INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE, METHOD OF PROVIDING CONTENT, AND RECORDING MEDIUM

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-122901, filed on Jul. 29, 2024, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This application relates to an information processing device, a method of providing content, and a recording medium.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Mastering the correct form is essential for users in sports, such as running and golf. For example, Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2022-039120 discloses a form improvement support method that involves superimposing skeletal data of an instructor and skeletal data of a student on images including the users, causing the superimposed images on a display, and calculating an amount of deviation between the skeletal data of the instructor and the skeletal data of the student. The users are then notified of some advice for facilitating the student to make his or her form more similar to the form of the instructor, generated on the basis of the calculated amount of deviation. This method can thus help improve users' form.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to achieve the above objective, an information processing device according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes: a memory to store a program; and at least one processor to execute the program. The processor extracts, based on information on a target user, similar users similar to the target user. The processor selects an exemplar user having improved through training sessions from the similar users, based on a history of training sessions of the similar users. The processor provides the target user with content related to the training sessions performed by the exemplar user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of this application can be obtained when the following detailed description is considered in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a configuration of a form improvement facilitating system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an information processing device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary structure of member information according to the embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary structure of history data according to the embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating form improvement facilitating process according to the embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary report included in content according to the embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary content request screen according to the embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating content providing process according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following specifically describes an information processing device 100, a method of providing content, and a recording medium according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, the components identical or corresponding to each other are provided with the same reference symbol.

FIG. 1 illustrates a configuration of a form improvement facilitating system 1 including the information processing device 100 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. The form improvement facilitating system 1 offers a form improvement facilitating service to help fellow members to improve their running form. The term “fellow members” refers to users eligible to use the form improvement facilitating service. The form improvement facilitating system 1 includes the information processing device 100 and member terminals 200. The information processing device 100 and the member terminals 200 are connected via a network 10, such as the Internet, so as to communicate with each other. Although FIG. 1 illustrates only a single member terminal 200, the form improvement facilitating system 1 actually includes multiple member terminals 200.

Each of the member terminals 200 is a smartphone carried by one of the fellow members involved in the form improvement facilitating service. The member terminal 200 includes a touch panel, a processor, a flash memory, and a communication unit, for example. The member terminal 200 receives content including reports and advice related to training sessions performed by the fellow member. The member terminal 200 is capable of wireless communication, such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) communication, with a measuring device 20. The measuring device 20 includes various sensors, such as gyro sensor. The measuring device 20 is worn by the fellow member during training, and measures some parameters regarding form of the fellow member.

The information processing device 100 is also connected via the network 10 to the user terminal 300 of a user (hereinafter referred to as “target user”) not involved in the form improvement facilitating service and can receive the content, as is described below. The user terminal 300 is a smartphone carried by the target user, and includes a touch panel, a processor, a flash memory, and a communication unit, for example. The user terminal 300 of the target user is provided with the content generated for an exemplar member, by content providing process, which is described below.

The information processing device 100 is a computer, such as personal computer (PC) or server, to help the fellow members to improve their running form. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the information processing device 100 includes a communicator 110, a storage 120, and a controller 130.

A typical example of the communicator 110 is a router for connection of the information processing device 100 to the network 10. The communicator 110 receives information on details of training sessions performed by a fellow member from the member terminal 200, and transmits the content related to the training sessions performed by the fellow member to his or her member terminal 200, via the network 10, for example. The communicator 110 also transmits the content generated for the exemplar member to the user terminal 300 of the target user, via the network 10.

The storage 120 is a non-volatile storage, such as hard disk drive or flash memory. The storage 120 stores various types of information required in the processing of the information processing device 100. For example, the storage 120 stores a member database (DB) 121 and a training history DB 122, as the various types of information.

The member DB 121 retains member information on fellow members involved in the form improvement facilitating service. Each piece of the member information contains a member ID, name, height, weight, age, and gender, as illustrated in FIG. 3.

The training history DB 122 retains history data on running training sessions performed by each of the fellow members. FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary piece of the history data. The piece of history data contains the member ID of the fellow member, and the date, running time, running distance, form scores, and content of each of the training sessions performed by the fellow member. The history data illustrated in FIG. 4 indicates details of the first to fiftieth training sessions performed by the fellow member identified by the member ID “0001”.

