Fitness training guidance system and method thereof

Abstract

A real-time personal fitness training guidance system is described. A camera unit including one or more cameras is provided to take images of a user ready to use or using an exercise equipment. One or more current vital signs and physical activity information are derived from the captured images. Further, a personal fitness training guidance is generated for the user in accordance with the current vital signs, the physical activity information and a workout program the user is doing. To allow the user to see how he or she is doing in his/her workout, an output unit is provided to show the personal fitness training guidance to the user in real-time. An external device is also provided to generate a coaching guidance for the user.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A personal fitness training system comprising:
 a fitness equipment including:
 a camera unit with at least one camera provided to capture images of a user using the fitness equipment; 
 a data processor, coupled to the camera unit, receiving the captured images to derive from the captured images one or more vital signs of the user exercising with the fitness equipment; and 
 a console providing a training guidance to the user to achieve at least one goal through an exercise with the fitness equipment, wherein the guidance is personalized per the user in accordance with a plurality of attributes about the user derived from the captured images. 
   
     
     
         2 . The personal fitness training system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the training guidance is generated in accordance with a profile of the user. 
     
     
         3 . The personal fitness training system as recited in  claim 2 , wherein the data processor is configured to detect a presence of the user when the user is ready to use the fitness equipment. 
     
     
         4 . The personal fitness training system as recited in  claim 3 , wherein the data processor is configured to profile the user from the images. 
     
     
         5 . The personal fitness training system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the camera unit is further positioned to take images of the user so that the data processor detects workout activities being performed by the user. 
     
     
         6 . The personal fitness training system as recited in  claim 5 , wherein the training guidance is personalized to the user based on the one or more vital signs and the workout activities. 
     
     
         7 . The personal fitness training system as recited in  claim 6 , wherein the data processor receives status information from the fitness equipment, the status information includes at least one of: speed, incline, and resistance. 
     
     
         8 . The personal fitness training system as recited in  claim 7 , wherein the training guidance is personalized to the user based on the one or more vital signs, the workout activities and the status information. 
     
     
         9 . The personal fitness training system as recited in  claim 6 , further comprising:
 at least one server, located remotely with respect to the fitness equipment, communicating with the data processor over a data network to receive the profile of the user and the attributes about the user for an exercising session, wherein the server is configured to archive historic data for each of users registered therewith, the historic data for the user is updated with the profile of the user and the attributes about the user for the exercising session.   
     
     
         10 . The personal fitness training system as recited in  claim 9 , wherein the server is coupled to or served as persistent storage and central processing for a plurality of users who have signed up with the system. 
     
     
         11 . The personal fitness training system as recited in  claim 10 , wherein the server receives user workout data from each of the users when the each of the users uses the system, stores the workout data persistently for each of the users, generates statistics data on historic user workout data from the users, indexes user profiles through facial and physical features. 
     
     
         12 . The personal fitness training system as recited in  claim 11 , wherein the training guidance is personalized to the user based on the one or more vital signs, the workout activities, and the statistics data. 
     
     
         13 . The personal fitness training system as recited in  claim 11 , wherein the server further generates coaching parameters as an input to a coaching module which in turn generates a coaching guidance sent to a corresponding processing unit for display to a user. 
     
     
         14 . The personal fitness training system as recited in  claim 13 , further comprising a mobile device communicating with the server, the mobile device receives the coaching guidance from the server over a data network. 
     
     
         15 . The personal fitness training system as recited in  claim 9 , wherein the server includes a coaching module designed to customize a coaching guidance for the user based on inputs from the data processor, an analytic engine periodically analyzing a historical workout database to derive correlations between experience types, intensities, user profile types, and vital sign measures based on machine learning techniques. 
     
     
         16 . A method for providing a training guidance in a personal fitness training system, the method comprising:
 capturing by a camera unit in real-time images of a user doing a workout on the fitness equipment;   analyzing the captured images to obtain one or more vital signs of the user;   obtaining a workout program the user is doing;   generating a personal fitness training guidance for the user based on the vital signs, the physical activity information and the workout program; and   delivering the personal fitness training guidance to the user.   
     
     
         17 . The method as recited in  claim 16 , wherein the camera unit includes at least one camera or is repositioned to image different parts of the user. 
     
     
         18 . The method as recited in  claim 17 , further comprising:
 profiling the user from a set of facial images from the camera unit; and   detecting workout activities being performed by the user from a set of images.   
     
     
         19 . The method as recited in  claim 18 , further comprising:
 determining a fitness level of the user;   obtaining a fitness goal of the user; and   generating a workout program for the user based on the fitness level of the user and the fitness goal of the user in accordance with the status information.   
     
     
         20 . The method as recited in  claim 18 , wherein said profiling the user from a set of facial images comprises:
 determining an identity of the user from the facial images; and   obtaining the profile of the user corresponding to the identity to indicate that the user is a returning user.