SAFE SOCIAL DISTANCING REACTIVE PORTABLE MAT SYSTEM FOR INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP EXERCISE

Abstract

This invention relates to a reactive exercise mat, and more particularly to a safe social distancing reactive portable mat system for individual and group exercise, that functions as a surface on which physical fitness activities are performed at all types of indoor and outdoor locations which are always exposed to the risk of contamination with the purpose of ensuring the safe keeping of social distancing norms and with the ability to trigger audible, sensory and visual alarms at the occurrence of any violation to social distancing requirement for users while performing and participating in individual and group functional fitness training.

Description

This is the complete specification of provisional filed U.S. patent application Ser. No. 62/704,525 (under 35 USC 111(b)), and which claims priority to U.S. provisional Patent Application 62/704,525, filed May 14, 2020. The present non-provisional application has the same inventor as the aforementioned provisional application.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to a reactive exercise mat, and more particularly to a safe social distancing reactive portable mat system for individual and group exercise, that functions as a surface on which physical fitness activities are performed at all types of indoor and outdoor locations which are always exposed to the risk of contamination with the purpose of ensuring the safe keeping of social distancing norms and with the ability to trigger audible, sensory and visual alarms at the occurrence of any violation to social distancing requirement for users while performing and participating in individual and group functional fitness training.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The COVID 19 pandemic has changed the course for several industries, and fitness is one of them. The need for keeping a safe distance while participating in and performing physical fitness exercises is a priority from a health and safety standpoint. Traditionally, fitness venues have focused on maximizing usage of real estate space by tightly packing users in fitness machine populated environments which do not meet the social distancing norms required post lockdown and pose major contamination risks for users. Over the years, various systems and methodologies for promoting wellness, physical activity/education and fitness have been created. Moreover, various setups have been developed prior to the COVID 19 pandemic for tactile, stimulating and interactive multimedia exercise and yoga mat systems useable for numerous fitness applications. In the after math of the novel Corona Virus (COVID 19) pandemic, unforeseen new challenges have emerged in physical social space interaction which affects physical fitness activities in venues such as gyms, fitness studio's and every dedicated or shared workout spaces located indoors or outdoors where people participate in individual or group fitness activities. Prior inventions and revelations have not been created to address specifically, the social distancing contamination hazard which emanates from the COVID 19 pandemic and infection risk from using shared surfaces which fall short of this purpose.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A social distancing reactive exercise portable mat (100) comprises a foldable translucent exercise surface with interactive sensory units (206), pervasive crease spines (110) and slits (120) to allow folding the reactive exercise mat without double fold and the side slit held together with hook and loop fastening.

The interactive sensory units (206) comprise an addressable array of interactive light emitting diodes (LED) (220) and pressure sensors (225) encased inside a translucent top surface (230), a rigid protective layer of flexible material (215), a bottom layer of soft impact absorbing material (210). The mat controller (205) embedded or externally attached and controls the plurality of presence sensory units (206), create a logical boundary of distinctly colored LED lights (260) and detect the hand and foot impact on the surface to visually and audibly trigger preset fitness functions as well as alarms to alert that the safe distance is compromised based on programmable logic functions embedded in the reactive exercise mat controller.

The social distancing reactive exercise portable mat (100) can be deployed in individual mode or in group mode wherein the individual mode participates in a pre-set high intensity functional fitness training on top of the reactive exercise mat surface.

In group mode, a multi-user mode is enabled by connecting every controller to a group of controllers to create a virtual combined mat comprised of a plurality of exercise device mats, to present a logical combined mat meant to ensure that users are always distanced away from each other while performing the pre-set fitness functions, and trigger alarms when the safe distance is compromised between users.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered for limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.

FIG. 1 shows top view of the fully unfolded reactive exercise mat indicated with the embedded presence sensing units labelled 1 to 9 and the controller, folding spine creases and the specific slit design element.

FIG. 2 shows sequentially folding of the device as indicated thru folds A to H.

