Mobile communication terminal

Abstract

It is presented a method for providing exercise performance feedback to a user of a mobile communication terminal. The method comprises the steps of: obtaining a first performance related parameter, obtaining a second performance related parameter, determining whether at least one performance condition is satisfied, in consideration of at least the first performance related parameter and the second performance related parameter, and conditionally, when at least one of the at least one performance condition is satisfied, communicating a message to the user, the message representing satisfied performance conditions. A corresponding mobile communication terminal and computer program are also presented.

Description

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present invention generally relates to mobile terminals and more particularly to exercise performance feedback using a mobile terminal.

2. Brief Description of Related Developments

Mobile terminals, or mobile (cellular) telephones, for mobile telecommunications systems like GSM, UMTS, D-AMPS and CDMA2000 have been used for many years now. In the older days, mobile terminals were used almost exclusively for voice communication with other mobile terminals or stationary telephones. More recently, the use of modern terminals has been broadened to include not just voice communication, but also various other services and applications such as www/wap browsing, video telephony, electronic messaging (e.g. SMS, MMS, email, instant messaging), digital image or video recording, FM radio, music playback, electronic games, calendar/organizer/time planner, word processing, etc. Furthermore, the modern terminals have local connectivity abilities, such as Bluetooth, allowing the mobile terminals to communicate with a wide array of devices.

With the mobile terminals having computational and communication abilities, it is now possible to use mobile terminals for purposes never imagined previously. One such example is to use a mobile terminal as a personal training device.

While a number of dedicated personal training devices do exist on the market, these simply present one or more parameters to the user, such as heart rate, speed and distance, providing rather rudimentary data to the user during training.

Consequently, there is a need to provide a personal training device and method providing a user with more relevant data regarding the current training state of the user.

In view of the above, an objective of the invention is to solve or at least reduce the problems discussed above.

Generally, the above objectives are achieved by the attached independent patent claims.

SUMMARY

According to a first aspect of the invention there has been provided a method for providing exercise performance feedback to a user of a mobile communication terminal, the method comprising the steps of: obtaining a first performance related parameter, obtaining a second performance related parameter, determining whether at least one performance condition is satisfied, in consideration of at least the first performance related parameter and the second performance related parameter, and conditionally, when at least one of the at least one performance condition is satisfied, communicating a message to the user, the message representing satisfied performance conditions. This provides sophisticated exercise performance feedback to the user, where a specific combination of parameter values make up a condition where a corresponding message is presented to the user.

The step of obtaining a second performance related parameter may involve calculating the second performance related parameter using at least the first performance related parameter as an input. Dependent parameters allow for even more sophisticated feedback.

The step of obtaining a second performance related parameter may involve calculating a difference between the first performance related parameter and a previous value of the first performance related parameter. A change in a parameter can be very useful in indicating performance.

The first performance related parameter and the second performance related parameter may each be parameters selected from a group comprising a heart rate, a step frequency, a respiration frequency, a body temperature, an air temperature, a geographical position, a measurement of rounds per minute of an exercise machine, an ambient humidity, an ambient light intensity, a performance value stored from a previous exercise session, an age of the user, a weight of the user, and a sex of the user.

At least the step of obtaining a first performance related parameter may involve obtaining the first performance related parameter over a wireless short-range data communication channel. Wireless communication simplifies use of this invention, e.g. using Bluetooth.

The step of determining may involve determining whether at least five performance conditions are satisfied, separately considering for each of the at least five performance conditions the first performance related parameter and the second performance related parameter.

A first performance condition may correspond to the user being significantly under target, a second performance condition may correspond to the user being moderately under target, a third performance condition may correspond to the user being on target, a fourth performance condition may correspond to the user being moderately over target, and a fifth performance condition may correspond to the user being in a position where a health of the user is considered to be at risk. Categorization allows the user to easily know how the user is performing during exercise.

The step of conditionally communicating a message may involve presenting the message to the user using at least a signal selected from a group comprising audible, tactile and visible signals. Different types or combinations of signals are useful in different situations.

One of the at least one performance condition may be selected from the group comprising: a significant rise in a performance related parameter, a significant fall in a performance related parameter, a value of a performance related parameter being over a first threshold value for at least a first threshold time, a value of a performance related parameter being below a second threshold value for at least a second threshold time.

The method may comprise the further step of: obtaining a third performance related parameter, wherein the step of determining additionally may involve considering at least the first performance related parameter, the second performance related parameter and the third performance related parameter. A third, or even additional performance related parameters provide an even more sophisticated ability to estimate user performance.

