Multiplayer social exercise game method and system with various types of exercises or equipments

• US 8,858,331 B2
• Filed: 12/13/2011
• Issued: 10/14/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/20/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
• Original Assignee: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
• Inventors: Song, June-Hwa, Park, Tai-Woo, Park, Soun-Eil, Yoo, Chung-Kuk, Park, Byung-Lim
• Primary Examiner(s): Brewster, William M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hsu, Ryan
• Application Number:
  US13/324,542
• Publication Number:
  US 20120190416A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,036 Days
• Field of Search: 463/36, 463/39, 463/40, 463/42
• US Class Current: 463/36
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2225/50 Wireless data transmission, e.g. by radio transmitters or telemetry
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/212 using sensors worn by the player, e.g. for measuring heart beat or leg activity
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/245 specially adapted to a particular type of game, e.g. steering wheels
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/355 Performing operations on behalf of clients with restricted processing capabilities, e.g. servers transform changing game scene into an encoded video stream for transmitting to a mobile phone or a thin client
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/42 by mapping the input signals into game commands, e.g. mapping the displacement of a stylus on a touch screen to the steering angle of a virtual vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/57 Simulating properties, behaviour or motion of objects in the game world, e.g. computing tyre load in a car race game A63F13/56 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/816 Athletics, e.g. track-and-field sports
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1062 being specially adapted to a type of game, e.g. steering wheel
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/535 for monitoring, e.g. of user parameters, terminal parameters, application parameters, network parameters
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8005 Athletics
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/131 Protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality

Abstract

An exercise game system of the present invention includes a plurality of game clients and a game server. The game clients transmit over a network, exercise intensity information in which exercise intensities of the players performing various types of exercises are measured. The game server drives an exercise game by receiving exercise intensity information of the respective players from the game clients over the network, and by determining a motion of a game object to be displayed on a game screen based on exercise intensity information that is balanced according to a predetermined balancing rule about at least one element of exercise intensity, a change rate, and a duration time according to different types of exercises. In this instance, the game screen is represented to be capable of recognizing the motion of the game object that is affected by adjusting the intensity of exercise performed by the players.

Claims

1. An exercise game system, comprising:

a plurality of game clients to transmit, over a network, exercise intensity information in which exercise intensities of a plurality of players performing various types of exercises are measured; and

a game server to drive an exercise game by receiving exercise intensity information of the respective players from the game clients over the network, and by determining a motion of a game object to be displayed on a game screen based on exercise intensity information that is balanced according to a predetermined balancing rule about at least one element of exercise intensity, a change rate, and a duration time according to different types of exercises,

wherein the game screen is represented to be capable of recognizing the motion of the game object that is affected by adjusting the intensity of exercise performed by the players,

wherein the game server operates to provide the balanced exercise intensity information by normalizing the exercise intensity information to the same scale using a difference between the minimum exercise intensity and the maximum exercise intensity that are empirically obtained according to the different types of exercises with respect to the balancing rule of the exercise intensity, and

wherein the balanced exercise intensity information is defined as v_obj=α

×

(v_ex−

v<sub>ex—

min</sub>),

where v_obj denotes the balanced exercise intensity information, v_ex denotes received current exercise intensity information, α

is defined as v<sub>obj—

max</sub>/(v<sub>ex—

vig</sub>−

v<sub>ex—

min</sub>), v<sub>obj—

max</sub> denotes the maximum speed of the game object, v<sub>ex—

vig</sub> denotes the maximum exercise intensity of a corresponding exercise, and v<sub>ex—

min</sub> denotes the minimum exercise intensity.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the game server operates to drive a mathematical model, pre-produced with respect to the game object, based on the balanced exercise intensity information, and to thereby determine the motion of the game object.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the mathematical model is a model that is produced based on a physical characteristic of the game object to be capable of determining the motion of the game object.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the various types of exercises include any one of exercise using at least one of a running machine, a rowing machine, a heath bicycle, a stepper, a swing stepper, a jump rope, and a hula hoop, stretching exercise in a state of wearing a tool capable of measuring a heart rate or a frequency, or weight training, and a combination thereof.

