Patent Application
20140135173
The present application relates to an exercise workout system and method. More specifically, the present system and methods detail a workout system that links multiple participants in a workout scenario that provides motivation and competition.
Many people have difficulty maintaining the motivation necessary to exercise on a regular basis. This may be especially true for individual sports such as running, cycling, rowing, and elliptical training; even more so when the activity is performed on an exercise machine such as a treadmill. Many exercise facilities attempt to distract runners from the monotony of running in place by providing entertainment in the form of televisions with audio outputs connected to each treadmill. Many runners use music devices to entertain themselves while exercising. Accordingly, people using exercise machines tend to keep to themselves as they listen to their own music or a television program. Thus, even when surrounded by other people at the gym, using an exercise machine is often a solitary endeavor.
Attempts to make using exercise machines more interesting include tracking performance statistics for users. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,088,044, issued to Tchao, et al. and assigned to Nike, Inc., provides an immediate, visual type of feedback to provide motivation for regular exercise. According to the '044 patent, experienced athletes and trainers have found that feedback provides many people with motivation to maintain a regular exercise program. When a person can directly experience the results provided by an exercise program, that person typically will be encouraged to continue exercising. Although this is a slight improvement over the standard speed and time data available on most exercise machines, the '044 patent does not address the monotony of a solitary workout.
One aspect of traditional exercise machines that contributes to the monotony of stationary exercise is the lack of a realistic or meaningful terrain profile. Traditional treadmills, for example, have a simple speed and incline setting that is usually static or follows an artificial preprogrammed profile. This issue is addressed by U.S. Pat. No. 8,029,415, issued to Ashby, et al. and assigned to ICON IP, Inc., by providing a system for simulating real world terrain on an exercise machine. The system is able to control one or more operating parameters of an exercise machine to simulate terrain found at a remote, real world location. The system includes images/videos of the remote, real world location. The images/videos can be synchronized with the exercise machine so that a user of the exercise machine is able to experience, via the changing operating parameters, the topographical characteristics of the remote, real world location as well as see images of the location.
In one aspect of the disclosure a workout system includes one or more exercise machines with adjustable difficulty settings. A wireless tracking device measures workout difficulty parameter values of a remote participant's workout and communicates the difficulty parameter values to the one or more exercise machines. The difficulty settings of the one or more exercise machines are adjusted based on the difficulty parameter values.
Another aspect of the disclosure may include any combination of the above mentioned features, and may further include the difficulty parameters including speed, incline, resistance, gear selection, and cadence.
Another aspect of the disclosure may include any combination of the above mentioned features, and may further include the exercise machine being a treadmill, elliptical machine, stationary bicycle, and a rowing machine.
Another aspect of the disclosure may include any combination of the above mentioned features, and may further include the tracking device in the form of a GPS.
Another aspect of the disclosure may include any combination of the above mentioned features, and may further include the tracking device in the form of at least one accelerometer.
Another aspect of the disclosure may include any combination of the above mentioned features and may further include at least one display device associated with the one or more exercise machines.
Another aspect of the disclosure may include any combination of the above mentioned features and may further include a remote camera system wearable by the remote participant and operative to transmit images to the at least one display device.
Another aspect of the disclosure may include any combination of the above mentioned features and may further include a display device mounted on each of the one or more exercise machines.
Another aspect of the disclosure may include any combination of the above mentioned features, and may further include each display device being operative to display the difficulty parameter values.
In one aspect of the disclosure a multi-participant workout system includes a group of exercise machines each with adjustable difficulty settings and including a display device. A wireless tracking device measures workout difficulty parameter values of a remote participant's workout and communicates the difficulty parameter values to the group of exercise machines, where the wireless tracking device may include GPS. A remote camera system is wearable by the remote participant and transmits images to the display devices. The difficulty settings of the exercise machines are adjusted based on the difficulty parameter values.
Another aspect of the disclosure may include any combination of the above mentioned features, and may further include the difficulty parameters being speed, incline, resistance, gear selection, and cadence.
Another aspect of the disclosure may include any combination of the above mentioned features, and may further include the exercise machine being a treadmill, elliptical machine, stationary bicycle, and a rowing machine.