FIG. 3 shows side view of fully folded reactive exercise mat comes together in a compact portable form. Page 2/9 Sheet Ref 206—reveals an exploded view of a presence sensing unit:

FIG. 4 shows the shape and assembly of elements shown in FIG. 5 as an exploded view with each component detailed shape and elements. Page 3/9 Sheet Ref 200A—reveals the details of the embedded elements of the reactive exercise mat and how they come together to form the mat device:

FIG. 5 shows the top view of an internal layout of the invention showing a representative embodiment of 9 presence sensing units set side by side with the controller located centrally on the top and which together constitutes the reactive exercise mat physical device.

FIG. 6 shows a sectional view of the various layered elements that are sandwiched together as a single bonded foldable and portable mat suited for fitness activities. FIG. 7 shows the top translucent view of the individual presence sensing unit as it appears with the types of borders, numerals, alphabets and symbols that can be electronically displayed on the surface of the reactive exercise mat.

FIG. 8 shows the perspective view showing internal wiring layout and how it connects to the embedded controller which is equipped with wireless communication capability between itself, a smartphone and a cloud platform. Page 4/9 Sheet Ref. 200B—reveals a layout and 3D representation showing a representative plurality of how multiple reactive exercise mat systems are positioned in a physical activity space:

FIG. 9A shows a logical view as a representative layout of a plurality of reactive exercise mats with location icons designating user positions.

FIG. 9B shows an 3D view of a representative layout of a plurality of reactive exercise mats and shows how users are socially distanced. Page 5/9 Sheet Ref. 200C reveals a graphical representation of a wireless network of spatial base stations and body worn sensors that create a large group with a plurality of reactive exercise mats to form a virtual reactive exercise mat system to maintain safe social distancing norms:

FIG. 9C shows a logical spatial field that enables the creation of enhanced presence information and virtually combining the individual reactive exercise mats into a single operative reactive exercise mat for multi-user environments.

FIG. 9D shows a perspective view of a representative plurality of users on multiple mats and technology elements that provide audible and visual cues as well as alarms.

FIG. 10 shows advantageous embodiments for body worn vibrating and audible sensor alarm devices as well as a smartwatch app which performs the same function on a compatible smart watch. Page 6/9 Sheet Ref 300A—reveals a hierarchical view of the levels comprising a system of plurality of devices that work with the reactive exercise mat to define the expanded functional

capabilities of the invention from level A to D:

FIG. 11 shows a hierarchy of devices that form different levels starting from level A as a basic standalone system to level D which includes a plurality of devices and sensors that provide the ability of the reactive exercise mat to perform as an individual reactive exercise mat for single user functionality as well as a group reactive exercise mat that becomes part of a multi-user and also a multi-locational group system. Page 7/9 Ref 300B—reveals a schema defining the layers in the architecture of the system:

FIG. 12 shows the elements that are part of the physical, application and spatial layers of the system architecture. Page 8/9 Sheet Ref. 300C—further expands on Sheet 200 C and demonstrates how alerts and alarms are generated on various elements of the system when the social distance parameter is compromised between two users:

FIG. 13 shows logical view as a representative example of system alarms when the distance is compromised between two users.

FIG. 14 shows a perspective view of a representative example of system alarms when the distance is compromised between two users. Page 9/9 Ref. 300D—reveals a set of flow charts representing system data, command flows and interactions:

FIG. 15 shows system data and command flows between the mat device, the smartphone application and the cloud platform that make up a functional system for individual and group interactions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate specific embodiments. Other embodiments having different structures and operation do not depart from the scope of the present disclosure.

LIST OF COMPONENT NUMERALS

• 100—Physical form and attributes of the invention
• 110—Creased folding spines
• 120—Slits for folding
• 130—Fully folded mat making it portable
• 140—Carry Handle
• 200—Technical form and attributes of the invention as revealed in A, B, C sub-parts
• 205—Reactive exercise mat controller
• 206—Embedded interactive presence sensory units
• 210—Bottom layer of soft impact absorbing material
• 215—Rigid protective layer of flexible material
• 220—Interactive light emitting diodes
• 225—Pressure Sensors
• 230—Translucent top surface
• 240—Internal wiring harness
• 260—Boundary LED array
• 270—Wireless Spatial Base Station
• 275—Body worn alarm sensors
• 280—Smartwatch App—body worn alarm sensor
• 310—Smartphone App
• 350—Cloud Management Platform

