Abstract: An apparatus having a ring-shaped housing configured to be wrapped round a finger of a user, the ring-shaped housing having an opening or a joint at a first point round the finger and a first contiguous section that is at a location opposite to the first point across a central axis of the ring-shaped housing; an antenna configured in the ring-shaped housing in the contiguous section; an inertial measurement unit configured to measure motions of the finger; a light-emitting diode (LED) indicator configured on an outer portion of the ring-shaped housing; a charging pad configured to charge a battery configured in the ring-shaped housing; and/or a touch pad configured to receive touch input from a finger of the user.

Abstract: An apparatus having a ring-shaped housing configured to be wrapped round a finger of a user, the ring-shaped housing having an opening or a joint at a first point round the finger and a first contiguous section that is at a location opposite to the first point across a central axis of the ring-shaped housing; an antenna configured in the ring-shaped housing in the contiguous section; an inertial measurement unit configured to measure motions of the finger; a light-emitting diode (LED) indicator configured on an outer portion of the ring-shaped housing; a charging pad configured to charge a battery configured in the ring-shaped housing; and/or a touch pad configured to receive touch input from a finger of the user.

Abstract: A device having a ring-shaped housing configured to be wrapped around a finger of a user, the ring-shaped housing having a base portion and a clip portion, the clip portion connected to the base portion via a hinge, wherein the clip portion is configured to attach to a phalange of a user's hand; and a sensor physically attached to the base portion, the sensor including at least one electrical component.

Abstract: An apparatus having a touch pad configured to receive touch input from a finger of the user, wherein a surface of the touch pad has a curved portion for sensing touch; an antenna configured in the ring-shaped housing in the contiguous section; an inertial measurement unit configured to measure motions of the finger; a light-emitting diode (LED) indicator configured on an outer portion of the ring-shaped housing; a charging pad configured to charge a battery configured in the ring-shaped housing; and/or a touch pad configured to receive touch input from a finger of the user.

Abstract: An apparatus having a ring-shaped housing configured to be wrapped round a finger of a user, the ring-shaped housing having an opening or a joint at a first point round the finger and a first contiguous section that is at a location opposite to the first point across a central axis of the ring-shaped housing; an antenna configured in the ring-shaped housing in the contiguous section; an inertial measurement unit configured to measure motions of the finger; a light-emitting diode (LED) indicator configured on an outer portion of the ring-shaped housing; a charging pad configured to charge a battery configured in the ring-shaped housing; and/or a touch pad configured to receive touch input from a finger of the user.

Abstract: A system including: a first sensor module having an inertial measurement unit and attached to an upper arm of a user, the first sensor module generating first motion data identifying an orientation of the upper arm; a second sensor module having an inertial measurement unit and attached to a hand of the user, the second sensor module generating second motion data identifying an orientation of the hand; and a computing device coupled to the first sensor module and the second sensor module through communication links, the computing device calculating, based on the orientation of the upper arm and the orientation of the hand, an orientation of a forearm connected to the hand by a wrist of the user and connected to the upper arm by an elbow joint of the user.

Abstract: A computing system having a plurality of sensor modules configured to be attached to a user. At least a first subset of the sensor modules each has an inertial measurement unit; and at least a second subset of the sensor modules each has one or more biological response sensors. The computing system further includes a computing device in communication with the sensor modules. The computing device is configured to control an application based on motion data of the user measured by inertial measurement units in the sensor modules and biological responses determined by sensor modules.

Abstract: A system includes a computing device having one or more processors and a plurality of sensor modules in electronic communication with the computing device via a communication module of at least one of the plurality of sensor modules. The plurality of sensor modules each include a housing and an inertial measurement unit disposed in the housing. A first of the plurality of sensor modules includes a sticky pad attached to the housing. The sticky pad has a sticky surface configured to be sticking to a user to attach the first of the plurality of sensor modules to the user.

Abstract: A data input device having inertial sensor units, one or more touch input devices, a microcontroller configured to collect sensor data from the inertial sensors and the one or more touch input devices and process the sensor data to generate processed sensor data, and a wireless transceiver configured to transmit the processed sensor data to a host computer. A method can include: receiving sensor data from a handheld device; calculating hand movement characteristics in three dimensional space based on the sensor data; calculating the position and orientation of the components of the handheld device; identifying positions and movements of one or more fingers of a user manipulating the handheld device; identifying a gesture from the positions and movements of one or more fingers of a user manipulating the handheld device; identifying a recognized gesture corresponding to the identified gesture; and dispatching an event notifying the gesture to an application.

Abstract: A system including a computing device receiving a first indication, the first indication indicating that a plurality of sensor modules are positioned in placeholders in a container device, wherein the placeholders are configured to hold the plurality of sensor modules at pre-determined positions and orientations in the container device. In response to the first indication, the computing device calibrates orientation measurements of the plurality or sensor modules relative to a first common reference system based on the pre-determined positions and orientations in the container device.

