DETERMINING X,Y,Z,T BIOMECHANICS OF MOVING ACTOR WITH MULTIPLE CAMERAS
First Claim
1. A method of determining multi-dimensional (mD) performance attributes of an in-the-field and moving sports participant who, at least at certain times routinely hovers about a predetermined hovering area while participating in a live in-the-field sports event, where the mD performance attributes are ones mapped along a time line as well as over a plurality of spatial reference coordinates and where the moving sports participant has a plurality of identifiable body parts, the method comprising:
- receiving and recording at least first and second two-dimensional (2D) images of the moving sports participant from respective at least first and second high speed cameras, where each of the at least first and second cameras operates at more than 30 frames per second and where the respective at least first and second cameras are respectively pointed to have different points of view of the predetermined hovering area; and
determining from at least two of the received and recorded 2D images, a multi-dimensional (mD) smooth and continuous motion curve of a selected one of the identifiable body parts of the moving sports participant, the multi-dimensional (mD) motion curve covering a continuous segment of time in which the moving sports participant was performing an in-the-field play action.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A plurality of high speed tracking cameras are pointed towards a routine hovering area of an in-the-field sports participant who routinely hovers about that area. Spots within the hovering area are registered relative to a predetermined multi-dimensional coordinates reference frame (e.g., Xw, Yw, Zw, Tw) such that two-dimensional coordinates of 2D images captured by the high speed tracking cameras can be converted to multi-dimensional coordinates of the reference frame. A body part recognizing unit recognizes 2D locations of a specific body part in the 2D captured images and a mapping unit maps them into the multi-dimensional coordinates of the reference frame. A multi-dimensional curve generator then generates a multi-dimensional motion curve describing motion of the body part based on the mapped coordinates (e.g., Xw, Yw, Zw, Tw). The generated multi-dimensional motion curve is used to discover cross correlations between play action motions of the in-the-field sports participant and real-world sports results.
72 Citations
33 Claims
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1. A method of determining multi-dimensional (mD) performance attributes of an in-the-field and moving sports participant who, at least at certain times routinely hovers about a predetermined hovering area while participating in a live in-the-field sports event, where the mD performance attributes are ones mapped along a time line as well as over a plurality of spatial reference coordinates and where the moving sports participant has a plurality of identifiable body parts, the method comprising:
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receiving and recording at least first and second two-dimensional (2D) images of the moving sports participant from respective at least first and second high speed cameras, where each of the at least first and second cameras operates at more than 30 frames per second and where the respective at least first and second cameras are respectively pointed to have different points of view of the predetermined hovering area; and determining from at least two of the received and recorded 2D images, a multi-dimensional (mD) smooth and continuous motion curve of a selected one of the identifiable body parts of the moving sports participant, the multi-dimensional (mD) motion curve covering a continuous segment of time in which the moving sports participant was performing an in-the-field play action. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A machine-implemented system for determining multi-dimensional (mD) performance attributes of an in-the-field and moving sports participant who, at least at certain times routinely hovers about a predetermined hovering area while participating in a live in-the-field sports event, where mD performance attributes are ones mapped along a time line as well as over a plurality of spatial reference coordinates and where the moving sports participant has a plurality of identifiable body parts, the system comprising:
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at least first and second high speed cameras, where each of the at least first and second cameras operates at more than 30 frames per second and where the respective at least first and second cameras are respectively pointed to have different points of view of the predetermined hovering area; a footage recording unit configured to receive and record corresponding two-dimensional (2D) images of the moving sports participant from respective ones of the at least first and second high speed cameras; and recorded footage discarding unit configured to determine which segment parts of the received and recorded corresponding two-dimensional images are to be selectively kept and which to be discarded, where the kept segments are usable for determining a multi-dimensional (mD) smooth and continuous motion curve of a selected one of the identifiable body parts of the moving sports participant, the mD motion curve covering a continuous segment of time in which the moving sports participant was performing an in-the-field play action. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A sports field configured for use by one or more in-the-field sports participants of a pre-specified sport, the sports field having one or more routine hovering areas where a corresponding one or more of the sports participants routinely hovers about during participation in the pre-specified sport and the sports field being equipped with:
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first, second and third high speed cameras that are disposed at different locations about the sports field so to have respective points of view covering at least a first of the one or more routine hovering areas, each of the first through third cameras being configured to operate at more than 30 frames per second and each of the first through third cameras being operatively coupled to a corresponding one of one or more footage capture devices; and
being further equipped witha play action finished or entered-into detecting device; wherein the one or more footage capture devices are configured to receive and record corresponding first, second and third two-dimensional (2D) image footages of a moving at least one of the one or more sports participants from the corresponding first, second and third high speed cameras such that motion of at least one pre-specified body part of the at least one in-the-field sports participant can be captured during a play action event for generating an interpolated multi-dimensional (mD) motion curve thereof based on position samples obtained from the recorded footages of at least two of the first through third cameras, where the mD motion curve extends within a multi-dimensional (mD) space having at least time (Tw) as well three spatial coordinate specifiers (e.g., Xw, Yw and Zw) as its multiple dimensions; and wherein the one or more footage capture devices are operatively coupled to the play action finished or entered-into detecting device, the detecting device being configured to provide an indication that a play action event has commenced or has just finished at a cameras-covered one of the one or more routine hovering areas, the one or more footage capture devices being configured to selectively automatically keep only a portion of the recorded footages based on a corresponding timing signal received from the detecting device and indicating that a play action event has commenced or has just finished at the cameras-covered one of the one or more routine hovering areas. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification