Exercise Machine UI Control for Intuitive Workout Guidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing weight exercise machines lack intuitive user interfaces that accurately display a user's exercise state and provide effective motivation, making it difficult for users to track their progress and adhere to exercise goals.
Innovation Solution
An exercise machine equipped with sensors, a user interface unit, and a processor that displays UI elements indicating exercise state and guide, changing their color or shape based on the distance between these elements to intuitively convey exercise progress and adherence to the exercise guide.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a touch screen is used as the user interface, then the interface can be easily cleaned and disinfected, but the touch screen may not be accurately detected when hands are sweaty
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines two input methods into a single interface system: a touch screen for visual interaction and a physical button for tactile input. This merging allows the system to leverage the cleaning advantage of the touch screen while compensating for its sensitivity to sweat through the physical button, which remains functional when wet.
Solution Approach 2:
The physical button serves as an intermediary input method that bridges the gap between the touch screen's cleaning advantage and its sensitivity to moisture. When the touch screen becomes unreliable due to sweaty hands, users can switch to the physical button, which maintains accurate input detection even when wet.
2Measurement precision
If a physical button is used as the user interface, then the interface can be accurately detected even with sweaty hands, but the interface cannot be easily cleaned and disinfected
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges the physical button's moisture resistance with the touch screen's ease of cleaning. The physical button handles input when hands are sweaty, while the touch screen can be easily wiped clean between uses, combining the advantages of both interface types.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically switches between input methods based on conditions. When the touch screen is reliable, it is used for visual interaction; when sweat interferes with touch detection, the system transitions to the physical button, adapting to the current state of the user's hands.
3Ease of operation
If the exercise device provides detailed workout information, then user guidance is improved, but the information processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies partial action by selectively displaying information based on workout phase and user needs. During high-intensity intervals, only critical information is shown, while more detailed guidance is provided during rest periods or lower-intensity segments, reducing overall processing time while maintaining adequate user guidance.
Solution Approach 2:
Information is presented periodically rather than continuously, synchronized with the workout rhythm. The display updates at specific intervals or transitions between workout phases, allowing the system to process and present information in manageable bursts rather than requiring constant processing during the entire workout.
Data Source
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AI summary
An exercise machine includes a sensor configured to detect a movement of the exercise machine, a user interface (Ul) unit configured to output a UI screen, a memory, and a processor. The processor executes one or more instructions stored in the memory to control the UI unit to display, on the UI screen, a first UI element indicating a user's exercise state corresponding to the detected movement and a second UI element indicating an exercise guide recommended during an exercise using the exercise machine, and change and display a color or shape of at least one of the first UI element and the second UI element, based on a distance between the first UI element and the second UI element on the UI screen.