Samsung's US Patent 8,994,827 : Wearable electronic device

The first claim of US 8,994,827 :

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A device comprising: a device body comprising: a touch-sensitive display; and a processor; a band coupled to the device body; a first optical sensor in or on the band, wherein the first optical sensor faces outward from the band and is configured to capture an image and the processor is configured to communicate with the first optical sensor to process the captured image; and a second optical sensor in or on the device body, a center of an angle of view of the second optical sensor being substantially parallel to a viewing cone of the touch-sensitive display.


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From within the specification:

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Sensors may be of any suitable type, and as described herein, may be located in or on a device body, in or on a band, or a suitable combination thereof. In particular embodiments, sensors may include one or more depth or proximity sensors (terms which may be used interchangeably herein, when appropriate), such as for example infrared sensor, optical sensors, acoustic sensors, or any other suitable depth sensors or proximity sensors. For example, a depth sensor may be placed on or near a display of a device to detect when, e.g., the user's hand, finger, or face comes near the display. As another example, depth sensors may detect any object that a user's finger in the angle of view of the depth sensor is pointing to, as described more fully herein. Depth sensors also or in the alternative may be located on a band of the device, as described more fully herein. In particular embodiments, sensors may include on or more touch-sensitive areas on the device body, band or both. Touch-sensitive areas may utilize any suitable touch-sensitive techniques, such as for example resistive, surface acoustic wave, capacitive (including mutual capacitive or self-capacitive), infrared, optical, dispersive, or any other suitable techniques. Touch-sensitive areas may detect any suitable contact, such as swipes, taps, contact at one or more particular points or with one or more particular areas, or multi-touch contact (such as, e.g., pinching two or more fingers on a display or rotating two or more fingers on a display). As described more fully herein, touch-sensitive areas may comprise at least a portion of a device's display, ring, or band. Like for other sensors, in particular embodiments touch-sensitive areas may be activated or deactivated for example based on context, power considerations, or user settings. For example, a touch-sensitive portion of a ring may be activated when the ring is "locked" (e.g. does not rotate) and deactivated when the ring rotates freely. In particular embodiments, sensors may include one or more optical sensors, such as suitable cameras or optical depth sensors.



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