Training and Rehabilitation Involving Physical Activity and Cognitive Exercises

Abstract

System, methods and electronic devices aimed at motivating users to perform physical activity are disclosed herein. A user may be presented with a series of physical and cognitive exercises. For example, an exercise may be locked until completion of an unlocked exercise. Performance in each exercise may be tracked to display feedback to a user and track the user's improvement over time. Physical exercises may comprise challenges to move a particular distance or take a particular number of steps. Cognitive exercises comprise techniques test or train the cognitive abilities of the user in: attention, memory, processing speed, logical reasoning, numerical reasoning, spatial reasoning, verbal reasoning, language, and cognitive executive functions. Performance in one exercise may modify the difficulty or parameters of a subsequent exercise. The tracking of user improvement may comprise a progress or reward system such as the increasing of a user's “level” or awarding of “badges.”

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62 / 349,311, filed Jun. 13, 2016, and entitled “TRAINING AND REHABILITATION INVOLVING PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND COGNITIVE EXERCISES,” the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety and made part hereof.FIELD[0002]Aspects of the invention relate to computerized training, rehabilitation programs, and more specifically, to mobile device applications aimed to increase the fitness level and / or cognitive abilities of participants.BACKGROUND[0003]It is well-known that many people in the Western world do not perform sufficient physical activity during their daily work or leisure time, and that this leads to a multitude of chronic health conditions like diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular diseases. Despite this knowledge, it is notoriously difficult for individuals to change their lifestyle and avoid the negative long-term consequences to their...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This patent is about a system, method, and electronic device that combines physical activity and cognitive exercises to motivate users to perform more physical activity. This can lead to increased user self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation, as well as increased levels of physical activity. The initial combination of physical activity and cognitive exercises may seem challenging to users, but the benefits outweigh the disadvantage. This integrated behavior can transfer psychologically motivating factors from one component to the other, and the two components need to be closely entangled in the training program. Increased physical activity can improve brain plasticity and cognitive function, lower dementia risk, and stimulate the growth of new neurons. The patent describes a program that combines physical activity and cognitive exercises in a way that motivates users to engage more often and for longer periods of time, thereby increasing their fitness levels and benefiting their cognitive function.

Problems solved by technology

In the context of physical activity, the performance increase of a sedentary user that is starting a physical activity program may be quite slow, and the relative comparison to the average physical activity levels of others might not be favorable at the beginning.

Thus, lack of “immediate gratification” in perceiving progress, or even discouragement in the face of slow progress and poor comparative performance, may be major hurdles in improving self-efficacy.

Due to the lack of self-efficacy, users may be less motivated to improve their fitness with current physical activity programs, apps and associated wearables.

Initially, compounding physical activity with cognitive exercises may appear motivationally detrimental, as it may be increasing the difficulty of the tasks for the user rather than providing encouragement and rewarding the user for performing physical activity.

Images