SmartChill - No More Headaches

Girton Labs researches and prototypes new methods of healthcare  and pain management.  One serendipitous discovery from the last device  I invented  before leaving Microsoft in 2007 ( ThrillChip  as here, a feedback device for replicating fear in games controllers )

was  to find  new way of reducing the pain for some (not all)  types of headaches, temperature reduction and   sports injuries. Some pain  can be removed by a bag of frozen peas or instant ice  gel coolers (£1 per usage)  but not always to hand, e.g. when traveling and far from home.  The SmartChill ( working project name)  devices uses a Peltier heat exchanger to reduce the surface of the skin by approximately 15 degrees Centigrade.  You can see the Peltier in image below, it is the  square part. One side effect of a Peltier heat exchanger is when the power is switch off , the heat will flow back into the Peltier device, which might be close to the skin.   A novel design of heat sink and fan allows a safe method of chilling the skin and avoids this heating problem. Headaches take about 5 mins to be reduced when tested on a subject. The sensation of simulated  ice on the skin is so relaxing.  The device can be placed on various parts of the body, such as forehead, neck, or wrist.   The device works off 2 x AA alkaline or  rechargeable cells and is charged by USB or 12V car cigar socket. The device will allow about 1 hours operation before recharging.  That  covers several headaches and costs a lot less in recharging than buying and swallowing  pharmaceuticals.  It also avoids paying license fees to pharmaceutical companies.

Safety mechanisms in the built in computer  hardware and software  ensure the heat "sucked out" of skin is dispersed of safety.
Device is also very useful for sports injuries.
A built in recording devices logs the time and date of application of chiller, can download via USB to pc,  so useful for research with working out what or who causes your headaches.  This would work well with clinical applications of Sensecam.



Girton Labs needs a route to market for this, as customers want it. A retail cost of less than £50 is practical.

So what happened to the ThrillChip? It never got patented for intended use as a Xbox  games controller, and after I left one of the UK leading games company wanted to use the technology.  Microsoft choose not to patent it so could not license the IP.

Update:  you can buy this drinks cooler from eBay that has some of the functionality of above as here:

Image from eBay.

For more information, contact Lyndsay Williams  sensecam@gmail.com or tel +44 (0) 7970 101578.

New Hand Tracker for mobile phones

One day in May 1997 I woke up  with an idea for a new type of mobile phone, that had no conventional  buttons, but  it would be controlled by invisible  sensors, i.e. accelerometers, screen touch sensors , face tracking devices.   I approached Peter Cochrane, Head of  BT Labs, Martlesham  to see if they were interested in it and could they fund me to  prototype it. They did and  we patented in 1997. Patent also covered hand writing recording, cameras, GPS tagging and cloud computing.  Microsoft liked this new type of phone and gave me position as a Reseacher at Microsoft Research Cambridge 1998-2007.  Microsoft were  offered this patent but didn't buy it.

Eventually, 11 years later  this phone  Patent sold to Apple in 2008 as covers  technology used in the iPhone, here is some of  the story

I left Microsoft in 2007 and founded  Girton Labs Ltd, Cambridge. Now in 2010  we are inventing and   building prototypes for  mobile phone technology for the next 5-10 years. There is so much competition now with phones,  a brand new type of novel hardware needs inventing to differential the rest  from the Apple iPhone.
  One thrilling new sensor design for mobile phones I can't talk about yet  as confidential for phone company. But here is one I can.  Here is a video of our new hand tracker. We have prototyped a proof of concept model:





If video doesn't fit on your screen, please  click on link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrGXxKISOao

