eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.
Fullpower Technologies, a provider of technology for wearable computing devices, announced it has been awarded key patents covering wearable technology, sensor fusion and motion processors.
The patent for invention number 8,568,310 outlines “a method of using a motion sensor and a location-based sensor together to perform sensor fusion, enabling activity identification,” according to the patent description. This patent supplements the Fullpower patent portfolio for the MotionX X24 Sensor-Fusion processor technology, which includes patents such as US Patents 8,187,182, 7,647,195, 7,970,586, and 8,320,578 among others.
“As inventors and innovators we believe in the US patent system to protect our inventions such as the MotionX X24 Sensor-Fusion processor,” said Philippe Kahn, founder and CEO of Fullpower, in a statement. “The MotionX X24 Technology Platform leads the wearable paradigm shift with a broad IP portfolio and the best algorithm for sleep, activity and location tracking.”
Meanwhile, the patent for invention number 8,187,182–issued in January 2013–outlines a method and apparatus using sensor fusion for accurate activity identification, and the patent for invention number 7,705,723 outlines a method and apparatus to provide outbreak notifications based on historical location data. Leveraged together, a device containing multiple sensors to collect patient-state information, geospatial data, and other sensor data may be used to calculate information about the active state of the user that is more accurate than would be possible using standalone sensors. This data may in turn be used to issue accurate and effective outbreak notifications, Fullpower officials said.
For example, If an individual is identified as a point source of disease, the patented system can backtrack all potential contact points for the affected individual and notify anyone who was potentially in close contact. Furthermore, the data collected can be used to identify areas that may be affected, paths of intersection, quarantine, distributions of medicine such as Tamiflu, along with a map of the outbreak. A system such as this enables the real-time understanding, management, and containment of outbreaks of disease, including potential pandemics.
These patents are part of an intellectual property portfolio from Fullpower-MotionX that includes more than 33 issued patents with dozens of patents pending. Broad coverage for the MotionX Technology Platform introduces a new and necessary approach for continuous activity and sleep monitoring and analysis, with applications spanning a variety of health and fitness, medical, and navigation applications. Fullpower’s ongoing innovation translates into continually broadening and deepening of the IP related to the MotionX X24 Sensor-Fusion processor.
Broad coverage for the MotionX Technology Platform introduces a new approach for studying sleep, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and epidemics. These advanced methodologies can enhance the potential of pharmaceutical drugs such as Ambien or Zocor, for example.
Kahn founded Fullpower in 2003. As he said, he believes the company’s MotionX technology platform now leads the wearable technology revolution. The MotionX Technology Platform is a suite of tightly coupled and integrated firmware, software and communication components that are the building blocks for non-invasive, wearable wireless devices. The MotionX Technology Platform powers solutions from companies such as Nike, Jawbone, Apple, Comcast, Pioneer, JVC, and others. Fullpower showcases its MotionX Technology Platform via its iPhone and iPad applications, which lead the iTunes store in the Medical, Health & Fitness and Navigation categories, Fullpower officials said.
“We are delivering the seminal IP for wearable computing here at Fullpower,” Kahn told eWEEK. “This is the next paradigm shift.”