Head Worn Sensor Device and System for Exercise Tracking and Scoring

Abstract

The subject invention is directed to a computer-implemented method, a device and a system for detecting and scoring exercises, including maintaining, by a mobile device, a library of motion signatures, in which a motion signature for an exercise is a sequence of characteristic features and a characteristic feature is a movement in the exercise; receiving, by a mobile device, a time series of data from a sensor device, the sensor device attached to the head or torso of a user, the data comprising accelerometer data from an accelerometer included in the sensor device, detecting a single repetition of a designated exercise performed by the user and calculating a motion score for the single repetition of the detected exercise.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method for detecting and scoring exercises, comprising:
 maintaining, by a mobile device, a library of motion signatures, wherein a motion signature for an exercise comprises a sequence of characteristic features and wherein a characteristic feature is a movement in the exercise;   receiving, by a mobile device, a time series of data from a sensor device, the sensor device attached to the head or torso of a user, the time series of data comprising accelerometer data from an accelerometer included in the sensor device;   detecting a single repetition of a designated exercise performed by the user, wherein detecting comprises:
 segmenting the time series of accelerometer data into a sequence of characteristic features as specified by the motion signature that corresponds to the designated exercise; and 
   calculating a motion score for the single repetition of the detected exercise.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein detecting further comprises validating that the range of values in each segment of accelerometer data is within a specified range of values. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  where the received time series of data further comprises data from a photoplethysmograph included in the sensor device, the method further comprising:
 calculating a heart rate for the user; and 
 calculating a heart rate score for the designated exercise. 
 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  wherein the heart rate score is based on the increase in the user's heart rate while performing the designated exercise. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3  further comprising:
 generating an exercise score for the designated exercise based on both the motion score and the heart rate score. 
 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  further comprising:
 generating a set score by summing the individual exercise scores for a set of repetitions of the designated exercise performed by the user. 
 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein at least one motion signature in the library of motion signatures corresponds to an exercise selected from the group consisting of squats, lungs, press ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, running on the spot, side lunge, squat jumps, rotating lunge, high jumps, crunches, standups, and burpees. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein a motion signature corresponds to a single repetition of an exercise selected from the group consisting of a squat, a lunge, a press up, a sit-up, and a burpee. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein calculating a motion score is based on the magnitude of the motion performed by the user. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 displaying, by the mobile device, a progress indicator selected from the group consisting of the number of repetitions of the designated exercise already performed in the set, the number of repetitions of the designated exercise remaining to be performed in the set and the time elapsed since the beginning of the set. 
 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the sensor device attaches to an ear of the user. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the time series of sensor data further comprises data from at least one sensor selected from the group consisting of an accelerometer, a magnetometer and a gyroscope and the at least one sensor is also included in the sensor device. 
     
     
         13 . A mobile device, comprising:
 a processor;   a wireless transceiver in communication with a sensor device, the sensor device attached to the head or torso of a user; and   a non-transitory memory in communication with the processor for storing (1) a library of motion signatures, wherein a motion signature for an exercise comprises a sequence of characteristic features and wherein a characteristic feature is a movement in the exercise, and (2) instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the mobile device:
 to receive a time series of data from the sensor device, said data comprising accelerometer data from an accelerometer included in the sensor device; 
 to detect a single repetition of a designated exercise performed by the user, wherein detecting comprises:
 segmenting the accelerometer data into a sequence of characteristic features as specified by the motion signature that corresponds to the designated exercise; and 
 
 to calculate a motion score for the single repetition of the detected exercise. 
   
     
     
         14 . The device of  claim 13  wherein detecting further comprises validating that the range of values in each segment of accelerometer data is within a specified range of values. 
     
     
         15 . The device of  claim 13  where the received time series of data further comprises data from a photoplethysmograph included in the sensor device, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the mobile device:
 to calculate a heart rate for the user; and 
 to calculate a heart rate score for the designated exercise. 
 
     
     
         16 . The device of  claim 15  wherein the heart rate score is based on the increase in the user's heart rate while performing the designated exercise. 
     
     
         17 . The device of  claim 16  wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the mobile device:
 to generate an exercise score for the designated exercise based on both the motion score and the heart rate score. 
 
     
     
         18 . The device of  claim 17  wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the mobile device:
 to generate a set score by summing the exercise scores for each repetition of a set of repetitions of the designated exercise performed by the user. 
 
     
     
         19 . The device of  claim 13  wherein at least one motion signature in the library of motion signatures corresponds to an exercise selected from the group consisting of squats, lunges, press ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, running on the spot, side lunge, squat jumps, rotating lunge, high jumps, crunches, standups, and burpees. 
     
     
         20 . The device of  claim 13  wherein a motion signature corresponds to a single repetition of a discrete exercise selected from the group consisting of a squat, a lunge, a press up, a sit-up, and a burpee. 
     
     
         21 . The device of  claim 22  wherein calculating a motion score is based on the magnitude of the motion performed by the user. 
     
     
         22 . The device of  claim 13  wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the mobile device:
 to display, by the mobile device, a progress indicator selected from the group consisting of the number of repetitions of the designated exercise already performed in the set, the number of repetitions of the designated exercise remaining to be performed in the set and the time elapsed since the beginning of the set. 
 
     
     
         23 . The device of  claim 13  wherein the sensor device worn by the user is attached to the head or torso of the user. 
     
     
         24 . The device of  claim 13  wherein the time series of sensor data further comprises data from at least one sensor selected from the group consisting of an accelerometer, a magnetometer and a gyroscope and the at least one sensor is also included in the sensor device. 
     
     
         25 . A system for detecting and scoring exercises, comprising:
 a sensor device that attaches to the head of a user comprising:
 an accelerometer that generates a time series of tri-axial data that measures the acceleration of the user's head or torso; and 
 a wireless transmitter that transmits the time series of tri-axial accelerometer data; 
   a mobile device, comprising:
 a processor; 
 a wireless transceiver in communication with the sensor device that receives the time series of tri-axial accelerometer data from the sensor device; and 
 a non-transitory memory in communication with the processor for storing (1) the time series of tri-axial accelerometer data, (2) a library of motion signatures, wherein a motion signature for an exercise comprises a sequence of characteristic features and wherein a characteristic feature is a movement in the exercise, and (3) instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the mobile device:
 to detect a single repetition of a designated exercise performed by the user, wherein detecting comprises:
 segmenting the accelerometer data into a sequence of characteristic features as specified by the motion signature that corresponds to the designated exercise; and 
 
 to calculate a motion score for the single repetition of the detected exercise.