Sound-output-control device, sound-output-control method, and sound-output-control program

• US 8,858,453 B2
• Filed: 09/11/2006
• Issued: 10/14/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Asukai, Masamichi, Shirai, Katsuya, Inoue, Makoto, Sano, Akane
• Primary Examiner(s): D'Angelo, Michael
• Assistant Examiner(s): JANG, CHRISTIAN YONGKYUN
• Application Number:
  US11/519,033
• Publication Number:
  US 20070060446A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,955 Days
• Field of Search: 600/300, 600/500, 428/8, 428/9, 128/905
• US Class Current: 600/500
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2024/0025 Tracking the path or location of one or more users, e.g. players of a game
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2071/0625 Emitting sound, noise or music
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 22/00 Exercising apparatus specially adapted for conditioning the cardio-vascular system, for training agility or co-ordination of movements force-resisting aspects A63B21/00; for particular parts of the body, e.g. to strengthen particular limbs or muscles A63B23/00; electric or electronic controls therefor A63B24/00
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/30 Speed
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/34 Angular speed
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2225/50 Wireless data transmission, e.g. by radio transmitters or telemetry
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2230/06 heartbeat rate only
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2230/40 respiratory characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 24/0021 Tracking a path or terminating locations
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 24/0075 Means for generating exercise programs or schemes, e.g. computerized virtual trainer, e.g. using expert databases
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 71/0622 Visual, audio or audio-visual systems for entertaining, instructing or motivating the user
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 71/0686 Timers, rhythm indicators or pacing apparatus using electric or electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/30 relating to physical therapies or activities, e.g. physiotherapy, acupressure or exercising
• CPC Class Codes: H03G 3/20 Automatic control H03G3/005 takes precedence; combined with volume compression or expansion H03G7/00

Abstract

A sound-output-control device including an acquisition unit which acquires an anaerobic threshold, a reception unit which receives an input about exercise intensity, a calculation unit which calculates a value indicating a target heart rate of a user on the basis of the acquired anaerobic threshold and the received exercise-intensity input, a detection unit which detects a value indicating the current tempo of a physical exercise done by the user, and a control unit that controls a sound output on the basis of a result of a comparison of the target heart-rate value calculated by the calculation unit and the current physical-exercise-tempo value detected by the detection unit, so as to lead a heart rate of the user so that the heart rate of the user attains the target heart rate is provided.

Claims

1. A sound-output-control device comprising:

acquisition means to acquire an anaerobic threshold;

reception means to receive an input about exercise intensity;

calculation means to calculate a target heart rate range of a user based, at least in part, on the acquired anaerobic threshold and the received input about exercise intensity;

tempo-detection means to detect a physical-exercise tempo of physical exercise of the user;

detection means to detect a current heart rate of the user; and

control means to;

control the tempo-detection means to detect, at a detection time, the physical-exercise tempo of the physical exercise of the user, to use the physical-exercise tempo detected at the detection time to set a tempo of a first sound signal to the physical-exercise tempo detected at the detection time, and to control a reproduction unit to output the first sound signal, and

control the reproduction unit to output a second sound signal based on a result of a comparison of the target heart rate range and the current heart rate, such that a tempo of the second sound signal increases if the current heart rate is less than the target heart rate range, and decreases if the current heart rate is greater than the target heart rate range.

2. The sound-output-control device according to claim 1, wherein, upon receiving information about a change in a heart-rate value indicating the heart rate of the user who does the physical exercise while an exercise load increases, the acquisition means acquires a value as the anaerobic threshold, the acquired value indicating the heart rate corresponding to an inflection point which occurs due to the change in the heart-rate value.

3. The sound-output-control device according to claim 1, wherein, upon receiving information about a change in a heart-rate value indicating the heart rate of the user who does the physical exercise while an exercise load increases, the acquisition means acquires a value as the anaerobic threshold, the acquired value indicating the heart rate obtained when the change in the heart-rate value becomes larger than a predetermined value.

4. The sound-output-control device according to claim 1, wherein the control means are configured to determine whether a tempo of a sound signal is substantially equal to a physical-exercise tempo of physical exercise of the user.

5. The sound-output-control means according to claim 1, wherein controlling the reproduction unit to output the first sound signal comprises controlling the reproduction unit to output the first sound signal over a first predetermined time period, and wherein the control means are configured to:

control the tempo of the first sound signal, based at least in part on a detection output transmitted from the tempo-detection means, by changing the tempo of the first sound signal by as much as a predetermined value, and

control the reproduction unit to output the changed first sound signal over a second predetermined time period.

