JP2010136864A - Exercise support apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an exercise support apparatus for enhancing the motivation of a user for the exercise by creating and reproducing the sound image of a competitor based on the relative positional relations between the user and the virtual competitor. <P>SOLUTION: The exercise support apparatus includes: an exercise condition data determining part 14 for determining the exercise condition data of the competitor; an exercise condition measuring part 19 for measuring the exercise condition data of the user; an exercise sound synthesizing part 15 for creating the exercise sound to be output from the competitor based on the exercise condition data of the competitor; a relative position computing part 16 for repeatedly computing the relative positions of the user and the competitor; an exercise sound image creating part 17 for creating the sound image of the competitor based on the exercise sound and the relative positions; and an exercise sound image reproducing part 18 for reproducing the sound image of the competitor. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an exercise support device, and in particular, improves and continues motivation for a user's exercise by generating and playing a sound image of an opponent based on the relative positional relationship between the user and a virtual opponent. The present invention relates to an exercise support apparatus.

  In order to improve the motivation for the user's movement and promote the sustainability, Patent Documents 1 and 2 determine the user position by communication with GPS and a wireless base station, and further use various sensors to measure the user's physics. There has been proposed an exercise support device that measures physical and physiological data and measures and manages exercise data such as movement distance, exercise time, and calorie consumption associated with exercise such as running and walking.

  Patent Document 3 discloses a technique for realizing an exercise support apparatus with a mobile terminal and linking it with a server on a network.

  In Patent Document 4, as a comparison object, past user's own or other user's exercise data, or its virtual exercise state (an icon or animation representing a runner moving on a route) is displayed on the exercise support device. A technique is disclosed that is displayed on a display and visually compares the current user with the exercise situation to be compared.

  Further, in Patent Document 4, in addition to performing exercise while viewing music and video content by combining an exercise support device with a portable music video playback terminal, user exercise data and a method for reproducing the content are also provided. The technology to be linked is disclosed. For example, a technique is disclosed in which optimum content is selected based on user exercise data or exercise route data, and the beat of music being played is changed.

Furthermore, a service provider develops a campaign that aims to achieve a preset amount of exercise, and a goal achievement certificate or prize is based on the exercise data measured by the exercise support device and updated on the server. The use form of the exercise support apparatus linked to the service of providing the user with the user has also been proposed.
JP 2002-269286 A JP 2004-160051 A JP 2008-48757 A JP 2008-524589 A

  However, it is difficult to improve and sustain the user's exercise motivation only by referring to the past user's own or other user's exercise data. Similarly, processing information to be provided and changing the playback method of music and video content based on the user's exercise data are insufficient to improve and sustain motivation for the user's exercise.

  In addition, the certificates and prizes provided according to the amount of exercise are intended for a large number of users, so they only praise the user's honor and are inexpensive, so that the user's motivation is sufficiently improved. It is not possible.

  Even if you want to compare the exercise status of past users themselves or other users, simply looking at the comparison exercise data, icons, animations, etc. displayed on the display will not provide enough reality for competition with the comparison target. In addition, the user's motivation for exercise cannot be improved sufficiently. Also, exercising while looking at the display is dangerous.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems of the prior art and to provide an exercise support device that can sufficiently and safely improve and sustain motivation for a user's exercise.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is characterized in that the following means are taken in the exercise support apparatus.

  (1) Means for determining athletic state data of at least one virtual competitor, means for measuring user's athletic state data, and generating movement sound generated by the competitor based on the athletic state data of the competitor And means for repeatedly calculating the relative positions of the user and the competitor, means for generating a sound image of the competitor based on the motion sound and the relative position, and means for reproducing the sound image of the opponent. To do.

  (2) The means for determining the movement state data of the competitor is characterized in that the quantitative value input by the user is used as the movement state data of the opponent.

  (3) The means for determining the movement state data of the competitor is a means for storing the user's own past movement state data, and the corresponding movement state data from the storage means based on the competition data input by the user. And means for selecting the past motion state data of the selected user as the motion state data of the competitor.

  (4) The means for determining the movement status data of the competitor is a means for transmitting a request message including the competition data input by the user to a server that stores the past movement status data of other users, Means for receiving a response message, and past exercise state data of other users registered in the response message is used as exercise state data of the competitor.

