TWI857753B - Outdoor landscape presenting method and exercise assistance system - Google Patents

Abstract

An outdoor landscape presenting method and an exercise assistance system are disclosed. The method includes: executing a map program; receiving a user operation for planning an outdoor exercise route through the map program; obtaining a plurality of outdoor landscape images corresponding to the outdoor exercise route; detecting an exercise state information of an exercise equipment; and presenting the outdoor landscape images on a display interface sequentially according to the exercise state information.

Description

Outdoor scenery presentation method and sports auxiliary system

The present invention relates to a human-computer interaction technology, and in particular to an outdoor scenery presentation method and a motion assistance system.

As indoor exercise becomes more and more popular, more and more users choose to exercise indoors (such as in gyms or at home) using exercise equipment such as flywheels, treadmills or steppers. Although some manufacturers' exercise equipment can support playing pre-recorded landscape videos during exercise, trying to let users feel the presence of outdoor exercise, in practice, users can only reluctantly choose one from the small number of videos provided by the manufacturers, and these pre-recorded landscape videos are only updated once in a long time. In the long run, users are likely to give up indoor exercise due to the lack of the presence of outdoor exercise.

The present invention provides an outdoor scenery presentation method and a sports auxiliary system, which can enhance the user's sense of presence of outdoor sports when performing indoor sports.

The embodiment of the present invention provides a method for presenting outdoor scenery, which includes: executing a map program; receiving user operations, wherein the user operations are used to plan an outdoor sports route through the map program; obtaining multiple outdoor scenery images corresponding to the outdoor sports route; detecting the sports status information of sports equipment; and presenting the multiple outdoor scenery images in sequence on a display interface according to the sports status information.

The embodiment of the present invention further provides a sports assistance system, which includes sports equipment and a control host. The control host is coupled to the sports equipment. The control host is used to: execute a map program; receive user operations, wherein the user operations are used to plan an outdoor sports route through the map program; obtain multiple outdoor landscape images corresponding to the outdoor sports route; detect the sports status information of the sports equipment; and present the multiple outdoor landscape images in sequence on the display interface according to the sports status information.

Based on the above, after executing the map program, a user operation can be received to plan an outdoor sports route through the map program. According to the outdoor sports route, multiple outdoor scenery images can be obtained. Thereafter, according to the sports status information of the sports equipment, the multiple outdoor scenery images can be sequentially presented on the display interface. In this way, the user's sense of presence of outdoor sports when doing indoor sports can be enhanced.

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a sports assistance system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG1 , the sports assistance system 10 includes sports equipment 11 and a control host 12. The sports equipment 11 can be used by a user to perform autonomous exercise. For example, the sports equipment 11 may include a treadmill, a flywheel or a stepper, etc., and the type of the sports equipment 11 is not limited thereto.

The control host 12 is coupled to the sports equipment 11. The control host 12 can be combined with the sports equipment 11 or independent of the sports equipment 11. For example, the control host 12 can be a control computer of the sports equipment 11 itself. Alternatively, the control host 12 can also be a portable electronic device such as a tablet computer, a smart phone or a game console, and the type of the control host 12 is not limited thereto.

The control host 12 may include a display interface 121, an operation interface 122, a communication interface 123, a storage circuit 124, and a processor 125. The display interface 121 may be used to display images. For example, the display interface 121 may include a plasma display, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a thin film transistor (TFT) liquid crystal display, a light emitting diode (LED) display, or an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, and the type of the display interface 121 is not limited thereto.

The operation interface 122 can be used to receive user operations and generate corresponding input signals. For example, the operation interface 122 may include a signal input device such as a remote control, a touch panel, a mouse, or a physical keyboard, and the type of the operation interface 122 is not limited thereto. Alternatively, the operation interface 122 can also be combined with the display interface 121 to form a touch screen.

The communication interface 123 is used to couple the control host 12 to the sports equipment 11 and communicate with the sports equipment 11 (e.g., the communication interface of the sports equipment 11). For example, the communication interface 123 can support various wired or wireless communication standards such as Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Universal Serial Bus (USB), Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART) or WiFi, and the communication standards supported by the communication interface 123 are not limited thereto. In addition, the communication interface 123 can also be used to connect to the Internet and communicate with a remote server.