Abstract: A handheld controller having at least one input device, a left capacitive sensor electrode mounted in a left portion of the handheld device; a right capacitive sensor electrode mounted in a right portion of the handheld device; and a microcontroller. The input device is configured to receive user inputs provided via a finger of the hand holding the handheld controller. The handheld controller is symmetric from left to right. The microcontroller is configured to determine whether the hand is a left hand or a right hand based on measurements made via the left capacitive sensor electrode and the right capacitive sensor electrode and dynamically configures the handheld controller has left-handed or right-handed based on the measurements.

Abstract: A system including: a sensor module having an inertial measurement unit and attached to an arm of a user. The sensor module is initially calibrated to measure its orientation relative an initial reference pose. To recalibrate the sensor module, the arm of the user is moved to obtain a measurement of an orientation of the arm at a calibration pose relative to the reference pose. The arm is in a horizontal plan in both the calibration pose and the reference pose. Preferably, both arms are straight in the horizontal plane; and the hands meet each other at the calibration pose. The arm module may have twisted around the arm of the user from the time of the initial calibration and the time of recalibration. A twist of the arm module around the arm of the user is computed from the orientation measurement at the reference pose for recalibration.

Abstract: A handheld controller having at least one input device, a left capacitive sensor electrode mounted in a left portion of the handheld device; a right capacitive sensor electrode mounted in a right portion of the handheld device; and a microcontroller. The input device is configured to receive user inputs provided via a finger of the hand holding the handheld controller. The handheld controller is symmetric from left to right. The microcontroller is configured to determine whether the hand is a left hand or a right hand based on measurements made via the left capacitive sensor electrode and the right capacitive sensor electrode and dynamically configures the handheld controller has left-handed or right-handed based on the measurements.

Abstract: A data input device having inertial sensor units, one or more touch input devices, a microcontroller configured to collect sensor data from the inertial sensors and the one or more touch input devices and process the sensor data to generate processed sensor data, and a wireless transceiver configured to transmit the processed sensor data to a host computer. A method can include: receiving sensor data from a handheld device; calculating hand movement characteristics in three dimensional space based on the sensor data; calculating the position and orientation of the components of the handheld device; identifying positions and movements of one or more fingers of a user manipulating the handheld device; identifying a gesture from the positions and movements of one or more fingers of a user manipulating the handheld device; identifying a recognized gesture corresponding to the identified gesture; and dispatching an event notifying the gesture to an application.

Abstract: A system including: two arm modules each having an inertial measurement unit and attached to an upper arm of a user to measure the current orientations of the upper arms of the user; a head module having an inertial measurement unit and attached to the head of the user to measure the current orientation of the head; and a computing device coupled to the arm modules and the head module to calculate, based on the current orientations of the upper arms and the current orientation of the head, the current orientation of the torso of the user.

Abstract: A system including: a first sensor module having an inertial measurement unit and attached to a palm of a hand of a user; a second sensor module having an inertial measurement unit and attached to a first bone of a finger (e.g., a middle or proximal phalange bone) on the palm; and a computing device coupled to the first sensor module and the second sensor module to calculate, based on the orientation of the palm and the orientation of the first bone, orientations of the second bones of the finger (e.g., a distal or proximal phalange bone, a metacarpal bone of the thumb) that have no separately attached inertial measurement unit, according to a predetermined ratio of rotation from a reference orientation along a same axis of rotation.

Abstract: A system including: a sensor module having an inertial measurement unit and attached to the head of a user. The sensor module is initially calibrated to measure its orientation relative a reference pose. To recalibrate the sensor module according to a calibration pose, a camera of the sensor module is used to capture an image of at least one optical mark (e.g., configured on devices held in hands in the calibration pose in front of the user). A direction identified from the image is rotated according to the rotational transformation between the reference pose and the calibration pose measured by the sensor module and then projected on to a horizontal plane relative to the reference pose. The angle in the horizontal plane between the projected direction and the front facing direction is used for the calibration of the subsequent orientation measurements of the sensor module.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a data input device and method of operating the same. In one embodiment, a data input device comprises a plurality of inertial sensor units, one or more touch input devices, a microcontroller configured to collect sensor data from the inertial sensors and the one or more touch input devices and process the sensor data to generate processed sensor data, and a wireless transceiver configured to transmit the processed sensor data to a host computer.

Abstract: A system including a plurality sensor modules, each having an inertial measurement unit and attached to a portion of a user (e.g., upper arm, hand, and/or head) to measure the current orientation of the corresponding portion of the user. A computing device coupled to the sensor modules is configured to identify a type of the current pose of the user, compute a front facing direction of the torso of the user from the sensor measurements, select a torso leaning model based on the pose type, project onto a vertical plane the lengthwise directions of the arms of the user as tracked by the sensor modules attached to the upper arms of the user, and calculate a torso leaning angle from the projected lengthwise directions of the arms.

Abstract: A system including: a first sensor module having an inertial measurement unit and attached to an upper arm of a user, the first sensor module generating first motion data identifying an orientation of the upper arm; a second sensor module having an inertial measurement unit and attached to a hand of the user, the second sensor module generating second motion data identifying an orientation of the hand; and a computing device coupled to the first sensor module and the second sensor module through communication links, the computing device calculating, based on the orientation of the upper arm and the orientation of the hand, an orientation of a forearm connected to the hand by a wrist of the user and connected to the upper arm by an elbow joint of the user.