  (5) The apparatus further comprises means for measuring environmental data, and the means for determining the movement state data of the competitor determines the movement state data based on the competition data and the environmental data input by the user. .

  (6) The apparatus further comprises means for storing user attribute data, and the means for determining the competition state data of the opponent is based on the competition data, environmental data, and user attribute data input by the user. It is characterized by determining.

  According to the present invention, the following effects are achieved.

  (1) Since the sound image of the competitor is generated and reproduced based on the relative positional relationship between the user and the competitor and the movement status data of the competitor, an acoustically realistic competition environment can be constructed. As a result, the user's competitive consciousness can be increased and motivation for exercise can be improved and continued.

  (2) Since the quantitative value input by the user can be set as the movement state data of the competitor, scientific training can be performed by arbitrarily setting the quantitative value.

  (3) Since the user's past exercise state data can be set as the competition state's exercise state data, it is possible to experience improvement and changes in the competition ability.

  (4) Since the past exercise state data of other users can be set as the exercise state data of the competitor, a virtual competition with an unknown user becomes possible.

  (5) If the exercise state data is determined based on the competition data and the environment data input by the user, the competition in the same environment can be simulated.

  (6) If the exercise state data is determined based on the competition data, the environment data, and the attribute data input by the user, it is possible to simulate competition with a physically similar competitor in the same environment.

  (7) Since a plurality of competitors can be set, a realistic exercise environment can be simulated, and the user's motivation for exercise can be further improved and continued.

  Hereinafter, the best embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of an exercise support apparatus 1 according to the present invention, in which illustrations of components unnecessary for the description of the present invention are omitted.

  The exercise support apparatus 1 of the present invention can be used by being mounted on a user's arm or leg, and can be mounted not only as an exercise support apparatus alone but also in a small terminal device such as a mobile phone. Here, a description will be given of support for a self-propelled exercise such as marathon, walking, walking or jogging as an example, but the same can be applied to exercise support for other competitions such as bicycles and skates.

  From the input operation unit 11, a competition item, a competition route, a competition partner, and the like are input as competition data. The environmental data measurement unit 12 measures environmental data such as temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind direction, wind speed, or altitude. The attribute data storage unit 13 stores the sex and age of the user as attribute data. The “competition data”, “environment data”, and “attribute data” are used as parameters for determining the virtual competitor's movement state data (running speed, etc.). May be expressed as “exercise state data selection parameter” or simply “selection parameter”.

  The exercise state data determination unit 14 includes an exercise state data selection unit 14a, an exercise state data setting unit 14b, an exercise state data acquisition unit 14c, and an exercise state data memory 14d, and determines the exercise state data of a virtual competitor. The exercise state data in the present embodiment includes a running speed, a running pitch, a pulse rate, a respiration rate, and the like.

  The exercise state data selection unit 14a obtains exercise state data obtained when the user has exercised before under the same or equivalent conditions as the competition data and the environment data when the user himself / herself is designated as the competition partner. Is retrieved from the memory 14d, and this is used as the motion state data of the virtual competitor of this time.

  When the running speed or running pitch is designated as the competition opponent by a quantitative value, the exercise state data setting unit 14b uses the running speed or running pitch as the current virtual athlete's exercise state data.

  The exercise state data acquisition unit 14c transmits an exercise state data acquisition request message including the selection parameter from the transmission / reception unit 21 to the exercise state data management server 2 when another user is designated as the competitor. The exercise state data management server 2 searches for exercise state data obtained when another user exercises under the same or equivalent condition as the selected parameter registered in the acquisition request message, and obtains this response message. To the exercise state data acquisition unit 14c. The exercise state data acquisition unit 14c uses the acquired exercise state data as the exercise state data of this virtual competitor.

  The motion sound synthesizer 15 generates a motion sound by synthesizing the footstep sound, the breathing sound, or the abrasion sound of the wear based on the virtual athlete's motion state data. For example, footsteps, breathing sounds, scratching sounds, and the like at a plurality of reference speeds are stored in advance as reference sounds, and motion sounds at speeds other than the reference speed can be obtained by a reference sound complementation process at each reference speed.

  As the reference sound, a sound recorded in advance by the user such as his / her footsteps or breathing sound may be used. Alternatively, each user records his / her footsteps or breathing sound in advance and uploads it as a reference sound to the exercise state data management server 2, and the exercise state data management server 2 associates each user's reference sound with the exercise data. You may make it memorize | store and provide as a reference | standard sound of the exercise sound with respect to the user who downloads exercise data.

