Moveable External Camera Integration for Cable Exercise Form Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing exercise machines with embedded cameras face obsolescence issues due to rapid advancements in camera technology, limiting perspective capture and requiring frequent upgrades, and fixed cameras fail to provide comprehensive user feedback.
Innovation Solution
Integrating a moveable external camera device with a cable-based exercise machine, distributing computation between the camera and trainer, and batching communication to minimize overheads, allowing for improved form feedback and leveraging modern computing power.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a fixed embedded camera is used in the exercise machine, then the camera provides stable integration with the machine, but the camera becomes obsolete quickly due to rapid advancements in camera technology
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the camera from the exercise machine by using a mobile device's camera instead of an embedded camera. This allows the system to leverage the mobile device's updatable camera technology while maintaining stable integration through software-based coordination between the mobile device and exercise machine
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile device serves multiple functions: it acts as the camera source, computation engine, and communication intermediary between the user and exercise machine. This multi-functionality allows the system to use a universally updatable device (mobile phone) instead of a dedicated embedded camera that would become obsolete
2Adaptability or versatility
If an external mobile device is used as the camera source, then the camera technology can be updated frequently, but the coordination between the mobile device and exercise machine becomes complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the camera function, computation engine, and communication interface into a single mobile device. This consolidation simplifies the system architecture by reducing the number of separate components that need to be coordinated, while still providing access to updatable camera technology
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile device acts as an intermediary between the exercise machine and the user. It receives data from the exercise machine's sensors, processes the information, and provides feedback to the user, thereby simplifying the coordination requirements between the fixed exercise machine and the variable mobile device
3Device complexity
If computation is performed entirely on the exercise machine, then the system maintains simplicity, but the computational capabilities are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the computation engine dynamic by locating it in the mobile device rather than fixing it in the exercise machine. This allows the system to leverage the mobile device's processing power, which can be updated and scaled independently, while maintaining a simple exercise machine hardware architecture
Data Source
AI summary
An exercise machine includes a cable. It further includes an interface to a moveable camera device coupled with the exercise machine. It further includes a processor configured to receive a cable-based measurement associated with an exercise performed by a user. The processor is further configured to receive, from the moveable camera device, video information associated with the exercise. The processor is further configured to provide a workout determination based at least in part on both the cable-based measurement and the video information received from the moveable camera device.