I-Corps: Active Acoustic Sensing for Wearables

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是主动声学传感技术的发展。目前，有超过10亿台可穿戴设备正在使用中，而且还在增加，包括智能手表、智能眼镜和耳机。然而，它们缺乏持续监测人体姿势和面部表情的能力。这项拟议的技术使可穿戴设备能够跟踪人体姿势和面部表情，填补了市场空白。此外，这项技术还有助于通过可穿戴设备识别活动，帮助跟踪饮食习惯和饮食监测等情况。这项拟议的技术可用于医疗应用，包括恢复声带损伤患者的语音能力，为残疾人提供计算机交互界面，以及对患者进行远程健康监测。它还可能通过为可穿戴设备创建更人性化的界面来增强用户体验，简化计算机设备控制，并可能拓宽智能眼镜等可穿戴设备的应用范围。这个i-Corps项目基于开发一种与可穿戴设备集成的低功耗、隐私安全的超声波传感技术。这项拟议的技术使可穿戴设备能够监控人体姿势、面部表情和眼球运动。该技术利用了可穿戴设备中常见的两对微型麦克风(约5毫米)和扬声器(约6毫米)，优化了空间利用率。这项技术利用扬声器发出的不可听得见的超声波(频率为20 kHz)，被人体反射/衍射，麦克风捕捉相关数据。这些可穿戴设备收集的数据可用于各种应用。然后，机器学习算法对这些信息进行处理，以预测身体姿势和面部表情。重要的是，由于只使用超声波，因此不会对设备佩戴者的语音进行处理，从而确保不会中断用户的日常活动。此外，该技术的能效仅为143兆瓦，并可为谷歌眼镜电池提供超过20小时的运行时间。这种传感技术已经成功地集成到各种可穿戴设备中，包括戒指、腕带、眼镜、耳机和耳机。已经开发和测试了多个功能原型，并发布了展示技术实用性的研究结果。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of active acoustic sensing technology. Currently, there are over a billion wearable devices in use and rising, including smartwatches, smart glasses, and headphones. However, they lack the capability to continuously monitor human body pose and facial expressions. The proposed technology enables wearable devices to track human body pose and facial expressions, addressing a gap in the market. In addition, this technology facilitates activity recognition through wearable devices, aiding in tracking things such as eating habits and diet monitoring. The proposed technology may be used for medical applications, including the restoration of speech capabilities for individuals with vocal cord damage, providing an interface for computer interactions for people with disabilities, and remote health monitoring of patients. It also may enhance user experience by creating a more human-centered interface for wearable devices, simplifying computer device control, and may broaden the range of applications for wearables such as smart glasses.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a low-power, privacy-secure ultrasound sensing technology that integrates with wearable devices. The proposed technology enables wearable devices to monitor human body pose, facial expressions, and eye movements. The technology utilizes two pairs of miniature microphones (approximately 5 mm) and speakers (approximately 6 mm) that are commonly found in wearables, optimizing space utilization. The technology employs inaudible ultrasound waves (frequency 20KHz) emitted by the speakers that are reflected/diffracted by the human body, and the microphones capture relevant data. Data collected by these wearable devices may be used for various applications. Machine learning algorithms then process this information to predict body pose and facial expressions. Importantly, since only ultrasound waves are used, there is no processing of spoken words from the device wearer, ensuring no disruption to the user's daily activities. In addition, the technology is energy efficient using just 143 mW and providing over 20 hours of operation on a Google Glass battery. This sensing technology has been integrated successfully into various wearable device form-factors, including rings, wristbands, glasses, earphones, and headphones. Multiple functional prototypes have been developed and tested, and research results have been published that demonstrate the technologies utility.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.