FR2785074A1 - Teaching sports aid action display/recording equipment having computer controlled video recorder and stored realistic reference image sequences with man-machine interface allowing comparison. - Google Patents

Abstract

The display and recording equipment has a presonal computer (10) with memory (104) and processor (102). There is a video recorder (16) and image sequencer (22), providing sequenced images (6). A man- machine interface (20) provides a dialogue between the user and the equipment, allowing a reference image (Gref) to be produced as a silhouette of a person following the sports users height and weight. There is a comparator (36) comparing the recording with a succession of fixed reference images.

Description

i

  VISUALIZATION AND / OR RECORDING EQUIPMENT OF A

  SCENE FOR PEDAGOGICAL PURPOSES, IN THE CONTEXT OF PRACTICE

SPORTS ACTIVITY

  The present invention relates to equipment for viewing and / or recording a scene for educational purposes, in the context of practicing a sporting activity. More specifically, the invention applies in the context of the practice of any sport or discipline whose gestures and movements are technical and of great precision, requiring for performance improvement

  a precise analysis of these gestures and movements.

  These sports activities include, among others, golf, tennis, fencing, horse riding (dressage and obstacles), martial arts, boxing, defensive and combat wrestling, swimming, dancing, etc. The invention will be described here more particularly in its application to the practice of golf, by way of

non-limiting example.

  Within the framework of the practice of one of the aforementioned sports, one seeks to improve the assistance with the training or the improvement, on any level that it is. For this, an athlete generally analyzes his own gestures, while being inspired by the gestures of a teacher. Devices for the general public have been known for several years, making it possible to capture and / or record a pictorial and / or sound scene. These are, for example, cameras, video recorders or even camcorders. However, these devices generally do not allow easy viewing of the captured images and have a very low degree of interactivity in terms of the dialogue between the user athlete and the device. This considerably limits the possibility of analyzing gestures with a view to

to progress.

  Personal computers are also known which make it possible to reproduce the image and / or the sound of such a scene and to manipulate the image by means of certain processing, in particular with a view to analyzing the content.

of the image.

  However, such computers are complex to use, not accessible to everyone, and are rarely available at the place of sports.

considered.

  The present invention aims to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art, by proposing a learning assistance device which is intended for the general public and which integrates at the same time functions of input, storage, recording and playback of images and sounds, movement analysis, and interactivity between the user athlete and the device, while being robust, resistant to conditions

  climatic, reliable and easy to use.

  To this end, the present invention provides equipment for viewing and / or recording a scene for educational purposes, within the framework of the practice of a sporting activity, this equipment comprising: a personal computer, at least provided with a central processing unit and a mass memory; - a module to capture images of this scene; - a module for memorizing the images captured in the mass memory; a module for recording the images captured on a medium and for reading this medium; - an image viewing module; - a man / machine interface module allowing interactive dialogue between an athlete using the equipment and the equipment; an image sequencing module, providing a temporal succession of fixed images, from the captured images, making it possible to decompose movements of the user athlete; and - a module for simultaneous viewing of all

  images of this temporal succession of still images.

  On the other hand, currently the general public generally has access to the practice of the aforementioned sports activities only in return for payment. However, there is generally no prepayment device operating at the place of practicing these sports, in conjunction with one or other of the above conventional machines, to control them in order to authorize their use during a limited time, corresponding to the payment made, and in view

  to progress in the practice of these sports.

  To solve this problem, the present invention proposes an equipment of the above type and which also comprises a prepayment reception module, which receives a prepayment value and allows the use of the equipment for a determined period, this duration being

  depending on the prepayment value received.

  Other aspects and advantages of this

  invention will appear on reading the description

  detailed description which follows of a particular embodiment,

  given by way of nonlimiting example. The description is

  refers to the accompanying drawings, in which: - Figure 1 is a block diagram of the equipment according to the invention, in a particular embodiment; - Figure 2 is a schematic representation of the image viewing module and certain elements of the man / machine interface module, viewed by the image viewing module; - Figures 3a and 3b illustrate the structure and operation of an optical module for positioning the user athlete relative to the module for capturing images; - Figure 4 is a schematic representation of a set of peripheral units included in the equipment according to the invention, in a particular embodiment; and FIG. 5 is a reproduction of a screen included in the image viewing module, in a particular embodiment, illustrating a temporal succession of nine still images, supplied by the image sequencing module from the captured images, and allowing to break down a "swing" movement of a

sporty golfer user.

  Figure 1 shows that the equipment according to the

  present invention revolves around a micro base

  computer such as a personal computer 10 or

  "PC" (in English "Personal Computer").