5. An exercise game system, comprising:

a plurality of game clients to transmit, over a network, exercise intensity information in which exercise intensities of a plurality of players performing various types of exercises are measured; and

a game server to drive an exercise game by receiving exercise intensity information of the respective players from the game clients over the network, and by determining a motion of a game object to be displayed on a game screen based on exercise intensity information that is balanced according to a predetermined balancing rule about at least one element of exercise intensity, a change rate, and a duration time according to different types of exercises,

wherein the game screen is represented to be capable of recognizing the motion of the game object that is affected by adjusting the intensity of exercise performed by the players,

wherein the game server operates to provide the balanced exercise intensity information by normalizing a temporal change rate of the exercise intensity information to the same scale using the maximum value, the minimum value, or the average value of exercise intensity change rates that are empirically obtained according to the different types of exercises with respect to the balancing rule of the change rate, and by reflecting a normalized change rate to the exercise intensity information, and

wherein the balanced exercise intensity change rate is defined as a_obj=β

×

a_ex,

where a_obj denotes the balanced exercise intensity change rate, a_ex denotes a current exercise intensity change rate, β

is defined as a_tgt/a<sub>ex—

max</sub>, a_tgt denotes target acceleration of the game object, and a<sub>ex—

max</sub> denotes the maximum exercise intensity change rate of a corresponding exercise.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the game server operates to drive a mathematical model, pre-produced with respect to the game object, based on the balanced exercise intensity information, and to thereby determine the motion of the game object.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the mathematical model is a model that is produced based on a physical characteristic of the game object to be capable of determining the motion of the game object.

9. The system of claim 5, wherein the various types of exercises include any one of exercise using at least one of a running machine, a rowing machine, a heath bicycle, a stepper, a swing stepper, a jump rope, and a hula hoop, stretching exercise in a state of wearing a tool capable of measuring a heart rate or a frequency, or weight training, and a combination thereof.

6. An exercise game system, comprising:

a plurality of game clients to transmit, over a network, exercise intensity information in which exercise intensities of a plurality of players performing various types of exercises are measured; and

a game server to drive an exercise game by receiving exercise intensity information of the respective players from the game clients over the network, and by determining a motion of a game object to be displayed on a game screen based on exercise intensity information that is balanced according to a predetermined balancing rule about at least one element of exercise intensity, a change rate, and a duration time according to different types of exercises,

wherein the game screen is represented to be capable of recognizing the motion of the game object that is affected by adjusting the intensity of exercise performed by the players,

wherein the game server operates to accumulate an excessive quantity of exercise according to the different types of exercises and to decrease the exercise intensity based on the accumulated excess quantity of exercise temporarily during a period of time,

wherein the excessive quantity of exercise is calculated by comparing the metabolic equivalents of task (MET) for an exercise with the smallest MET among METs that are empirically obtained with respect to the different types of exercises during exercise, and

wherein when a player having an accumulated the excessive quantity of exercise to be greater than or equal to a predetermined value selects a cruise control mode, the game server operates to provide at least one of exercise intensity information of when entering into the cruise control mode, predetermined exercise intensity information, and exercise intensity information designated by the player, instead of providing exercise intensity information in response to the player exercising.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein the game server operates to drive a mathematical model, pre-produced with respect to the game object, based on the balanced exercise intensity information, and to thereby determine the motion of the game object.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the mathematical model is a model that is produced based on a physical characteristic of the game object to be capable of determining the motion of the game object.

12. The system of claim 6, wherein the various types of exercises include any one of exercise using at least one of a running machine, a rowing machine, a heath bicycle, a stepper, a swing stepper, a jump rope, and a hula hoop, stretching exercise in a state of wearing a tool capable of measuring a heart rate or a frequency, or weight training, and a combination thereof.