The video shows a hand being tracked with a  4x4 heat
array, of possible use to mobile phones and tablet pcs.
A Digital signal Processor decodes, left/right up/down  hand movement .
Applications for this new User Input  include web page  navigation, hand
gesture control and  power on/off for mobile phones and tablet computers.
Other applications include sterile medical controls and controlling simple
instruments in cars like GPS. It works with gloves unlike some hand trackers or touch screens.
The technology also includes these feature being done by a phone's built in camera
but the advantage over using ordinary built in  camera to track hands, is very low
processor overhead, (uses 4Mhz micrcocontroller for Digital Signal
Processing in prototype)  very low power and can work in low light
levels.
 Cost of sensor approx $5 in large quantities, Intellectual Property
owned entirely  by Girton Labs Ltd, Cambridge.
Please contact  Lyndsay Williams, sensecam@gmail.com for more information.
www.girtonlabs.com

BusyBadge - Sensebadge for personal energy monitoring

I have  designed miniature computers  for personal energy and activity  monitoring for many decades. One below for Microsoft Research was  an accelerometer, radio beacon  and data logger, around 2001, SmartMoveX here. Research was with Microsoft Research John Krumm, Greg Smith, paper here.

This later got transformed into device with a camera, Sensecam as here. The University of Dublin have recently started some research with SenseCam on Carbon Footprints.

Last year I proposed  a device for personal energy monitoring for medical uses that was very small, unobtrusive and could be used and worn 24/7 with no battery change etc. It is like a "well being" badge that display's personal activity in the day.   The above sensing badge with paperclip  ( real size model )  is a prototype, it has 3 axis accelerometer, data logger, 32Mbytes FLASH memory, radio transmitter, and tiny thermal camera 4x4 pixels and activity lights. It is a development of a SenseBulb I designed for Assisted Living but much smaller.
SenseBadge lasts about a week before battery change and upload of data to PC as a graph. As well as recording personal movement and exercise, the thermal camera can record ambient temperature, but also capture simple 4x4 pixel  thermal image  in front of person, i.e. record the time person in front of a stove, TV, eating,  PC, human. These home appliances have a thermal signature that can be captured. Unlike normal digital thermometers, thermopiles captures very fast temperature changes, around 100 times/ second, see below 4x4 colour map.

As the data is time stamped it can be synchronised to camera  images and GPS. As the thermal signatures are fairly simple they can be interpreted and classified using a computer, e.g. Excel, rather than complex image processing. Themopiles also avoid the problem of conventional temperature sensors worn on the body, these reflect the temperature of the users body (not ambient temperature)  as wearable badge warms up , e.g. as on SenseCam.
Unlike passive data loggers, this one has optical feedback (LEDs changes colour)  to provide rolling history of  how much energy is consumed or wasted in the day. Every person you met that day will know at a glance if you have been a couch potato (or ill), sat behind a PC, eating,    or "chronically busy" person ;-). You can walk into a meeting and people can glance at you for status update. As badge detects and records proximity of people, you don't need to say sorry, been busy  "been in meetings all day" as display can show that at a glance. A download at end of day can classify percentage of time spent in each activity, e.g.  time spent with other people. A sequence of spinning LEDs on badge speed up based on "busyness" measurement of last few hours. This can be useful in medical care of patients in a hospital to check if they are being cared for, e.g. accident and emergency , "lying flat  on trolley for 2 hours and unattended".  Executives would like it as faster spinning of LEDs might indicate "importance".

Some people say, well that can all be done with a mobile phone, but they are not  fitted with simple thermal cameras (which can reveal more than optical cameras and accelerometers ), the badge is very low powered and can be worn at night. Badge also gives visual feedback of a rolling  summary of the day's  history of activity.

Image of UK  Prime Minister who might need a BusyBadge.

Girton Labs Tablet Computer 2009

Badge Specification:
Sensors:
3 channel accelerometer
4x4 thermal camera -50C to 350C, sample rate 100Hz
digital light meter
UV sunlight detector
magnetic proximity sensor (optional)
Carbon Monoxide (optional)
Computer:
 up to 32Mbyte FLASH  memory
6V Lithium coin cells
serial port to pc
LED array for real time display of day's history of events, red, orange, green, blue, white, flash frequency  indicates activity.
radio transmitter (optional) 433Mhz
FLASH Microcontroller



The practical side, Girton Labs has implemented all the components of this, i.e. hardware, software, algorithms, pcb, CAD case. The applications range from personal energy monitoring, medical applications, Assisted Living.
Contact Lyndsay Williams sensecam@gmail.com. or +44 (0) 7970 101578

What's new in touch sensing mobile phones?

 I have worked on a lot of touch sensing technology. I am particularly interested in the remote transmission of touch and feeling over the web.  One device I invented and built in 2005  was  a "heartbeat mouse".  This allowed your heartbeat to be measured and replicated as a physical beat or thump on a computer  mouse with someone you are communicating to on the web, e.g.  a friend. It was possibly useful for Instant Messenger type applications.  I build a demo unit when I worked at Microsoft, the heartbeat being detected via optical sensors methods and the beat replicated using a magnetic mechanical actuator. Most people liked it, others thought it wacky, but I never patented it, and now in the public domain, so cannot be patented. It  is research that can be shared. Microsoft has deleted the web page that described it so I can't show the original  image.

click to enlarge - image shows mockup but real hardware built and tested 

However I am still asked about this design and how it might be useful for touch sensing applications.
 A possible answer is via mobile phones, you are holding the mobile phone and talking to friend but can it replicate the feel of holding hands? The mobile phone is a substitute for holding someone's hand.  You could  choose to share your heartbeat  and also that of remote friend by holding hands.  The mechanical actuation technology is much more advanced now, the Microsoft version just used an modified oscillating  relay with pulse width modulation (PWM)  control to replicate feelings.( Curiously, the prototype was rather good at synthesising the feel of a cat purr , as the software control of the PWM was very fine. ) There are more applications  for lie detection, medical apps,  games and other fun ideas. It is practical to transmit and replicate skin temperature and conduction.
The only reason the project resurfaced is now the new "smart" actuation technology I have been testing for another job has been built, gone are old solenoids and other magnetic actuators.  The new technology provide much more subtle vibration  finger stroking effects, is silent and very low power.
Email me if interested sensecam@gmail.com
Lyndsay Williams

Open source sensing camera for Alzheimer's ?

I designed the first SenseCam for Microsoft Research in 1999 and it was released to the public in approx 2005. I left MSFT in 2007 and since then I have received a high demand for sensecams from brain injury people. Microsoft only have a limited number of Sensecams for loan only to qualified people, e.g. PhDs and doctors, not ordinary people. They are not for sale. The good news is that Vicon are releasing the Revue which is similar to a 2005 version sensecam, but only in limited numbers at first for research. It concerns me to get long emails from carers who cannot get a SenseCam.  My motivation for releasing a new sensecam is simply to help people with medical problems.


Girton Labs Ltd Cambridge is now a UK  government accredited Research and Development Establishment for science and technology.  We are considering releasing an open source version of a new sensing camera. This is due to the high demand we have for sensing cameras from brain injury people, so we have decided to possibly release an open source, free of charge design of a sensing camera. Girton Labs does not plan to profit from the sale or manufacture of this camera.  Open source hardware will allow release of schematics, system diagrams, software routines and sources of the specialised components. Off the shelf software will allow rapid viewing of images.



This new camera uses different sensing methods from the Microsoft SenseCam patent. It will enable the design to be released into the public domain in the near future. We need to check with our lawyers first however with respect to patents for my design for Microsoft of the first SenseCam and subsequent patents.



The camera captures audio (as customers asked for this) , high  resolution stills and  video, uses 8G memory cards and is wearable. The video compression allows 1:100 compression of significant events in the day with capture of events that were hard or impossible with sensecam, one example being a dietary application. A novel system of  sensors can capture a data record of food and drink eaten. This is currently on trial with a wearable device to record alcohol intake. The serendipidous discovery and testing of a multi sensor system to achieve this is delighting us.