Another aspect of the disclosure may include any combination of the above mentioned features, and may further include the tracking device in the form of at least one accelerometer.
In one aspect of the disclosure a multi-participant workout method includes providing a group of interconnected exercise machines each with adjustable difficulty settings; designating a pacing participant and at least one following participant among a group of participants using the group of exercise machines; tracking performance parameters of the pacing participant; and adjusting the difficulty settings of the following participants' exercise machines based on the performance parameters of the pacing participant.
Another aspect of the disclosure may include any combination of the above mentioned features, and may further include the pacing participant being designated based on the lowest performance participant.
Another aspect of the disclosure may include any combination of the above mentioned features, and may further include the pacing participant being designated based on the highest performance participant.
Another aspect of the disclosure may include any combination of the above mentioned features, and may further include the performance parameters being selected from the group consisting of speed, incline, resistance, gear selection, and cadence.
Another aspect of the disclosure may include any combination of the above mentioned features, where the exercise machines may be selected from the group consisting of a treadmill, elliptical machine, stationary bicycle, and a rowing machine.
Another aspect of the disclosure may include any combination of the above mentioned features, where each exercise machine may include a display device and further comprising displaying the performance parameters of the pacing participant.
Another aspect of the disclosure may include any combination of the above mentioned features, where each exercise machine may include a camera.
These and other aspects of the disclosed technology and its various embodiments will be apparent after consideration of the Detailed Description and Figures herein.
The accompanying drawings illustrate various embodiments of the present system and method and are a part of the specification. The illustrated embodiments are merely examples of the present system and method and do not limit the scope thereof.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements.
Embodiments of the present system and method are described more fully below with reference to the accompanying figures, which form a part hereof and show, by way of illustration, specific embodiments. These embodiments are disclosed in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the system and method. However, embodiments may be implemented in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.
The disclosed workout system provides an interactive group activity. Thus, the workout system allows a workout activity to be social. This social aspect of the workout system promotes competition, teamwork and thereby motivates the participants to not only show up and participate, but also to push themselves to beat their fellow participants and/or exceed their own previous performance benchmarks.
Treadmill 20 includes a base platform 22 having a tread 24. Tread 24 rotates about rollers and travels at a selected speed indicated by arrow “S”. The platform may be raised and lowered as indicated by arrow “I,” indicating incline. The speed and incline of the treadmill represent variable difficulty parameters, or operating parameters, which may be adjusted depending on the desired level of workout difficulty. Accordingly, the exercise machine includes adjustable difficulty settings corresponding to the difficulty parameters.
In this case, the exercise machine being a treadmill, the variable adjustable difficulty settings are speed and incline; however, for other exercise machines, the variables may be different. For example, difficulty parameters may include speed, incline, resistance, gear selection, and cadence depending on the exercise machine. The difficulty settings may be adjusted from either the control panel 26 or remotely from server 14 via the wireless transceiver 32. Adjustment of the exercise machine difficulty settings may be accomplished as described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,029,415, which describes a system for simulating real world terrain on an exercise device, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
In this embodiment, treadmill 20 includes a control panel 26 which houses a display device 28. Display device 28 is operable to display images, operating parameters, difficulty parameters, performance statistics, and the like. Treadmill 20 also includes communication devices for two-way communication between multiple exercise machines. For example, treadmill 20 includes a camera 30, a speaker 37, and a microphone 33. Accordingly, video and audio communications may be transmitted between multiple exercise machines either locally or in remote locations.
As mentioned with respect to workout system 10, multiple exercise machines may be interconnected via network 12. For example, with reference to
Wireless tracking device 40 may be attached to the remote participant 5 with a harness 42. Also, the harness and tracking device may support a remote camera system 50 for transmitting workout images back to the co-located participants 1-4 (as well as other remote participants). Remote camera system 50 includes camera 52 and a mounting arm 54. In this case, camera 52 is directed towards the remote participant 5 thereby providing face-to-face video communication with the remote participants 1-4. Also, other cameras may be mounted to the remote participant 5, such as a helmet camera or other remote camera location. For example, camera 52 may be activated when remote participant 5 wishes to address the group of participants 1-4. Alternatively, a helmet mounted camera, may be active the rest of the time to show the trail along which the participant is running or riding. Again, although this embodiment of the workout system discloses a runner with associated treadmills, another scenario might include a mountain biker interconnected with a group of stationary bicycles, each of which is adjusted for speed, gear selection, and incline based on the mountain biker's actual terrain profile.
