Abstract:
A mobile device software application that encourages and motivates exercise activity by the use negative feedback and/or real time competition; application will be composed of 3 modes settings 1) Predator Mode—animals, monsters, mother in law sounds, or any prerecorded sounds chasing the user promoting fight or flight response to exercise 2) volume or sound mode—music or anything being heard automatic volume control 3) Challenge mode—user will be able to challenge others on any activity via the application; users create an “Arena” where others can connect and join the exercise creating a “fitness social network”; competition can be head to head or against personal best; the exercises can be cross fit, jogging, weight training, etc.; date and time exercise selection will be random in accordance to user availability; audible and visual output derived from logic based on a comparison of actual real-time/current data with best baseline exercise output as well as user profile settings.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/122,260 filed on Oct. 16, 2014 
     
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
       [0002]    Not Applicable 
       REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISC APPENDIX 
       [0003]    Not Applicable 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    Field of the Invention 
         [0005]    The field of invention is in exercise/fitness applications. More specifically, the present invention relates to a mobile, audible, and visual application capable of stimulating and reinforcing fitness/exercise activities via feedback by promoting fear (fight or flight response), negative reinforcement and competition. The preferred embodiment for the application are any mobile devices such as but not limited to, cellular phones, tablets, computers that can produce sounds or music combined with global positioning systems (GPS), and/or health monitoring devices. 
         [0006]    Description of Related Art 
         [0007]    It is known that lack of exercise is a major cause of health problems. Studies have shown that U.S. obesity rates are largely unchanged over the last 10 years. A prevention or reduction in obesity can be achieved with a moderate exercise of 30 minutes every day. Furthermore studies have shown that the process of creating and controlling music in time to one&#39;s exercise improves the exercise experience even more. The problem with current exercise regimens and applications these days is that they lack motivation and/or are simply boring. 
         [0008]    The premise of this application is to invoke exercising by means of auditory and/or visual stimulus in response to fear, negative reinforcement or by tapping into the human competitive nature. Fear can promote an adrenaline “fight or flight” response. In negative reinforcement (punishment) always remember that the end result is to try to decrease the undesired behaviors e.g. the user not meeting the exercise objectives. Lastly, humans are very competitive we love a good challenge and strive to win. The idea behind this invention is to have an application that encourages users either by having the user chased by an object e.g. lion, tiger, person (fear), by negative reinforcement e.g. for example music volume decreases if user is not meeting exercise objectives or by means of competition e.g. the user can compete remotely with other players via a mobile device, such as a mobile phone connection. In addition to auditory or visual stimulus, this application (in accordance to the users input) can randomly select the date and time of the next work out. It is believed that an audible exercise application that promotes interactivity via sounds, negative reinforcement and competition, such as the present invention, will have a higher probability of being used and therefore achieve the desired outcome of improved physical fitness and health. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    The preferred embodiment for this application are any mobile devices such as cellular phones, tablets, and computers that can produce sounds or music combined with global positioning systems (GPS), and/or health monitoring devices. The software will be developed to be compatible and used with but limited to operating systems for mobile devices and computers such as Apple Inc. OS and IOS, Google Android, and Microsoft Windows Phone. 
         [0010]    Given products currently on the market, this application is unique in that interacts with the user in several ways. Unique features include the chase by a “Predator”, random date and time selection, sound volume reinforcement, audible/visual competitor radar mode. The application utilizes a game like approach to fitness on a mobile device that can be beneficial not just for jogging, but can be ideally used for any exercise. 
         [0011]    The basis of this application is a chase, negative reinforcement and/or competition. The idea with this application is to get the adrenaline running when in “Predator mode” and “Challenge Mode”. In “Volume and Sound” mode is more an annoyance since if you are not meeting your goals e.g. calories burned, calorie burned/minute, distance, distance/interval, time/distance, (revolutions per minute) RPM, pulse, heart rate, times, and repetitions etc. the volume starts fading and eventually disabled. Let&#39;s face it, you want to hear your music. Overall any of these settings will make your workout more fun. 
         [0012]    In addition in “Predator” mode the fact that time and dates can be random will help shock the body. Studies show exercising at different times of the day is more beneficial and yield better results. 
