Apparatus and method for exercise type recognition

Abstract

A method is provided. The method comprises a first step of acquiring wrist exercise information including at least one of orientation information and motion information of a wrist of a user, a second step of acquiring upper body exercise information including at least one of orientation information and motion information of a torso of the user, a third step of calculating, using reference wrist exercise information and reference upper body exercise information corresponding to each of a plurality of exercise types, a first similarity degree between the reference wrist exercise information and the wrist exercise information and a second similarity degree between the reference upper body exercise information and the upper body exercise information for each of the exercise types, and a fourth step of determining an actual exercise type performed by the user, among the exercise types, based on the first similarity degree and the second similarity degree.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An exercise type recognition method, comprising:
 a first step of acquiring wrist exercise information including at least one of orientation information and motion information of a wrist of a user;   a second step of acquiring upper body exercise information including at least one of orientation information and motion information of a torso of the user;   a third step of calculating, using reference wrist exercise information and reference upper body exercise information corresponding to each of a plurality of exercise types, a first similarity degree between the reference wrist exercise information and the wrist exercise information and a second similarity degree between the reference upper body exercise information and the upper body exercise information for each of the exercise types; and   a fourth step of determining an actual exercise type performed by the user, among the exercise types, based on the first similarity degree and the second similarity degree.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the reference wrist exercise information includes reference wrist orientation information and reference wrist motion information,
 the reference upper body exercise information includes reference upper body orientation information and reference upper body motion information, and   the third step comprises a step of calculating, for each of the exercise types, the first similarity degree by respectively comparing the orientation information of the wrist and the motion information of the wrist with the reference wrist orientation information and the reference wrist motion information, and the second similarity degree by respectively comparing the orientation information of the upper body and the motion information of the upper body with the reference upper body orientation information and the reference upper body motion information.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the third step comprises a step of calculating a general similarity degree for each of the exercise types based on the first similarity degree and the second similarity degree, and
 the fourth step comprises a step of providing the user with a result of sorting the exercise types according to a magnitude of the general similarity degree.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the fourth step comprises a step of outputting an exercise type having the general similarity degree equal to or greater than a predetermined value among the exercise types to the user as an actual exercise type candidate, and determining the actual exercise type from the actual exercise type candidate based on a selection of the user. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first reference similarity degree is larger than the second reference similarity degree, and
 the fourth step comprises a step of providing the actual exercise type to the user from a corresponding part of a manual that stores information on each of the exercise types, together with guidance on a method of correction of the actual exercise type when the first similarity degree or the second similarity degree for the actual exercise type is less than a predetermined first reference similarity degree and equal to or greater than a predetermined second reference similarity degree, and updating the actual exercise type when the first similarity degree or the second similarity degree for the actual exercise type is less than the second reference similarity degree.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the fourth step comprises a step of outputting a predetermined warning notification to the user when the first similarity degree or the second similarity degree for the actual exercise type is less than the first reference similarity degree. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the fourth step comprises a step of determining, for an exercise routine in which one or more of the exercise types are combined in a predetermined order and for a predetermined number of repetitions, a previously performed part of the exercise routine based on a number of times the actual exercise type is consecutively performed, and guiding a remaining part of the exercise routine, other than the previously performed part, to the user. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the exercise types, the reference wrist exercise information and the reference upper body exercise information corresponding to each of the exercise types are updated based on an input from the user. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the wrist exercise information includes at least one of velocity and acceleration of the wrist, and the upper body exercise information includes at least one of velocity information and acceleration of the upper body. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a step of acquiring foot exercise information including at least one of orientation information and motion information of a foot of the user,   wherein the third step comprises a step of further calculating a third similarity degree between a reference foot exercise information and the foot exercise information for each of the exercise types, and   the fourth step comprises a step of determining the actual exercise type based on the third similarity degree.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a step of receiving exercise instrument information on an exercise instrument, which is acquired by an exercise instrument information recognition unit installed on the exercise instrument used for an exercise performed by the user,   wherein the exercise instrument information includes at least one of weight of the exercise instrument, velocity of the exercise instrument, acceleration of the exercise instrument and type of the exercise instrument.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the fourth step comprises a step of calculating an exercise repetition degree based on a degree at which at least one of the wrist exercise information and the upper body exercise information repeatedly appears within a predetermined range for a predetermined time, and calculating the first similarity degree and the second similarity degree to determine the actual exercise type only when the exercise repetition degree is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the third step comprises a step of calibrating the reference wrist exercise information and the reference upper body exercise information based on previously-stored user physique information of the user, and a step of calculating the first similarity degree and the second similarity degree based on the calibrated reference wrist exercise information and the calibrated reference upper body exercise information. 
     
     
         14 . A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program causing a computer to perform the respective steps of the method of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         15 . An exercise information management method, comprising:
 a first step of generating, using an information acquiring unit mounted on an exercise instrument used for exercise performed by a user, exercise instrument information including weight information of a portion of the exercise instrument which moves by a force exerted by the user; and   a second step of generating, based on the exercise instrument information, user exercise information including time-series information regarding a use of the exercise instrument by the user.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the second step is performed by a portable electronic device of the user, and
 the information acquiring unit comprises wireless communication module for transmitting the exercise instrument information to the portable electronic device.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the first step comprises generating an exercise instrument recognition signal determined based on pre-stored type information on a type of the exercise instrument on which the information acquiring unit is mounted, and
 the second step comprises recognizing, based on the exercise instrument recognition signal, the type of the exercise instrument used by the user.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the first step comprises determining whether said portion exists in the exercise instrument using an acceleration value measured by an acceleration sensor. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the second step comprises recognizing a type of the exercise instrument based on a result of a comparison of the exercise instrument information with predetermined reference exercise instrument information. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the user exercise information includes at least one of type information of the exercise instrument, the weight information corresponding to each type of the exercise instrument, and information on a time period or number of times of the use of the exercise instrument by the user. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the information acquiring unit comprises a pressure sensor which measures a pressure exerted thereon by said portion of the exercise instrument, and
 the first step comprises generating the weight information based on a value of the pressure.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the information acquiring unit further comprises an acceleration sensor which measures an acceleration of said portion of the exercise instrument, and
 the first step comprises compensating the value of the pressure using a value of the acceleration so as to generate the weight information.   
     
     
         23 . A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program causing a computer to perform the respective steps of the method of  claim 15 .