System, device and method for quantifying motion

Abstract

There is provided a device for motion identification, the device comprising: an enclosure and a plurality of sensors being provided with the enclosure and configured to measure acceleration in three axes and angular motion in three axes. The acceleration may be measured in a first acceleration range and a second acceleration range,

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]The present application claims priority on U.S. 61 / 867,703 filed on Aug. 20, 2013, that is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE[0002]The present disclosure relates generally to systems, devices and methods for motion capture, motion tracking, motion detection and motion quantification, especially for sport applications. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to the automatic identification, measurement and quantification of a player's individual performance, such as a hockey player.BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE[0003]Sport practitioners are eager to acquire motion metrics indicative of their training or gaming performance, for primarily performance improvement purpose, and secondarily for comparing their performance to those of their peers or of top professional athletes.[0004]Sensor based motion tracking systems are limited in the complexity of gestures or movements that are able to quantify. ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent describes a device and method for identifying motion in three directions. The device includes an enclosure with sensors that measure acceleration and angular motion. Additionally, the device can also use external sensors to measure vibration, flexion, bend, orientation, distance, sound, image, heart-beat, blood, wind pressure, and other factors that contribute to the user's movement. By analyzing these measurements, the device can identify and characterize the movement of the user. The technical effects of this invention include improved accuracy and efficiency in identifying motion in three directions and the ability to measure various factors that contribute to the movement process.

Problems solved by technology

Sensor based motion tracking systems are limited in the complexity of gestures or movements that are able to quantify.

Current sensor based motion tracking systems suffer from several limitations.

No such motion tracking system today is able to detect, discriminate and quantify complex gestures in a non choreographed motion sequence.

Manual activation of the sensor prior to each movement is impractical in most sports where movements are not choreographed, such as racket sports and team sports.

Moreover, currently available IMU based motion tracking systems are limited by at least one of the two following elements: (a) they lack the capability of blind identification of motion patterns and / or (b) they lack the capability of blindly identify complex motions.

All currently available IMU based products cannot identify more complex motion hidden in motion noise.

Consequently, no system of the prior art provides motion tracking system based on inertial sensors optimized for complex gestures.

No system of the prior art provides motion tracking system based on inertial sensors which detect, discriminate and quantify complex gestures in a non-choreographed motion sequence.

No system of the prior art provides motion tracking system based on inertial sensors which can automatically operate without being activated.

No prior art system provides a motion tracking system based on inertial sensors that can be operated by a player for long period of time without the need for external systems.

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