The present invention relates to a compact, foldable, light weight safe social distancing reactive exercise portable mat system (100) abbreviated as a reactive exercise mat (200) and a method of operating it using a smartphone application (310) and cloud platform (350). The reactive exercise mat comprises of a foldable translucent exercise surface that, in its current aspect but not limited to this specific aspect in form and dimension, opens flat into a 6 ft×6 ft square floor overlay. The reactive exercise mat (100) shown in representation has pervasive crease spines (110) which can be stitched or molded and the novelty of 2 purposefully defined slits (120) which allow a unique method of folding the reactive exercise mat without needing to double fold any of the spine creases (FIG. 2) as shown in steps A to H. The reactive exercise mat's side slits are held together with hook and loop fastening (not shown). The folded reactive exercise mat (FIG. 3) transforms into a compact form factor and is equipped with a plurality of suspension carry options such as, but not limited to, handles, straps, shoulder sling and back-pack Only the carry handle (140) is shown as a representation of this aspect (FIG. 3). In an advantageous embodiment, the reactive exercise mat (100) can be joined to as a parent to a child reactive exercise mat to form a larger physical surface using an extension cable adapter (not shown) in this example the daughter extension reactive exercise mat could also be made narrower such as 3 ft×6 ft providing an expanded dimension of 9 ft×6 ft or such other combined dimensions. As one skilled in the art would realize that various other shapes and sizes could be created with adaptations and added functionalities. In its most generic format, the reactive exercise mat is crafted to include a flexible surface that can overlay on top of existing hard or soft floor surface. It is crafted by comprising a plurality of interactive sensory units (206, FIG. 4) which are created by bonding a combination of an addressable array of interactive light emitting diodes (220) and pressure sensors (225) encased inside a translucent top surface (230) and a rigid protective layer of flexible material (215) and a bottom layer of soft impact absorbing material (210). The electronic assemblies and internal wiring harness (220, 225, 240) embedded inside the reactive exercise mat are made from flexible printed circuit boards and flexible interconnected wiring to allow for bending and folding. All other materials are impermeable virgin materials that are dust and water resistant, easy to clean and disinfect with off the shelf disinfectants as well as known anti-bacterial and anti-viral ultra-violet frequency radiation and any other disinfectant means to ensure users can self-manage the hygiene of the reactive exercise mat under their personal supervision. The reactive exercise mat (200) and the embedded plurality of interactive presence sensory units (206) are logically distributed inside the reactive exercise mat. A reference representation, and not limited to be the only aspect, shows 9 interactive presence sensory units (206) which make up a 6 ft×6 ft mat (FIG. 1, FIG. 5). The reactive exercise mat is appended with a powered reactive exercise mat controller (205) which connects the interactive presence sensory units via an internal wiring harness (240). The reactive exercise mat controller (205) can be embedded or externally attached and adapted to control the plurality of presence sensory units (206), create a logical boundary of distinctly colored LED lights (260) and detect the hand and foot impact on the surface (FIG. 6) to visually and audibly trigger preset fitness functions as well as alarms instantly to alert that the safe distance is compromised based on programmable logic functions embedded in the reactive exercise mat controller firmware (FIG. 13, FIG. 14, FIG. 15). The elements and components of an embodiment of the invention may be physically, functionally and logically implemented in any suitable way.

