Equipment recommendation systems and methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12511680-B2
Application number	US-201816162927-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 17, 2018
Priority date	Oct 18, 2017
Publication date	Dec 30, 2025
Grant date	Dec 30, 2025

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for recommending an item of equipment, which comprises: gathering sensed data from a sensor; processing the sensed data in accordance with a biomechanical protocol to determine at least one performance indicator associated with a subject's execution of the biomechanical protocol; and determining at least one recommended feature of an item of equipment based at least in part on the at least one performance indicator. Also, an equipment recommendation system with specific application to hockey, which comprises: a camera configured to produce images representative of execution of a hockey shot of a given type by a subject; an I/O interface; and a processor connected to the camera via the I/O interface and configured to extract parameters from the images and to output, via the I/O interface, a hockey stick recommendation for the subject that is based on the parameters and on the given type of hockey shot.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A computer-implemented method for recommending and providing a hockey stick to a subject who performs a shooting protocol corresponding to a sequence of shots taken with a sample hockey stick, wherein the shooting protocol is characterized by execution of the sequence of shots that includes at least one wrist shot and at least one slap shot, comprising:
sensing with a plurality of sensors the subject's taking of the sequence of shots with the sample hockey stick; operating at least one computer for: gathering sensed data from the sensors corresponding to the subject's taking of the sequence of shots with the sample hockey stick; processing the sensed data in accordance with the shooting protocol to determine at least one performance indicator, wherein the processing comprises aligning time series of the sensed data derived from the sensors; determining at least one recommended hockey stick feature for the hockey stick based at least in part on the at least one performance indicator; consulting a database of hockey stick records associated with known hockey sticks to determine if a particular one of the hockey stick records matches the at least one recommended hockey stick feature for the hockey stick; in response to determining that the particular one of the hockey stick records matches the at least one recommended hockey stick feature for the hockey stick, outputting information identifying a particular one of the known hockey sticks associated with the particular one of the hockey stick records as the hockey stick recommended to the subject via a graphical user interface; and in response to determining that none of the hockey stick records matches the at least one recommended hockey stick feature for the hockey stick: utilizing the at least one recommended hockey stick feature for the hockey stick to generate a customized hockey stick; and outputting information identifying the customized hockey stick as the hockey stick recommended to the subject via the graphical user interface; and providing the hockey stick to the subject according to the information identifying the particular one of the known hockey sticks or the information identifying the customized hockey stick.

2 . The computer-implemented method defined in claim 1 , wherein the at least one recommended hockey stick feature includes a blade pattern of the hockey stick.

3 . The computer-implemented method defined in claim 1 , wherein the at least one recommended hockey stick feature includes a resistance to flex of a shaft of the hockey stick.

4 . The computer-implemented method defined in claim 1 , further comprising obtaining a height and a weight of the subject, wherein the determining is a function of the height and the weight of the subject.

5 . The computer-implemented method defined in claim 1 , wherein gathering sensed data from the sensors comprises obtaining data from at least one inertial motion sensor attached to an equipment of the subject.

6 . The computer-implemented method defined in claim 1 , wherein gathering sensed data from the sensors comprises obtaining data from at least one inertial motion sensor set into motion by the subject.

7 . The computer-implemented method defined in claim 1 , wherein the at least one performance indicator associated with execution of the shooting protocol includes an indication of at least one of:
a puck impulse time during execution of a hockey shot; and a maximum angular velocity of the sample hockey stick during execution of a hockey shot.

8 . The computer-implemented method defined in claim 1 , wherein the sensed data includes images, and the processing the sensed data comprises applying pattern recognition to time sequences of images.

9 . The computer-implemented method defined in claim 1 , wherein at least part of the processing the sensed data occurs during execution of the shooting protocol.

10 . The computer-implemented method defined in claim 1 , wherein all of the processing the sensed data occurs after execution of the shooting protocol has completed.

11 . The computer-implemented method defined in claim 1 , further comprising receiving an input from a user, the input specifying the shooting protocol from a plurality of shooting protocols.

12 . The computer-implemented method defined in claim 11 , further comprising issuing instructions to the subject to carry out the shooting protocol.

13 . The computer-implemented method defined in claim 1 , wherein the at least one recommended hockey stick feature comprises a set of recommended features, the method further comprising:
comparing the set of recommended features with predefined sets of features that characterize respective variants of the hockey stick; and identifying at least one of the variants as a candidate variant based on the comparing.

14 . The computer-implemented method defined in claim 13 , wherein identifying at least one of the variants based on the comparing comprises identifying as a candidate variant a variant for which the corresponding set of features most closely matches the set of recommended features.

15 . The computer-implemented method defined in claim 1 , wherein the at least one performance indicator comprises a plurality of performance indicators, and wherein determining at least one recommended hockey stick feature based at least in part on the at least one performance indicator comprises:
comparing the performance indicators to sets of baseline values corresponding to respective variants of the hockey stick; and identifying at least one of the variants based on the comparing; wherein the at least one recommended hockey stick feature comprises an indication of the at least one identified variant.

16 . The computer-implemented method defined in claim 15 , wherein each variant is characterized by a combination of equipment features and wherein the indication of the at least one identified variant comprises at least one of the equipment features that characterizes the at least one identified variant.

17 . The computer-implemented method defined in claim 15 , wherein identifying at least one of the variants based on the comparing comprises identifying a variant for which the corresponding baseline values most closely match the performance indicators.

18 . The computer-implemented method defined in claim 15 , wherein the comparing comprises scoring the variants to obtain a score for each of the variants, and wherein the identifying at least one of the variants comprises identifying a variant for which the score is highest.

19 . The computer-implemented method defined in claim 1 , wherein the at least one performance indicator associated with execution of the shooting protocol includes an indication of at least one of:
a distance between the subject's hands on the hockey stick; and hand movement time during execution of a hockey shot.

20 . The computer-implemented method defined in claim 1 , wherein the at least one performance indicator associated with execution of the shooting protocol includes an indication of at least one of:
a shooting stance of the subject; and a portion of a body of the subject that is a main segment for energy generation.

21 . The computer-implemented method defined in claim 1 , comprising establishing a relative importance of hockey stick properties, wherein the determining the at least one recommended hockey stick feature for the hockey stick based at least in part on the at least one performanc

Assignees

• Bauer Hockey Llc

Inventors

• Paquette Yannick

Classifications

• G06V40/23

  Recognition of whole body movements, e.g. for sport training · CPC title

• A63B24/0006

  Computerised comparison for qualitative assessment of motion sequences or the course of a movement · CPC title

• A63B2220/803

  Motion sensors · CPC title

• A63B2220/836

  Sensors arranged on the body of the user · CPC title

• A63B69/0026

  for ice-hockey · CPC title