         [0013]    This application will have at least 3different settings 1) Predator Mode—animals, monsters, mother in law sounds chasing the user, anything that can promote fight or flight response to exercise 2) volume or sound mode—music or anything being heard, automatic volume control, output to input ratios e.g. user output can be calories burned, calories burned/minute, distance, distance/interval, time/distance, (revolutions per minute) RPM, pulse, heart rate, times, and repetitions etc. Comparing with the input/volume goes up if output is achieved or down the further the user is from output/set goals. 3) Challenge mode—user will be able to challenge others on any activity via the application. For example the exercises can be cross fit, jogging, sprinting, weight training, etc. basically any exercise. In addition in the 1) Predator mode, the date and time the users exercise can be random in that when the user first installs the application it will ask for best times and days of the week the user is available exercise. 
         [0014]    The application will then, from the dates entered, randomly select a time and day. The idea is to shock the body muscle group. Note: In any mode the application will allow the user to connect to others so the workout is not alone and results are compared, in addition one can chose to have the volume control as a motivator e.g. in “Challenge mode” if the user is last they will have no volume as he catches up or leads the volume will rise and be heard. They will also have a visual element so end user will be able to see how close or far the predator or competitors are relative to each other, for example, but not limited, like a radar. Other visual aids will be available. Once user completes exercise the results will be compared to a baseline previously recorded by user. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
         [0015]    The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form a part of the specification, illustrate the present invention by way of example, and not by way of limitation, and, together with the description, further serve to explain the principles of the invention and to enable a person skilled in the pertinent art to make/develop and/or use the invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 1 —Drawing of end user exercising/utilizing the present invention 
           [0017]      FIG. 2 —User welcome, profile i.e. user information e.g. age, weight, height, sex 
           [0018]      FIG. 3 —User interface schedule screen, e.g. days and times user available to exercise 
           [0019]      FIG. 4 —User exercise mode selection, Predator, Sound and Challenge modes 
           [0020]      FIG. 5 —User interface intensity mode; beginner, intermediate, professional, iron person 
           [0021]      FIG. 6 —User interface type of exercise output e.g. calories burned, calories burned/minute, distance, distance/interval, time/distance, (revolutions per minute) RPM, pulse, heart rate, times, and repetitions etc. 
           [0022]      FIG. 7 —Drawing of example of baseline output if user selected time/distance 
           [0023]      FIG. 8 —Drawing of end user exercising/utilizing the present invention using Predator mode, audible and visual aids 
           [0024]      FIG. 9 —Drawing of end user exercising/utilizing the present invention using Sound mode, audible and visual aids 
           [0025]      FIG. 10 —Drawing of end user exercising/utilizing the present invention using Challenge mode, audible and visual aids 
           [0026]      FIG. 11 —User interface showing data screen output for user reference. 
           [0027]      FIG. 12 —Diagram/flow chart of application selection screens,  FIGS. 1-6 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0028]    Referring now to  FIG. 1 , is a drawing of end user exercising/utilizing the present invention. This example shows the user ( 20 ) utilizing the application on a mobile device ( 21 ) and listening via ear phones ( 22 ). The application will also display visual output. 
         [0029]    Referring now to  FIG. 2 a   , user welcome, once the “Adrenaline Junkie” application is installed and the user opens the application for the first time the user is welcomed, presses “let&#39;s get started”. User then registers by creating account including email address and phone number. A user name and password is created for the user. 
         [0030]    Referring now to  FIG. 2 b   , profile i.e. user information e.g. age, weight, height, sex is initially entered. For best results the user would enter this information in order to calculate their ideal output, e.g. the optimal heart rate for a 45 year old if the user entered that particular age. 
         [0031]    Referring now to  FIG. 3 , user selects date and time when they are available to exercise. The application, if user chooses, will randomly select date and time of subsequent exercise days. In automatic mode, the date and time the users exercise is random in that when the user first installs the application it will ask for best times and days of the week the user is available exercise. The application will them, from the dates entered, randomly select a time and day. The idea is to shock the body muscle group. The application will ask for at least  3  separate times and days to enter, the application will suggest user select morning and night times. Activities performed at different times in the morning or at night will shock the body, confuse it, and get the adrenaline running. Prior to the date the chase starts “Adrenaline Junkie” will send reminders to the user&#39;s predetermined email or phone numbers as well as frequency of how often the reminders will be sent. 
