Monitoring Activity of a User in Locomotion on Foot

Abstract

A device supported by a user while the user is in locomotion on foot during an outing to automatically measure amounts of time taken by the user to complete respective distance intervals. During the outing, data representing the automatically measured amounts of time may be automatically stored in memory of the device. During the outing, the device may display at least one of an average pace of the user since a most recently completed distance interval, an average speed of the user since the most recently completed distance interval, and a projected time to complete a current distance interval based on monitored performance since the most recently completed distance interval. The device may determine a remaining distance to be traveled to complete a specified goal distance for the outing and a calculated fraction of the specified goal distance for the outing.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A unitary apparatus configured to be worn by a user, comprising:
 a unitary body, further comprising:
 a processor; 
 a user interface; 
 a sensor in operative communication with the processor, and configured to capture motion data indicative of an elevation of the user; and 
 a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that when executed by the processor perform at least:
 receiving the motion data from the sensor; 
 identifying, from the motion data, a change in elevation of the user over a period of time; 
 estimating a heart rate of the user by correlating to the identified change in elevation of the user over the period of time; and 
 generating a graphical representation of the estimated heart rate and outputting the graphical representation to the user interface. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The unitary apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein rates of changes in elevation correlated to heart rates are stored in the non-transitory computer-readable medium. 
     
     
         3 . The unitary apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the unitary apparatus is calibrated by:
 measuring heart rates of the user at different elevations.   
     
     
         4 . The unitary apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the measured heart rates are received from a heart rate monitor during a calibration process. 
     
     
         5 . The unitary apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the user interface is configured to display real-time activity information associated with motion of the user. 
     
     
         6 . The unitary apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the real-time activity information displayed by the user interface includes the estimated heart rate of the user. 
     
     
         7 . The unitary apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the real-time activity information displayed by the user interface includes an average speed of the user. 
     
     
         8 . The unitary apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the unitary apparatus is configured to be worn on a wrist of the user. 
     
     
         9 . The unitary apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the unitary apparatus is further configured to calculate an estimated heart rate of a second user using received second motion data for the second user. 
     
     
         10 . An apparatus, comprising:
 a processor;   an interface;   a sensor configured to capture motion data indicative of an elevation of a user; and   memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to:
 receive the motion data from the sensor; 
 identify, from the motion data, a change in elevation of the user over a period of time; 
 estimate a heart rate of the user by correlating to the identified change in elevation of the user over the period of time; and 
 output the estimated real-time heart rate to the interface. 
   
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the processor, are configured to calibrate the apparatus by:
 measuring, using a hear rate monitor, heart rates of the user at a plurality of different elevations.   
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the processor, are further configured to:
 calculate an athletic performance parameter of the user from the motion data.   
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the athletic performance parameter comprises an energy expenditure of the user. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the athletic performance parameter comprises a running speed. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the sensor comprises an accelerometer. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the sensor comprises a locating-determining sensor. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the apparatus is configured to be worn on a wrist of the user. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the user is associated with a user profile accessible in the apparatus using a user ID. 
     
     
         19 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that when executed by a processor are configured to perform at least:
 capture sensor data generated by a sensor as a result of a motion of a user, the sensor data indicative of an elevation of the user;   identify, from the sensor data, a change in elevation of the user over a period of time;   estimate a heart rate of the user by correlating to the identified change in elevation of the user over the period of time; and   output the estimated heart rate to an interface.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, are configured perform a calibration to calculate heart rates of the user at different elevations.