Another very important improvement on the first sensecam is the ability to detect compliance with taking of precription medication.

We are considering releasing the design with Girton Labs getting no profit from the sales and manufacturer of the camera, simply to help people with Alzheimer's or other medical problems who have requested cameras.



I am very respectful of Microsoft Research Cambridge lawyers and their Intellectual Property and so the design uses very new sensing technology. Girton Labs is the first company in the world to use this new sensor device. It combines the functionality of the 4 sensecam sensors (acceleration, light, heat, temperature) into one tiny MEMs device, which costs around 3 Euro on the cost of a normal digital camera. The accelerometer is eliminated now, so results can be captured in moving vehicles with more accuracy.
A wireless link with a mobile phone allows GPS location tagging etc. The sensecam technology is not rocket science, it is a very simple system of sensors and camera to allow image compression and therefore  easy for others to build with readily available  parts.




Email Lyndsay Williams at SenseCam@gmail.com for more details.

Microsoft Research 2009 human body power patent application published again

In 2004 one of my Microsoft patents was awarded for "Method and Apparatus for transmitting power and data using the human body"

Explained in this article in The Guardian  2004,
  "Computerising the body: Microsoft wins patent to exploit  network potential of skin" as here
In simple words our design (Williams, Vablais and Bathiche*) was to allow devices like headphones for your Ipod be attached to the ears without using wires or batteries in the earpiece. It is also useful for medical sensors to be attached to the body without wires.  I heard after I left Microsoft that the US military were also very interested in using this technology for their soldiers. The prototype I built and tested on my daughter in 2000 allowed audible music tones to be transmitted to a loudspeaker on her skin when I touched her, no batteries or wires on her.

   

It is interesting that Microsoft's lawyers  are still working on this technology 9 years after it was first prototyped as  patent has additional wider claims published July 2009, example as below.

From the US Patent Office Patent application published July 2009

Claim 1 " A system that facilitates reduction of wiring in connection with networking portable devices, comprising:a plurality of devices that are electrically networked together via a human body, which serves as a transmission medium for at least a subset of the devices."


Will Microsoft license this technology?




*Steve Bathiche was one of the inventors of the  Microsoft Surface computer.


 Drawing above  done by Microsoft's lawyers for the patent.

Prototype wireless sensing camera

Here is Girton Labs's  working prototype wireless sensing camera , transmits encrypted wireless images to a PC, lasts 1 year on small lithium cell, first application is for Assisted Living, i.e. those who live on their own. Captures and compresses all interesting daily images. Every room could have one. Should be reasonably to have it button sized, (one shown is a working  proof of concept).  Imagine it being like nerves all over your home, caring for you. Thermal images are scanned and compressed for interesting events in the home, people, doors opening and closing, fridge activity,  cookers left on, radiators, fires,  tv on/off. Useful also for energy management, can see heat from appliances switched on and wastage. Alternative version send text messages to cell phone on events. Could also send messages/images  to Twitter. Other versions of camera can transmit normal wide angle images.
Current prototype sends colour thermal images to PC.

Frequently Asked Questions.
Q. How is this different from  SenseCam that you designed for Microsoft?
A. It uses a totally different method of sensing, patent filed,  and so is new Intellectual Property.
Q. How else is different from the first sensecam?
A.   I designed SenseCam   for people with very severe memory problems. A person with Alzheimer's is forgetful and might mislay  the camera and all of the day's recorded  memory, this camera  transmits data to a central server or PC. As camera has radio transmitter it can also be located by it's signal  if lost, e.g. hidden under a cushion. There is no  limit  to number of images as transmitted to a large server.
The camera can be worn or fixed on ceiling of room.
Q. How do you get such long battery life?
A. Innovation adaptive clock technology, based on how mammals conserve power. Details available on signing of NDA.
Q. When is it available ?
A. Currently due for delivery to first customer this year.



Designed and built by Lyndsay Williams
More info sensecam@gmail.com

Image shows test thermal map