A second aspect of the invention is a mobile communication terminal capable of providing exercise performance data to a user of the mobile communication terminal, the mobile communication terminal comprising: means for obtaining a first performance related parameter, means for obtaining a second performance related parameter, means for determining whether at least one performance condition is satisfied, in consideration of at least the first performance related parameter and the second performance related parameter, and means for conditionally, when at least one of the at least one performance condition is satisfied, communicating a message to the user, the message representing satisfied performance conditions.

A third aspect is a computer program product comprising software instructions that, when executed in a mobile communication terminal, performs the method according to the first aspect.

Other objectives, features and advantages of the present invention will appear from the following detailed disclosure, from the attached dependent claims as well as from the drawings.

Generally, all terms used in the claims are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the technical field, unless explicitly defined otherwise herein. All references to “a/an/the [element, device, component, means, step, etc]” are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, device, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any method disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless explicitly stated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in more detail, reference being made to the enclosed drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a cellular telecommunication system, as an example of an environment in which the present invention may be applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic front view illustrating a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram representing an internal component, software and protocol structure of the mobile terminal shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 illustrates examples of parameters that can be used for determining training performance in the mobile terminal shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart diagram that illustrates the execution of the mobile terminal shown in FIG. 2 to determine training performance.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which certain embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a cellular telecommunications system in which the invention may be applied. In the telecommunication system of FIG. 1, various telecommunications services such as cellular voice calls, www/wap browsing, cellular video calls, data calls, facsimile transmissions, music transmissions, still image transmissions, video transmissions, electronic message transmissions and electronic commerce may be performed between a mobile terminal 100 according to the present invention and other devices, such as another mobile terminal 106 or a stationary telephone 132. It is to be noted that for different embodiments of the mobile terminal 100 and in different situations, different ones of the telecommunications services referred to above may or may not be available; the invention is not limited to any particular set of services in this respect.

The mobile terminals 100, 106 are connected to a mobile telecommunications network 110 through RF links 102, 108 via base stations 104, 109. The mobile telecommunications network 110 may be in compliance with any commercially available mobile telecommunications standard, such as GSM, UMTS, D-AMPS, CDMA2000, FOMA and TD-SCDMA.

The mobile telecommunications network 110 is operatively connected to a wide area network 120, which may be Internet or a part thereof. An Internet server 122 has a data storage 124 and is connected to the wide area network 120, as is an Internet client computer 126. The server 122 may host a www/wap server capable of serving www/wap content to the mobile terminal 100.

A public switched telephone network (PSTN) 130 is connected to the mobile telecommunications network 110 in a familiar manner. Various telephone terminals, including the stationary telephone 132, are connected to the PSTN 130.

The mobile terminal 100 is also capable of communicating locally via a local link 101 to one or more local devices 103. The local link can be any type of link with a limited range, such as Bluetooth, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) link, a Wireless Universal Serial Bus (WUSB) link, an IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network link, an RS-232 serial link, etc. The local devices 103 can for example be various sensors that can communicate measurement values to the mobile terminal 100 over the local link 101.

An embodiment 200 of the mobile terminal 100 is illustrated in more detail in FIG. 2. The mobile terminal 200 comprises a speaker or earphone 202, a microphone 205, a display 203 and a set of keys 204 which may include a keypad 204a of common ITU-T type (alphanumerical keypad representing characters “0”-“9”, “*” and “#”) and certain other keys such as soft keys 204b, 204c and a joystick 211 or other type of navigational input device.

The internal component, software and protocol structure of the mobile terminal 200 will now be described with reference to FIG. 3. The mobile terminal has a controller 300 which is responsible for the overall operation of the mobile terminal and is preferably implemented by any commercially available CPU (“Central Processing Unit”), DSP (“Digital Signal Processor”) or any other electronic programmable logic device. The controller 300 has associated electronic memory 302 such as RAM memory, ROM memory, EEPROM memory, flash memory, or any combination thereof. The memory 302 is used for various purposes by the controller 300, one of them being for storing data and program instructions for various software in the mobile terminal. The software includes a real-time operating system 320, drivers for a man-machine interface (MMI) 334, an application handler 332 as well as various applications. The applications can include a personal training application 350, as well as various other applications 360 and 370, such as applications for voice calling, video calling, sending and receiving SMS, MMS or email, web browsing, an instant messaging application, a phonebook application, a calendar application, a control panel application, a camera application, a media player, one or more video games, a notepad application, etc.

