US 12,092,834 B2
Barometric pressure sensor arrays for detecting presence and motion of objects for tracking or triggering a response
Dennis Castleman, San Mateo, CA (US); Todd Tokubo, San Mateo, CA (US); and Victoria Dorn, San Mateo, CA (US)
Assigned to Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc., Tokyo (JP)
Filed by Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc., Tokyo (JP)
Filed on Apr. 27, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/308,559.
Application 18/308,559 is a continuation of application No. 17/522,710, filed on Nov. 9, 2021, granted, now 11,644,678.
Prior Publication US 2023/0258948 A1, Aug. 17, 2023
Int. Cl. G02B 27/01 (2006.01); B81B 7/02 (2006.01); G01L 19/14 (2006.01)
CPC G02B 27/0176 (2013.01) [B81B 7/02 (2013.01); G01L 19/14 (2013.01); B81B 2201/0264 (2013.01); G02B 2027/0178 (2013.01)] 12 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A head mounted device (HMD) for use with an interactive application, comprising:
a housing of the HMD;
an array of barometric pressure sensors disposed in a portion of an outer surface of the housing, wherein the portion is defined proximal to a front facing region where a mouth of a user is to be located when the HMD is worn by the user, the array of barometric pressure sensors are directionally mounted to face the mouth of the user and is configured to capture variances in pressure from the front facing region when the HMD is worn by the user, the variances in pressure associated with movement of the mouth of the user when the user is using said interactive application rendering content on a display screen associated with the HMD; and
a processor to process the variances in the pressure captured by the array of barometric pressure sensors, the processing configured to identify metrics related to the movement of the mouth of the user when the user is wearing the HMD,
wherein the metrics related to the movement of the mouth are used to characterize a level of engagement of the user with the content of the interactive application when the user is wearing the HMD.
 
12. A method for use with an interactive application, comprising:
capturing variances in pressure caused by movement of a mouth of a user wearing a head mounted display (HMD) rendering content of the interactive application on a display screen associated with the HMD, the variances in pressure captured by an array of barometric pressure sensors disposed in a portion of an outer surface of a housing of the HMD proximal to a front facing region where the mouth of the user is located when the HMD is worn by the user, wherein the array of barometric pressure sensors are directionally mounted to face the mouth of the user;
processing the variances in the pressure captured by the array of barometric pressure sensors, the processing configured to identify metrics related to the movement of the mouth of the user when the user is immersed in viewing the content of the interactive application; and characterizing a level of engagement of the user with the content of the interactive application, the level of engagement characterized using the identified metrics.