Method and smart ball for generating an audio feedback for a user interacting with the smart ball

Abstract

Method and smart ball for generating an audio feedback for a user interacting with the smart ball. The smart ball comprises sensors generating sensor data representative of an interaction session of the user with the smart ball. The smart ball processes the sensor data to generate ball data, which are wirelessly transmitted to a computing device. The computing device processes the ball data to generate ball indicators (e.g. number and timing of touches with the ball; respective speed, spin and height of the ball for each touch), and further processes the ball indicators to generate performance indicators (e.g. a score or performance statistic). The computing device determines an audio feedback for the user based on at least one of the indicators, the audio feedback providing a feedback to the user on the execution of the interaction session by the user.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for generating an audio feedback for a user interacting with a smart ball, the method comprising:
 receiving ball data from the smart ball by a processing unit of a computing device via a wireless communication interface of the computing device, the ball data being generated by an embedded monitoring platform comprised in the smart ball, the ball data being representative of an interaction session of the user with the smart ball;   processing the ball data by the processing unit of the computing device to generate indicators;   determining an audio feedback for the user based on at least one of the indicators, the audio feedback providing a feedback to the user on the execution of the interaction session by the user; and   transmitting the audio feedback to an audio device by the processing unit of the computing device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a plurality of consecutive audio feedbacks are determined during the execution of the interaction session by the user. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the audio feedback is determined at the end of the interaction session. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the interaction session is a training exercise performed by the user with the smart ball. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the ball data comprise at least one of the following: timestamps, spin values, acceleration values, orientation values, speed values, pressure values, temperature values and force values. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the ball data comprise at least some of three gyrometer values in three coordinate axes, three accelerometer values in three coordinate axes and three magnetometer values in three coordinate axes. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the indicators comprise ball indicators generated by the processing of the ball data. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the ball data are processed in near real-time to generate the ball indicators during the execution of the interaction session by the user. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the ball indicators comprise at least one of the following: a number of touch-events, a timing for each touch-event, a speed of the ball, a spin of the ball, a height of the ball, and a trajectory of the ball. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein a given type of touch-event is identified through the processing of the ball data; and for each occurrence of the given type of touch-event, the number of touch-events is updated, the timing of occurrence of the touch-event is determined, and at least one of the following is determined: the speed of the ball, the spin of the ball, the height of the ball and the trajectory of the ball. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the indicators comprise at least one performance indicator, each performance indicator being generated by the processing of at least one ball indicator. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the performance indicator consists of a score or a performance statistic. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the generation of the performance indicator further takes into consideration a goal defined for the at least one ball indicator. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein an audio sequence is played during the interaction session, and the performance indicator is representative of a synchronization of the execution of the interaction session by the user with the audio sequence. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein touch-events consisting of a foot-contact are detected based on the ball data, a timing of each touch-event consisting of a foot-contact is determined, an average contact frequency with the ball is determined based on the determined timings, and the performance indicator is based on the average contact frequency with the ball. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating sensor data by at least one sensor of the embedded monitoring platform, the sensor data being representative of the interaction session of the user with the smart ball;   generating the ball data by a processing unit of the embedded monitoring platform based on the sensor data generated by the at least one sensor; and   transmitting the ball data to the computing device by the processing unit of the embedded monitoring platform via a wireless communication interface of the embedded monitoring platform sensor.   
     
     
         17 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions executable by a processing unit of a computing device, the execution of the instructions by the processing unit of the computing device providing for implementing the method of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         18 . A smart ball comprising:
 an embedded monitoring platform, the embedded monitoring platform comprising;
 a wireless communication interface; 
 at least one sensor adapted to generate sensor data, the sensor data being representative of an interaction session of a user with the smart ball; and 
 a processing unit configured to:
 generate ball data based on the sensor data generated by the at least one sensor; and 
 transmit the ball data to a computing device via the wireless communication interface. 
 
   
     
     
         19 . The smart ball of  claim 18 , wherein the ball data comprise at least one of the following: timestamps, spin values, acceleration values, orientation values, speed values, pressure values, temperature values and force values. 
     
     
         20 . The smart ball of  claim 18 , wherein the at least one sensor comprises at least one of the following: an inertial sensor, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, and a force sensor. 
     
     
         21 . The smart ball of  claim 18 , wherein the at least one sensor comprises an inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor adapted for generating three gyrometer values in three coordinate axes, three accelerometer values in three coordinate axes and three magnetometer values in three coordinate axes, the ball data comprising at least some of the three gyrometer values, the three accelerometer values and the three magnetometer values. 
     
     
         22 . The smart ball of  claim 18 , wherein the at least one sensor comprises a high range accelerometer adapted for generating three high range accelerometer values in three coordinate axes, the ball data comprising the three high range accelerometer values. 
     
     
         23 . The smart ball of  claim 18 , wherein the smart ball is a soccer ball, a basketball ball, a volleyball ball, an American football ball, a tennis ball, a table tennis ball or a golf ball.