The reactive exercise mat controller (205) is equipped with wireless connectivity (200B, 200C) which is not limited to the using WIFI, BLE, RF, IR communication technologies for interaction with other reactive exercise mat controllers (205) and spatial sensing base stations (270), as well as options of connecting to body worn devices (275, 280) as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, personal smartphone application (310) and a secure cloud platform (350). The reactive exercise mat and system can operate in two modes—individual mode (FIG. 11 segment A) that primarily ensures safe social distance individually to each user while participating in a pre-set high intensity functional fitness training on top of the reactive exercise mat surface. In the group mode, a multi-user mode is evoked by providing every controller the ability to connect to a group of controllers (FIG. 11 segment B) to create a virtual combined mat comprised of a plurality of exercise device mats, to present a logical combined mat meant to ensure that users are always distanced away from each other while performing the pre-set fitness functions, as well as trigger alarms when the safe distance is compromised between users (FIG. 15). The virtual group mat is able to create a logical mat surface by recruiting the full connected universe of individual presence sensory units (206) located inside each individual mat to become addressable as a combined set capable of sensing multi-user spatial distribution over the logical mat surface and to ensure that safe social distance norms are effectively managed, and where compromised, the alarms are triggered on those mats that have errant users. In significantly large venues where the number of users are many (200B, 200C), a Wireless Spatial Base Station (270) (FIG. 11 segment C) is ceiling mounted to provide the ability for a large number of controllers to combine into a single large logical combined group mat which ensures social distancing norms are met in multi-user mode. In another embodiment, for providing an enhanced user experience, body worn sensors are deployed (275) as well as a smart watch app (280) is used (FIG. 11 segment D) to provide vibratory, audio and visual alarms as an additional layer of safety. The reactive exercise mat (200) which includes the reactive exercise mat controller (205) forms the physical layer of the system. A second aspect of the invention (FIG. 12), reveals an application layer which is comprised of the smartphone application (310) and a cloud based management system (350) and includes the possibility of a smartwatch application (280). As detailed in FIG. 15 the reactive exercise mat controller (205) requires both the smart phone app (310) and the cloud management platform (350) to exhibit its operational functionality (FIG. 15). The spatial layer (FIG. 12) is another embodiment that is meant for system expansion capability for many reactive exercise mat deployments in the same location as well as multiple locations to form a logical multi-user group system. The spatial layer is comprised of a Wireless Spatial Base Station (270) which creates a spatial field (200C) for communicating with a plurality of reactive exercise mat controllers (205). Based on the fitness mode selected for the exercise (310), the wireless spatial base station (270) is able to network all the connected reactive exercise mat controllers (205) with each other to enable the creation of a virtual logical combined group mat with the ability to address each presence sensory unit (206) independently and as a group. This provides the ability to operate a multi-user functional fitness program on the mat surface. Body worn alarm sensors (275) can be used to further enhance the spatial accuracy as well as provide a sensory and audible alarm at the instance of the social distance norm being compromised.

This interactive reactive exercise mat system functions as a surface on which physical fitness activities are performed at all types of indoor and outdoor locations which are always exposed to the risk of contamination with the purpose of ensuring the safe keeping of social distancing norms and with the ability to trigger audible, sensory and visual alarms at the occurrence of any violation to social distancing requirement for users with while performing and participating in individual and group functional training. There are two operational modes of the reactive exercise mat (FIG. 15)—individual and group. The selection of these modes is provided via the Smartphone application (310). In both modes, the exercise device mat (200) first pairs with the smart phone app (310) to perform an initialization which checks the battery status and runs the initialization script on the reactive exercise mat controller (205). On success of the pairing the smartphone application (310) can automatically assign a friendly color (generated from a combination of RGB colors) on the boundary LED array (260). A friendly color LED light array is a user specific color (other than red which is reserved for alarms) which is automatically generated or can be modified and selected by the user and which lights up a boundary around the exercise device mat edges to denote the live boundary of the mat. FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 (Ref 300C) depicts a reference scenario of 4 reactive exercise mats with 4 users (275a. 275b, 275c, 275d). Each user is expected to work within the boundary of the friendly color LED array (260). In individual mode, the users will perform an independent set of exercises which may be different from each other. During performance of these exercises, the individual exercise mat presence sensor units (206) work as dedicated units to the reactive exercise mat controller (205) located on the specific reactive exercise mat and independent of the any other reactive exercise mat controllers. The exercise mat controllers (205) pair with each other as well as the wireless spatial base station (270) and the spatial body sensor (275) worn by each user. As soon as the proximity of two independent users conflicts (in this example 275b and 275c) with the social distancing norm programmed in the Cloud Management Platform (350), the errant users will instantly see the boundary LED array (260) start flashing red and the specific reactive exercise mat controllers audibly beep and the body worn sensors will vibrate, beep and flash red. In group mode, the users will perform the exact same set of exercises and the mat presence sensor units (206) located on the different reactive exercise mats are recruited to act as a virtual logical combined mat surface. With this combined large virtual surface, the exercise pattern will be assisted by the program to position users at locations on the reactive exercise mat which are logically separated by the social distance at all times assisted by the responsiveness and visual cues provided each presence sensor unit LED array (220) which work in tandem with the pressure sensor array (225). Unlike the individual mode, the system is able to manage the group mode by factoring the mat sensors side by side with the spatial sensors and body worn sensors to provide a greater control on the movement and locations of the users on the virtual surface of the combined exercise mat surface. The alarm response to the group mode is like the individual mode. As soon as the proximity of two independent users conflicts (in this example 275b and 275c) with the social distancing norm programmed in the Cloud Management Platform (350), the errant users will instantly see the boundary LED array (260) start flashing red and the specific reactive exercise mat controllers audibly beep and the body worn sensors will vibrate, beep and flash red.

