Abstract:
A fitness enabling and motivating service provides an online resource for assisting users in staying physically fit. The service enables users to locate well-matched partners for fitness activities. The service may facilitate communications between participants in fitness activities. The service may also enable each user to maintain an online schedule of fitness activities. Fitness activities may be scheduled and arranged via the server.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]    The current application claims priority from Provisional Patent Application S/N 60/254,038, entitled FITNESS ENABLING AND MOTIVATING SERVICE, which was filed on Dec. 7, 2000, all naming the same inventors and the same assignee as this application, which is incorporated by reference herein. 
     
    
     
       TECHNICAL FIELD  
         [0002]    The present invention relates generally to physical fitness activities and more particularly to a fitness enabling and motivating service.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    There are many challenges that prevent people from being physically fit. One of the challenges is that many people enjoy only a small subset of fitness activities. However, some of these fitness activities require partners and often times it is difficult to find a partner at the same skill level in the same vicinity with a matching schedule. Another barrier to achieving physical fitness is the inability of parties to stay motivated. One way to increase motivation is to have a partner that participates in the same fitness activity and encourages the party to continue to participate in the fitness activity.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    The present invention addresses the above-described problems that prevent people from being physically fit. The present invention provides a fitness enabling and motivating service. In one embodiment of the present invention, the service is accessible via an online site, such as a web site. The service enables participants to find well-matched partners (i.e., “fitpals”) for participating in fitness activities. The partners may be matched by skill level, locale, age, gender, schedule and other criteria. A participant may specify the matching criteria and then submit a search to identify well-matched potential fitness partners.  
           [0005]    The service may also enable a participant to send invitations, such as by electronic mail or by instant messaging, to other parties to schedule a fitness activity. For example, a participant may wish to schedule a doubles tennis match and send an invitation to three other parties via electronic mail. The parties may have the opportunity to accept or decline the invitation. Once at least one of the invitees has accepted the invitation, the activity is added to the schedules for the participants that are maintained online. Each schedule specifies a time, date, place, and other information regarding fitness activities involving the associated party. The schedules serve as useful reminders for participants of when fitness activities are scheduled.  
           [0006]    Participants are able to provide feedback regarding fitness activities and fellow participants. This information may be available online for other parties to use while scheduling fitness activities. There is flexibility built in the service to allow cancellation of fitness activities, cancellation of participation in fitness activities by parties, changing the particulars of a scheduled fitness activity and the like.  
           [0007]    The service may automatically generate reminders of fitness activities for participants. These reminders may take many forms, including the form of electronic mail or instant messaging messages. A participant may specify whether they wish to have such reminders or not. In addition, participants for a scheduled fitness activity may send messages to each other via the service.  
           [0008]    In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a method is practiced in an electronic device so that user profiles regarding users and fitness activities of the users are provided. These profiles are examined to match at least two selected ones of the users for a scheduled fitness activity.  
           [0009]    In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a web site is provided that has a matching facility for identifying persons that are well-matched to a first user for a particular type of fitness activity. The web site also has a scheduling facility for scheduling fitness activities among persons. The matching facility is used to identify at least one person as well-matched to the first user for the first type of fitness activity. The scheduling facility is used to schedule a first event of the first type of fitness activity between participants, including the first user and the well-matched person. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]    An illustrative embodiment of the present invention will be described below relative to the following drawings.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an environment suitable for practicing the illustrative embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating the steps that are performed for a user to register with the service of the illustrative embodiment.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 3A illustrates a display screen that is provided to facilitate a user registering with the service.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3B illustrates a portion of a screen display that prompts the user to provide information regarding activities that are of interest to the participant.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3C illustrates a portion of a screen display that enables a participant to specify locations for fitness activities.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating the steps that are performed when a participant requests the service to search for fitpals.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 5A illustrates a user interface component that is displayed for a participant to identify desired characteristics for fitpals.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 5B illustrates the user interface component that displays example search results responsive to a request to identify suitable fitpals.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 5C illustrates a portion of a display screen where a participant may request a constant fitpal search.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 5D illustrates a portion of a screen display that allows a user to enable partner search profiles.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating the steps that are performed by the service to locate a fitpal.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 7 illustrates a portion of a screen display that enables a participant to edit a fitpal list.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 8 shows an example of a suitable web page provided by the service of the illustrative embodiment.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating steps that are performed to initiate the scheduling of a fitness activity.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 10A illustrates a screen display  310  that is displayed to plan a fitness activity.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 10B illustrates an example of an invitation communication.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 11A illustrates an example of a screen display that summarizes an activity that is already scheduled.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 11B illustrates an example of communication that is sent to inform participants that an activity has been cancelled.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 12 shows an example of a communication that is sent to indicate that the perimeters associated with the fitness activity have changed.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 13 is an example of a communication indicating that an invitee to a fitness activity has cancelled.  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 14 shows an example of a reminder communication.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 15 illustrates an example of a screen display where a participant is prompted to provide feedback regarding a fitness activity.  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 16A shows an example of a day&#39;s view of a calendar.  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 16B illustrates an example of a week&#39;s view of a calendar.  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 16C illustrates a month&#39;s view of a calendar.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0036]    The illustrative embodiment of the present invention provides an online service for enabling fitness activities among multiple participants. The service also helps motivate individuals to participate in fitness activities by making it easier to find well-matched fellow participants. The service may provide enabling technologies for reminding a party of the scheduled fitness activities, reviewing a party&#39;s scheduled fitness activities and the like. The service provides a convenient infrastructure for participants in fitness activities to communicate with each other. Resources, such as electronic mail and instant messaging, may be provided to facilitate such communications.  