The form scores contained in the history data are some evaluation scores for evaluating running form of the fellow member during training. The form scores in this embodiment include a motion strength, a posture stability, a landing impact reduction, and a bilateral balance. These form scores are calculated based on the parameters, such as vertical motions, horizontal motions, and a forward lean of the waist, a cadence, and a stride, measured by the measuring device 20 worn by the fellow member during training, and based on the attributes, such as height and weight, of the fellow member.

The motion strength is comprehensively calculated from a forward lean of the waist and a stride-height ratio obtained by dividing the stride by the height, for example. The motion strength reflects the level of dynamism displayed in the running form of the fellow member. The motion strength is evaluated on a scale from 1 to 100 in the embodiment.

The posture stability is calculated from parameters, such as vertical motions and horizontal motions of the waist. The posture stability reflects the stability of the posture of the running form. The posture stability is evaluated on a scale from 1 to 100 in the embodiment. The landing impact reduction is comprehensively calculated from the measured

magnitude of impact on the body immediately after landing and the acceleration at the time of ground push-off, for example. A higher landing impact reduction indicates that the form of the fellow member exerts less impact on his or her body upon landing. The landing impact reduction is evaluated on a scale from 1 to 100 in the embodiment.

The bilateral balance is calculated from parameters, such as horizontal motions of the waist. The bilateral balance reflects the balance quality in the horizontal direction during running. The bilateral balance is evaluated on a scale from 1 to 100 in the embodiment.

The content included in the history data is used to help improve form of the fellow member, and includes a report and advice related to each training session, for example. In principle, the content is provided to only the fellow member who has performed the training session.

These indexes included in the form scores are mere examples and may be replaced with other various indexes.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the controller 130 includes a central processing unit (CPU), a read only memory (ROM) that stores an operational program for operation of the CPU, and a random access memory (RAM) serving as a work area of the CPU, for example. The controller 130 performs comprehensive control of the information processing device 100. The controller 130 may include a processor, such as graphics processing unit (GPU), other than the CPU. The controller 130 may also include multiple processors. The CPU executes the operational program and thus causes the controller 130 to serve as a form improvement facilitator 131, a similar member extractor 132, an exemplar member selector 133, and a content provider 134.

The form improvement facilitator 131 helps the fellow member to improve his or her form. Specifically, the form improvement facilitator 131 analyzes details of a training session performed by the fellow member, calculates form scores and generates content including a report, and transmits the content to the member terminal 200 of the fellow member. The form improvement facilitator 131 executes a process described in detail below.

The similar member extractor 132 extracts similar members similar to the target user from the fellow members, on the basis of the attributes, such as height and weight, of the target user. The similar member extractor 132 executes a process described in detail below. The similar member extractor 132 is an example of a similar user extractor according to the present disclosure.

The exemplar member selector 133 selects, from the similar members, an exemplar member whose form has improved by a predetermined standard or higher through continuous training sessions, on the basis of the history data on the training sessions. The exemplar member selector 133 executes a process described in detail below. The exemplar member selector 133 is an example of an exemplar user selector according to the present disclosure.

The content provider 134 provides the target user with the content provided to the exemplar member (specifically, the content included in the history data on the exemplar member), for example, by granting rights to access the content generated for the exemplar member to the target user.

Form Improvement Facilitating Process

The following describes processes executed by the information processing device 100. The description first focuses on the form improvement facilitating process executed by the information processing device 100. The form improvement facilitating process is aimed at helping a fellow member to improve his or her form.

The fellow member wears the measuring device 20 on the waist during training. The measuring device 20 measures various parameters, such as vertical motions, horizontal motions, and a forward lean of the waist, a cadence, and a stride, of the fellow member during a training session, and wirelessly transmits the measured parameters to the member terminal 200. After the training session, the fellow member manipulates the own member terminal 200 to activate an application for facilitating form improvement, and transmits a request for the form improvement facilitating service to the information processing device 100 by a predetermined manipulation on the screen of this application. The transmitted request contains the measured parameters received from the measuring device 20 and the member ID, for example. When receiving the request for the form improvement facilitating service, the form improvement facilitator 131 of the information processing device 100 executes the form improvement facilitating process illustrated in the flowchart of FIG. 5.