6. The sound-output-control means according to claim 1, wherein controlling the reproduction unit to output the first sound signal comprises controlling the reproduction unit to output the first sound signal over a first predetermined time period, and wherein the control means are configured to control the reproduction unit, based at least in part on a detection output transmitted from the tempo-detection means, to output a third sound signal at a tempo different from the tempo of the first sound signal over a second predetermined time period.

7. A sound-output-control method comprising:

acquiring an anaerobic threshold;

receiving an input about exercise intensity;

calculating a target heart rate range of a user based, at least in part, on the acquired anaerobic threshold and the received input about exercise intensity;

detecting, at a detection time, a physical-exercise tempo of physical exercise of the user;

detecting a current heart rate of the user;

using the physical-exercise tempo detected at the detection time to set a tempo of a first sound signal to the physical-exercise tempo detected at the detection time;

controlling a reproduction unit to output the first sound signal; and

controlling the reproduction unit to output a second sound signal based on a result of a comparison of the target heart rate and the current heart rate, such that a tempo of the second sound signal increases if the current heart rate is less than the target heart rate range, and decreases if the current heart rate is greater than the target heart rate range.

8. The sound-output-control method according to claim 7, wherein acquiring the anaerobic threshold comprises:

upon receiving information about a change in a heart-rate value indicating the heart rate of the user who does the physical exercise while an exercise load increases, acquiring as the anaerobic threshold a value indicating the heart rate corresponding to an inflection point which occurs due to the change in the heart-rate value.

9. The sound-output-control method according to claim 7, wherein acquiring the anaerobic threshold comprises:

upon receiving information about a change in a heart-rate value indicating the heart rate of the user who does the physical exercise while an exercise load increases, acquiring as the anaerobic threshold a value indicating the heart rate obtained when the change in the heart-rate value becomes larger than a predetermined value.

10. The sound-output-control method according to claim 7, further comprising:

determining whether a tempo of a sound signal is substantially equal to a physical-exercise tempo of physical exercise of the user.

11. The sound-output-control method according to claim 7, wherein controlling the reproduction unit to output the first sound signal comprises controlling the reproduction unit to output the first sound signal over a first predetermined time period, wherein the physical-exercise tempo is a first physical-exercise tempo, and wherein the method further comprises:

controlling the tempo of the first sound signal, based at least in part on a second physical-exercise tempo of the physical exercise of the user, by changing the tempo of the first sound signal by as much as a predetermined value, and

controlling the reproduction unit to output the changed first sound signal over a second predetermined time period.

12. The sound-output-control method according to claim 7, wherein controlling the reproduction unit to output the first sound signal comprises controlling the reproduction unit to output the first sound signal over a first predetermined time period, wherein the physical-exercise tempo is a first physical-exercise tempo, and wherein the method further comprises:

controlling the reproduction unit, based at least in part on a second physical-exercise tempo of the physical exercise of the user, to output a third sound signal at a tempo different from the tempo of the first sound signal over a second predetermined time period.

13. The sound-output-control method of claim 7,

wherein detecting, at the detection time, the physical-exercise tempo of the physical exercise of the user comprises detecting, at a first detection time, a first physical-exercise tempo of the physical exercise of the user,

wherein detecting, at the first detection time, the first physical-exercise tempo, using the first physical-exercise tempo detected at the first detection time to set the tempo of the first sound signal to the first physical-exercise tempo, and controlling the reproduction unit to output the first sound signal occur during a warm-up period, and

wherein the method further comprises, during the warm-up period:

detecting, at a second detection time, a second physical-exercise tempo of the physical exercise of the user;

using the second physical-exercise tempo to set a tempo of a third sound signal to the second physical-exercise tempo detected at the second detection time; and

controlling the reproduction unit to output the third sound signal.

14. The method of claim 7, wherein the detection time is a first detection time, wherein the physical-exercise tempo is a first physical-exercise tempo, and wherein the method further comprises:

in response to detecting, at a second detection time, a second physical-exercise tempo of the physical exercise of the user, using the second physical-exercise tempo to set the tempo of the first sound signal to the second physical-exercise tempo detected at the second detection time.

15. At least one computer-readable storage device having encoded thereon computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a processing circuit, cause the processing circuit to perform a sound-output-control, the method comprising:

acquiring an anaerobic threshold;

receiving an input about exercise intensity;

calculating a target heart rate range of a user based, at least in part, on the acquired anaerobic threshold and the received input about exercise intensity;

detecting, at a detection time, a physical-exercise tempo of physical exercise of the user;

detecting a current heart rate of the user;

using the physical-exercise tempo detected at the detection time to set a tempo of a first sound signal to the physical-exercise tempo detected at the detection time;

controlling a reproduction unit to output the first sound signal; and

controlling the reproduction unit to output a second sound signal based on a result of a comparison of the target heart rate range and the current heart rate, such that a tempo of the second sound signal increases if the current heart rate is less than the target heart rate range, and decreases if the current heart rate is greater than the target heart rate range.

