Simulated recreational, training and exercise system

Abstract

Controlled resistance to movement of body parts of a person is provided based on the person's body position and related to an activity depicted in a visual image provided to the person. The resistance is controlled by a sensor input and a visual input provided to a microprocessor and a software program based on the sensing of the position of at least one part of the person's body.

Description

RELATED CASES[0001]This application is a continuation-in-part patent application of provisional patent application 61 / 350,347 filed Jun. 1, 2010. The benefit of the filing date of provisional patent application 61 / 350,347 is claimed.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]This invention relates to apparatuses and methods for providing simulated activities using visible images such as for conditioning exercises or recreational activities or body part repositioning exercises or training. The training may be for activities in unusual environmental conditions such as in space or under water. More particularly, the invention relates to the application of forces in simulated activities using visible images.[0003]It is known from U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,954,621; 5,976,063 and 5,980,435 to Joutras et al to provide resistance to motion of body parts independent of the velocity of motion with a correlation to sensory stimulation such as visual and / or audio and / or temperature and / or pressure type sensations...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011]It is a still further object of the invention to provide a novel exercise and training device that is coupled to images or other sensed programs so that the user can correlate muscle activity with sensed events.

[0036]From the above summary of the invention, it can be understood that the simulated recreational, training and exercise method and apparatus of this invention has several advantages, such as: (1) it enables recreational, exercise and training programs to be coupled to images or other sensed events so that the user can correlate muscle activity with sensed events; (2) it provides a program coordinated with images to for maintaining proper joint alignment during activities. (3) it provides recreational, training and exercise devices and techniques that permit tailored programs for a wide variety of purposes, such as to strengthen principally the fast twitch muscle or the slow twitch muscle or to strengthen only certain portions of an injured muscle; (4) it provides equipment and methods that use virtual reality techniques to provide recreation. exercise and training using coordinated images and resistance to movement; (5) it provides a technique and equipment for combining resistance to movement that is related in a precontrolled manner to the position of the part being moved with electrical muscle stimulation to aid movement or prevent undesired movement coordinated with images and sounds; (6) it provides an apparatus and method for reducing arthrokinetic joint movement dysfunction during training using visual displays; and (7) it provides an exercise, training and recreational device and technique that provides resistance to movement related in a pre-programmed manner to the position of the part of the users body performing the activity.

Problems solved by technology

While this prior art apparatus and method works well, it is limited functionally in that the resistance to movement of the user is determined by the position of the body parts with respect to each other with no variation and cannot be changed by other forces such as programs related to stimuli such as visual / audio stimuli, or by another person such as an opponent in a game of tennis or by the user in response to changes in the stimuli.

However, the prior art mechanisms are not subject to external control nor is there a range of motion desired for some applications.

Moreover, there is a lack of precision and easy feedback.

The prior art apparatuses and methods of this type lack adequate repeatable coordination between the user's actions and the images.

Because of this lack of adequate repeatable coordination, they are not easily adapted for training.

For example they cannot be adapted for different levels of skills.

It is also known to provide exercise and training for weightlessness such as occurs under water or in space but the methods and apparatuses for such exercises and training are on the one hand extremely expensive and complicated or not coordinated with visual images for effectiveness.

However, the games do not provide realistic responses to the uses movement such as resistance to movement or other stimuli.

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