In this case remote participant 5 is equipped with a microphone 44, which is operative to provide audio communication via network 12 back to the participants 1-4. The audio and video communication originating from remote participant 5 may be displayed to each participant 1-4 via the display 28 and speaker 37 disposed on each treadmill 20. Alternatively, a common display device 34 associated with the exercise machines may be provided in a co-located venue such as the gym. Display device 34 may be associated with speakers 36, all of which provide a common view of the remote participant's workout. In this case, display device 34 is a flat-screen television and includes an image that represents video from the remote participant 5. As indicated, the display device 34 and speakers 36 may send and receive data through the wireless transceiver 32. However, other connection means may be used as well.
The determination of the lowest- and highest-performing participants may be based on historical data from previous workouts, which is stored on server 14. As an alternative, a pre-workout or qualifying period may be designated in which each participant sets their own pace from which the workout system chooses the pacing participant based on performance criteria, such as the lowest- or highest-performance.
Although each treadmill and participant are shown in a co-located arrangement in
Also contemplated herein is a multi-participant workout method. The method includes providing a group of interconnected exercise machines, each with adjustable difficulty settings. A pacing participant and following participants are designated among a group of participants using the exercise machines. Performance parameters are tracked for the pacing participant and the difficulty settings for the following participants' exercise machines are adjusted based on the performance parameters. In an embodiment, the pacing participant is designated based on the lowest-performance participant. In another embodiment, the pacing participant is designated based on the highest-performance participant.
The workout system may keep track of challenges and achievements. Examples of achievements and challenges tracked by the system include:
Achievements are tracked by logging user actions and publishing them to a private list. Items on the list may be granular to allow for many achievement types. Some items may be derived from others. For example, if the user went to a club or not may be derived from the workout. The list will include:
Challenges may have the following characteristics:
The system may also track workouts as follows:
Segments may include the following characteristics:
Information, including the various achievement metrics, challenges, workouts and segments, may be stored on server 14 for each participant. The information may be recorded as a participant uses an exercise machine. Information may be input from the control panel 26 of a treadmill 20. In addition, the system may have a web interface for inputting information and reviewing individual participant statistics.
Referring now to
Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention. The above identified components and modules may be superseded by new technologies as advancements to computer technology continue.
The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a group of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.
In general, the workout system provides a social interactive exercise program in which multiple participants can participate in competitions or pacing events. In addition, the participants may have two-way communication, both video and audio, to communicate with each other as a group or on an individual basis by selecting individual users with which the participant wishes to communicate. In one aspect of the technology, a remote participant outfitted with a wireless tracking device and remote camera system may lead the group through real terrain, such as a trail or hike. The tracking device is operative to measure the remote participant's workout difficulty parameters and adjust the group's treadmill operating parameters to match that of the remote participant's workout. The participant's workout is thus more motivating and realistic and less monotonous than a pre-programmed or static workout program. Multiple participants may be interconnected via a wireless network, including web, Internet, cell phone, etc. Each treadmill or exercise machine may be equipped with a display device, camera, speaker and microphone which provide for two-way communication, both audio and video. Accordingly, a remote participant could be a group leader, such as a workout coach, or even a celebrity athlete who could lead an entire group of remotely located participants on a real-time basis.
In another aspect of the technology, the workout system provides a social exercise activity which is paced by either the fastest or the slowest person in the group, thereby promoting camaraderie, motivation, teamwork, and a support structure. The workout system in this case may first establish the pacing participant by measuring their performance parameters during a selected qualifying period or may be designated based on historical data from previous workouts.
Accordingly, the workout system and methods have been described with some degree of particularity directed to the embodiments. It should be appreciated, however, that the present invention is defined by the following claims construed in light of the prior art so that modifications or changes may be made to the embodiments without departing from the inventive concepts contained herein.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent application 61/720,880 filed on Oct. 31, 2012.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61720880 | Oct 2012 | US |