First, the form improvement facilitator 131 calculates some form scores, on the basis of the measured parameters, such as vertical motions, horizontal motions, and a forward lean of the waist, a cadence, and a stride, contained in the request for the form improvement facilitating service, and on the basis of the member information, such as height and weight, on the fellow member stored in the member DB 121 (Step S101). Specifically, the form improvement facilitator 131 calculates, as the form scores, a motion strength, a posture stability, a landing impact reduction, and a bilateral balance.

Then, the form improvement facilitator 131 generates content related to the latest training session, on the basis of the calculated form scores and other factors (Step S102). The generated content includes advice for form improvement and a report, for example.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary report generated as the content. This report contains advice and a form score chart that represents values of the form scores in the latest training session in the form of a chart.

Referring back to FIG. 5, the form improvement facilitator 131 then adds the form scores calculated in Step S101, the content generated in Step S102, and other information to the history data on the fellow member, to update the training history DB 122 (Step S103).

The form improvement facilitator 131 then transmits data on the content generated in Step S102, to the member terminal 200 that has transmitted the request for the form improvement facilitating service (Step S104). The member terminal 200 then displays the content related to the training session performed by the fellow member, and can thus help the fellow member to improve his or her form. The form improvement facilitating process is then terminated.

Content Providing Process

The following describes the content providing process executed by the information processing device 100. The content providing process is aimed at providing a non-member target user with the content related to the training sessions of an exemplar member selected from the existing fellow members. The target user is assumed to be aware of the own current form scores in advance through a certain measurement process. More specifically, the user terminal 300 of the target user preliminarily acquires information on the form scores through the above-mentioned measurement process.

The target user manipulates the own user terminal 300 to activate the application for facilitating form improvement, and causes the content request screen illustrated in FIG. 7 to be displayed by a predetermined manipulation on the screen of this application. The target user then designates a form score desired to be improved, from the motion strength, the posture stability, the landing impact reduction, and the bilateral balance (FIG. 7 illustrates an example in which the motion strength is designated). The target user then enters the current value of the designated form score, and the attributes, such as height, weight, and gender, of the target user, and taps the button “Request content”. These manipulations cause the user terminal 300 to transmit a content request including the information designated and entered on the content request screen, to the information processing device 100. When receiving the content request, the information processing device 100 executes the content providing process illustrated in FIG. 8. In the following description, the form score designated on the content request screen is also referred to as “designated form score”. The designated form score is the motion strength in the example in FIG. 7.

First, the controller 130 of the information processing device 100 acquires some information included in the content request received from the user terminal 300 (Step S201). Specifically, the controller 130 acquires the type of the designated form score, the value of the designated form score, and the height, weight, and gender of the target user, for example.

The similar member extractor 132 of the information processing device 100 then refers to the member DB 121, and identifies fellow members whose physical sizes are similar to that of the target user (Step S202). For example, the similar member extractor 132 identifies, as the fellow members having similar physical sizes, fellow members who are of the same gender as the target user and have heights and weights differing from those of the target user by less than ±5%, with reference to the member DB 121.

The similar member extractor 132 then refers to the history data in the training history DB 122, and extracts, as the similar members, some of the fellow members identified in Step S202 (Step S203). The extracted similar members had form scores substantially equal to the designated form score of the target user at the time of start of the training sessions, which is a predetermined past timepoint (for example, at the time within the first to third training sessions). That is, the extracted similar members have past form scores different from the designated form score of the target user by a threshold or less. Alternatively, the similar member extractor 132 may extract, as the similar members, fellow members who had scores substantially equal to the designated form score of the target user at any past timepoint other than the time of start of the training sessions (for example, at the time of one year before).

The exemplar member selector 133 then selects, from the similar members, an exemplar member whose designated form score has increased by a predetermined standard or higher through continuous training sessions from the start of the training sessions, on the basis of the history data on the similar members stored in the training history DB 122 (Step S204). The exemplar member may be selected from the similar members in accordance with any of various standards. For example, the exemplar member selector 133 may select the exemplar member whose latest designated form score is highest among the similar members. For another example, the exemplar member selector 133 may select the exemplar member whose average increase in the designated form score per single training session is largest among the similar members. For another example, the exemplar member selector 133 may select the exemplar member whose increase in the designated form score within a certain period is largest among the similar members. Alternatively, the exemplar member selector 133 may select the exemplar member whose latest designated form score is equal to or higher than a threshold score. The exemplar member selector 133 does not necessarily select a single exemplar member but may select multiple exemplar members in Step S204.

