Oh, patents! CuteCircuit Music Shirt™

 Copyright© Françoise Herrmann

The latest Internet-connected and haptic technology-enabled piece of fashionwear from CuteCircuit is the Music Shirt™.  Nominated one of Time Magazine’s 100 Best Inventions of the Year, on November 19, 2020, the CuteCircuit Music Shirt™ enables wearers to immerse themselves into music, and deaf wearers in particular, to feel the sounds of music.

Using the principles of actuator technology, also invoked to mastermind the Hug Shirt™, the Music Shirt™ is equipped with sixteen actuator motors that generate varying vibrations and pulses, according to sounds. Thus, the Music Shirt™ algorithm is able to translate music sounds, captured and recorded digitally, into strategically placed vibrations on a Bluetooth®-connected Music Shirt™, enabling wearers, deaf in particular, to experience music viscerally. For example, an orchestra floor is mapped into different recording sections, the converted sounds of which will be distributed variously on a Bluetooth®-connected Music Shirt™. As a result, sensations of the lowest drum sounds are translated into vibrations felt in the abdomen area, while all the higher frequency sounds of flutes and violins are felt as vibrations on the upper body, including the intensities and variations of rhythm and beat.

The Music Shirt™ is available for individual purchase, and at various music venues, offering an immersive music experience.  For example, the following YouTube video shows several deaf wearers' haptic experiences,  in collaboration with the Junge Symphoniker Hamburg, in Germany.

The CuteCircuit Music Shirt™ was created by Francesca Rosella (Italy) and Ryan Genz (USA), founders of the pioneering, wearable technology, fashion brand company CuteCircuit. The Music Shirt™ functions using the Hug Shirt™ app, where users might select music pieces to playback on a Bluetooth®-connected Music Shirt™. The Music Shirt™ also functions using the QPro music software, enabling musicians to create music that includes the haptic sensory experience of the Music Shirt™.  

The patent-pending Music Shirt™ invention arises at the intersection of several patented domains such as 3D Spatial Audio, Haptics for Augmented Reality, Interactive Luminous Garments, Multimedia Wearable Telecommunication Devices, and Sensor Enhanced Fabric constructions.

References

CuteCircuit https://cutecircuit.com/

CuteCircuit sound shirt – Feel the music --  Time Magazine 100 Best inventions in 2020. https://time.com/collection/best-inventions-2020/5911419/cutecircuit-soundshirt/ 

Meyer, D. (May 18, 2016), A new shirt can help deaf people feel music. Fortune.com.  https://fortune.com/2016/05/18/cutecircuit-sound-shirt/

QPro music software tools

https://www.avid.com/pro-tools

Oh, patents! Nao’s hands

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Nao, Softbank Robotics' humanoid, has two hands, each with a palm, two fingers and a thumb, and you might be wondering why? 

The design of humanoid hand function mimicking human hand function is quite a task. A human hand has 27 degrees of freedom with 27 bones and 14 joints. Humanoid hand movements or degrees of freedom are controlled with actuators which, for all practical purposes of space and coordination, are best kept to a minimum.  Indeed, the two Softbank Robotics humanoid hand patent families listed below each address the issue of actuation relative to degrees of freedom, and in particular of humanoid hands. The design goal explained in the patents is underactuation. That is, a design where the degrees of freedom (N) is always greater than the number of actuators, expressed as N>A, and the greater the underactuation, the better.  The degree of underactuation is thus calculated as N-A, the difference between degrees of freedom and the number of actuators: 

In the first patent family, the solution found for achieving high underactuation was a spreader able to distribute the force of a single actuator across all digits. So that one actuator is actually controlling 14 degrees of freedom for a humanoid hand with 4 fingers and one thumb, a design solution that even enables the digits to adapt to the shape of an object grasped.  However, this design solution does not actuate digits separately.  And the inventors not only wanted humanoid hands to grasp objects and to adapt to their shape, they also wanted for humanoid hands to function in communication. So a second family of patents discloses high underactuation, which additionally achieves separate digit movement, such as for example, pointing with an index, or a "thumbs-up" as in the iconic "I like".

