Patent Publication Number: US-2018047302-A1

Title: Crumbling Caloric Stockpile Tracker

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to fitness devices and equipment, and more specifically to visual representations of working off calories of a food article. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Health conscious consumers may occasionally eat unhealthy, dubious food articles. Exercise may be required to prevent the treat from being stored as fat. However, the consumer may have limited knowledge of the calories burned during exercise or the number of calories in the food article. This leaves the consumer unsure how much exercise is required to burn off the calories of the treat. 
     SUMMARY 
     A fitness system may include a mobile device configured to, in response to receiving a caloric depletion rate based on data received from an activity tracker and a current food article having a caloric value, display a depiction of the food article defined by a difference between the caloric value and an aggregated caloric depletion based on the caloric depletion rate. The caloric depletion rate may include a basal metabolic rate. The depiction may further include an estimated aggregate caloric depletion region. The region may define a first subregion indicative of an increased caloric depletion rate. The region may define a second subregion indicative of a maintained caloric depletion rate. The data may be the caloric depletion rate. The activity tracker may be a heart rate monitor. The activity tracker may be a pedometer. The activity tracker and mobile device may be a unitary device. The caloric value may be obtained from a food database. The aggregated caloric depletion may be equal to a product of the caloric depletion rate and a time period. The time period may begin when the article is consumed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  depicts a fitness system having a mobile device and plurality of activity trackers; 
         FIG. 2  depicts a computer for a mobile device having a central processing unit, connected by a data bus network to a member for storing machine instructions and a display; 
         FIG. 3  depicts a food article having an aggregated caloric depletion region; 
         FIG. 4A  depicts a food article having predetermined regions removed indicative of an aggregated caloric depletion; 
         FIG. 4B  depicts a food article having additional predetermined regions removed indicative of an aggregated caloric depletion 
         FIG. 4C  depicts a food article having additional predetermined regions removed indicative of an aggregated caloric depletion; 
         FIG. 5  is a flow diagram for displaying a residual caloric content; 
         FIG. 6  is a flow diagram for displaying a residual caloric content; 
         FIG. 7A  depicts an introduction screen; 
         FIG. 7B  depicts a user input screen; and 
         FIG. 7C  depicts a food article selection screen. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention. 
     A nutrition application may allow a user to enter information descriptive of food articles that the user has consumed or intends to consume. The application may retrieve nutritional information corresponding to the entered food articles, and use the retrieved information to track the user&#39;s nutritional or caloric intake. In an example, the application may compare the nutritional information against caloric or other goals that the user has for the day. The application may use the comparison to indicate how many calories remain for the day within the user&#39;s daily goals. 
     To aid in determining the amount of allowable calories for the day, the application may be programmed to calculate a basal metabolic rate or a caloric burn rate of the consumer. This calculation may be based on height, weight, steps walked, and a general activity level entered by the user. The application may use the calculation to specify additional calories that can be consumed within the user&#39;s daily goal according to the computed burn rate. 
     Some users may wish to offset calories of a food item by adding exercise. However, the user may be unaware of his or her current activity level to be able to accurately offset the caloric consumption. Thus, it may be difficult for the user to know how much additional exercise would be sufficient to burn the calories necessary to consume the desired food item. 
