Patent Grant
11636939
The present invention is directed to fitness activity monitoring. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention are directed to systems and methods for monitoring the performance of a fitness activity participant.
Participation in fitness activities, such as a competitive racing event, can be important for maintaining a healthy lifestyle and individual well-being. Technology has resulted in the development of systems capable of monitoring information about the individuals engaged in these activities. For example, some competitive race events include chip timing systems that may monitor the location of a participant during the race. These systems, however, may be limited to only providing location and timing information at certain points along the race course. Moreover, these systems may not be capable of providing other performance information to the participant during the race, such as, pace, speed, and distance, for example. Fitness monitoring systems and methods are needed that provide accurate real-time information to participants of these activities. Providing racing participants with accurate real-time information and performance data can enable an athlete to better control his performance and adapt the performance over the course of the race in order to ideally spend the available resources. In addition, those that watch fitness activities may enjoy the excitement of the competition and may wish to monitor the performance of one or more participants. Monitoring the performance of a racing participant is not only useful from an entertainment perspective, but can, for example, provide a comparison of the physical performances of different participants. Moreover, monitored performance data may be used for supervising the physical condition of an athlete (e.g., by medical staff) in order to prevent injuries or other health threats.
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a method of monitoring the performance of a participant engaged in a fitness activity, comprising: receiving a GPS signal during the fitness activity at a portable fitness device used by the participant; determining participant performance data based on the received GPS signal; at a stationary position beacon, transmitting location data associated with the location of the stationary position beacon; at a mobile participant transceiver supported by the participant, receiving the location data from the stationary position beacon; and modifying the participant performance data based on the data received from the stationary position beacon. The steps of the method may be executed using at least one processor, provided on the portable fitness device, the mobile participant transceiver, the position beacon, and/or a remote server, for example.
In another embodiment, a method of monitoring the performance of a participant engaged in a competitive race having a predetermined route, comprises: determining participant performance data based on a GPS signal received by a portable fitness device used by the participant during the race; from a stationary position beacon positioned at a predetermined location along the route, transmitting location data associated with the location of the stationary position beacon; at a mobile participant transceiver supported by the participant, receiving the location data from the stationary position beacon; and modifying the participant performance data based on the data received from the stationary position beacon. The steps of the method may be executed using at least one processor, provided on the portable fitness device, the mobile participant transceiver, the position beacon, and/or a remote server, for example.
In another embodiment, a system for monitoring the performance of a participant engaged in a competitive race having a predetermined route, comprises: a plurality of stationary position beacons positioned at predetermined locations along the route each transmitter wirelessly transmitting location data associated with the race; and a portable fitness device used by the participant during the race for determining participant performance data based on a GPS signal received by the portable fitness device and modifying the performance data based at least on the transmitter location data. The methods described herein may be implemented in any combination of hardware and/or software, i.e., computer programs.
In another embodiment, a computer-implemented method of monitoring the performance of a participant engaged in a fitness activity, preferably a race, includes: receiving a GPS signal during the fitness activity at a portable fitness device used by the participant; determining participant performance data based on the received GPS signal; from a stationary position beacon, receiving location data associated with the location of the stationary position beacon; and modifying the participant performance data based on the data received from the stationary position beacon.
Embodiments of the present invention may include one or more features described in commonly owned U.S. Publication No. 2011/0082641, entitled “Methods and Computer Program Products for Providing Information About a User During a Physical Activity,” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/836,421, filed Jul. 14, 2010 and entitled “Fitness Monitoring Methods, Systems and Program Products, and Applications Thereof,” and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/836,416, filed Jul. 14, 2010 and entitled “Location-Aware Fitness Monitoring Methods, Systems, and Program Products, and Applications Thereof,” the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated in their entirety by reference thereto.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form a part of the specification, illustrate the present invention and, together with the description, further serve to explain the principles of the invention and to enable a person skilled in the pertinent art to make and use the invention.
The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals are used to indicate identical or functionally similar elements. References to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, “an example embodiment”, etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.
The following examples are illustrative, but not limiting, of the present invention. Other suitable modifications and adaptations of the variety of conditions and parameters normally encountered in the field, and which would be apparent to those skilled in the art, are within the spirit and scope of the invention.
