Sensory coordination system for sports, therapy and exercise

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/699,046 filed Jul. 13, 2005, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

The invention relates to a sensory coordination system for sports, occupational therapy, physical therapy and general exercise. The invention more particularly relates to a method and apparatus for improving basketball-handling skills.

Sports training requires repetition of various actions in order to improve a player\'s skill in performing the action, to increase the speed at which a player can perform the action and to make certain actions reflexive or automatic. Such training is optimally done in the presence of a coach or skilled player who can evaluate and correct the actions being performed as necessary. Often, however, players must carry out such training for long periods with no such supervision. Therefore, a system with which a player could interact and that would provide meaningful feedback regarding parameters of a performance would be desirable.

The invention provides training methods that will help users improve their hand-eye coordination along with their proprioception, which refers to sensory and muscle movements. This training will be accomplished by teaching, and improving, a user\'s ability to look up and at the same time control an external object (such as a basketball, soccer ball, etc) based on direction from external stimuli. In one embodiment, the training is directed toward basketball skills and may teach players to look up and react to external stimuli while improving their dribbling skills.

In one embodiment, the invention is directed toward a sensory coordination system having an electronic controller, a first display, wherein the first display is controlled by the controller and is capable of providing one or more cues to a user to indicate an action to be performed by the user in accordance with at least one signal from the controller, at least one sensor in communication with the controller, the at least one sensor capable of determining whether the action has been performed by the user and further capable of reporting at least one attribute of the action performed by the user to the controller and a second display, wherein the second display is controlled by the controller and is capable of displaying at least one measure of the action performed by the user in accordance with the at least one attribute reported to the controller by the sensor and wherein the sensory coordination system is used to train the user to manipulate a ball in a sequence programmed into the electronic controller. For the purpose of the present invention, the term “ball” includes almost any object manipulated for sporting purposes. The ball may be a basketball, a soccer ball, a baseball, a cricket ball, a volleyball, a football, a tennis ball, a lacrosse ball or a hockey puck.

The sensor or sensors may be disposed on a floor. Alternatively, the sensor or sensors may be disposed on a vertical or near vertical surface, such as a wall, a fence, a tennis net, a volleyball net, a basketball backboard, boards on a hockey rink, or another target surface. The sensor or sensors may be a mechanical contact switch (such as a switch having two conductive elements that are brought into contact when the ball impacts the switch), a capacitive sensor, an infrared detector or an acoustic sensor. The sensor or sensors may be disposed in a mat in contact with the floor. The sensor or sensors may be placed in the base of a sports cone and be capable of sensing a ball within a predetermined area in the vicinity of the cone. The sensor or sensors may communicate with the controller via wired electrical communication, wireless signal or light signal. A plurality of sensors may be distributed across a floor to create a course for the user to navigate while simultaneously performing actions indicated by the first display. The sensory coordination system may also be capable of determining the position of at least one of the user\'s feet in addition to the actions of the user. The first display may include an auditory output capable of emitting an auditory cue and may be capable of emitting recorded musical signals. In addition, the electronic controller may be capable of directing the first display to provide feedback to the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates the relationship of a sensory trigger or output and an input component for sensing reaction by a user.

FIG. 2 depicts a top view of a mat input component with four sensor areas.

FIG. 3 depicts a top view of a mat input component with sensors arrayed in a circular pattern.

FIG. 4 depicts a top view of a mat input component with no guides or indicia present on the mat in a default mode.

FIG. 5 depicts a sensory trigger configuration with indicators for movement by a user and a real-time feedback indication.

FIG. 6 depicts a perspective view of a mat input component wherein the mat is a hard plastic such as a LEXAN® polycarbonate and has sensor components in communication with a wireless (e.g. radio or infrared) communication means for enabling communication between the mat input component and the sensory trigger.

FIG. 7 depicts a sensory trigger configuration in which performance results for two players can be displayed side by side.

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