In another embodiment, the reactive exercise mat (200) which includes the reactive exercise mat controller (205) acts as the physical layer of the system (FIG. 12). It comprises a set of technologies and components that are designed to fulfill the functions for triggering audible, sensory and visual alarms based on a set of commands and scripts that are provided in the firmware of the controller (FIG. 15). The user(s) select a set of preprogrammed exercise activities designed for whole body, eye, hand and body functional training from the smartphone application (310). The selected program will intermittently light up the central LED array (220) on the reactive exercise mat as a cue for the user to follow. The user is required to stomp with the foot or hand, the surface of the presence sensory unit (206) which triggers a response on the embedded pressure sensor array (225-FIG. 12) and shuts the intermittent LED array if the stomp is within the pause time specified in the exercise program, and the user is allocated a win point on the leaderboard/scoreboard database and the total score increments by the addition of the win point. If the stomp does not take place in the duration of the specified time, the LED array (220) with automatically switch off and the user does not get a win point and his score does not increment on the leaderboard/scoreboard. This cycle of on/pause/off immediately repeats with another LED array lighting up on another presence sensory unit (206) on another part of the reactive exercise mat. This program cycle can be programmed to be random, follow a fixed sequence or a pattern from the Cloud Management Platform (350) and is accessed by the smartphone application (305) from the library of programs (FIG. 15). The smartphone app (310) allows users to vary the timing of the on/pause/off, the cycles as well as the reps to suit their preferred fitness level which allows the system be useful for people of all ages and fitness levels and expands the use case of the reactive exercise mat to become a fitness gaming tool.

In an extended embodiment and the fact that the functionality of a leaderboard/scoreboard exists in both the smartphone application (310) and the cloud management platform (350), the database base can be accessed to provision a visually appealing physical leaderboard which will be able to display the individual users score providing for the system to be used as a competitive exercise sport as well as motivational tool for users to track and keep score. Similarly, the system can link with multi-locational venues as well as home workouts to show the scores of connected users and venues. In an expanded embodiment the reactive exercise mat system can be linked to architectural audio, video and lighting systems to provide an integrated system that is meant to synchronize the reactive exercise mat logic with music and mood lighting similar to a game arcade while still fulfilling the primary purpose of keeping safe social distance in the venue.

In an alternate embodiment, the presence sensory unit (206) can be created in the form of an independent unit with tongue and groove edges to allow the ease of glue free fixed assembly of these units in the form of fitness tiles with interactive ability to perform as a flexible sized floor and wall unit meant for social distancing while performing fitness gaming and social distance sensing in non-portable fixed installation environments. This embodiment will also allow the reactive exercise mat to be combined with non-reactive floor and wall systems commonplace in gym floors to form a hybrid versatile system.

In yet another embodiment, the reactive exercise mat can be made smaller sized and narrower (3 ft×6 ft for example) and split into 2 separate mats, similar to existing yoga mats for a smaller form factor. The split reactive exercise mats can be used independently and also be combined to form a singular mat using an adapter cable attachment and hook and loop fasteners without compromising the functionality of the reactive exercise mat.