Embodiments of the present invention include a system 10 for monitoring the performance of one or more individuals during a fitness activity. As discussed below, the fitness activity includes a predetermined route (e.g., a race course) to be traversed by the participant during the fitness activity. In various embodiments, the present invention includes a system 10 for monitoring the performance of a participant (e.g., an athlete) 100 engaged in the fitness activity. With reference to
The system 10 further includes a position beacon system 200 disposed at predetermined distances along the predetermined route. The position beacon system 200 is directly or indirectly in communication with the portable fitness monitoring device 102 and/or the fitness activity server 112 and transmits a signal associated with its predetermined location along the route. In one embodiment, the signal includes time-stamped location information that indicates the location of the beacon system 200 and the time at which the signal was transmitted such that participant performance data (e.g., location, speed, pace, distance) may be precisely determined either alone or in conjunction with additional data. For example, the beacon signal information may be used in conjunction with GPS data acquired by the portable fitness device 102. In one embodiment, after receiving the beacon signal, the system 10 modifies participant performance data based at least on the beacon signal information. In this manner, in one embodiment the monitoring system 10 may provide more accurate participant performance data during the fitness activity, including participant location, than which data may be provided by the portable fitness monitoring device 102 alone.
As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the portable fitness monitoring device 102 may be a device such as, for example, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant, a music file player (e.g. an MP3 player), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, an intelligent article for wearing (e.g. a fitness monitoring garment, wrist band, or watch), a dongle (e.g. a small hardware device that is capable of physically coupling to a first electronic device and/or wirelessly coupling to additional electronic devices), or any other suitable device dedicated or non-dedicated to providing the monitoring methods described herein. The device may be supported by the participant 100 such that it may be easily used while engaged in the fitness activity. In one embodiment, the device may be mounted to the body of the participant 100. For example, the device may be arm-mounted, chest-mounted, leg-mounted, or foot-mounted. In one embodiment, portable fitness monitoring device 102 may be hand held.
In one embodiment, as shown, for example, in
The portable fitness device 102 may also be adapted to measure or receive data regarding various performance parameters associated with the participant's performance during the fitness activity. As shown in
The fitness activity may include any fitness activity engaged in by the participant 100 and including the position beacon system 200. In one embodiment, the fitness activity is a competitive fitness activity, including, but not limited to, a foot race, a bicycle race, a skiing or snowboarding race, or other fitness activity in which the physical location of the participant 100 changes as a function of time. The fitness activity may be of any desired length and may be a timed event. For example, the fitness activity may comprise an organized competitive running race such as the New York City Marathon, the Army Ten Miler in Washington, D.C., or a 5K high school cross-country race. In an embodiment, the fitness activity may be a self-organized activity. For example, a participant may organize a fitness activity to be engaged in with one or more individuals, such as family, friends, or members of a social network. The social network may include Facebook® friends, LinkedIn® contacts, Twitter® followers, members of a athlete community on a fitness website, and the like. In one embodiment, the fitness activity includes a predetermined route to be traversed by one or more participants. The predetermined route may be provided by a race organizer, for example, as would be the case for a competitive running race like the New York City Marathon. In some embodiments, the predetermined route may comprise a route created and scheduled by the participant. For example, the predetermined route may be created and scheduled according to embodiments described in U.S. Publication No. 2011/0082641, entitled “Methods and Computer Program Products for Providing Information About a User During a Physical Activity.” In one embodiment, the predetermined route may be created and scheduled, for example, to be a 5K race that takes place every Wednesday at the same location and time, and may be saved in the user's account on server 112. The server 112 may store information related to the fitness activity, including the predetermined route of the fitness activity, which may be downloaded to the portable fitness monitoring device 102. In some embodiments, the fitness activity may comprise a vehicle race, such as, for example, a car or boat race.
With renewed reference to
With reference to
As shown in
In one embodiment, the position beacon system 200 may include a controller 210, as shown in
As shown in
As shown in
With continued reference to
The portable fitness monitoring device 102, the position beacon system 200, including the mat 202, and the fitness activity server 112 are adapted to interact with one another to provide the fitness monitoring methods of the present invention.