     A device, such as a mobile phone or a treadmill, may display a visual representation of a food article consumed, or intended to be consumed, by a user. The visual representation may include an image or other representation of the food article, with a region removed from the article representing an amount of calories burned off by the user. In an example, the amount of calories being burned off may be computed based on basal metabolic rate in combination with data received from a fitness tracker device. As more calories are burned off, the representation of the food article may melt, crumble, fall away, or otherwise disappear. Accordingly, the crumbling away of the food article may give the user a real-time visual representation of the remaining effort required to offset the calories of the food article. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a real-time fitness system  100  is shown. The fitness system  100  includes a mobile device  102  having a display  104  illustrating a visual representation of a food article  106  and a visual representation of an aggregated caloric depletion  108  representative of a portion of the food article  106  that has been metabolized. To determine the calories of the food article  106 , the mobile device  102  accesses a food information database  114  maintaining nutritional information  120  of various food articles  106 . To determine the aggregated caloric depletion  108 , the mobile device  102  receives data from at least one activity tracker  112 . The mobile device  102  may be configured to access the food information database  114  over a network  122  via combination of radio towers  124  or other communications systems. The database  114  may additionally include images or other visual representations of the food articles  106  to aid in illustrating the food article  106  in the display  104 . As more calories are burned, the aggregated caloric depletion  108  causes the visual representation of the food article  106  to melt, crumble, fall away, or otherwise disappear. Thus, the mobile device  102  provides the user with a real-time visual representation of the remaining effort required to offset the calories of the food article  106 . It should be noted that the system  100  illustrated in  FIG. 1  is only an example, and systems  100  having more, fewer, or differently divided or located elements may be used. In an example, the mobile device  102 , activity tracker  112 , or database  114  may be a unitary device or separate devices. 
     The mobile device  102  may be any type of transportable computer system or system that configured to perform computing operations. For example, the mobile device  102  may be a smart phone or cellular device having network  122  communications and internet access. As some other possibilities, the mobile device  102  may be a tablet computer or a desktop computer. In further examples, the functionality described herein in terms of the mobile device  102  may be implemented in a controller of a treadmill or other item of fitness equipment, e.g., to provide the visual representation  110  of the food article  106  to the operator of the fitness equipment. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 1 , the activity tracker  112  may be any type of device capable of gathering biological data and/or calculating a caloric burn rate from gathered data. For example, the activity tracker  112  may be a Fitbit® device provide by Fitbit Inc. of San Francisco, Calif., a pedometer, or a watch or other wearable having activity level measuring functionality. The activity tracker  112  may monitor various biological inputs, such as heart rate and/or pulse rate, to determine the activity level and/or energy expenditure of the wearer. The activity tracker  112  may send to the mobile device  102  data indicative of the monitoring, such as raw pulse or heart rate data and/or caloric burn rate data computed by the activity tracker  112  for the wearer. As some specific examples, the activity tracker  112  may send information to the mobile device  102  indicative of steps taken, miles traveled, heart rate, weights lifted, or relative motion levels. Relative motion levels may include sensing techniques that include accelerometers or motion detectors to determine movement. In some embodiments, the activity tracker  112  may be contained within the mobile device  102  and the two devices may operate as a unit. In other examples, the activity tracker  112  and mobile device  102  may be discrete devices. For instance, when embodied as discrete devices, the mobile device  102  may be paired with and connected to the activity tracker  112  to receive information from the activity tracker  112 . This connection may occur over any wired or wireless medium, such as via a BLUETOOTH or short-range wireless connection or via a universal serial bus (USB) or other wired connection. 
     The food article  106  refers to an item of food intended to be eaten or that has been eaten by the user. A consumer may input information specifying the food article  106  through a user interface of the mobile device  102 . Alternatively, the consumer may send the information regarding the food article  106  from another device (e.g., the activity tracker  112 ) to the mobile device  102 . Entering the information may include one or more of scanning a barcode on the food article  106 , taking a picture of the food article  106 , typing in a name of the food article, indicating an amount of the food article  106  (e.g., weight, volume, units, etc.), or specifying calories or other nutritional information  120  corresponding to the food article  106 . 
     The nutritional information  120  may include caloric information of the food article  106  or information that can be used to derive the caloric information of the food article  106 . In an example, the nutritional information  120  may specify calories of the food article  106  per portion size. The nutritional information  120  may include other nutritional facts regarding the food article  106 , such as the amount of fat, carbohydrates, protein, sodium included within the food article  106 . 
