Method to provide dynamic customized sports instruction responsive to motion of a mobile device

Abstract

A family of sports teaching applications that delivers customized lessons driven by the analysis of user body motions where data is captured via the accelerometer and gyroscope in a mobile device, such as a smartphone is provided. Each specific application is designed with motion data models that define proper form for athletes in club sports such as, but not limited to, golf, baseball hitting, hockey, polo, and racquet sports such as, but not limited to, table tennis, squash, badminton and throwing sports like baseball pitching, football, discus, javelin, and shot put, and other sports such as skiing and running. The Invention is also applicable to the customized fitting of sports equipment such as golf clubs, baseball bats, tennis racquets, etc. to athletes unique swing motions and swing speeds, and for multiplayer tournament competitions via the Internet utilizing the swing motion analysis and system described herein.

1 . A method, comprising:
 receiving motion data from motion sensors integrated into a mobile device, the motion data corresponding to motions of the mobile device during swinging of the mobile device to simulate a sports motion;   evaluating the received motion data to determine at least one topic of interest, wherein the evaluating of the received motion data to determine the at least one topic comprises:
 using the received motion data,
 determining the starting point, velocity at an impact point or a release point of a virtual object, and a movement along a path; 
 selecting, from a content database, content associated with the topic; and 
 displaying the selected content. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the content is displayed on the mobile device. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the content is displayed on a display device different from the mobile device. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the mobile device is not attached to any piece of sports equipment and the starting point is not indicated by user-entered input. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the motion sensors include an accelerometer and a multi-axis gyroscope. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the sports motion is one of a golf swing, a basketballthrow, a bowling throw, an American football throw, a baseball swing, a tennis swing, a badminton swing, a racquetball swing, a lacrosse throw, a table tennis swing, a hockey swing, a fishing cast, and a bean bag toss. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the velocity is based at least in part on velocity of the mobile device around the impact point, arm length, club length, and arc length for a swing type. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the velocity includes applying a multiplier based on estimated wrist hinge and forearm rotation as measured by yaw and roll of the mobile device at the impact point. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further including determining ball flight distance based at least in part on the determined velocity of the virtual object. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the impact point or release point using the obtained motion data includes analyzing a second gyroscope sensor data of the mobile device at the impact point or release point. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein analyzing a second sensor of the mobile device at the impact point or release point includes subtracting sensor data at the impact point or release point from sensor data from the starting point. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the release point is one of a release point of a bowling ball, a lacrosse ball, a basketball, a baseball, a tennis ball, a hockey puck, a bean bag, an American football and a fishing hook. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising storing motion data related to motions of the mobile device during the simulated sports motion in a database. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the selected content is selected based on one or more of user input data, prior motion data, and CRM data, and according to a set of predetermined rules. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the selected content is displayed on both the mobile device used to simulate the sports motion and a display device different from the mobile device. 
     
     
         16 . A system comprising a mobile device attached to an ancillary device, wherein the mobile device has motion sensors integrated therein and includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores a set of instructions which when executed by a processor of the mobile device performs the steps of:
 receiving motion data from the motion sensors, the motion data corresponding to motions of the mobile device during swinging of the ancillary device to simulate a sports motion;   evaluating the simulated sports motion to determine at least one topic of interest, including analyzing the motion sensor data to determine an impact point or release point;   selecting, from a content database, content associated with the topic; and   displaying the selected content.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16  wherein the simulated sports motion does not impact a physical object. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16  wherein the simulated sports motion does not release a physical object. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 16  wherein the ancillary device has the grip of one of a golf club, baseball bat, baseball, tennis racquet, lacrosse handle, badminton racquet, racquetball racquet, table tennis paddle, bowling ball, hockey stick and a fishing rod. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the content is displayed on the mobile device. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the content is displayed on a display device different from the mobile device. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the starting point of the simulated sports motion is not indicated by user-entered input. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the motion sensors include an accelerometer and a multi-axis gyroscope. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the sports motion is one of a golf swing, a baseball swing, a bowling throw, a tennis swing, a badminton swing, a racquetball swing, a lacrosse throw, a table tennis swing, a hockey swing, and a fishing cast. 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein determining the velocity at the impact point or release point is based at least in part on velocity of the mobile device around the impact point, arm length, and arc length for a swing type. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein determining the velocity at the impact point or release point includes applying a multiplier based on estimated wrist hinge and forearm rotation as measured by yaw and roll of the mobile device at the impact point. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 16 , further including determining ball flight distance based at least in part on the determined velocity of the virtual object. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein determining the impact point or release point using the obtained motion data includes analyzing a second gyroscope sensor data of the mobile device at the impact point or release point. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein analyzing a second sensor of the mobile device at the impact point or release point includes subtracting sensor data at the impact point or release point from sensor data from the starting point. 
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the release point is one of a release point of a bowling ball, a lacrosse ball, a basketball, a baseball, a tennis ball, a hockey puck, a bean bag, an American football and a fishing hook. 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 16 , further comprising storing motion data related to motions of the mobile device during the simulated sports motion in a database. 
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the selected content is selected based on one or more of user input data, prior motion data, and CRM data, and according to a set of predetermined rules. 
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the ancillary device includes an elongated shaft having a grip on one end and a weight on an opposite end thereof. 
     
     
         34 . A method, comprising:
 establishing an nth connection between an nth device and a server, the nth device having motion sensors integrated therein;   receiving, at the server, via the nth connection, motion data from the device, the motion data determined using the motion sensors, responsive to the nth device being moved to simulate a sports motion;   selecting content from a database based at least in part on the received motion data; and   displaying the selected content device on the nth device.   
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34 , further comprising:
 establishing an mth connection between the server and an mth display device; and   displaying the selected content on the mth display device.   
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 34 , further comprising:
 establishing an n+1th connection between an n+1th device and the server, the n+1th device having motion sensors integrated therein;   receiving, at the server, via the n+1th connection, motion data from the n+1th device, the motion data from the n+1th device determined using the motion sensors from the n+1th device, responsive to the n+1th device being moved to simulate a sports motion;   selecting content from the database based at least in part on the received motion data from the n+1th device; and   displaying the selected content device on the n+1th device.   
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 36 , further comprising:
 establishing an m+1th connection between the server and an m+1th display device; and   displaying the selected content on the m+1th display device.   
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the sports motion is one of a golf swing, a basketball throw, a bowling throw, an American football throw, a baseball swing, a tennis swing, a badminton swing, a racquetball swing, a lacrosse throw, a table tennis swing, a hockey swing, a fishing cast, and a bean bag toss. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein the sports motion is one of a golf swing, a basketballthrow, a bowling throw, an American football throw, a baseball swing, a tennis swing, a badminton swing, a racquetball swing, a lacrosse throw, a table tennis swing, a hockey swing, a fishing cast, and a bean bag toss. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein the sports motions for the nth device and the n+1th device are substantially different types of sports motions. 
     
     
         41 . The method of 36, wherein the content selected from the database based at least in part on the received motion data from the nth device and the content selected from the database based at least in part on the received motion data from the n+1th are substantially different. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the selected content displayed on the mth display device and the selected content displayed on the m+1th display device are substantially different.