Game control and exercise system

Abstract

The present invention provides, inter alia, a game control system that comprises: a floor-standing exercise frame, the exercise frame having one or more game control switches; a motion sensing means for control of an external games system; and a control interface having a processor that integrates the control signals from the game control switches with control signals from the motion sensing means synchronising / co-ordinating them with the external games system controls to control game-play.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention concerns exercise equipment and further concerns game control apparatus for controlling computer game play.BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION[0002]As human society in the UK. USA and other developed countries becomes ever-more dependent upon computers for both business and leisure purposes we have become increasingly sedentary in our life-styles and there is understandably a high level of scientific and political concern over the diminishing role of physical activity in our lives. The current rising obesity epidemic is in part attributable to poor dietary habits but also to the collapsing levels of physical activity across our society as a whole, with particularly worrying extremes in the younger generation. Amongst children presently of school age the proportion of their day spent in sport, is physical play or other physical activities is on average a fraction of that had by their parents. Television, internet usage and computer games take...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention is a game control and exercise system that includes a floor-standing exercise frame with game control switches and a motion sensing device. The motion sensing device can be a handheld device like a smartphone or a console-based system like the Wii or PS3. The frame has a dock that securely holds a motion-sensing unit, which can control various aspects of game play on the external games system. The system also includes a control interface that integrates the game control signals from the frame with the motion-sensing signals from the motion-sensing unit. The system can be powered by a battery or a mains power supply. The frame can also have an EMR sensor array that faces the console of the external games system. The technical effects of this invention include improved exercise and game play experiences for users."

Problems solved by technology

The current rising obesity epidemic is in part attributable to poor dietary habits but also to the collapsing levels of physical activity across our society as a whole, with particularly worrying extremes in the younger generation.

The Wii Fit® system allows for a number of simple exercises but is not well suited to exercising the core / abdominal region of the body.

In general these systems are very bulky and expensive and best-suited to gyms or arcades and certainly not suited to wide-spread domestic ownership in a way that might address the general health issues discussed above.

Thus on the one hand the known prior art includes popular home gaming systems such as the Wii-fit® system with its motion-sensitive hand held remote unit and pressure-sensitive mat and on the other hand there are proposals for expensive complex seat or suspended cradle or other static gym equipment structures for exercising or providing immersive virtual reality type game control experiences.

Lack of extensive game control switches in existing interactive exercise frames limits user control of digital game play, this also forces game development companies to produce fitness games that dictate the pace of the game as opposed to the user determining this for themselves as they usually would using a standard gamepad.

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