The storage circuit 124 can be used to store data. For example, the storage circuit 124 may include a volatile storage circuit and a non-volatile storage circuit. The volatile storage circuit is used to store data volatilely. For example, the volatile storage circuit may include a random access memory (RAM) or a similar volatile storage medium. The non-volatile storage circuit is used to store data non-volatilely. For example, the non-volatile storage circuit may include a read-only memory (ROM), a solid state disk (SSD), a hard disk drive (HDD), or a similar non-volatile storage medium.

The processor 125 is coupled to the display interface 121, the operation interface 122, the communication interface 123 and the storage circuit 124. The processor 125 may be responsible for controlling the overall or partial operation of the host 12 (or the motion assistance system 10). For example, the processor 125 may be a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or other programmable general-purpose or special-purpose microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSP), programmable controllers, application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), programmable logic devices (PLD) or other similar devices or combinations of these devices.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a user operating a sports equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2 , assuming that the sports equipment 11 is a flywheel, the user can operate the sports equipment 11 to perform self-training (or indoor training). The display interface 121 (and the operation interface 122) can be set on the sports equipment 11. During the process of the user operating the sports equipment 11, the user can view the image presented by the display interface 121. In one embodiment, during the process of the user operating the sports equipment 11, the user can also operate the operation interface 122.

In one embodiment, the processor 125 may execute the map program 101 to open an online map or an offline map. For example, the map program 101 may be stored in the storage circuit 124. Alternatively, the map program 101 may also be stored in a remote server. For example, online maps may include various electronic maps or digital maps such as Google Maps, Apple Maps, or Baidu Maps, and the types of online maps are not limited thereto. After executing the map program 101, the processor 125 may present the online map or the offline map via the display interface 121.

In one embodiment, the processor 125 may receive a user operation via the operation interface 122. The user operation may be used to plan an outdoor exercise route via the map program 101. For example, based on the user operation, the map program 101 may plan an outdoor exercise route in the online map or offline map. For example, based on the user operation, the processor 125 may set a starting point and an end point in the online map or offline map. Based on the set starting point and end point, the map program 101 may automatically generate an outdoor exercise route between the starting point and the end point.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of planning an outdoor exercise route according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 , a map image 30 may be presented in a display interface 121. According to user operation, the processor 125 may set reference points 31 and 32. Then, according to the reference points 31 and 32, the map program 101 may automatically generate an outdoor exercise route 33. Among them, the reference point 31 is the starting point of the outdoor exercise route 33, and the reference point 32 is the end point of the outdoor exercise route 33. In other words, according to the reference points 31 and 32, the map program 101 (or the processor 125) may automatically plan the outdoor exercise route 33 between the reference points 31 and 32. In addition, the outdoor exercise route 33 may be presented in the map image 30. It should be noted that the map image 30, reference point 31, reference point 32 and outdoor sports route 33 shown in FIG. 3 are all examples and are not intended to limit the present invention.

In one embodiment, after determining an outdoor movement route (e.g., outdoor movement route 33 in FIG. 3 ), the processor 125 may obtain a plurality of outdoor scenery images corresponding to the outdoor movement route. For example, these outdoor scenery images may present at least a portion of the street scene on the outdoor movement route. Then, the processor 125 may store these outdoor scenery images in the storage circuit 124.

In one embodiment, according to the user operation, the processor 125 may receive route planning information provided by the map program 101. This route planning information may carry information related to the determined outdoor sports route (e.g., the outdoor sports route 33 in FIG. 3 ). According to this route planning information, the processor 125 may download the plurality of outdoor scenery images from the external server via the communication interface 123. Taking Google Maps as an example, the external server may be a Google map server or a street view server, and the downloaded outdoor scenery images may be street views provided by Google map servers or street view servers. However, the present invention does not limit the type of the outdoor scenery images, as long as at least part of the street view on the outdoor sports route can be presented.