         [0032]    Referring now to  FIG. 4 , user selects mode. This application will have at least 3 different settings; 
         [0033]    1—Predator Mode—animals, monsters, mother in law sounds chasing the user, anything that can promote fight or flight response to exercise. Besides sounds, visual aids will provide other means to see proximity of predator. 
         [0034]    2—Volume/Sound Mode—music or anything being heard will have the volume control automatically adjusted depending how the user is meeting the “output to input” ratios i.e. 
         [0035]    user output can be heart rate, run speed, calories burned, distance and time, comparing with input/goals (the users goals determined intensity selection, beginner, intermediate, Professional, iron person) volume goes up if output is achieved or down the further user is from output compared to goals. 
         [0036]    3—Challenge Mode—user will be able to challenge others on any activity via the application. The exercises can be cross fit, jogging, sprinting, weight training, etc. users can select to compete with as many users as they like. The users will be assigned unique identifiers to distinguish each other on the screen or as a sound. Any user can select to display any number of other competitors and in any manner e.g. one user can choose only to display himself and the top 5 or himself and anyone he chooses, etc. 
         [0037]    In addition, a user can record their exercise and send to a competitor to challenge. For example User  1  exercises at 7:00 am user  2  exercises at a later time/date, user  2  can be exercising in real time competing with recording of user  1 . One user will create an “Arena” where other users can connect and join the exercise. All users&#39; joined in the arena will be displayed on the device screen. The competition can be head to head, meaning, results compared with each other and best result wins or against personal best e.g. the winning user did 50% better than their best prior result. 
         [0038]    Referring now to  FIG. 5 , user selects the intensity mode; beginner, intermediate, professional, iron person, your selection is relative to the improvement level i.e. how much better you need to do on your calories burned, calories burned/minute, distance, distance/interval, time/distance, (revolutions per minute) RPM, pulse, heart rate, times, and repetitions etc. Your mode selection can also decide the predator that will be chasing you when in Predator mode. As an option there is also a manual mode where the user can manually select level of improvement i.e. how much better they want their calories burned, calories burned/minute, distance, distance/interval, time/distance, (revolutions per minute) RPM, pulse, heart rate, times, and repetitions etc., they wish to accomplish during that particular exercise. 
         [0039]    Referring now to  FIG. 6 , user selects the output. Depending on the exercise the user may select heart rate if running or weightlifting if they wish to optimize calories burned. The user may also select more than one output, for example distance, calories burned and time. Any combination of output can be recorded. 
         [0040]    Referring now to  FIG. 7 , user baselines the exercise they wish to challenge or do better than. This can be any exercise and depending on intensity mode  FIG. 5  the user will have to do that much better on their subsequent exercises e.g. 1 mile run in 10 minutes a user that selects beginner intensity will need to do 1 mile in 8 minutes. 
         [0041]    Referring now to  FIG. 8 , drawing of end user exercising/utilizing the present invention using Predator mode, audible and visual aids. Predator Mode—opens and advises the user when the chase will happen, this is randomly selected from the dates user entered during the initial configuration  FIG. 3 . Next, the recorded base-lined exercise starts  FIG. 7 . Depending on the users intensity mode selection  FIG. 5 , i.e. beginner, intermediate, advanced or iron person, goals will be predetermined i.e. times, repetitions  FIG. 6  etc. for example if a user selects “beginner”  FIG. 5  he/she is expected to achieve 3% better on a weekly basis and ultimately will need to do 25% better to move to the next level, which in this example is intermediate. Next the user starts hearing growls on the listening device  22  from the Predator  23  in the distance. Growls get louder if you are not meeting goals, if Predator gets very close, almost capturing the user, the sounds are loudest and the phone will start to vibrate. If user is equal to base-lined pace, growls are distance but still heard and interrupts music or anything else user is listening at the time of exercise. If user is achieving set goals predator will not be heard at all, what the user is listening to is never interrupted. The user  20  will also be able to see the Predator  23  on the mobile device  21  via a visual aids distance display  24  and a radar  25 . 