The MMI 334 also includes one or more hardware controllers, which together with the MMI drivers cooperate with the display 336/203, keypad 338/204 as well as various other I/O devices such as microphone, speaker, vibrator, ringtone generator, LED indicator, etc. As is commonly known, the user may operate the mobile terminal through the man-machine interface thus formed.

The software also includes various modules, protocol stacks, drivers, etc., which are commonly designated as 330 and which provide communication services (such as transport, network and connectivity) for an RF interface 306, and optionally a Bluetooth interface 308 and/or an IrDA interface 310 for local connectivity. The RF interface 306 comprises an internal or external antenna as well as appropriate radio circuitry for establishing and maintaining a wireless link to a base station (e.g. the link 102 and base station 104 in FIG. 1). As is well known to a man skilled in the art, the radio circuitry comprises a series of analogue and digital electronic components, together forming a radio receiver and transmitter. These components include, i.a., band pass filters, amplifiers, mixers, local oscillators, low pass filters, AD/DA converters, etc.

The mobile terminal also has a SIM card 304 and an associated reader. As is commonly known, the SIM card 304 comprises a processor as well as local work and data memory.

FIG. 4 illustrates examples of parameters that can be used for determining training performance in a mobile terminal 400 such as the mobile terminal 200 shown in FIG. 2. As will be described in more detail below in conjunction with FIG. 5, the personal training application, in an embodiment of the present invention, has the ability to use a number of different input parameters to determine performance.

User age 490, user weight 491 and user sex 492 (male or female) are examples of parameters that the user can configure and that can affect the calculation of the performance. Once the user has set these values, they are stored in memory of the mobile terminal 400, such as memory 302 of FIG. 3. Furthermore, the memory, such as memory 302 of FIG. 3, can also store history of previous performance values and/or any other previous parameter values. This history can be used to detect changes over time in values, and also to calculate a general fitness level.

Using a local link 402, such as local link 102 of FIG. 1, the mobile terminal 400 can obtain valuable parameters from external devices, such as the devices described here below. A heart rate sensor 480 measures the heart rate of the user. The data from the heart rate sensor 480 can be used by the personal training application as an input to evaluate current physical strain on the user. A step sensor 481 detects steps by the user. This can be useful for example when running, allowing the personal training application to estimate distance, which combined with a measured time can yield an estimate of speed. A respiration sensor 482 detects frequency of breathing of the user, providing the personal training application with a second measurement input to evaluate physical strain of the user. A body thermometer 483 provides the personal training application with a current body temperature. An air thermometer 484 measures the current air temperature. If the user is using an exercise bicycle, an RPN sensor 485 provides the personal training application with data about how fast a wheel on the exercise bike is revolving. A Global Positioning System (GPS) sensor 486 detects the current position in terms of longitude and latitude. As is known in the art, the GPS sensor 486 can also provide speed with considerable accuracy. A humidity sensor 487 detects ambient humidity, which for example can indicate if it is raining. An ambient light sensor 488 detects ambient light intensity, which for example can indicate if it is sunny.

As a man skilled in the art would understand, it is easy to add any additional sensors not described here, without departing from the scope of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart diagram that illustrates the execution of the mobile terminal shown in FIG. 2 to determine training performance.

In an obtain parameters step 502, a variety of performance related parameters are obtained, such as any one or more of the parameters disclosed above in conjunction with FIG. 4. Parameters can also be complex parameters, calculated using other parameters as inputs.

In a conditional any untested performance conditions step 504, it is determined whether there are any performance conditions which have not been tested yet. If this is the case, execution proceeds to a select an untested performance condition to test step 506. Otherwise, execution continues to a conditional any tested performance condition satisfied step 510.

In the select an untested performance condition to test step 506, an untested performance condition to be tested is selected.

In a test whether selected performance condition is satisfied step 508, it is tested whether the selected performance condition is satisfied. Here follows some illustrational examples of performance conditions. For example, there may be a number of performance conditions relating to a performance value, calculated from the performance parameters, compared to a target. The calculation of the performance value can be dynamic, and can thereby change over time. For example, when a user is starting the training the speed is high, but heart rate and respiration are still low, the speed is weighted more than heart rate and respiration in calculation of the performance value. History can also be used, so that a change in a particular parameter is used as an input to the calculation. Depending on the level of the performance value, the performance conditions then correspond to one, and only one, of the following categories: significantly under target, moderately under target, on target, moderately over target, and risky area. While five categories have been mentioned here, any suitable number of categories, or even numerical values, such as a percentage, can be used.