  The computer 10 is at least provided with a central processing unit 102 and a mass memory 104. It

  interconnects and manages all the modules described above

  after. For this, it can for example include among others a RAM memory with a capacity of the order of 8 MB, a hard disk with a capacity of the order of 2.1 GB and a processor of

"Pentium" type (registered trademark).

  As shown in FIG. 1, the equipment comprises a module 12 for capturing images of a sports scene, in this case the gestures of a user athlete (designated by the reference sign SU in FIG. 1) golfer, by way of non-limiting example. The module 12 can for example be a fixed focal color camera of the so-called multimedia type, which can be fixed on a

fixed height bracket.

  As part of the application to golf, we choose a camera to view a field of 3 meters vertically and 4 meters horizontally, and we place this camera at a distance between 3 meters and 3.50 meters. The field thus obtained makes it possible to film a golfer with a size of 2 meters

provided with his club.

  The video output of the camera 12 is accompanied by an audio output 15, to which an electret microphone, integrated in the camera 12, can be connected, which allows a plug

  simultaneous sound while taking the picture.

  A jack type connector (not shown) can also be provided, to allow the possible connection of an external microphone 52 (shown

in Figure 4).

  The camera 12 is connected, via its video output 13, to a module 14 for storing the images

  captured in mass memory 104.

  By way of nonlimiting example, the module 14 can be produced in the form of a real-time color image digitization card, which performs real-time video acquisition, as well as compression / decompression (for example by functions wired) according to standard

  JPEG, and the restitution to a bus 17 of the PC ISA type.

  Such a card is advantageously provided with several video inputs, for example of the PAL composite type, which allows the possible connection of several cameras.

  external 50 (shown schematically in Figure 4).

  In this case, an image display module 18, described later in detail, allows a display of a

  mosaic made up of as many images as there are cameras.

  We can thus simultaneously view, from different points in space, one or more images

successive, fixed or animated.

  The image digitization card forming the module 14 can also be designed to allow an overlay function (not shown), possibly configurable, for example by golf maintenance agents in the example of sport considered here. This overlay function makes it possible for example to display, using the image display module 18 described below, in a determined region of this module 18 (designated by the reference 58 in FIG. 2), various information of alphanumeric type, linked or not to the specificity of the sport considered, in addition to the images captured, such as for example the date and time, the name of the site where the sporting activity concerned is practiced, or the hourly credit remaining at the user according to the prepayment made, as well

  as described in more detail below.

  The equipment according to the invention, in the particular embodiment of Figure 1, also includes a module 16 for recording the images captured on a medium and for reading this medium. The module 16 can be a VHS-PAL type video recorder. The controlled functions of this video recorder are reduced to the start and stop of the recording, and to the ejection of a video cassette, which constitutes the aforementioned support. The recording and reading module 16 thus allows the control of the scrolling of the images, the freeze frame, the visualization

in idle or reverse.

  The image viewing module 18 can be produced either in the form of a screen or in the form of viewing glasses of the type with two liquid crystal screens, worn by the sports user SU, or also in the form a video projector, or even a

Big screen.

  Such a screen can moreover be connected to the Internet network via a modem 54 (FIG. 4), included in the peripheral units 46 capable of being connected to the equipment object of the present invention. Modem 54 can for example

  allow tele-training of athletes.

  In the case where the display module 18 is a screen integrated in a monitor, one can choose to make it in the form of an S-VGA color screen of dimension 14 inches, at 1024 x 768 pixels, and to protect it by a faceplate or plate 19 (FIG. 2) made of resistant composite material. As shown in FIG. 2, elements 30, 31, 32 of a man / machine interface module 20 (FIG. 1) are provided and integrated in the screen 18. The elements 30, 31, 32 are advantageously keys graphics, displayed on screen 18. These keys are therefore "virtual", tactile and configurable at will. In the particular embodiment of FIG. 2, two symmetrical sets, of six half-keys 30 each, are arranged on the left and on the right of the screen. These keys 30 can be completed

  by one or more additional keys 31, 32.

  The keys 30 illustrated by way of nonlimiting example in FIG. 2 allow access to the following functions, symbolized by icons in FIG. 2: display in mosaic mode, display in full screen, reproduction on diskette of a captured still image (in this case, the peripheral units 46 include one or more floppy disk drives 48, see FIG. 4), frame-by-frame advance, frame-by-frame reverse, return to a

play / record mode.

  The additional keys 31, 32 respectively allow access to context-sensitive help, and to

  go back in the commands entered on the screen.

