the requirement of the designer needing to understand methods to create a haptic sensation. Further, a control scheme for a set of dynamic acoustic phased-array solvers is presented which enables a distributed system to compensate for unwanted time-of-flight artifacts at low cost. This is achieved by recursively subdividing the system into subtrees of phased-array nodes whose output can be estimated and the desired field drive distributed amongst the nodes. Timings of the desired field drive requests submitted to individual phased-array node inputs are then modified to compensate for the differences between wave coalescence/convergence and wave emission times, the time-of-flight, resulting in a more accurate acoustic field.