In this embodiment, there is also the potential to keep adding reactive exercise mats to form a large physical reactive exercise mat as well. The invention can be implemented in several combinations based on the tiered architecture of the system (FIG. 11 and FIG. 15). The hardware, application software, firmware or any combination of these can be adapted for use in an embodiment of the invention which may be physically, functionally and logically implemented in any suitable way. Indeed, the functionality may be implemented in a single unit, in a plurality of units or as part of a group of other functional units or may be physically and functionally distributed between different units and processors.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with the specified embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to the specific form set forth herein. Additionally, although individual features may be defined, these may possibly be advantageously combined, and the inclusion in different parts of the invention revelation does not imply that a combination of features is not feasible and/or advantageous.

In addition, singular references do not exclude a plurality. Thus, references to “a”, “an”, “first”, “second” etc. do not preclude a plurality. Furthermore, reference labels shall not be construed as limiting the scope of this invention.

Numerous modifications and adaptations of the system of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and thus it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such modifications and adaptations which fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

Claims

1. A social distancing reactive exercise portable mat (100) comprising:

a foldable translucent exercise surface with embedded interactive sensory units (206);

pervasive crease spines (110);

slits (120) to allow folding the reactive exercise mat without double fold and the side slit held together with hook and loop fastening.

2. The social distancing reactive exercise portable mat (100) as claimed in claim 1 wherein the interactive sensory units (206) comprises:

an addressable array of interactive light emitting diodes (220) capable of displaying shapes, alphabets and numerals, and pressure sensors (225) encased inside a translucent top surface (230)

a rigid protective layer of flexible material (215)

a bottom layer of soft impact absorbing material (210)

mat controller (205) embedded or externally attached said controller controls the plurality of presence sensory units (206), create a logical boundary of distinctly colored LED lights (260) and detect the hand and foot impact on the surface to visually and audibly trigger preset fitness functions as well as alarms to alert that the safe distance is compromised based on programmable logic functions embedded in the reactive exercise mat controller.

3. The social distancing reactive exercise portable mat (100) as claimed in claim 1 wherein the reactive exercise mat (100) is joined as a parent to a child reactive exercise mat to form a larger physical surface using an extension cable.

4. The social distancing reactive exercise portable mat (100) as claimed in claim 1 wherein the reactive exercise mat can be made smaller sized and narrower and split into “n” (numerous) separate mats, and the split reactive exercise mats are used independently.

5. The social distancing reactive exercise portable mat (100) as claimed in claim 1 wherein user(s) accesses a set of preprogrammed exercise activities designed for whole body, eye, hand and body functional training from the smartphone application (310) that interacts with the central LED array (220) and embedded pressure sensor array (225) for accumulating win points on the user(s) personal smartphone application (310) and a connected leaderboard displays the individual users and group scores as a functional fitness gaming system with the novelty of social distancing.

6. The social distancing reactive exercise portable mat (100) as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said mat system; through architectural audio, video and lighting systems; provides an integrated system that synchronizes the reactive exercise mat logic with music and mood lighting as a social group fitness gaming system with the novelty of social distancing.

7. The social distancing reactive exercise portable mat (100) as claimed in claim 1 wherein the sensory unit (206) are created in the form of an independent unit with tongue and groove edges to allow the ease of glue free fixed assembly of these units in the form of fitness tiles with interactive ability to perform as a flexible sized floor and wall unit while performing fitness gaming and social distance sensing in non-portable fixed installation environments.

8. The social distancing reactive exercise portable mat (100) as claimed in claim 1 wherein multiple mats can be combined to form a singular mat using an adapter cable attachment and hook and loop fasteners without compromising the functionality of the reactive exercise mat.

9. The social distancing reactive exercise portable mat (100) that can be deployed in individual mode or in group mode wherein

Individual mode participates in a pre-set high intensity functional fitness training on top of the reactive exercise mat surface.

in group mode, a multi-user mode is enabled by connecting every controller to a group of controllers to create a virtual combined mat comprised of a plurality of exercise device mats, to present a logical combined mat meant to ensure that users are always distanced away from each other while performing the pre-set fitness functions, and trigger alarms when the safe distance is compromised between users.