     The database  114  may include caloric information and other pertinent nutritional information  120  indexed to identifiers of the food articles  106 . For instance, the database  114  may include nutritional information  120  indexed to bar codes or names of food articles  106 . The mobile device  102  may be configured to query the database  114  using the information specifying a food article  106  to retrieve the nutritional information  120  for the food article  106 . In some cases, the database  114  may be local to the mobile device  102 , e.g., stored to a memory of the mobile device  102 . In other examples, the database  114  may be remote from the mobile device  102  and may be accessed by the mobile device  102  over a network. In an example, the database  114  may be maintained by a governmental organization, such as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). In another example, the database  114  may be maintained by a company or other organization, such as the food item database  114  maintained by MyFitnessPal, Inc. 
     In some examples, the database  114  (or another database accessible to the mobile device  102 ) may be configured to maintain images of food articles  106 . Thus, the mobile device  102  may also query the database  114  to retrieve images of the food articles  106  having been entered by the user. In an example, a donut may be entered as having been eaten by the user. The mobile device  102  may access the database  114  to retrieve the nutritional information  120  associated with the donut (e.g., which may indicate a food article  106  having sixty calories), and may also retrieve include an image of the donut for display to the user. 
     In some examples, the database  114  may additionally track consumption of the user over time. In an example, as the user enters information indicative of the food articles  106  consumed or intended to be consumed, the database  114  may maintain records of those food articles  106  in association with an account of the user mobile device  102 . 
     The user setting information  706 ,  708 ,  710 , as shown in  FIGS. 7A-C , may include information used to compute the caloric depletion rate of the user. The caloric depletion rate may include a basal metabolic rate indicative of the resting caloric burn of the user, and a variable rate based on the activity level of the user. 
     The mobile device  102  may collect and maintain the user setting information  706 ,  708 ,  710 . For instance, to aid in the calculation of the basal metabolic rate of the user, the user may enter the setting information  706 ,  708 ,  710  using a user interface of the mobile device  102 . The setting information  706 ,  708 ,  710  may include, as some examples, information indicative of the height, weight, age, gender, activity level, or other factors of the user pertinent to the calculation of the basal metabolic rate. In an example, using the setting information  706 ,  708 ,  710  the mobile device  102  may calculate a user-specific basal metabolic rate using the setting information  706 ,  708 ,  710  according to the equations 1 or 2 as follows. 
       BMR MEN =(10×weight (kg))+(6.25×height (cm))—(5×age (years))+5  (1)
 
       BMR WOMEN =(10×weight (kg))+(6.25×height (cm))−(5×age (years))−161  (2)
 
     The user setting information  706 ,  708 ,  710  may further be used to interpret information received from the activity tracker  112  to allow for calculation of a caloric burn rate based on the user&#39;s activity. For example, the activity tracker  112  may determine a current heart rate of the user. The activity tracker  112  may send the heart rate information to the mobile device  102 . Using the received heart rate information, the mobile device  102  may calculate the caloric burn rate based on the heart rate, age, height, weight, and gender of the user. In at least one example, the activity tracker  112  and/or mobile device  102  may determine the caloric burn rate or calories burned based on the activity level and mode of user. The mobile device  102  may use that information to determine the aggregated caloric depletion (ACD)  108 . For example, the aggregated caloric depletion  108  is shown in equations 3 and 4 below for an activity tracker that monitors heart rate. 
       ACD MEN =((−55+(0.6×HR)+(0.19× W )+(0.2× A ))/4.1)×60× T   (3)
 
       ACD MEN =Female:((−20.4+(0.4×HR)−(0.1× W )+(0.07× A ))/4.18)×60× T   (4)
 
     where: 
     HR=Heart rate (in beats/minute) 
     W=Weight (in kilograms) 
     A=Age (in years) 
     T=Exercise duration time (in hours) 
     Footsteps may also be used to calculate the ACD. For example, the aggregated caloric depletion  108  is shown in equation 5 below for an activity tracker that monitors miles walked. 