In step 606, a unique time-stamped location signal is transmitted from a transmitter 204 of a stationary position beacon system mat 202. The signal may include the location of the mat 202 and the time at which the signal was transmitted. In step 608, the time-stamped location signal is received by a local transceiver 13 supported by the participant 100. The local transceiver 13 may be part of the portable fitness monitoring device 102, or may be a separate device in wireless communication with the beacon system transmitter 204.
In step 610, based on the time-stamped location data received from the stationary position beacon system mat 202, the system 10 modifies the participant performance data. For example, due to error tolerances or communication difficulties with GPS satellites 20 (e.g., when the participant 100 traverses under a bridge) the participant location determined based on the GPS signal received by the portable fitness monitoring device 102 may be imprecise. Because the exact location of the stationary position beacon system mat 202 is known, this location information may be used to determine a more precise location of the participant 100. In one embodiment, the location information received from the mat 202 may replace the location data determined based on the GPS signal alone. In another embodiment, the location data determined based on the GPS signal may be adjusted based on the location information received from the mat 202. For example, an average of the two sets of coordinates may be used as the modified participant location data. Because the participant location information is correlated with the time it was received, based on the time-stamped location signal received from the mat 202, other participant performance data including speed, pace, and distance travelled may be modified to provide more accurate data. Participant performance data previously determined during the fitness activity also may be updated accordingly.
In one embodiment, the updated participant performance data may be transmitted to server 112. In one embodiment, the updated participant performance data may be displayed to the participant 100 on the display 15 of the portable fitness monitoring device 102. The data may be continuously displayed during the fitness activity and also may be displayed after the fitness activity has been completed. In one embodiment, calculations necessary to modify the participant performance data may be performed by processor 14 on the portable fitness monitoring device 102 according to known techniques for calculating location, speed, pace, and distance, for example, from time-stamped GPS signals. In another embodiment, some or all of the calculations may be performed on fitness activity server 112. These calculations may be performed during and/or after the fitness activity.
With reference to
In embodiments of the present invention, the portable fitness monitoring device 102 may be used in conjunction with, or separate from, the position beacon system 200. For example, in one embodiment, the location of the participant 100 may be determined based on the GPS signals received by the portable fitness monitoring device 102 only. This location data may then be used for real-time tracking of the participant 100 during the fitness activity and/or to see the route traversed by the participant 200, for example, when the participant is viewing a workout summary after a race. In one embodiment, the time-stamped location data transmitted by the race mat 202 may be the only data used to determine other participant performance data, such as pace, speed, and distance, for example. This performance data may be used, for example, to provide real-time performance data to the participant 200 and/or spectator 300, and coaching feedback to the participant 200. In other embodiments, as described above, corrected participant performance data may be determined using both the portable fitness monitoring device 102 and the position beacon system 200.
The server 112 may be, for example, a telecommunication server, a web server, or other similar types of database servers. In an embodiment, server 112 may have multiple processors and multiple shared or separate memory components such as, for example, one or more computing devices incorporated in a clustered computing environment or server farm. The computing process performed by the clustered computing environment, or server farm, can be carried out across multiple processors located at the same or different locations. In an embodiment, server 112 can be implemented on a single computing device.
In one embodiment, as shown in
As will be appreciated, in an embodiment, the network 110 may be the internet. The internet is a worldwide collection of servers, routers, switches and transmission lines that employ the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) to communicate data. In an alternate embodiment, the network may be a private network or intranet, such as, for example, a network dedicated to a particular fitness activity (e.g., the New York City Marathon). Other suitable communication networks may be used.
Alerts regarding the location of the participant 100 and/or spectator 300 may be sent to individuals, such as spectator 300, based on one or more predetermined alert parameters. Because the location of the participant 100 may be corrected based on the location data from the position beacon system 200, the alerts may be more accurate and the likelihood of the participant 100 and spectator 300 being able to interact during the fitness activity may be increased.
Alert parameters may be set by the participant 100 and/or the spectator 300 prior to or during the fitness activity. For example, in embodiments that include a “Live Tracking” mobile application, the application may provide an interface for defining the alert parameters. The alert parameters may be stored on the server 112 and accessed by the portable fitness monitoring device 102 and/or spectator device 302 over the network 110 (e.g., when a monitoring application is initiated), or may be stored on the devices themselves.