10. The virtual combined mat (100) as claimed in claim 9 wherein the virtual combined mat creates a logical mat surface by recruiting the full connected universe of individual presence sensory units (206) located inside each individual mat to become addressable as a combined set capable of sensing multi-user spatial distribution over the logical mat surface and ensures that safe social distance norms are effectively managed, and the alarms are automatically triggered when any of the set norm rules are compromised.

11. The virtual combined mat (100) as claimed in claim 10 wherein for the number of users (200B, 200C), a wireless Spatial Base Station (270) is ceiling mounted to provide the ability for a large number of controllers to combine into a single large logical combined group mat which ensures social distancing norms are met in multi-user mode.

12. The social distancing reactive exercise portable mat (100) as claimed in claim 9 wherein the modes are selected using Smartphone application (310) includes

the exercise device mat (200) first pairs with the smart phone application (310) to perform an initialization which checks the battery status and runs the initialization script on the reactive exercise mat controller (205);

On success of the pairing the smartphone application (310) can automatically assign a user-friendly color on the boundary LED array (260) which is unique to each user.

13. The social distancing reactive exercise portable mat (100) as claimed in claim 12 wherein the user-friendly color LED light array automatically generated or can be modified and selected by the user to light up a boundary around the exercise device mat edges to denote the live boundary of the mat unique to the individual user.

14. The social distancing reactive exercise portable mat (100) as claimed in claim 12 wherein in the individual mode, the individual exercise mat presence sensor units (206) work as dedicated units to the reactive exercise mat controller (205) located on the specific reactive exercise mat and independent of the any other reactive exercise mat controllers; the exercise mat controllers (205) pair with each other as well as the wireless spatial base station (270) and the spatial body sensor (275) worn by each user; and as soon as the proximity of two independent users conflicts with the social distancing norm programmed in the Cloud Management Platform (350), the errant users will instantly see the boundary LED array (260) start flashing red, the mat translucent surface vibrates, and the specific reactive exercise mat controllers audibly beep and the body worn sensors will vibrate, beep and flash red providing haptic, audio and visual alarms and feedback to affected users.

15. The social distancing reactive exercise portable mat (100) as claimed in claim 12 wherein in the group mode, the mat presence sensor units (206) located on the different reactive exercise mats are recruited to act as a virtual logical combined mat surface which assists the exercise pattern by the program to position users at locations on the reactive exercise mat which are logically separated by the social distance at all times assisted by the responsiveness and visual cues provided each presence sensor unit LED array (220) which work in tandem with the pressure sensor array (225).

16. The social distancing reactive exercise portable mat (100) as claimed in claim 15 wherein the mat sensors are provided side by side with the spatial sensors and body worn sensors to provide a control on the movement and locations of the users on the virtual surface of the combined exercise mat surface and as soon as the proximity of two independent users conflicts with the social distancing norm programmed in the Cloud Management Platform (350), the errant users will instantly see the boundary LED array (260) start flashing red and the specific reactive exercise mat controllers audibly beep and the body worn sensors will vibrate, beep and flash red.

17. The social distancing reactive exercise portable mat (100) further comprises body worn sensors (275) with a smart watch application (280) to provide vibratory, audio and visual alarms as an additional layer of safety.

18. The social distancing reactive exercise portable mat (100) as claimed in claim 17 wherein the reactive exercise mat (200) includes the reactive exercise mat controller (205) to form the physical layer of the system; an application layer which is comprised of the smartphone application (310) and a cloud based management system (350) and a smartwatch application (280); and a spatial layer for system expansion capability for many reactive exercise mat deployments in the same location as well as multiple locations to form a logical multi-user group system.

19. The social distancing reactive exercise portable mat (100) as claimed in claim 18 wherein the spatial layer comprises a wireless spatial base station (270) which creates a spatial field (200C) for communicating with a plurality of reactive exercise mat controllers (205); based on the fitness mode selected for the exercise (310), the wireless spatial base station (270) networks all the connected reactive exercise mat controllers (205) with each other to enable the creation of a virtual logical combined group mat with the ability to address each presence sensory unit (206) independently and as a group.

20. The social distancing reactive exercise portable mat (100) as claimed in claim 19 wherein the spatial layer is provided for system expansion for many reactive exercise mat deployments in the same location as well as multiple locations to form a logical multi-user group system.