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Title:
BASEBALL PITCH SIMULATION AND SWING ANALYSIS USING VIRTUAL REALITY DEVICE AND SYSTEM
Document Type and Number:
WIPO Patent Application WO/2018/200897
Kind Code:
A4
Abstract:
A virtual reality baseball system uses a virtual reality device to present a simulated pitch to a batter. The system also includes sensors that are attached to a bat, within or attached to a mounting device, and optionally external sensors, that sense movement of the bat. The system will generate and present a simulated pitch from a selected pitcher. The simulated pitch simulates attributes of a pitch of the selected pitcher that correspond to a particular batting simulation scenario. The sensors are configured to track movement of bat when a user swings at the simulated pitch.

Inventors:
DANIS JEFFREY (US)
LYNN ZACHARY (US)
VOLYN JULIAN (US)
Application Number:
PCT/US2018/029693
Publication Date:
December 06, 2018
Filing Date:
April 27, 2018
Export Citation:
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Assignee:
TRINITYVR INC (US)
International Classes:
A63B59/50; A63B60/46; A63B69/00; A63F13/00
Attorney, Agent or Firm:
SINGER, James, M. et al. (US)
Download PDF:
Claims:
AMENDED CLAIMS

received by the International Bureau on 29 October 2018 (29.10.2018)

1. A virtual reality baseball system comprising:

a wearable electronic device comprising a virtual reality display;

a tracking device comprising one more sensors that are configured to sense motion and/or position of a bat;

a processor; and

computer-readable programming instructions that are configured to cause the processor to:

receive a selection of a pitcher,

generate, and cause the virtual reality display to present, a simulated pitch from the selected pitcher,

receive motion data from the one or more sensors of the tracking device, wherein the motion data corresponds to a swing of the bat in response to the simulated pitch, and save batting statistics corresponding to the swing to a data store.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions to generate the simulated pitch comprise instructions to generate a pitch having characteristics that correspond to characteristics of actual pitches of the selected pitcher.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions to generate the simulated pitch comprise instructions to:

determine a batting simulation scenario that includes one or more characteristics of a batter who will use the bat;

44 use one or more of the characteristics of the batting simulation scenario to determine one or more batting simulation parameters;

access a database that includes pitch data for the selected pitcher and identify a set of candidate pitches that correspond to the one or more batting simulation parameters; and

select one of the candidate pitches as the simulated pitch.

4. The system of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the instructions to cause the virtual reality display to present the simulated pitch comprise instructions to occlude a first portion of the simulated pitch on the display so that a user of the virtual reality display cannot view the entire simulated pitch.

5. The system of claim 4, further comprising additional instructions that are configured to cause the processor to:

generate an additional simulated pitch from the selected pitcher; and

cause the virtual reality display to present the additional pitch on the display while occluding a second portion of the simulated pitch, wherein the second portion is greater than the first portion.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a database comprising pitch characteristics for a plurality of pitchers; and

additional programming instructions that are configured to cause the processor to generate a user interface that is configured to:

present at least a subset of the plurality of pitchers to a user, receive the selection of the pitcher as one of the presented pitchers, and when generating the simulated pitch, using pitch characteristics from the database for the selected pitcher to generate the simulated pitch.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a database comprising swing data for a user of the bat; and

additional programming instructions that are configured to cause the processor to generate a user interface that is configured to present the batting statistics and swing data from the database to the user via the user interface.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising a mounting device that is configured to removably secure the tracking device to the bat, and wherein the mounting device comprises: a first portion with a first recess that is sized and shaped to fit over a portion of a knob of the bat;

a second portion with a second recess configured that is sized and shaped to fit over a portion of a knob of the bat, as well as a connecting member to secure the first portion to the second portion when the first recess and second recess are each placed over the knob of the bat; and

an attachment member configured to secure the tracking device to the mounting device.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the attachment member comprises a threaded member that is positioned to extend away from the knob of the bat in a direction that is parallel to a barrel of the bat.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors comprise an accelerometer, gyroscope, and/or inertial measurement unit.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein:

the one or more sensors comprise a photosensor;

the system also comprises a base station having a laser emitter;

and

the tracking device is configured to determine a position of the tracking device's photosensor with respect to the base station based on detection by the photosensor of a laser emitted by the base station.

12. A method of operating a virtual reality baseball system, the method comprising:

a wearable electronic device comprising a virtual reality display;

a tracking device comprising one more sensors that are configured to sense motion and/or position of a bat;

by a processor implementing programming instructions:

receiving, from a user interface, a selection of a pitcher, and

generating a simulated pitch from the selected pitcher;

by a virtual reality display device, displaying the simulated pitch;

by a tracking device comprising one more sensors that are configured to sense motion and/or position of a bat, receiving motion data that corresponds to a swing of the bat in response to the simulated pitch, and

47 by the processor:

analyzing the motion data,

using the motion data to generate batting statistics corresponding to the swing, and

saving the batting statistics to a data store.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein generating the simulated pitch comprises generating a pitch having characteristics that correspond to characteristics of actual pitches of the selected pitcher.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein generating the simulated pitch comprises:

determining a batting simulation scenario that includes one or more characteristics of a batter who will use the bat;

using one or more of the characteristics of the batting simulation scenario to determine one or more batting simulation parameters;

accessing a database that includes pitch data for the selected pitcher and identify a set of candidate pitches that correspond to the one or more batting simulation parameters; and

selecting one of the candidate pitches as the simulated pitch.