  The list of keys which has just been described is not exhaustive and many other functions, such as slow motion reading or entering parameters relating to the morphology of the user athlete (as described below), can be envisaged by virtue of the character reconfigurable

said keys.

  These keys can also be reconfigured

  depending on the language used and / or any drop-down menus.

  All these tactile keys are advantageously of the resistive contact type under three-color polyester membrane, in order to durably resist conditions generally

  difficult, given the general public use.

  As shown in FIG. 2, independently of the touch keys 30, 31, 32, an additional region 60 allowing the screen to be seen can be arranged in the faceplate

  monoblock which protects the module 18 for viewing images.

  Such a region 60 may for example include the logo of

  the company that manufactures the equipment.

  As illustrated in FIG. 1, the equipment according to the invention further comprises a module 22 for sequencing images. On the one hand, the module 22 provides temporal successions of fixed images G, from the captured images, which makes it possible to decompose movements of the sportsman

user SU.

  For this, the module 14 for memorizing the captured images proceeds to the digital acquisition of an image all

  the N images, N being an integer at least equal to 2.

  The acquired images are thus spaced apart by a given time interval, typically of the order of a hundred milliseconds. When memorizing the images, their size is reduced by filling the memory of the module 14 with a factor 1 / N2, that is to say by memorizing a pixel on N2. It is thus possible, in a conventional manner, to display in so-called mosaic mode, such as that of FIG. 5 (N = 3) with N2 still images. This display mode is shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1 by a module 24 for simultaneous display of all the images of the

  temporal succession of stored still images.

  On the other hand, the image sequencing module 22 provides temporal successions of fixed Gref reference images, from a silhouette of the sportsman.

user SU.

  This silhouette is defined on the basis of one or more parameters 34 (FIG. 1) previously entered by the user sportsman SU with the aid of the man / machine interface module 20. The parameters 34 relate to the morphology of the sportsman SU and include for example his size, his weight,

  or the fact that he is left-handed or right-handed.

  The image sequencing module 22 thus provides a comparison module 36 with a temporal succession of fixed images G, obtained from the captured images, and a temporal succession of fixed reference images Gref, obtained from a reference gauge representing the gestures of an athlete "professor" or "academic" or even "champion", while taking into account the same parameters

  of morphology than those of the "pupil" sportsman.

  The module 36 superimposes the temporal succession of fixed images G and the temporal succession of fixed reference images Gref and transmits the image of the superposition to

  image viewing module 18.

  The SU "student" user athlete can thus analyze his own gestures and compare them to gestures

ideals.

  As indicated above, in a particular embodiment, the equipment of the present invention also includes a module 26 for receiving prepayment

(figure 1).

  The module 26 is designed to receive a card 28 of magnetic type and / or with an integrated circuit, in which a

  prepayment value VP has been previously programmed.

  When the card 28 is inserted into the prepayment reception module 26, the prepayment value VP is transmitted from the card 28 to the module 26, which triggers the operation of the equipment for a duration D which

  depends on the prepayment value VP, i.e. D = f (VP).

  Magnetic and / or integrated circuit cards 28 specifically intended for use in training sessions can be designed to activate additional equipment functions, such as the use of multiple external cameras 50 in addition to the 11 module 12 for capturing images, such additional functions being inhibited in the event of presentation to module 26 of a card belonging to a person not

  enrolled in these sessions, for example.

  The prepayment reception module 26 can be connected to the computer 10 by a conventional serial link. In order to give the equipment satisfactory energy autonomy, it is possible, for example, to provide a 24-volt / 5 amp battery charger, allowing full recharging in a period of the order of 12 hours, at

  from the 230 volt / 50 Hertz network.

  It is also possible to provide two lead batteries of 12 volts / 50 amps, which allows daily cycling for nominal use with a minimum duration of

around 6 hours continuously.

  Finally, the choice of a voltage converter 24 volts / 230 volts into alternating current makes it possible to use sub-assemblies with standard supply voltage of the

230 volts / 50 hertz network.

  With the aid of FIGS. 3a and 3b, there is described a module 38 for positioning the sportsman user SU by

  compared to module 12 for capturing images.

  The positioning module 38, represented in a particular embodiment in FIG. 3a, comprises a framing pattern 40, superimposed on the image of the environment 41 of the sportsman and displayed using the

  image viewing module 18.

  As shown in Figure 3b, assume that the module 12 for capturing images is placed in the equipment at a height H from the ground. We note the angle between

  the horizontal and the line of sight of the camera, v half

  vertical optical angle of the camera and D the positioning distance of the sportsman user SU with respect to the equipment. The sportsman SU comes to place an object, for example a golf ball 43, so that it is in the center of the framing pattern 40. He comes: H - = tan (c + v) D o DH tan ( + v) By placing the framing test pattern 40 on the screen of the display module 18, the appropriate distance D is deduced therefrom so that the camera of the module 12 can film the

sports SU in its entirety.

