Method for Tactile Signaling of Touches in the Sport of Fencing

Abstract

A method and apparatus are described for adding tactile signaling to the electronic scoring equipment used in the sport of fencing. The tactile signaling introduced by this invention is intended to complement, not replace, existing electronic fencing scoring systems and the signals that are already employed to indicate touches, both optical and auditory (i.e. lights and a bell or buzzer, respectively). The system here would receive indication that a touch had been scored from an existing scoring system. Signals would be transmitted wirelessly to a unit on or near the director's person. Tactile signaling would be accomplished by a pair of offset motors attached to each of the director's hands (or wrists or arms). When the fencer to the director's right scores a touch, the right motor would vibrate. When the fencer to the director's left scores a touch, the left motor would vibrate.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]Not applicableSTATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT[0002]Not applicableREFERENCE TO A SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM, LISTING COMPACT DISC APPENDIX[0003]Not applicableBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0004]The international sport of fencing has used an electronic scoring system in competition and training for over 60 years. The basic concepts of this system have not changed significantly since its creation; only the electronic components have seen significant advancements in solid state and micro-computer technology. The current system is activated by the athletes “touching” their opponent's target with their weapons, causing a visual signal (i.e. a scoring light) and auditory signal (i.e. a bell or buzzer). Electronic fencing scoring systems may either contain wires which connect the fencers directly to the system by means of a reel (for example, Reith and Overman, 1975), or be wireless, with wireles...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0019]A director using the system described here would feel a substantial advantage in being able to keep his or her unfocused attention fixed on the action between the fencers at all times, rather than having to divide his or her attention between the fencers and the scoring system's indicator lights. Once the tactile signal had alerted the director that the electronic scoring system has registered a touch, he or she would be able to quickly glance at the indicator lights to confirm that this was the case. The auditory signal that always accompanies a touch in existing scoring systems would provide further confirmation. The advantage of allowing the director to give undivided attention to the action of the fencing bout will become especially apparent in the drawings and detailed description that follow.

Problems solved by technology

The effectiveness of the electronic scoring system to fencing is indisputable and universally lauded by the sport's historians and participants around the globe; and yet the system does have difficulties that prejudice the “just and correct” results it was invented to insure.

Fencing as it is practiced today is a technically and physically challenging discipline that demands of its officials extraordinary focus and attention in order to analyze the complex actions of the sport.

This certainly qualifies as a daunting task under perfect conditions, and one that has proved prone to error within the real world environment polluted by background noise, visual distractions, fatigue, and the divided focus required in observing the fencing actions and watching / listening for the signals of the apparatus some distance from the action.

These factors can and have been mitigated by controlling the environment and limiting the length of time directors are used, but cannot be entirely eliminated because the problems are systemic as well as situational.

Sight is a complex sense in that it can be used generally, taking in a large panorama and therefore not aware of specific details, or focused to a specific area, and in so doing missing other details within the field of vision.

In all cases, the need to see the indicator lights becomes a secondary issue for the director.

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