         [0042]    Referring now to  FIG. 9 , drawing of end user exercising/utilizing the present invention using Volume/Sound mode, audible and visual aids. Volume or Sound mode—application takes over the volume control, whatever the user is listening to will either be heard via the listening device  22  at the current volume if user is meeting goals or if user it not meeting goals, depending on the users intensity mode selection  FIG. 5  selected on mobile device  21  the volume starts fading to eventually nothing. User  20  will have the option to apply sound volume control to Predator and Challenge mode as well. 
         [0043]    Referring now to  FIG. 10 , drawing of end user exercising/utilizing the present invention using mode, audible and visual aids. Challenge mode—user will be able to challenge others on any activity via the application. The exercises can be cross fit, jogging, sprinting, weight training, etc. Please note during any exercise modes Predator Mode  FIG. 8 , Volume/Sound mode  FIG. 9 , or Challenge mode  FIG. 10 , the user can also chose a visual aid. This visual aid will be a radar  25  in which the user can visually see his/her opponent as a an object (different colors, dot, square, triangle etc.) closer or further to a center point (the user) depending to how close or far they are away from their goals or in challenge mode their opponent. 
         [0044]    The user will be able to challenge others on any activity via the application by creating an “Arena” and others connecting to the “Arena”. Users can select to compete with as many users as they like. The users will be assigned unique identifiers to distinguish each other on the screen or as a sound. All users&#39; joined in the arena will be displayed on the device screen Any user can select to display any number of other competitors and in any manner e.g. one user can choose only to display himself and the top 5 or himself and anyone he chooses. The competition can be head to head, meaning, results compared with each other and best result wins or against personal best e.g. the winning user did 50% better than their best prior result. 
         [0045]    Referring now to  FIG. 11 , drawing of the user interface showing data screen output for user reference. Once exercise is complete, the event is recorded with new times etc. A history of the exercises are recorded and submitted to the user and Adrenaline Junkie deactivates and readies itself for the next adventure. Users will be able to select what the output will be or allow the application select for them.  FIG. 10  shows mobile device  21  displaying distance  24 , time run  30 , calories burned  28 , and percentage better than base  29 . 
         [0046]    Referring now to  FIG. 12 , drawing of Diagram/flow chart of application selection screens,  FIGS. 1-6 .  FIG. 1  shows Welcome Screen  31 , this is where user logs into application with already created username and password.  FIG. 2  shows Personal Data Entry  32 , this screen is where user types profile information, e.g. age, weight, height and sex, this is needed to optimize the workout output.  FIG. 3  shows date and time selection screen  33 . Randomly the application opens and advises you when the chase will happen (this depends on times and days you selected, we will be asking at least 3 separate times and days to enter the user needs to select morning and night times, we do not want the user selecting all activities in the morning or at night, we want to shock the body confuse it, get the adrenaline running.  FIG. 4  shows mode selection i.e. Predator, Volume/Sound or Challenge  34 . Predator Mode—animals, monsters, mother in law, ex-girlfriend sounds chasing the user, anything that can promote fight or flight response to exercise volume/sound mode—music or anything being heard will have the volume control automatically adjusted depending how the user is meeting the “output to input” ratios i.e. user output can be heart rate, run speed, calories burned, distance and time, comparing with input/goals (the users goals determined intensity selection, beginner, intermediate, professional, iron person) volume goes up if output is achieved or down the further user is from output compared to goals. Challenge mode—user will be able to challenge others on any activity via the application. The exercises can be cross fit, jogging, sprinting, weight training, etc.  FIG. 5  shows intensity selection  35 . Here the user  20  can select beginner, intermediate, professional, iron person, your selection is relative to the improvement level i.e. how much better you need to do on your calories burned, calories burned/minute, distance, distance/interval, time/distance, (revolutions per minute) RPM, pulse, heart rate, times, and repetitions etc.  FIG. 6  shows the output screen  36 . Once the user completes the output selection the exercise can start and user can and save it. The first exercise recorded is a baseline in which the user wishes to improve. Here the user starts recording their activities, GPS records distance from start of recording to end (baselines) or records time of workout and what the heart rates was during the workout. The user completes exercise routine, information about distance, time of exercise session, heart rate, calories burned, is recorded and stored (this information can be kept locally on device, or on a web site where use can share information and their stories.