  The exercise state measurement unit 19 periodically measures the running speed, running pitch, pulse rate, respiration rate, and the like of the user during exercise, and outputs these as exercise state data. The relative position calculation unit 16 estimates the current position of the competitor based on the virtual competitor's exercise state data output from the exercise state data determination unit 14, and is further output from the exercise state measurement unit 19. The current position of the user is estimated based on the user's exercise state data, and the relative positional relationship between the two is calculated based on the estimation result of each current position. Note that the current position of the user may be measured using the GPS 22.

  The motion sound image generation unit 17 generates a motion sound image of the competitor by convolving the motion sound of the competitor with the user's head related transfer function (HRTF). For example, if the competitor is running 3 meters behind the user at a position where the azimuth is shifted to the left by 1 °, a movement sound image that allows the virtual athlete to hear footsteps, breathing sounds, and wear noises from the position. Is generated.

  When listening to headphones, the sound image is generally localized in the head (in-head localization), but the sound image can be localized in any direction outside the head by using the head-related transfer function (HRTF). HRTF is a representation of changes in the sound produced by the human body including the ears, head, and shoulders as a transfer function. The desired virtual sound image can be obtained by convolving the sound source signal (here, the movement sound of the competitor) with the HRTF. Can be generated. Although it is desirable to derive HRTF for each user, it takes a lot of labor to measure, so it is generated using a filter imitating HRTF or based on the average transfer characteristics of many samples. Even if a sound image is obtained by a method that approximates the user's own HRTF, such as a general-purpose HRTF, the localization accuracy does not significantly decrease.

  The motion sound image reproduction unit 18 amplifies the motion sound image and outputs it from the headphones 3. The exercise state data storage unit 20 stores the exercise state data output from the exercise state measurement unit 19 in time series. This accumulated data is stored together with the selection parameter in the exercise state memory 14d of the exercise state data determination unit 14 after the exercise is completed, and further uploaded to the exercise state data management server 2 together with the selection parameter. It can be used as exercise state data.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the contents of the exercise state data management server 2, in which a large amount of exercise state data uploaded by many users is associated with competition data, environmental data, and attribute data. It is remembered.

  If the competition event is a track competition such as 400M, 800M or 1600M, the movement status data such as speed and acceleration is the environmental data such as memory, humidity or altitude, and the attribute data such as the age and gender of the athlete. Each is registered in time series. Also, if the competition item is a road competition such as a marathon or walking, or jogging or walking, the travel route is also registered.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing the contents of the exercise state data memory 14d. The user's past exercise state data is similarly stored in association with the competition data and the environment data.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of this embodiment. In step S1, a competition data input screen is displayed on the display of the apparatus. When the user inputs competition data from the input operation unit 11, the process proceeds to step S2. In the present embodiment, a competition item, a virtual competitor, or the like is input as the competition data, and if the competition item is a road competition such as a race or marathon other than the track competition, a travel route is also input as the competition data.

  In step S2, temperature, humidity, wind speed, and atmospheric pressure are appropriately measured as environmental data. In step S3, it is determined whether the competitor input as the competition data is “self”, “other user”, or “quantitative value”. "Self" is past exercise state data of the user himself and is registered in the exercise state data memory 14d. The “other user” is past exercise state data of another user, and is registered in the exercise state data management server 2. The “quantitative value” is a quantitative speed or pitch, and is input from the input operation unit 11.

  If it is determined in step S3 that the competition partner is “user himself”, the process proceeds to step S4, and the exercise state data selection unit 14a determines one of the past exercise state data of the user based on the competition data and the environment data. Is selected from the motion state data memory 14d. That is, past exercise state data that matches the competition data and matches or resembles the environment data is selected. In step S8, the selected exercise state data is set as the exercise state data of the current competitor.

  If it is determined that the competitor is “another user”, the process proceeds to step S5, and a request message including the “competition data”, “environment data”, and “attribute data” as selection parameters is displayed in the exercise state data acquisition unit. And is transmitted to the exercise state data management server 2 in step S6. When the response message is received (downloaded) from the exercise state data management server 2 in step S7, the process proceeds to step S8, and the exercise state data of other users registered in the response message is set as the exercise state data of the current competitor. Is done.