       CB=[0.021×KPH3−0.17×KPH2+0.87×KPH+1.45]× WKG×T   (5)
 
     where: 
     CB=Calorie burn (in calories) 
     KPH=Walking speed (in kilometers per hour) 
     WKG=Weight (in kilograms) 
     T=Time (in hours) 
     Using the aggregated caloric depletion  108 , the mobile device  102  may be configured to provide on the display  104  a real-time indication of the metabolized calories of the food article  106 . For instance, the mobile device  102  may display a graphical representation  302  of the food article  106 . The graphical representation  302  may include a removed region based on the aggregated caloric depletion  108  indicative of the user&#39;s progress towards metabolizing the food article  106 . Example graphical representations  302  are discussed in further detail below. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , one example graphical representation  302  of a food article  106  is shown. In an example, the graphical representation  302  may be provided by the mobile device  102  to the display  104  of the mobile device  102 . As shown in the illustrated example, the graphical representation  302  is of a donut food article  106 , although this is merely one example. The graphical representation  302  is illustrated as having a removed section equal to an aggregated caloric depletion  108 . The region of the aggregated caloric depletion  108  is determined by the mobile device  102  based on the basal metabolic rate of the user and the caloric depletion rate of the user. The graphical representation  302  includes an estimated aggregate caloric depletion  108  region. The estimated aggregate caloric depletion  108  region includes a first subregion  346  and a second subregion  344 . The first subregion  346  indicates a caloric depletion at a rate greater than the caloric depletion rate. The second subregion  344  indicates an estimated aggregate caloric depletion based on the current caloric depletion rate. The remaining, residual calorie count visual representation  110  is shown. 
     As the user works off the food article  106 , the graphical representation  302  may begin to disappear. For instance, the mobile device  102  may alter the graphical representation  302  of the food article  106  by removing or fading of a portion of the image of the food article  106  proportional to the calories consumed. Depending on the granularity of the information received, the system may fade each pixel as it is burned off. The pixel burned may be determined based on a predetermined priority or animation order. As some example animations, the pixels may fade in a clock fashion or they may fade in particular food article  106  segments. 
     In an example, predetermined cutouts or bites  108  may be used to subtract the caloric content of the image when caloric thresholds are reached. For instance, a 10% caloric threshold may be associated with a particular cutout designed to represent 10% of the food article  106 . The cutout may have jagged edges to represent the residual caloric content of the food article  106  as eaten away. As the user burns more calories, additional chunks of the food article  106  are removed until the food article is completely consumed. 
     Various other visualizations of consumption of the food article  106  may be used. In another example graphical representation  302 , the pixels may be randomly faded similar to increasing the opacity of the image such that it is blended with a background color. Accordingly, the graphical representation  302  of the food article  106  is seemingly melted away as exercise is performed. Continuing with the donut example, if five calories are burned, the mobile device  102  may blend a portion of the pixels or groups of pixels, which may correspond to the one of the aforementioned cutouts or bites. If 10% of the calories have been burned, the controller may blend every tenth pixel. Different methods may be used to blend or fade the image of the donut into the background color. Blending may occur for a subset of the pixels representing the food article  106  or all of the pixels. 
     In another example visualization of consumption of the food article  106 , the mobile device  102  may fade the graphical representation  302  in a clockwise or counterclockwise fashion. The mobile device  102  may select each of the pixels on a vector starting at twelve o&#39;clock. The mobile device  102  may begin to fade each of the pixels on a rotating vector from twelve o&#39;clock in a clockwise fashion. Continuing with the above example, the mobile device  102  may fade 1/12 th  of the graphical representation  302  when five calories are burned. The position of the fade vector may be equal to one o&#39;clock. 
     Some food articles  106  may have an irregular or jagged perimeter. In such examples, the mobile device  102  may be configured to treat the perimeter of the food article  106  as a simple geometric shape. For example, a donut may be treated as having a circular perimeter to simply calculation. In some examples, the database  114  may associate food articles  106  with geometric shapes, and the mobile device  102  may identify the geometric shape of the food article  106  according to information retrieved from the database  114 . The shape information retrieved from the database  114  may additionally or alternatively include predefined burn patterns that may be used to crumble the food article  106 . As the user progressively burns off calories, the food article  106  may crumble in predefined burn patterns corresponding to the retrieved shape information. These predefined burn patterns may be cutouts, bites, pixel sections, or pie-shaped sections. 