  In a particular embodiment, the equipment of the invention further comprises a sound pickup module 42, such as one or more microphones, and a sound reproduction module 44, such as one or more

speakers.

  The computer 10 can also be connected to a printing module 56 (FIG. 4), such as a color inkjet printer of the A4 type, 360 dpi (in English "dots per inch"), making it possible to '' obtain reproductions on paper of images stored in digital form in the memory of

mass 104 of computer 10.

  Finally, the external cameras 50 (FIG. 4) possibly connected to the equipment each capture the sports scene from a different angle, so that the image viewing module 18 produces a mosaic of images respectively originating from these external cameras 50

  as well as the camera 12 integrated into the equipment. The images in this mosaic may have been captured either simultaneously or successively. This allows the user5 to analyze their gestures from several points of view.

Claims (16)

  1. Equipment for viewing and / or recording a scene for educational purposes, within the framework of the practice of a sporting activity, said equipment comprising: - a personal computer (10), at least provided with 'a central processing unit (102) and a mass memory (104); - means (12) for capturing images of said scene; means (14) for storing the images captured in the mass memory (104); - Means (16) for recording the images captured on a support and for reading this support; - means (18) for viewing images; - man / machine interface means (20) allowing an interactive dialogue between an athlete (SU) using said equipment and said equipment; - means (22) for sequencing images, providing a temporal succession of fixed images (G) from said captured images, making it possible to decompose movements of the user athlete (SU); and - means (24) for simultaneously viewing all the images of said temporal succession of fixed images (G). 2. Equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises means (26) for receiving prepayment, which receive a prepayment value (VP) and allow the use of said equipment for a determined period (D) function of   said prepayment value (VP) received.   3. Equipment according to claim 2, characterized in that said means (26) for receiving prepayment are provided for receiving a card (28) magnetic and / or integrated circuit, wherein said   prepayment value (VP) has been previously programmed.   4. Equipment according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that said means (20) of man / machine interface comprise a set of virtual keys (30, 31, 32) of tactile type, said keys (30, 31 , 32) being displayed by said image display means (18). 5. Equipment according to any one of   previous claims, characterized in that said   image sequencing means (22) furthermore provide a temporal succession of reference reference images (Gref) from a silhouette of the user athlete (SU), said silhouette being defined from a plurality of parameters ( 34) previously entered by the user athlete (SU) using said man / machine interface means (20), and in that said equipment also comprises means (36) for comparing said temporal succession of images fixed (G), provided by said means (22) for sequencing images from said captured images, to at least one reference template, said reference template comprising said time succession   reference still images (Gref).   6. Equipment according to claim 5, characterized in that said parameters (34) relate to the morphology of the user athlete (SU) and include its size and weight.   7. Equipment according to any one of   previous claims, characterized in that it comprises   further means (38) for positioning the user athlete (SU) relative to said means (12) for capturing images. 8. Equipment according to claim 7, characterized in that said positioning means (38) comprise a framing pattern (40), displayed using   said means (18) for viewing images.   9. Equipment according to any one of   previous claims, characterized in that it comprises   in addition means for taking (42) and restoring (44) the sound. 10. Equipment according to any one of   previous claims, characterized in that said   recording and reading means (16) allow one or more possibilities to be chosen from the freeze frame, forward and backward reading, image reading by picture, slow motion playback.   11. Equipment according to any one of   previous claims, characterized in that   the computer (10) is connected to one or more units   additional peripherals (46).   12. Equipment according to claim 11, characterized in that said additional peripheral units (46) comprise at least one reader for   floppy disks (48) and / or at least one modem (54).   13. Equipment according to claim 11, characterized in that the computer (10) is also connected to printing means (56) making it possible to obtain one or more paper copies of images stored in the mass memory (104).   14. Equipment according to claim 11, characterized in that it is further connected to one or more external cameras (50), which each capture said scene from a different angle, so that said means (18) for viewing images produce a mosaic of images respectively from said external cameras (50) as well as said means (12) for capturing images, the images of said mosaic having been captured either   simultaneously, or successively.   15. Equipment according to claim 11, characterized in that it is further connected to a microphone external (52).   16. Equipment according to any one of   previous claims, characterized in that said   sporting activity is golf, tennis, fencing, horse riding, a martial art, boxing, defensive wrestling or fighting, swimming or dancing.