In one embodiment, based on the route planning information, the processor 125 can obtain multiple reference points (e.g., reference point 0 to reference point N in FIG. 3 ) on the outdoor sports route (e.g., outdoor sports route 33 in FIG. 3 ). For example, these reference points can be distributed along the outdoor sports route. Based on the route planning information, the processor 125 can obtain the coordinate information (e.g., longitude and latitude information) of these reference points. Based on these reference points (and/or the coordinate information of these reference points), the processor 125 can download the multiple outdoor scenery images from the external server (e.g., Google's map server or street view server). For example, each reference point can correspond to an outdoor scenery image, and this outdoor scenery image can present the outdoor scenery (i.e., street view) at the corresponding reference point.

In one embodiment, the processor 125 can detect the motion state information of the sports equipment 11 via the communication interface 123. For example, the motion state information can reflect the wheel speed, belt speed or pedal frequency of the sports equipment 11. The wheel speed, belt speed or pedal frequency can reflect the user's current effort in operating the sports equipment 11. For example, when the user steps harder and/or faster on the pedals of a flywheel, the conveyor belt of a treadmill or the pedals of a stepper, the motion state information can reflect that the wheel speed, belt speed or pedal frequency of the sports equipment 11 is higher. On the contrary, when the user steps on the pedal of the flywheel, the conveyor belt of the treadmill or the pedal of the stepper more lightly and/or slowly, the motion state information can reflect that the wheel speed, belt speed or pedaling frequency of the sports equipment 11 is lower. According to the motion state information, the processor 125 can sequentially present the multiple outdoor landscape images on the display interface 121. In one embodiment, by sequentially presenting the multiple outdoor landscape images while the user is operating the sports equipment 11, the user can have a sense of actually moving outdoors (such as riding a bicycle, walking or jogging) along the outdoor exercise route.

In one embodiment, the processor 125 can obtain the virtual moving distance of the sports equipment 11 according to the motion state information. For example, the processor 125 can evaluate the virtual forward speed of the sports equipment 11 within a time range according to the motion state information. For example, the virtual forward speed is positively related to the wheel speed, drive belt speed or pedaling frequency of the sports equipment 11. Then, the processor 125 can evaluate the virtual moving distance of the sports equipment 11 within this time range according to the virtual forward speed. For example, assuming that the virtual forward speed of the sports equipment 11 within the time range △T is V, the processor 125 can determine the virtual moving distance of the sports equipment 11 within the time range △T as D, where D=V×△T. Thereafter, according to the change of the virtual moving distance, the processor 125 can sequentially present the multiple outdoor landscape images on the display interface 121.

In one embodiment, according to the route planning information, the processor 125 may record the distances between the multiple reference points on the outdoor exercise route and the starting point of the outdoor exercise route. Then, in response to the virtual moving distance being a specific distance, the processor 125 may present one of the multiple outdoor landscape images on the display interface 121.

In one embodiment, according to the route planning information, the processor 125 may record the distance between one of the plurality of reference points (also referred to as the first reference point) and the starting point of the outdoor exercise route as the first distance and record the distance between another of the plurality of reference points (also referred to as the second reference point) and the starting point of the outdoor exercise route as the second distance. The first distance is different from the second distance. Thereafter, in response to the virtual moving distance being the first distance, the processor 125 may present the image corresponding to the first reference point among the plurality of outdoor landscape images (also referred to as the first outdoor landscape image) on the display interface 121. In addition, in response to the virtual moving distance being the second distance, the processor 125 may present the image corresponding to the second reference point among the plurality of outdoor landscape images (also referred to as the second outdoor landscape image) on the display interface 121. Similarly, according to the change of the virtual moving distance, the processor 125 may present the plurality of outdoor landscape images on the display interface 121 in sequence.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a reference table according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, in one embodiment, the processor 125 may establish a reference table 41 according to the route planning information. The reference table 41 may be used to record information about the image (i.e., the outdoor scenery image) corresponding to each reference point on the outdoor sports route and the distance between each reference point and the starting point of the outdoor sports route. For example, according to the reference table 41, the outdoor scenery images corresponding to the reference points 0 to N on the outdoor sports route are images IMG(0) to IMG(N), and the distances between the reference points 0 to N and the starting point of the outdoor sports route are D(0) to D(N). In one embodiment, reference point 0 may be the starting point of the outdoor exercise route, and/or reference point N may be the end point of the outdoor exercise route. It should be noted that reference table 41 may also record the above information in other forms and/or more useful information may also be recorded in reference table 41, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

