Exercise equipment with movable handle bars to simulate steering motion in a simulated environment and methods therefor

Abstract

An apparatus of exercise equipment with movable handle bars to simulate steering motion in a virtual environment and methods therefor are disclosed. One embodiment of the apparatus includes, exercise equipment having a display unit and a computing unit, a foot actuator mounted on a frame of the exercise equipment, a seat assembly coupled to a rail mounted on the frame of the exercise equipment, and/or a handle bar coupled to the seat assembly on one side. The handle bar can be programmable or reprogrammable to cause a leftwards steering motion or a rightwards steering motion to be simulated in the virtual environment in response to rotation in a given direction.

1 . An apparatus, comprising,
 an exercise equipment having a display unit and a computing unit;   a foot actuator mounted on a frame of the exercise equipment;   a seat assembly coupled to a rail mounted on the frame of the exercise equipment;   a handle bar coupled to the seat assembly on one side;   wherein, the computing unit is able to execute one or more instruction sets embodied on a machine-readable medium, the one or more instruction sets causing the computing unit to:   generate a virtual environment for display on the display unit;   wherein, the handle bar is physically movable to simulate a steering motion in the virtual environment;   wherein, the handle bar is programmable or reprogrammable to cause a leftwards steering motion or a rightwards steering motion to be simulated in the virtual environment in response to physical rotation of the handle bar in a given direction.   
   
   
       2 . An apparatus, comprising,
 an exercise equipment having a display unit and a computing unit;   a foot actuator mounted on a frame of the exercise equipment;   a seat assembly coupled to a rail mounted on the frame of the exercise equipment;   a handle bar coupled to the seat assembly on one side;   wherein, the computing unit is able to execute one or more instruction sets embodied on a machine-readable medium, the one or more instruction sets causing the computing unit to:   generate a virtual environment for display on the display unit;   wherein, the handle bar is physically movable to simulate a steering motion in the virtual environment.   
   
   
       3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein, the exercise equipment is a recumbent bicycle wherein, the foot actuator is displaced laterally from the seat such that a user sits reclined in the seat assembly. 
   
   
       4 . The apparatus of  claim 2 ,
 wherein, the foot actuator comprises pedals or steppers; and   wherein, the virtual environment is at least further simulated based on detected motion the foot actuator.   
   
   
       5 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein, the handle bar is physically rotated clockwise or counterclockwise around an axis to simulate the steering motion. 
   
   
       6 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein, the handle bar is physically rotated via upwards or downwards motion of a hand of a user sitting on the seat. 
   
   
       7 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein, clockwise motion of the handle bar is programmable to cause simulation of a leftwards steering motion or a rightwards steering motion in the virtual environment. 
   
   
       8 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein, counterclockwise motion of the handle bar is programmable to cause simulation of a leftwards steering motion or a rightwards steering motion in the virtual environment. 
   
   
       9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein, the handle bar is programmable or reprogrammable. 
   
   
       10 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein, a magnitude of the steering is proportional to a rotation angle of the handle bar from the axis. 
   
   
       11 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , further comprising, a second handle bar coupled to a second side of the seat assembly. 
   
   
       12 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein, a magnitude of the steering is proportional to a difference between a first rotation angle of the handle bar from the axis and a second rotation angle of the second handle bar from the axis. 
   
   
       13 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein, a positive or negative value of the difference is configurable to cause simulation of a leftwards steering motion in the virtual environment. 
   
   
       14 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein, a positive or negative value of the difference is configurable to cause simulation of a rightwards steering motion in the virtual environment. 
   
   
       15 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein, the side and the second side are the left and right sides of the seat assembly. 
   
   
       16 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein, the seat assembly further comprises a back rest. 
   
   
       17 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , further comprising, a seat-adjustment lever that is actuated to slide the seat assembly along the rail for position adjustment. 
   
   
       18 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein, the handle bar is coupled to the seat assembly such that the handle bar moves in conjunction with the seat assembly when a position of the seat assembly is adjusted. 
   
   
       19 . The apparatus of  claim 2 ,
 further comprising, a gear shifting unit disposed on the handle bar;   wherein, the gear shifting unit is adjusted to increase or decrease resistance to move the foot actuator.   
   
   
       20 . The apparatus of  claim 19 ,
 wherein, the gear shifting unit includes a first switch for upshifting the gear and a second switch for downshifting the gear;   wherein, the first and second switches are programmable or reprogrammable.   
   
   
       21 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein, the display unit includes an LCD display. 
   
   
       22 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the exercise equipment is network-enabled and is connected to a remote server via the Internet. 
   
   
       23 . A machine-readable storage medium having stored thereon a set of instructions which when executed perform a method for simulating a virtual environment for display on a display unit of a recumbent exercise bicycle, the method, comprising,
 generating the virtual environment and displaying the virtual environment on the display unit of the recumbent exercise bicycle during an exercise session;   detecting a first displacement of a first handle bar of the recumbent exercise bicycle from a first initial position;   detecting a second displacement of a second handle bar of the recumbent exercise bicycle from a second initial position;   simulating motion through the virtual environment based on the first and second displacements.   
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 23 , further comprising,
 determining a first angle of the displacement of the first handle bar from the first initial position;   determining a second angle of the displacement of the second handle bar from the second initial position;   computing a difference between the first angle and the second angle;   wherein, the motion through the virtual environment is simulated based on the difference.   
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 23 ,
 further comprising, in response to receiving a configuration request, assigning clockwise motion of the first handle bar to cause simulation of a leftwards steering motion or a rightwards steering motion in the virtual environment;   further comprising, in response to receiving another configuration request, assigning counterclockwise motion of the first handle bar to cause simulation of a leftwards steering motion or a rightwards steering motion in the virtual environment.   
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein, the configuration request is placed by an exercising user of the recumbent exercise bicycle. 
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 23 , further comprising, responsive to a request, configuring a first switch on the first handle bar for gear upshifting and configuring a second switch on the first handle bar for gear downshifting. 
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 23 , further comprising,
 detecting actuation of a switch on the first handle bar;   determining whether the actuated switch is configured for gear upshifting or gear downshifting;   incrementing or decrementing resistance to moving pedals of the recumbent exercise bicycle;   accordingly simulating upshifting or downshifting of the gear in the virtual environment.   
   
   
       29 . A machine-readable storage medium having stored thereon a set of instructions which when executed perform a method for simulating a virtual environment for display on a display unit of an exercise bicycle, the method, comprising,
 generating the virtual environment and displaying the virtual environment on the display unit of the exercise bicycle during an exercise session;   determining a first angle of displacement of the first handle bar from a first initial position;   determining a second angle of displacement of the second handle bar from a second initial position;   computing a difference between the first angle and the second angle;   simulating motion through the virtual environment based on the difference between the first and second angles;   detecting actuation of a switch on the first handle bar;   determining whether the actuated switch is configured for gear upshifting or gear downshifting;   accordingly simulating upshifting or downshifting of the gear in the virtual environment;   accordingly simulating upshifting or downshifting of the gear in the virtual environment.