Athletic-wear having integral measuring sensors

• US 10,070,817 B1
• Filed: 10/03/2016
• Issued: 09/11/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mayfonk Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Mayfonk Incorporated
• Inventors: Matak, Martin T., Spaleta, Jef
• Primary Examiner(s): PATEL, DHARTI HARIDAS
• Application Number:
  US15/284,027
• Time in Patent Office: 708 Days
• Field of Search: 34087007
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6807 Footwear
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 5/0095 measuring work or mechanical power
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/00 Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions information retrieval, database structures or file system structures therefor G06F16/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/75 by polling or interrogating the sub-stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom

Abstract

A performance measuring system integrated with an article of clothing, the system has a computing unit for coordinating, processing and transmission of sensor data connected to a bus and an antenna. A sensor for measuring performance characteristics is connected to the bus; the bus facilitates transmission and reception of control and data values between the computing unit and the sensor. Also, an antenna is connected to the computing unit for communicating with other computing devices and transmission of sensor data. The other computing devices display the sensor data to a user or forward the sensor data onto another communication media such as the internet or interactive television. A social networking system sharing athletic statistics using a webservice, a personal processing unit connectible to the webservice, and a computing unit having an activity program for at least one sensor. This system has an activity update service integrally associated with the webservice.

Claims

1. A system for tracking athletic movements comprising:

one or more sensors configured to generate electrical signals descriptive of detected physical movement of an athlete during a sporting event;

a computing unit configured to;

obtain, during the sporting event, the electrical signals generated by the one or more sensors in real time,

determine, during the sporting event, one or more athletic performance parameters in real time based on the obtained electrical signals, and

compute, during the sporting event, one or more performance assessments for the athlete based on the one or more determined athletic performance parameters, wherein the one or more performance assessments;

(i) correspond specifically to a sport of the sporting event, and

(ii) indicate at least a peak athletic performance metric for the athlete; and

one or more external computing devices configured to;

communicate, during the sporting event, data indicating content associated with the sporting event over a network to multiple subscriber devices that are determined to be connected to a social network, wherein the content;

(i) enables an interactive display of the one or more performance assessments on the multiple subscriber devices, and

(ii) specifies multimedia corresponding to at least one of the one or more performance assessments.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the multimedia corresponding to at least one of the one or more performance assessments comprises an advertisement representing a sponsor endorsement of the athlete.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the one or more external computing devices comprises a server system running a web service, and

the web service permits users associated with the multiple subscriber devices to upload and download data indicating the content associated with the sporting event.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors and the computing unit are positioned within a same housing of a computing device.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the computing device is a wearable device.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the one or more athletic performance parameters comprises an athletic performance parameter that represents data for a plurality of measurements for an activity performed by the athlete; and

the one or more performance assessments comprises a performance assessment representing an optimal performance for the activity performed by the athlete.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein:

the data for the plurality of measurements for the activity performed by the athlete comprises vertical jump height data for a plurality of vertical jumps performed by the athlete; and

the optimal performance for the activity performed by the athlete comprises an optimal vertical jump height at which the athlete is most likely to successfully complete a jump shot during a basketball game.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein:

the data for the plurality of measurements for the activity performed by the athlete comprises ball strike data for a plurality of golf ball strikes performed by the athlete; and

the optimal performance for the activity performed by the athlete comprises an optimal ball strike force for striking a golf ball during a golf game.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein:

the data for the plurality of measurements for the activity performed by the athlete comprises tire rotation data for a cycling activity performed by the athlete; and

the optimal performance for the activity performed by the athlete comprises an optimal revolution per minute (RPM) for the cycling activity.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more external computing devices are further configured to:

provide, for output to a display device associated with the sporting event during the sporting event, data indicating the content associated with the sporting event, the content (i) enabling display of the one or more performance assessments on the display device during the sporting event, and (ii) specifying multimedia corresponding to at least one of the one or more performance assessments.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the interactive display of the one or more performance assessments comprises a user interface that permits a user of a subscriber to upload and download the one or more performance assessments from a web service.

12. A computer-implemented method comprising:

obtaining, during a sporting event, movement data detected in real time by one or more sensors, the movement data corresponding to physical movement of an athlete;

determining, during the sporting event, one or more athletic performance parameters for the athlete in real time based at least on the obtained movement data;

computing, during the sporting event, one or more performance assessments for the athlete in real time based at least on the one or more determined athletic performance parameters, wherein the one or more performance assessments;

(i) correspond specifically to a sport of the sporting event, and

(ii) indicate at least a peak athletic performance metric for the athlete; and

communicating, during the sporting event and to one or more subscriber devices, data indicating content that;

(i) enables an interactive display of the one or more performance assessments on the multiple subscriber devices, and

(ii) specifies multimedia corresponding to at least one of the one or more performance assessments.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the multimedia corresponding to at least one of the one or more performance assessments comprises an advertisement representing a sponsor endorsement of the athlete.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein:

the one or more performance assessments for the athlete are determined by a computing unit; and

the one or more sensors and the computing unit are positioned within a same housing of a computing device.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the computing device is a wearable device.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein:

communicating the data indicating content comprises communicating the data using a web service that runs on a server system; and

the web service permits users associated with the multiple subscriber devices to upload and download data indicating the content associated with the sporting event.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein:

the one or more athletic performance parameters comprises an athletic performance parameter that represents data for a plurality of measurements for an activity performed by the athlete;

the one or more performance assessments comprises a performance assessment representing an optimal performance for the activity performed by the athlete.

18. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

providing, for output to a display device associated with the sporting event during the sporting event, data indicating the content associated with the sporting event, the content (i) enabling display of the one or more performance assessments on the display device, and (ii) specifying multimedia corresponding to at least one of the one or more performance assessments.

19. A computer-implemented method comprising:

obtaining movement data detected in real time by one or more sensors, the movement data corresponding to physical movement of an athlete during a sporting event;

processing, during the sporting event, the obtained movement data in real time;

determining, during the sporting event, one or more athletic performance parameters for the athlete in real time based at least on processing the obtained movement data;

computing, during the sporting event, one or more performance assessments for the athlete in real time based at least on the one or more determined athletic performance parameters, wherein the one or more performance assessments;

(i) correspond specifically to a sport of the sporting event, and

(i) indicate at least a peak performance metric for the athlete;

identifying, during the sporting event, one or more subscriber devices that are determined to be connected to a social network associated with the sporting event; and

communicating, during the sporting event, data indicating content associated with the sporting event over a network to multiple subscriber devices that are determined to be connected to a social network, the data indicating content that;

(i) enables an interactive display of the one or more performance assessments on the multiple subscriber devices, and

(ii) specifies multimedia corresponding to at least one of the one or more performance assessments.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the multimedia corresponding to at least one of the one or more performance assessments comprises an advertisement representing a sponsor endorsement of the athlete.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein:

communicating the data indicating content associated with the sporting event comprises communicating the data using a web service that runs on a server system; and

the web service permits users associated with the multiple subscriber devices to upload and download data indicating the content associated with the sporting event.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein:

the one or more performance assessments for the athlete are determined by a computing unit; and

the one or more sensors and the computing unit are positioned within a same housing of a computing device.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein the computing device is a wearable device.