FIG5 is a schematic diagram showing different outdoor scenery images according to the change of virtual moving distance according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG1 and FIG5, continuing with the embodiment of FIG4, as the virtual moving distance increases, for example, from distance D(0) to D(N), images IMG(0) to IMG(N) may be sequentially presented in the display interface 121. For example, in response to the virtual moving distance being D(i), image IMG(i) may be displayed in the display interface 121 to present the street scene when the user moves to the reference point i outdoors. In addition, in response to the virtual moving distance D(j), the image IMG(j) can be displayed in the display interface 121 to present the street view when the user moves to the reference point j outdoors. Where i and j are both positive integers between 1 and N, and i is not equal to j. Similarly, in response to the change of this virtual moving distance, the processor 125 can sequentially present the images IMG(0)~IMG(N) on the display interface 121.

In one embodiment, when calculating the distance between each reference point and the starting point of the outdoor exercise route, the processor 125 may perform a normalization operation on the distance to limit the representation of the distance to a preset numerical range (e.g., between 0 and 1). For example, by performing the normalization operation, about 100 meters can be converted into a numerical value of "0.1", about 200 meters can be converted into a numerical value of "0.2", and so on. In addition, the calculation method of the normalization operation can also be adjusted according to practical needs, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

In one embodiment, the image resolution of at least one outdoor landscape image downloaded from an external server may be different from the screen resolution of the display interface 121. Therefore, in one embodiment, the processor 125 may adjust the resolution and/or image size of the downloaded outdoor landscape image. Thereafter, the processor 125 may present the adjusted outdoor landscape image through the display interface 121. In this way, the image quality of the outdoor landscape image presented by the display interface 121 may be improved.

FIG6 is a flow chart of an outdoor scenery presentation method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG6, in step S601, a map program is executed. In step S602, a user operation is received, wherein the user operation is used to plan an outdoor sports route through the map program. In step S603, a plurality of outdoor scenery images corresponding to the outdoor sports route are obtained. In step S604, the motion state information of the sports equipment is detected. In step S605, the plurality of outdoor scenery images are sequentially presented on the display interface according to the motion state information.

However, each step in FIG6 has been described in detail above and will not be repeated here. It is worth noting that each step in FIG6 can be implemented as multiple program codes or circuits, and the present invention is not limited thereto. In addition, the method of FIG6 can be used in conjunction with the above exemplary embodiments or can be used alone, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

In summary, the outdoor scenery presentation method and sports auxiliary system proposed by the present invention can dynamically plan an outdoor sports route through a map program and automatically obtain multiple outdoor scenery images corresponding to the outdoor sports route. Thereafter, according to the sports status information of the sports equipment, the multiple outdoor scenery images can be sequentially presented on the display interface. In this way, when the user operates the sports equipment, the outdoor scenery images presented on the display interface can make the user feel as if he is actually moving outdoors along the outdoor sports route.

Although the present invention has been disclosed as above by the embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone with ordinary knowledge in the relevant technical field can make some changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention shall be subject to the scope of the attached patent application.

10: Sports assistance system

11: Sports equipment

12: Control host

121: Display interface

122: Operation interface

123: Communication interface

124: Storage circuit

125: Processor

101: Map Program

30: Map image

31,32: Reference points

33: Outdoor sports route

41: Reference table

IMG(0)~IMG(N):Image (outdoor scenery image)

D(0)~D(N): distance

S601~S605: Steps

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a sports assistance system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a user operating a sports equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of planning an outdoor exercise route according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a reference table drawn according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG5 is a schematic diagram showing different outdoor landscape images according to the change of virtual moving distance according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG6 is a flow chart of an outdoor scenery presentation method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

S601~S605: Steps

Claims (14)