     The food article  106  may also include separate regions to indicate an anticipated or estimated caloric depletion at a given activity level. For example, the mobile device  102  may display the graphical representation  302  of the food article  106  using a different color, discolored section, overlay, or color alteration for a region of the graphical representation  302  that is expended to be burned off by the user within a set period of time. This expected burn may be based on extrapolating a caloric consumption trend according to the current burn level of the user. The set period of time may be a predefined number of minutes, such 30 minutes, or 60 minutes depending on user preference. The estimated caloric depletion region may have different regions for each time level estimated. For example, the food article  106  may include indicia having both a 30 minute or hour estimated depletion region. The indicia may include a region for a stretch goal of exertion. For example, the cookie may be estimated to crumble at the same exertion or activity level in 30 minutes. The indicia may include a region displayed for an increased level of exertion as well. 
     A representation of the food article  106  may be displayed on the display  104  of the mobile device  102 . In an example, the representation may be a caricature or idealized version of the food article  106 . In another example, the representation of the food article  106  may include a photographic image of a canonical or representative version of the food article  106 . The food article  106  may also be represented on cards so that each of the cards can be discarded when the caloric content of the card is exercised away. For example, as a user consumes food articles  106  throughout the day, the user may accumulate food articles  106  in a queue. As each food article  106  is exercised off, the corresponding food articles  106  may be discarded. The user may also shuffle articles in the queue to psychologically entice a workout. 
     The real-time indicia of the original caloric content of each food article  106  may be defined by regions. The regions may represent the residual caloric content of the food article  106  and a spent caloric content of the food article  106 . The spent caloric content region may be based on the metabolic rate and caloric burn rate of the user. The regions may be defined by a specific number of pixels on the display that is equal to the calories consumed or burned. Meaning, each pixel on the display has a calculable equivalent caloric value based on the calories in the food article  106  and the space occupied by the food article  106 . The display may include graphics processing to convert the food article  106  image received from the database  114  such that the image fits on the display. The processing may be required to recognize the number of pixels occupied by the food article  106  image. The mobile device  102  may receive from the display the number of pixels occupied by the device  102  and calculate the calories per pixel. With this information available, the mobile device  102  can begin to crumble the food article  106  by pixel at the basal metabolic rate, the caloric burn rate, or combination thereof. The residual caloric content may be defined by the original caloric content subtracted by a product of the caloric burn rate and a period of time. The period may be shorted to provide seemingly real-time subtraction of the calories expended by the basal metabolic rate and the calories burned during exercise. 
       FIGS. 4A-C  depict a slice of pizza being removed over time as the user exercises. In each of  FIGS. 4A-C , a food article  106  is shown having an aggregated caloric depletion  108 . The remaining, residual calorie count visual representation  110  is also shown. The combination of the regions  108  and  110  represents the total calories of the food article  106 . Only a minor portion is consumed in the  FIG. 4A , as evidenced by the small aggregated caloric depletion  108  region. In  FIG. 4B , the aggregated caloric depletion  108  region is larger, signifying that additional calories have been consumed (i.e., greater aggregated caloric depletion  108 ). The area of the aggregated caloric depletion  108  region may accordingly increase proportional to the amount of calories having been consumed. In  FIG. 4C , the aggregated caloric depletion  108  region occupies most of the area of the food article  106 , indicating that most of the food article  106  has been consumed. 
