Monitoring of physical training events

• US 9,486,692 B2
• Filed: 12/24/2014
• Issued: 11/08/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Russell Brands LLC (Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Russell Brands LLC (Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated)
• Inventors: Crowley, Michael James, King, Kevin
• Primary Examiner(s): DEODHAR, OMKAR A
• Application Number:
  US14/582,533
• Publication Number:
  US 20150112464A1
• Time in Patent Office: 685 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1124 Determining motor skills
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6895 Sport equipment
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2024/0012 Comparing movements or motion sequences with a registered reference
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2024/0068 Comparison to target or threshold, previous performance or not real time comparison to other individuals
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2024/0096 using performance related parameters for controlling electronic or video games or avatars
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2071/0625 Emitting sound, noise or music
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2071/0655 Tactile feedback
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/17 Counting, e.g. counting periodical movements, revolutions or cycles, or including further data processing to determine distances or speed
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/22 Stride length
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/35 Spin
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/40 Acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/51 Force
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/53 Force of an impact, e.g. blow or punch
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/56 Pressure
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/803 Motion sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/833 Sensors arranged on the exercise apparatus or sports implement
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/89 Field sensors, e.g. radar systems
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2225/20 with means for remote communication, e.g. internet or the like
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2225/50 Wireless data transmission, e.g. by radio transmitters or telemetry
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 24/0006 Computerised comparison for qualitative assessment of motion sequences or the course of a movement
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 24/0062 : Monitoring athletic performances, e.g. for determining the work of a user on an exercise apparatus, the completed jogging or cycling distance
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 24/0084 : Exercising apparatus with means for competitions, e.g. virtual races
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 41/00 : Hollow inflatable balls
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 43/00 : Balls with special arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/002 : for football American-football dummies A63B69/34
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/0071 : for basketball
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 71/03 : Athletic drills or obstacles for sport training, other than foot obstacles for skipping
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 71/06 : Indicating or scoring devices for games or players , or for other sports activities
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/65 : automatically by game devices or servers from real world data, e.g. measurement in live racing competition
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/812 : Ball games, e.g. soccer or baseball
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2218/12 : Classification; Matching
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06393 : Score-carding, benchmarking or key performance indicator [KPI] analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/23 : Recognition of whole body movements, e.g. for sport training
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/0038 : Sports
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/30 : relating to physical therapies or activities, e.g. physiotherapy, acupressure or exercising

Abstract

A computer-implemented method is disclosed that includes instructing a human player to perform a plurality of different actions in a determined order with a physical basketball, including actions of bouncing the physical basketball, and obtaining, with one or more electronic sensors, data that characterizes motion of the physical basketball being handled by the human player who is performing the instructed actions at a location. The method also includes communicating the data from the sensors to a console videogame system that is proximate to the location, and graphically representing, in a videogame displayed on a display device, performance by the human player, the performance being affected by the captured data, the representation of performance by the human player being compared against a standard of performance.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented athletic performance analysis method, comprising:

generating, by one or more electronic sensors coupled within a physical basketball, motion data that characterizes motion of the basketball resulting from a human player handling the basketball, wherein the motion comprises impacts from bounces of the physical basketball;

obtaining, by a processor coupled within the basketball, the motion data;

processing, by the processor, the motion data to produce processed data that reflects athletic performance corresponding to the human player handling the basketball; and

transmitting, by a wireless transmitter coupled within the basketball, the processed data;

receiving, by a smart phone, the processed data transmitted from the wireless transmitter;

graphically representing, on a display of the smart phone, the processed data;

entering a sleep mode after the physical basketball has been inactive for a period of time; and

activating the physical basketball from the sleep mode in response to detection that the physical basketball has been moved in a predetermined manner.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more electronic sensors comprise (a) one or more accelerometers or (b) one or more angular rate gyroscopes.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the motion comprises shooting the physical basketball.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the motion comprises spin of the physical basketball.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the motion comprises acceleration of the physical basketball.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting comprises using BLUETOOTH communications.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the motion data comprises scoring the motion data.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the motion data comprises analyzing patterns of forces on the physical basketball over time.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the processed data characterizes motion of the physical basketball that was obtained at multiple separate occasions.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the graphic representation comprises an indicator of performance that involves a value displayed along a predetermined scale.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more batteries are coupled within the physical basketball and electrically coupled to the one or more electronic sensors.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising inductively charging the one or more batteries.

13. A athletic performance analysis system comprising:

one or more processors configured to execute computer program instructions; and

computer storage media encoded with computer program instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a computer device to perform operations comprising;

generating, by one or more electronic sensors coupled within a physical basketball, motion data that characterizes motion of the basketball resulting from a human player handling the basketball, wherein the motion comprises impacts from bounces of the physical basketball;

obtaining, by at least one processors coupled within the basketball, the motion data;

processing, by at least one of the processors coupled within the basketball, the motion data to produce processed data that reflects athletic performance corresponding to the human player handling the basketball;

transmitting, by a wireless transmitter coupled within the basketball, the processed data;

receiving, by a smart phone, the processed data transmitted from the wireless transmitter;

graphically representing, on a display of the smart phone, the processed data;

entering a sleep mode after the physical basketball has been inactive for a period of time; and

activating the physical basketball from the sleep mode in response to detection that the physical basketball has been moved in a predetermined manner.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more electronic sensors comprise (a) one or more accelerometers or (b) one or more angular rate gyroscopes.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the transmitting comprises using BLUETOOTH communications.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein processing the motion data comprises analyzing patterns of forces on the physical basketball over time.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the processed data characterizes motion of the physical basketball that was obtained at multiple separate occasions.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the graphic representation comprises an indicator of performance that involves a value displayed along a predetermined scale.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein one or more batteries are coupled within the physical basketball and electrically coupled to the one or more electronic sensors.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising inductively charging the one or more batteries.