Hawaii Patent of the Month – June 2022

Wearable tech is a growing industry, providing tools needed to improve our athletic performance. Smart watches with step counters remind us to get up and get moving. Heart rate monitors can help track our daily activity. Hawaii’s own Alert Core, Inc. has designed a wearable device meant to take athletic advice one step further. Their device can identify breathing patterns and provide feedback in real time.

This type of feedback can help users learn the practice of diaphragmatic breathing and beneficial breathing patterns. Improved breathing practices can improve running performance, walking performance, and even yoga flows. Proper breathing can have great impacts on your athletic performance and your day to day life. In fact, since every system in the body relies on oxygen, effective breathing can not only provide you with a greater sense of mental clarity, it can also help you sleep better, digest food more efficiently, improve your body’s immune response, and reduce stress levels.

The device is equipped with a breathe in – breathe out sensor that tracks when a user begins breathing in up until the point in time when they begin breaking out. It then tracks them as they breathe out until they begin breathing in again. Each cycle of breath is tracked and monitored and analyzed. A movement sensor can identify steps taken and speed. This allows direct comparisons in the analysis of breath and motion. For instance, if breathing in at the wrong time while running. This feedback is provided in-real-time, allowing a user to adjust their breathing and improve performance. For instance, this feedback could suggest they adjust the length of each breath, if the user is breathing too quickly during their run.

The analytics address the rate, rhythm, and depth of breath while considering the motion of the athlete. The algorithms consider the type of motion – whether walking, running, swimming, hurdling and so on – and adjust the suggested breathing pattern and rate accordingly.

Are you developing new technology for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

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