The two humanoid hand patent families are listed below, with US patent abstracts for each family, and patent drawings from each of the patent families. The first  Figure drawing shows the spreader, within the humnoid palm, distributing the actuation force of a single actuator across digits, and Figure 2c shows separate digit movement, two digits bent, one straight, also underactuated by a single actuator. A short video is also included presenting Romeo, another much larger Softbank Robotics humanoid, designed as a home companion, with clearly independent thumb movement. 

Patent Family I

A hand intended for a humanoid robot comprises a palm and several fingers that are motorized relative to the palm. According to the invention, the hand comprises an actuator common to several fingers and a spreader making it possible to distribute a force exerted by the actuator toward the fingers.   [Abstract US2016325437 (A1)]

• US2016325437 (A1) ― 2016-11-10 - Actuation of a hand intended for being provided on a humanoid robot
• JP2017503668A ― 2017-02-02 -  Operation of intended hand provided on humanoid robots
• AU2015208156 (A1) ― 2016-08-04 - Actuation of a hand intended for being provided on a humanoid robot 
• CA2937582 (A1) ― 2015-07-30 - Actuation of a hand intended for being provided on a humanoid robot 
• EP3105018 (A1) ― 2016-12-21 - Actuation of a hand intended for being provided on a humanoid robot 
• FR3016542 (A1) ― 2015-07-24- Actionnement d'une main destinée à équiper un robot à caractère humanoïde
• KR20160120732 (A) ― 2016-10-18 - Actuation of a hand intended for being provided on a humanoid robot 
• MX2016009357 (A) ― 2017-04-13 - Actuation of a hand intended for being provided on a humanoid robot
• NZ722309 (A) ― 2017-08-25 - Actuation of a hand intended for being provided on a humanoid robot 
• SG11201605955V (A) ― 2016-09-29 - Actuation of a hand intended for being provided on a humanoid robot 
• WO2015110521 (A1) ― 2015-07-30 - Actuation of a hand intended for being provided on a humanoid robot 

Patent Family II

A hand intended for a humanoid robot comprising a palm and several fingers, each of the fingers being able to be displaced in relation to the palm between a position of rest maintained by spring effect and a compressed position obtained by driving a link part with the palm countering the spring effect, comprises a motorized shaft, linked to the link part of each of the fingers, and configured to respectively displace at least one first finger and at least one second finger, from the position of rest to the compressed position, by rotation of the motorized shaft respectively in a first direction of rotation and in an opposite direction. [Abstract US20170043486A1]

• US20170043486A1 -- Actuation of a hand to be provided on a humanoid robot
• AU2015257679 (A1) ― 2016-11-10 - Actuation of a hand to be provided on a humanoid robot 
• CA2948073 (A1) ― 2015-11-12 - Actuation of a hand to be provided on a humanoid robot 
• EP3140085 (A1) ― 2017-03-15 - Actuation of a hand to be provided on a humanoid robot
• FR3020775 (A1) ― 2015-11-13 - Actuation of a hand to be provided on a humanoid robot 
• JP2017514712 (A) ― 2017-06-08 - Actuation of a hand to be provided on a humanoid robot 
• KR20170007351 (A) ― 2017-01-18 - Actuation of a hand to be provided on a humanoid robot 
• MX2016013597 (A) ― 2017-06-29 - Actuation of a hand to be provided on a humanoid robot
• SG11201608727V (A) ― 2016-12-29 - Actuation of a hand to be provided on a humanoid robot 
• WO2015169886 (A1) ― 2015-11-12 - Actuation of a hand to be provided on a humanoid robot 

References

Softbank Robotics

https://www.softbankrobotics.com/us/

Nao - Softbank Robotics
https://www.softbankrobotics.com/us/nao
Romeo - Softbank Robotics
https://www.ald.softbankrobotics.com/en/robots/romeo