15. The method of any of claims 12 to 14, wherein displaying the simulated pitch comprises occluding a first portion of the simulated pitch on the display device so that a user of the display device cannot view the entire simulated pitch.

48

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

by the processor, generating an additional simulated pitch from the selected pitcher; and by the display device, displaying the additional pitch while occluding a second portion of the simulated pitch, wherein the second portion is greater than the first portion.

17. The method of claim 12, further comprising, by the processor:

causing the display device to present at least a subset of the plurality of pitchers to a user; receiving, from the user interface, the selection of the pitcher as one of the presented pitchers; and

when generating the simulated pitch, accessing a database comprising pitch

characteristics for a plurality of pitchers and using pitch characteristics from the database for the selected pitcher to generate the simulated pitch.

18. The method of claim 12, further comprising, by the processor:

accessing a database comprising swing data for a user of the bat; and

causing the display device to present the batting statistics and swing data from the database to the user.

19. The method of claim 12, wherein:

the one or more sensors comprise a photosensor; and

the method further comprises, by the tracking device, determining a position of the tracking device's photosensor with respect to a base station having a laser emitted based on detection by the photosensor of a laser emitted by the base station.

49

20. A mounting device for removably securing a tracking device to a bat, the mounting device comprising:

a first portion with a first recess that is sized and shaped to fit over a portion of a knob of the bat;

a second portion with a second recess configured that is sized and shaped to fit over a portion of a knob of the bat, as well as a connecting member to secure the first portion to the second portion when the first recess and second recess are each placed over the knob of the bat; and

an attachment member configured to secure the tracking device to the mounting device, wherein the attachment member comprises a threaded member that is positioned to extend away from the knob of the bat in a direction that is parallel to a barrel of the bat.

21. (Canceled)

22. The mounting device of claim 20, wherein the attachment member further comprises a housing formed by the first portion and the second portion when connected together by the connecting member.

23. The mounting device of claim 20, wherein the mounting device further comprises one or more sensors that comprise an accelerometer, gyroscope, and/or inertial measurement unit.

50

24. The mounting device of any of claims 20 to 22, wherein the mounting device further comprises one or more sensors that comprise a photosensor that is configured to detect light emitted by a base station.

25. A virtual reality baseball system comprising:

a tracking device comprising one more sensors that are configured to sense motion and/or position of a bat; and

a mounting device for removably securing a tracking device to a bat, the mounting device comprising:

a first portion with a first recess that is sized and shaped to fit over a portion of a knob of the bat,

a second portion with a second recess configured that is sized and shaped to fit over a portion of a knob of the bat, as well as a connecting member to secure the first portion to the second portion when the first recess and second recess are each placed over the knob of the bat, and

an attachment member configured to secure the tracking device to the mounting device, wherein the attachment member comprises a threaded member that is positioned to extend away from the knob of the bat in a direction that is parallel to a barrel of the bat.

26. The system of claim 25, further comprising a wearable electronic device comprising a virtual reality display.

51

27. The system of claim 26, further comprising a server containing a processor a receiver, and programming instructions that are configured to:

generate a simulated pitch;

transmit a signal to the wearable electronic device that will cause the virtual reality display to display the simulated pitch;

receive, from the tracking device, swing data that includes measurements of motion and position of the bat; and

save the swing data to a database in a profile of a user of the bat and the wearable electronic device.

28. (Canceled)

29. The system of any of claims 25 to 27, wherein the attachment member comprises a housing formed by the first portion and the second portion when connected together by the connecting member.

30. The system of claim 25, wherein the one or more sensors comprise an accelerometer, gyroscope, and/or inertial measurement unit.

31. The system of claim 25 , wherein :

the one or more sensors comprise a photosensor;

the system also comprises a base station having a laser emitter;

and

52 the tracking device is configured to determine a position of the tracking device's photosensor with respect to the base station based on detection by the photosensor of a laser emitted by the base station.

32. The system of claim 25, wherein:

the one or more sensors comprise one or more passive retroflective IR markers or active IR markers; and

the base station comprises an infrared (IR) camera.

33. A virtual reality baseball system comprising:

a tracking device comprising one or more sensors that are configured to sense motion and/or position of a bat; and

a mounting device for removably securing a tracking device to the bat;

an attachment member configured to secure the tracking device to the mounting device, wherein the attachment member comprises a threaded member that is positioned to extend away from a knob of the bat in a direction that is parallel to a barrel of the bat; and

a wearable electronic device comprising a virtual reality display.

34. The system of claim 33, further comprising a server containing a processor a receiver, and programming instructions that are configured to:

generate a simulated pitch;

transmit a signal to the wearable electronic device that will cause the virtual reality display to display the simulated pitch;

53 receive, from the tracking device, swing data that includes measurements of motion and position of the bat; and

save the swing data to a database in a profile of a user of the bat and the wearable electronic device.

35. (Canceled)

36. The system of claim 33 or 34, wherein the attachment member comprises a housing that contains the tracking device.

37. The system of claim 33, wherein the one or more sensors comprise an accelerometer, gyroscope, and/or inertial measurement unit.

38. The system of claim 33, wherein:

the one or more sensors comprise a photosensor;

the system also comprises a base station having a laser emitter;

and

the tracking device is configured to determine a position of the tracking device's photosensor with respect to the base station based on detection by the photosensor of a laser emitted by the base station.

39. The system of claim 33, wherein:

54 the one or more sensors comprise one or more passive retroflective IR markers or activeers; and

the system also comprises a base station having an infrared (IR) camera.

55