     In the examples of  FIGS. 4A-4C  the aggregated caloric depletion  108  of the food article  106  is indicated using predetermined regions or cutouts. When the aggregated caloric depletion  108  reaches a particular threshold related to the size of the food article  106  on the display  104 , the food article  106  image is removed by a predetermined amount using the predefined cutouts. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , a flow chart  500  is shown. Although shown with a start and end, the flow chart  500  may run as a continuous process. In step  502 , the mobile device  102  may receive indication of a consumed food article  106 . The indication may be received from the user interface or display, or the indication may be sent from a separate computer or server. In step  504 , the mobile device  102  may receive user-entered data. The data may be the user&#39;s height, weight, age, or gender. In step  506 , the mobile device  102  may receive the caloric content of the consumed food article  106 . In step  508 , the mobile device  102  may calculate the basal metabolic rate based on height, weight, age, and gender. In step  510 , the mobile device  102  may calculate or receive the caloric burn rate. The caloric burn rate may be calculated from raw data received from the activity tracker  112  or received from the activity tracker  112 . In step  512 , the mobile device  102  generates a real-time residual calorie count based on the caloric burn rate and the caloric content of the consumed food article  106 . In step  514 , the remaining calories are transmitted to the display for indication to a user. The transmittal may include removed bites or cutouts of the crumbled calories. In step  516 , the remaining calories may be indicated in real-time on the display as the crumbed food article  106 . 
     Now referring to  FIG. 6 , a flow chart  600  is shown. Although shown with a start and end, the flow chart  600  may run as a continuous process. In step  602 , the mobile device  102  may receive indication of a consumed food article  106 . The indication may be received from the user interface or display, or the indication may be sent from a separate computer or server. In step  604 , the mobile device  102  may receive the caloric content of the consumed food article  106 . In step  606 , the mobile device  102  may calculate the basal metabolic rate based on height, weight, age, and gender. In step  608 , the mobile device  102  may calculate or receive the caloric burn rate. The caloric burn rate may be calculated from raw data received from the activity tracker  112  or received from the activity tracker  112 . In step  610 , the mobile device  102  generates a real-time residual calorie count based on the caloric burn rate and the caloric content of the consumed food article  106 . In step  612 , the mobile device  102  determines the percentage of remaining calories in the consumed food article  106 . In each of the cases  314 ,  316 ,  318 ,  320 ,  322  the mobile device  102  displays a predetermined food article  106  with the generated calorie count to indicate to the user the remaining calories. The food article  106  may have removed bites or cutouts that indicate the calories burned during exercise or due to the basal metabolic rate. 
     Now referring to  FIGS. 7A-C , a set of screen shots for the application is shown.  FIG. 7A  depicts an introductory image  700  featuring the calorie crumble logo. In an example, a user may press the logo to begin using the application. Or, the logo may display for a predefined amount of time before proceeding into the application. 
       FIG. 7B  depicts a user input screen  702  for entering personal information required to compute the basal metabolic rate. As shown, the user may enter setting information  706 ,  708 ,  710  with personal information related to height, weight, gender, and age. This information may be used by the application to compute the user-specific basal metabolic rate as discussed in detail above. 
       FIG. 7C  depicts a selection screen  704  from which a user may select a food article  106  or placeholder food article  106  to begin the calorie crumble. In other examples (not shown), the user may select a number of calories for a card to be used to perform the calorie crumble. In an example, responsive to selection of a food article  106  from the selection screen  704 , the application may proceed to a display of a graphical representation  302  of the food article  106  for the calorie crumble, examples of which are described above with respect to  FIGS. 3 and 4A-4C . 
     Computing devices described herein generally include computer-executable instructions where the instructions may be executable by one or more computing devices such as those listed above. Computer-executable instructions may be compiled or interpreted from computer programs created using a variety of programming languages and/or technologies, including, without limitation, and either alone or in combination, Java™, C, C++, C#, Visual Basic, Java Script, Perl, etc. In general, a processor (e.g., a microprocessor) receives instructions, e.g., from a memory, a computer-readable medium, etc., and executes these instructions, thereby performing one or more processes, including one or more of the processes described herein. Such instructions and other data may be stored and transmitted using a variety of computer-readable media. 
     While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the invention.