The content provider 134 then acquires the content generated for the exemplar member, from the history data on the exemplar member stored in the training history DB 122 (Step S205). The content provider 134 then transmits the acquired content for the exemplar member, to the user terminal 300 of the target user (Step S206). The target user can thus view the content for the exemplar member displayed on the user terminal 300. Step S206 may involve, not transmitting the content to the user terminal 300, but granting rights to access the content for the exemplar member to the user terminal 300 of the target user.

The content provider 134 then give a privilege to the exemplar member in return for provision of the content (Step S207). Examples of the privilege include points and discount coupons usable on a specific shopping website. Step S207 is not an essential step. The content providing process is then terminated.

In the form improvement support method disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2022-039120, the users cannot preliminarily know gradual effects to be brought about by future training sessions for form improvement pursuant to the advice. In contrast, the technique in this embodiment selects the exemplar member whose form has improved though continuous training sessions from the similar members similar to the target user, and provides the target user with the content related to the training sessions performed by the exemplar member. The target user is thus preliminarily aware of content likely to be provided in future training sessions of the target user. The target user can be preliminarily informed of details of facilitation of form improvement and guess gradual effects to be brought about by future training sessions on the basis of the provided content.

Modifications

The above embodiment may be modified and applied in various ways. For example, in the content providing process, the content generated for the exemplar member selected by the exemplar member selector 133 is immediately provided to the target user in the above embodiment. Alternatively, the content provider 134 may receive approval or disapproval of provision of the content from the selected exemplar member, and then provide the target user with only the approved content. In this case, the content provider 134 may receive overall approval or disapproval of provision of all the pieces of content generated for the exemplar member (specifically, all the information associated with the content in the history data on the exemplar member), or may receive approval or disapproval of provision of the individual pieces of content generated for the exemplar member. This modification provides the target user with only the content approved by the exemplar member, and can thus protect the privacy of the exemplar member.

For example, the target user provided, by the above-described content providing process, with the content generated for the exemplar member performs daily running training sessions with reference to the content. If the target user unfortunately fails to increase the form score by at least a threshold within a certain period, the exemplar member selector 133 may select another exemplar member different from the previously selected exemplar member. For example, the exemplar member selector 133 selects another exemplary member whose designated form score is second highest next to the previously selected exemplar member among the similar members. The content provider 134 may then provide the target user with the content generated for the currently selected exemplar member. This modification selects another exemplary member in the case of poor compatibility between the target user and the previously selected exemplar member, and can thus enhance the effects of facilitation of form improvement.

Although the above embodiment is directed to an exemplary form improvement facilitating service that facilitates improvement of running form, the form to be improved is not necessarily running form. For example, the present disclosure can be applied to a form improvement facilitating service to help users to improve their swing form in golf or batting form in baseball. The present disclosure can be applied to not only form improvement facilitating services but also services to help users to improve academic performances through learning (training).

Although the target user is not involved in the form improvement facilitating service in the above embodiment, the target user may be a fellow member involved in the form improvement facilitating service.

Although the similar member extractor 132 extracts similar members whose physical sizes, such as heights and weights, are similar to those of the target user in the above embodiment, the similar member extractor 132 may extract similar members by other procedures. For example, the similar member extractor 132 may extract similar members whose ages are similar to that of the target user, similar members who came from the same hometown as the target user, and similar members who have performed training sessions approximately as many as the target user. For another example, the similar member extractor 132 may extract similar members who have performed training sessions as many as at least a threshold.

The technique in the above embodiment involves extracting similar members from the fellow members involved in the form improvement facilitating service, and then selecting an exemplar member from the similar members. Alternatively, the technique may involve extracting similar members (similar users) from users including fellow members and non-members, and selecting an exemplar member (exemplar user) from the similar members (similar users). In this modification, the training history DB 122 needs to also store a history of training sessions of non-member users.

For example, a program for performing the above-described functions of the controller 130 of the information processing device 100 may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium, such as compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM) or digital versatile disc read only memory (DVD-ROM), and distributed. This program when installed in a computer may cause the computer to perform the above-described functions. In the case where the functions are achieved by sharing of an operating system (OS) and an application or by cooperation of the OS and the application, only the application may be stored in a non-transitory recording medium.

The foregoing describes some example embodiments for explanatory purposes. Although the foregoing discussion has presented specific embodiments, persons skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. This detailed description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the invention is defined only by the included claims, along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.