16. The storage device according to claim 15, wherein acquiring the anaerobic threshold comprises:

upon receiving information about a change in a physical-state value indicating a physical state of the user who does the physical exercise while an exercise load increases, acquiring as the anaerobic threshold a value indicating the physical state corresponding to an inflection point which occurs due to the change in the physical-state value.-

17. The storage device according to claim 15, wherein acquiring the anaerobic threshold comprises:

upon receiving information about a change in a heart-rate value indicating the heart rate of the user who does the physical exercise while an exercise load increases, acquiring as the anaerobic threshold a value indicating the heart rate obtained when the change in the heart-rate value becomes larger than a predetermined value.

18. The storage device according to claim 15, wherein the sound-output-control method further comprises:

determining whether a tempo of a sound signal is substantially equal to a physical-exercise tempo of physical exercise of the user.

19. The storage device according to claim 15, wherein controlling the reproduction unit to output the first sound signal comprises controlling the reproduction unit to output the first sound signal over a first predetermined time period, wherein the physical-exercise tempo is a first physical-exercise tempo, and wherein the method further comprises:

controlling the tempo of the first sound signal, based at least in part on a second physical-exercise tempo of the physical exercise of the user, by changing the tempo of the first sound signal by as much as a predetermined value, and

controlling the reproduction unit to output the changed first sound signal over a second predetermined time period.

20. The storage device according to claim 15, wherein controlling the reproduction unit to output the first sound signal comprises controlling the reproduction unit to output the first sound signal over a first predetermined time period, wherein the physical-exercise tempo is a first physical-exercise tempo, and wherein the method further comprises:

controlling the reproduction unit, based at least in part on a second physical-exercise tempo of the physical exercise of the user, to output a third sound signal at a tempo different from the tempo of the first sound signal over a second predetermined time period.

21. The storage device of claim 15,

wherein detecting, at the detection time, the physical-exercise tempo of the physical exercise of the user comprises detecting, at a first detection time, a first physical-exercise tempo of the physical exercise of the user,

wherein detecting, at the first detection time, the first physical-exercise tempo, using the first physical-exercise tempo detected at the first detection time to set the tempo of the first sound signal to the first physical-exercise tempo, and controlling the reproduction unit to output the first sound signal occur during a warm-up period, and

wherein the sound-output-control method further comprises, during the warm-up period:

detecting, at a second detection time, a second physical-exercise tempo of the physical exercise of the user;

using the second physical-exercise tempo to set a tempo of a third sound signal to the second physical-exercise tempo detected at the second detection time; and

controlling the reproduction unit to output the third sound signal.

22. A sound-output-control device comprising:

an acquisition unit configured to acquire an anaerobic threshold;

a reception unit configured to receive an input about exercise intensity;

a calculation unit configured to calculate a target heart rate range of a user based on the acquired anaerobic threshold and the received input about exercise intensity;

a tempo-detection unit configured to detect a physical-exercise tempo of physical exercise of the user;

a detection unit configured to detect a current heart rate of the user; and

a control unit configured to;

control the tempo-detection unit to detect, at a detection time, the physical-exercise tempo of the physical exercise of the user, to use the physical-exercise tempo detected at the detection time to set a tempo of a first sound signal to the physical-exercise tempo detected at the detection time, and to control a reproduction unit to output the first sound signal, and

control the reproduction unit to output a second sound signal based on a result of a comparison of the target heart rate range calculated by the calculation unit and the current heart rate detected by the detection unit such that a tempo of the second sound signal increases if the current heart rate is less than the target heart rate range, and decreases if the current heart rate is greater than the target heart rate range.

23. The sound-output-control device of claim 22, wherein the control unit is further configured to control the reproduction unit to output the second sound signal to lead a heart rate of the user to attain a value in the target heart rate range.

24. The sound-output-control device of claim 22,

wherein detecting, at the detection time, the physical-exercise tempo of the physical exercise of the user comprises detecting, at a first detection time, a first physical-exercise tempo of the physical exercise of the user,

wherein the control unit is configured to control the tempo-detection unit during a warm-up period to detect, at the first detection time, the first physical-exercise tempo, to use the first physical-exercise tempo detected at the first detection time to set the first tempo of the first sound signal to the first physical-exercise tempo, and to control the reproduction unit to output the first sound signal, and

wherein, during the warm-up period, the control unit is further configured to:

detect, at a second detection time, a second physical-exercise tempo of the physical exercise of the user;

use the second physical-exercise tempo to set a tempo of a third sound signal to the second physical-exercise tempo detected at the second detection time; and

control the reproduction unit to output the third sound signal.