Copyright © Françoise Herrmann
Need a
workout in the safety of your own home? Pilates, sculpt, post-natal exerices,
kickboxing, weight training, ballet, dance cardio, hip-hop, tai-chi, yoga flow,
boxing, kettlebell? Mirror.com offers
more than 50 different sorts of workouts, on-demand, from beginning to expert
levels, in 5 to 60-minute, private or live, group sessions with certified
trainers, or using a library of tapes. Each workout is brought to you directly in your living room, via
a smart mirror. With a monthly subscription for up to six different family
members, users can tune-in to the (smart) Mirror, both for access to workouts and live feedback. Feedback on such items as posture, position and performance, using monitored heart rate data that the Mirror records via Bluetooth, and data on every user-move, collected via
proprietary camera algorithms.
The (smart)
Mirror personal home fitness system is an invention with many different patented
aspects, such as the following, all of which might be licensed and used:
- continuous acquisition of biometric and movement data via camera and sensor, during a workout session
- reality-blending aspects of 3D video output on a display screen, together with mirroring functions displaying the user’s reflection
- embodied, fitness expert-system that enables to customize and adjust an exercise program, based on acquired biometric data and user motion, while providing real-time feedback on performance (e.g., calories burned and heart rate.)
The US utility patent, US10845511B2, titled Smart Mirror, filed by Hewlett Packard in 2016, for example, recites a blended reality aspect of smart mirror inventions. In other words, how both the display of data (collected from the user and/or imported) and mirror reflection of the user are processed for presentation to a user, facing the smart mirror. Specifically, the patent recites visualization of both interface data and user reflection, relative to the user’s captured eye focal distance. Eye focal distance is measured, using binocular cameras, as the convergence point of the user’s left and right eye gaze.
Thus, the invention discloses a highly visible
(bright) mirror reflection and less visible (dimmed) interface data, when the
user’s captured eye focal distance is on the mirror image. Conversely, when the
user’s captured eye focal distance is on the display, then the mirror image presented
is less visible (dimmed), while the interface data becomes highly visible
(brighter). Consequently, users are able to use their gaze on specific objects of the user interface, as an input
method to control the smart mirror, while the mirror uses biometric information
(the eye focal distance of the user’s gaze) to determine which information to
present on screen. Finally, hands free operation of the information displayed, in
turn, is disclosed as extending the
usefulness of the mirror. Although, considering the invention was filed several
years prior to the COVID 19 pandemic,
it is quite incidental that such a “contactless” feature of the invention would
become especially significant.
The
abstract of this invention is included below, together with Figures 5A and 5B, showing the smart mirror’s differential response to the
captured eye focal distance of a user 505,
facing the display .
Figure 5a illustrates the smart mirror 500, with the user 505 focusing his gaze 520A
on his reflection 540A, whereas Figure 5b illustrates the smart mirror’s
appearance, with the user 505 focusing his gaze 520B on
interface objects 530B of the
display. The user’s eye focal distance is measured with a binocular eye sensor 510, located on top of the mirror frame. Measurement
is restricted to the user’s reach.
Small screen areas, 550A on Figure 5BA, and 550B on Figure 5B, respectively show an overlap
of the user reflection 540A and the
interface objects 530B. However, according
to the inventive determination of eye focal distance, the user reflection 540A
is more prominently visible in Figure 5A,
whereas the interface objects are more prominently visible in the Figure 5B.
In one example, a smart mirror. The smart mirror includes a display adjacent one side of a half-mirror, sensors to acquire biometric information of a user facing an opposite side of the half-mirror, and a controller coupled to the sensors and the display. The controller determines from the biometric information a focal distance of the user. If the focal distance corresponds to the display, the controller presents a user interface on the smart mirror in a highly-visible manner and a reflection of the user in a less-visible manner. If the focal distance corresponds to the reflection of the user, the controller presents the user interface on the smart mirror in a less-visible manner and the reflection of the user in a highly-visible manner. [Abstract US10845511B2]
The YouTube
video below shows the elegant Mirror, in use, for several sorts of living room workouts.
References
Lululemon Athletica Inc. https://info.lululemon.com/about
Ming
Hui Chua, et al.(Aug 7, 2020) Face Masks in the New COVID-19 Normal:
Materials, Testing, and Perspectives. Research (Wash D
C). 2020; 2020: 7286735. Published online 2020 Aug 7. doi: 10.34133/2020/7286735 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32832908/
Mirror.com https://www.mirror.co/
Refine Method Fitness Studio http://www.refinemethod.com/
O’Brian S.A. (June 29, 2020) Lululemon to buy mirror at-home fitness startup for 500 million. CNN.com. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/29/tech/lululemon-mirror-fitness-startup-acquisition/index.html
Riley Moffat, A. (Sept. 17, 2020) Lululemon’s Mirror Workout Tool Doesn’t Sell Sports Bras -- Yet. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-17/lululemon-s-mirror-workout-tool-doesn-t-sell-sports-bras-yet
Terlep, S. (June 30, 2020) Lululemon Buys Mirror, an At-Home Fitness Startup, for $500 Million. WSJ. https://www.wsj.com/articles/lululemon-to-buy-at-home-fitness-company-mirror-for-500-million-11593465981
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