  If the competitor is determined to be a “quantitative value”, the process proceeds to step S8, and the running speed, running pitch, etc. input in step S1 are determined by the exercise state data setting unit 14b for the current athlete's exercise state data. Set as If a plurality of competitors are set, the process returns to step S3 and the above processes are repeated.

  If the start of exercise is detected in step S9, the process proceeds to step S10, and the exercise state measurement unit 19 starts measuring the user's exercise state data. In step S11, the motion sound generation unit 15 generates motion sounds of each competitor based on the set motion state data. In step S12, the relative position calculation unit 16 estimates the current position of the user and the current position of the virtual opponent based on the respective motion state data, and based on these estimation results, Is calculated. In step S13, a virtual competitor's motion sound image is generated by convolution calculation of HRTF using the relative positional relationship and motion sound as parameters, and is output from the headphones 3 in step S14.

  In step S15, it is determined whether or not the exercise has ended, and while the exercise is continued, the process returns to step S11 and the above processes are repeated. On the other hand, when the end of the exercise is detected in step S15, the process proceeds to step S16, and the user's exercise state data measurement is ended. In step S17, the measurement results of the user's exercise state data accumulated in time series in the exercise state data storage unit 20 together with the selection parameters of the “competition data”, “environment data”, and “attribute data” are exercise state data. The data is uploaded to the management server 2 and further stored in the exercise state data memory 14d together with the selection parameters of “competition data” and “environment data”.

It is the functional block diagram which showed the structure of the exercise assistance apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is the figure which expressed typically the memory content of the exercise state data management server. It is the figure which expressed typically the storage contents of the exercise state data memory. It is the flowchart which showed the operation | movement of this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Exercise support apparatus, 2 ... Exercise state data management server, 3 ... Headphone, 11 ... Input operation part, 12 ... Environmental data measurement part, 13 ... Attribute data storage part, 14 ... Exercise state data determination part, 15 ... Exercise sound Composition unit, 16 ... Relative position calculation unit, 17 ... Motion sound image generation unit, 18 ... Motion sound image reproduction unit, 19 ... Motion state measurement unit, 20 ... Motion state data storage unit, 21 ... Transmission / reception unit, 22 ... GPS

Claims (11)

Means for determining athletic state data of at least one virtual competitor;
Means for measuring user movement state data;
Means for generating movement sounds emitted by the competitor based on the movement status data of the competitor;
Means for repeatedly calculating the relative positions of the user and the opponent;
Means for generating a sound image of the competitor based on the motion sound and the relative position;
An exercise support apparatus comprising: means for reproducing a sound image of the competitor.   2. The exercise support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for determining exercise state data of the competitor uses the quantitative value input by the user as exercise state data of the opponent. The means for determining the movement status data of the competitor is:
Means for storing the user's own past exercise state data;
Means for selecting the corresponding exercise state data from the storage means based on the game data input by the user,
The exercise support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the past exercise state data of the selected user is used as exercise state data of a competitor. The means for determining the movement status data of the competitor is:
Means for transmitting a request message including competition data input by a user to a server storing past exercise state data of other users;
Means for receiving a response message to the request message,
The exercise support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein past exercise state data of other users registered in the response message is used as exercise state data of a competitor. Further comprising means for measuring environmental data;
4. The exercise support apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the means for selecting exercise state data selects exercise state data corresponding to competition data and environmental data input by a user. Further comprising means for measuring environmental data;
5. The exercise support apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the means for transmitting the request message transmits a request message including competition data and environmental data input by a user. Means for storing user attribute data;
The exercise support apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the means for transmitting the request message transmits a request message including competition data, environmental data, and attribute data input by a user.   8. The exercise support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for generating the exercise sound generates at least one of a footstep sound, a breathing sound, and a scratch sound of the virtual athlete.   9. The sound image generating means according to claim 1, wherein the sound image generating means generates a sound image by convolving a competitor's motion sound with a user's head related transfer function (HRTF). The exercise support apparatus described.   The exercise support apparatus according to claim 9, wherein a filter simulating the head-related transfer function is used as the head-related transfer function.   The exercise support apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the head-related transfer function is a general-purpose function generated based on an average transfer characteristic of a large number of users.

Images