In one embodiment, the alert parameter may be distance based. For example, the spectator 300 may be alerted when the participant 100 is within a certain distance of their present location (e.g., 200 m). In one embodiment, the parameter may be time based and the spectator 300 may be alerted when the participant 100 is within a predetermined time of their present location. In one embodiment, this determination (i.e., estimated time of arrival) may be made based on the current location of the participant 100 and performance data received by the portable fitness monitoring device 102 from one or more receivers or sensors. For example, the estimated time of arrival may be based on the current pace of the participant 100. Because performance data, including the pace of the participant may be more accurately determined using data provided by mat 202, the alerts provided may be more accurate and the likelihood of the participant 100 and spectator 300 being able to interact during the fitness activity may be increased.
The alerts provided to the participant 100 and/or the spectator 300 may be visual, audible, tactile, or any combination thereof. To provide these alerts, the portable fitness monitoring device 102 and the spectator device 302 are adapted to convey information to the user in this manner. With reference to
A visual alert may visually indicate to the participant 100 and/or spectator 300 the other's location, as shown, for example, in
As the participant 100 continues to traverse the route, the graphical symbol may move accordingly in real-time on the display. In one embodiment, the depiction of the participant 100 and the spectator 300 may comprise a photo or avatar of the individual. The visual alert may include graphical symbols of landmarks along the course, such as, start line, finish line, mile markers, water stations, or streets and landmarks specific to a particular event (e.g., First Avenue and Lexington during the New York City Marathon). The graphical symbols, including photos and avatars, may be stored on server 112, fitness database 113, and/or social network database 114, for example. As shown in
An audible alert may audibly indicate to the participant 100 and/or spectator 300 that the other is approaching through device speaker 19, 305 or headphones (not shown), for example. In one embodiment, the audible alert may include a standard message that “The spectator is at mile marker 20” or “The participant is approaching in 30 seconds.” In one embodiment, the audible alert may be a customized, pre-recorded message. For example, spectator 300 may pre-record a message such as “Keep it up John! I'll see you in one mile!” which may provide additional motivation and encouragement to the participant. Alerts may be stored on the respective devices 102, 302 or on server 112.
A tactile alert may also indicate to the participant 100 and/or spectator 300 that the other is approaching. For example, a vibrating element of the spectator device 302 may vibrate when the participant 100 is within 200 m or within a specific time (e.g., 20 seconds).
In one embodiment, visual, audible, and/or tactile alerts may be sent to the participant 100 and/or spectator 300 at predetermined intervals, locations, distances, or times that are unrelated to the location of the other. For example, an audible message may be sent to the participant 100 every 5 miles or 30 minutes of a race or when the participant or spectator arrives at a particular mile marker or landmark, for example.
In some embodiments in which portable fitness monitoring device 102 is not phone enabled, the device is adapted to transmit GPS data over the network 110. For example, portable fitness monitoring device 102 may comprise a GPS-enabled watch adapted to transmit over the network 110 (e.g., using a GSM module). In some embodiments, portable fitness monitoring device 102 may not include a built-in GPS receiver 12. As such, participant performance data may be determined based solely on the time-stamped location data received by the device at each of the plurality of mats 202. For example, after the fitness activity a participant may upload the time-stamped location data from the plurality of mats 202 and the participant's location, speed, and pace may be determined along the predetermined route. In some embodiments, the location data based only on the GPS signal 22 from the satellites 20 may be used to provide location information to the spectator 300, and the performance data determined only using the position beacon system 200 data may be used to calculate participant performance data such as speed, pace, and distance.
In some embodiments, the methods described herein are adapted to be used with multiple participants 100. As will be appreciated, data transmitted to server 112 may include identifying information unique to each particular participant 200 so that the data may be properly stored and/or manipulated on server 112. In addition, a spectator 300 may track multiple participants 100.
The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the invention that others can, by applying knowledge within the skill of the art, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments, without undue experimentation, without departing from the general concept of the present invention. Therefore, such adaptations and modifications are intended to be within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments, based on the teaching and guidance presented herein. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation, such that the terminology or phraseology of the present specification is to be interpreted by the skilled artisan in light of the teachings and guidance.
The breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/793,067, filed Oct. 25, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/184,638, filed Jun. 16, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,814,937, issued Nov. 14, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/335,629, filed Dec. 22, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,424,397, issued Aug. 23, 2016, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
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