A method for presenting outdoor scenery, comprising: executing a map program; receiving user operations, wherein the user operations are used to plan an outdoor sports route through the map program; obtaining multiple outdoor scenery images corresponding to the outdoor sports route; detecting sports status information of sports equipment; and presenting the multiple outdoor scenery images in sequence on a display interface according to the sports status information, wherein the multiple outdoor scenery images present street scenes along the way when the user moves along the outdoor sports route. In the outdoor scenery presentation method as described in claim 1, the step of obtaining the multiple outdoor scenery images corresponding to the outdoor sports route includes: receiving route planning information provided by the map program according to the user operation; and downloading the multiple outdoor scenery images from an external server according to the route planning information. The outdoor scenery presentation method as described in claim 2, wherein the step of downloading the multiple outdoor scenery images from the external server according to the route planning information includes: obtaining multiple reference points on the outdoor sports route according to the route planning information; and downloading the multiple outdoor scenery images from the external server according to the multiple reference points, wherein the multiple outdoor scenery images respectively present the street scenes corresponding to the multiple reference points. The outdoor scenery presentation method as described in claim 1, wherein the step of sequentially presenting the multiple outdoor scenery images on the display interface according to the motion state information comprises: obtaining the virtual moving distance of the sports equipment according to the motion state information; and sequentially presenting the multiple outdoor scenery images on the display interface according to the change of the virtual moving distance. The outdoor scenery presentation method as described in claim 4, wherein the multiple outdoor scenery images include a first outdoor scenery image and a second outdoor scenery image, the first outdoor scenery image corresponds to a first reference point on the outdoor movement route, and the second outdoor scenery image corresponds to a second reference point on the outdoor movement route, and according to the change of the virtual moving distance, the step of sequentially presenting the multiple outdoor scenery images on the display interface includes: in response to the virtual moving distance being a first distance, presenting the first outdoor scenery image on the display interface; and in response to the virtual moving distance being a second distance, presenting the second outdoor scenery image on the display interface, wherein the first distance is different from the second distance. The outdoor scenery presentation method as described in claim 5 further includes: recording the distance between the first reference point and the starting point of the outdoor exercise route as the first distance according to the route planning information; and recording the distance between the second reference point and the starting point of the outdoor exercise route as the second distance according to the route planning information. The outdoor scenery presentation method as described in claim 1, wherein the map program includes at least one of an online map and an offline map. A sports assist system includes: sports equipment; and a control host coupled to the sports equipment, wherein the control host is used to: execute a map program; receive user operations, wherein the user operations are used to plan an outdoor sports route through the map program; obtain multiple outdoor landscape images corresponding to the outdoor sports route; detect the sports state information of the sports equipment; and according to the sports state information, sequentially present the multiple outdoor landscape images on a display interface, wherein the multiple outdoor landscape images present street scenes along the way when the user moves along the outdoor sports route. The sports assistance system as described in claim 8, wherein the operation of the control host to obtain the multiple outdoor landscape images corresponding to the outdoor sports route includes: receiving route planning information provided by the map program according to the user operation; and downloading the multiple outdoor landscape images from an external server according to the route planning information. The sports assist system as described in claim 9, wherein the operation of the control host downloading the multiple outdoor landscape images from the external server according to the route planning information includes: obtaining multiple reference points on the outdoor sports route according to the route planning information; and downloading the multiple outdoor landscape images from the external server according to the multiple reference points, wherein the multiple outdoor landscape images respectively present the street scenes corresponding to the multiple reference points. The sports assisting system as described in claim 8, wherein the operation of the control host sequentially presenting the multiple outdoor landscape images on the display interface according to the sports state information includes: obtaining the virtual moving distance of the sports equipment according to the sports state information; and sequentially presenting the multiple outdoor landscape images on the display interface according to the change of the virtual moving distance. The motion assist system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the plurality of outdoor landscape images include a first outdoor landscape image and a second outdoor landscape image, the first outdoor landscape image corresponds to a first reference point on the outdoor motion route, the second outdoor landscape image corresponds to a second reference point on the outdoor motion route, and the control host sequentially presents the plurality of outdoor landscape images on the display interface according to the change of the virtual moving distance, including: in response to the virtual moving distance being a first distance, presenting the first outdoor landscape image on the display interface; and in response to the virtual moving distance being a second distance, presenting the second outdoor landscape image on the display interface, wherein the first distance is different from the second distance. The sports assistance system as described in claim 12, wherein the control host is further used to: record the distance between the first reference point and the starting point of the outdoor sports route as the first distance according to the route planning information; and record the distance between the second reference point and the starting point of the outdoor sports route as the second distance according to the route planning information. A sports assistance system as described in claim 8, wherein the map program includes at least one of an online map and an offline map.

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