US 6,582,342 · Granted 2003-06-24
The Patent That Made Your Fitness Tracker Talk Back
Imagine a device that watches you exercise and literally talks to you about it—telling you how many calories you've burned or how far you've run, all in a natural-sounding voice. This patent covers the technology that lets motion sensors trigger audio feedback, turning silent workouts into interactive coaching sessions.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers an electronic device that detects physical movement, looks up corresponding audio data (like voice recordings of performance metrics), and plays that audio back to the user through a speech generator. What's protected here is the specific combination of a motion sensor feeding into a processor that retrieves and plays voice-based performance feedback from stored sound data.
Why it matters
This patent bridges fitness tracking and audio coaching at a time when most exercise monitors were silent displays. By automating verbal feedback—whether it's a motivational phrase or a performance update—it created a template for interactive workout devices. The inclusion of naturally-sounding human voice generation meant users could get real-time encouragement without a trainer present, making personalized fitness feedback scalable and affordable.
Real-world use
When you're running on a treadmill and a voice suddenly announces your distance or pace without you pressing anything, you're experiencing this patent's core idea in action.
Original USPTO abstract
An electronic activity monitor for monitoring the performance of an activity such as an exercise comprises an activity detector responsive to motion associated with the performance of the activity to output a corresponding signal, a processor for receiving the signal and determining a starting address at which a block of corresponding sound data is stored, a memory for storing sound data corresponding to a plurality of values associated with the monitored activity, the sound data preferably comprising data representing a voice representation of the values, and a speech generator for generating a naturally-sounding human voice or reproducing a pre-stored version of an actual human voice or other audible indicia in accordance with the sound data stored in the memory. The speech generator is controlled by the processor in response to the activity detector to provide a verbal representation of the user's performance of the activity. Motivational speech may also be generated to encourage correct and continued performance of the activity.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 6,582,342
- Filing date
- 2001-06-26
- Grant date
- 2003-06-24
- Assignee
- Epm Development Systems Corporation
- Inventor(s)
- KAUFMAN ARTHUR H.
- CPC class
- A63B71/0622
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