Another example of a performance condition is a peak. A peak can be measured as where the pulse remains high (above a threshold level but below a critical level) and the speed is also at a high level, after which the pace decreases and the pulse follows slowly and in a stable manner, i.e. the user is calming down. Yet another example is hitting the wall, which can be measured as a high pulse in a high pace that slows down and then drops significantly while the pulse does not drop.

Once the test is performed, the result is recorded in memory and execution returns to the conditional any untested performance conditions step 504.

In the conditional any tested performance condition satisfied step 510, it is determined whether any performance conditions were previously determined to be satisfied. If it is determined that there are performance conditions previously determined to be satisfied, execution continues to a communicate message to user step 512. Otherwise, execution ends.

In the communicate message to user step 512, a message is communicated to the user. The message may be an audible, tactile and/or visible message. For example, the mobile communication terminal 400 may be strapped to the user's arm, whereby different vibration combinations may indicate different messages. At the same time that the vibrations occur, a voice synthesizer can read a message to the user while the text of the message is shown on the display. In some cases, showing the message on the display may be sufficient.

In the present embodiment, to support positive changes in the user's behavior, encouraging or discouraging feedback is provided at appropriate times. Feedback is given to the user when the user is changing the behavior towards a wrong or correct direction. For example, when a runner, being behind his targets and whose heart rate and respiration rate are low, is speeding up, positive feedback is given. On the other hand, feedback is also provided when the user needs to be encouraged to put more effort into the training. The present embodiment triggers the feedback in the correct moment, taking into account all context information which is suitable for identifying the moment of change in the user's behavior.

The method described here can be repeated arbitrarily. Typically, the method repeats continuously while the personal training application is in a running mode.

The invention has mainly been described above with reference to a few embodiments. However, as is readily appreciated by a person skilled in the art, other embodiments than the ones disclosed above are equally possible within the scope of the invention, as defined by the appended patent claims.

Claims

1. A method for providing exercise performance feedback to a user of a mobile communication terminal, said method comprising the steps of:

obtaining a first performance related parameter,

obtaining a second performance related parameter,

determining whether at least one performance condition is satisfied, in consideration of at least said first performance related parameter and said second performance related parameter, and

conditionally, when at least one of said at least one performance condition is satisfied, communicating a message to said user, said message representing satisfied performance conditions.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said step of obtaining a second performance related parameter involves calculating said second performance related parameter using at least said first performance related parameter as an input.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said step of obtaining a second performance related parameter involves calculating a difference between said first performance related parameter and a previous value of said first performance related parameter.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein said first performance related parameter and said second performance related parameter each are parameters selected from a group comprising a heart rate, a step frequency, a respiration frequency, a body temperature, an air temperature, a geographical position, a measurement of rounds per minute of an exercise machine, an ambient humidity, an ambient light intensity, a performance value stored from a previous exercise session, an age of said user, a weight of said user, and a sex of said user.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least said step of obtaining a first performance related parameter involves obtaining said first performance related parameter over a wireless short-range data communication channel.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein said step of determining involves determining whether at least five performance conditions are satisfied, separately considering for each of said at least five performance conditions said first performance related parameter and said second performance related parameter.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein a first performance condition corresponds to said user being significantly under target, a second performance condition corresponds to said user being moderately under target, a third performance condition corresponds to said user being on target, a fourth performance condition corresponds to said user being moderately over target, and a fifth performance condition corresponds to said user being in a position where a health of said user is considered to be at risk.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein said step of conditionally communicating a message involves presenting said message to said user using at least a signal selected from a group comprising audible, tactile and visible signals.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein one of said at least one performance condition is selected from the group comprising: a significant rise in a performance related parameter, a significant fall in a performance related parameter, a value of a performance related parameter being over a first threshold value for at least a first threshold time, a value of a performance related parameter being below a second threshold value for at least a second threshold time.

10. The method according to claim 1, said method comprising the further step of:

obtaining a third performance related parameter,

wherein said step of determining additionally involves considering at least said first performance related parameter, said second performance related parameter and said third performance related parameter.

11. A mobile communication terminal capable of providing exercise performance data to a user of said mobile communication terminal, said mobile communication terminal comprising:

means for obtaining a first performance related parameter,

means for obtaining a second performance related parameter,

means for determining whether at least one performance condition is satisfied, in consideration of at least said first performance related parameter and said second performance related parameter, and

means for conditionally, when at least one of said at least one performance condition is satisfied, communicating a message to said user, said message representing satisfied performance conditions.

12. A computer program product comprising software instructions that, when executed in a mobile communication terminal, performs the method according to claim 1.