         [0037]    The illustrative embodiment may be implemented using a web site that is available via the Internet or another variety of computer network. Users may access the web site using a number of different technologies. For example, users may access the web site via computer, cellular phone, intelligent pager, Internet appliance, or via other suitable mechanism. It should be appreciated that online mechanisms other than a web site, may be used to practice the present invention.  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 1 illustrates an environment  10  that is suitable for practicing the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. The environment  10  includes a server  12 . The server  12  includes servlets  18  or other code modules that support the service of the illustrative embodiment. A number of web pages  20  may be provided for the web site. The server  12  has access to a database  16  of user profiles. Each user profile holds information regarding a user, including information regarding fitness activities, as will be described in more detail below.  
         [0039]    It should be appreciated that the service of the illustrative embodiment need not be implemented by a single server; rather as shown in FIG. 1, an additional server  14  may be provided. In fact, a large number of servers may be provided to facilitate load balancing, availability and, in general, to reduce latency of transactions with users. The server  14  also holds copies of the servlets  18 ′ and the web pages  20 ′. The server  14  holds a copy of the user profiles  16 ′.  
         [0040]    Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the servers  12  and  14  need not hold identical servlets and web pages. In some instances, particular users in given geographic locales or alternatively, users interested in a subset of fitness activities are assigned one of the servers. The servlets and web pages facilitate interaction with the service from the respective geographic locales or for the respective subset of users interested in only a subset of the fitness activities. In such instances, the user profiles  16  and  16 ′ may be divided and stored separately rather than being copies of each other. Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the user profiles  16 ″ may be located remotely and accessible via a network  21 . The network  21  may be a computer network, such as the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, or a communication network, such as a wireless network.  
         [0041]    As was mentioned above, users may access the web site provided by the service using a number of different types of user devices. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, an Internet appliance  22  that runs a copy of a web browser  24  may be used. The Internet appliance  22  communicates over the network  21  with the server  12  to access the web site. Similarly, a wireless device  26 , such as a pager, a mobile phone, or a personal digital assistant (PDA), may be used to communicate with the server  12 . The wireless device  26  may have a browser  28 , such as a mini-browser, as found in some wireless devices. A computer system  30  may provide a web browser  32  to facilitate access to the server  12 . Other types of devices  38  may-also be utilized.  
         [0042]    In order for a user to become a participant in the service, the user must register with the service. This is typically performed by the user visiting the web site and following the steps outlined by web pages at the web site to register. FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart of the steps that are performed during registration. Initially, the user requests to register with the service (step  15  in FIG. 2). The user may, for example, click on the appropriate portion of a web page provided at the web site for the service. The user is then prompted to provide the appropriate information to complete the registration (step  52  in FIG. 2). FIG. 3A shows an example of a form  60  that may be provided at the web site for a user to register for the service. The form may ask the user for his name  62  as well as his email address  64 . The user may be prompted to provide address information  66  and a phone number  68 . The user need not use his actual name for the service. Hence, a text box  70  is provided on the form  60  to enable to the user to create a user name that is particular to the service. The user is prompted to provide a password  72  and is requested to enter the password again in text box  74  to confirm the password. The user may be requested to select a question from a drop down list  76 . This question will be asked if the user forgets his password and wishes to still gain access to the service. The user must provide the answer to the question, such as “what is your mother&#39;s maiden name?” in text box  78 . After the form  60  is completed, the user may activate the submit button  80  to submit the provided information.  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 3B shows an example of additional activity that may be requested to complete registration. The user must identify which fitness activities are of interest to the user. When the activity box  85  is displayed initially, no activities are listed. The activity box  85  includes an “add” button  86  that may be activated to add activities. The user is prompted to identify the activities that are of the interest of the user, assessment by the user of his skill level in the identified fitness activities and the frequency with which the user participates in the fitness activities. FIG. 3B shows an example where the list  90  of activities of interest to the user includes an “activity column”  92 , a “skill level” column  94  and a “frequency” column  96 . The “activity” column  92  lists an in-line skating entry  100  that may be selected by activating button  102 . A drop down list box  104  specifies the skill level of the user for in-line skating as the “intermediate” level, and a list box  106  specifies the frequency for which the user participates in in-line skating as “daily.” This list grows or shrinks as the user adds or removes activities. A “delete” button  88  is provided to remove fitness activity from the list.  
         [0044]    The user may also be prompted to provide location information (i.e., desired location of fitness activities) for fitness activities. To that end, a location box  120  may be displayed. The “location” box  120  includes a list  126  of locations for physical fitness activities. For each location, an identification of a location  128  is provided along with the zip code  130  and an optional textual description  132 . For example, an entry is provided for “Memorial Drive in Cambridge.” A selection button  134  is provided along with the name  136  of the location. The zip code  138  for the location and a description box  140  is provided. Users may add locations by activating the add button  122  or delete locations by activating the delete button  124 .  
         [0045]    Once the information has been obtained (step  55  in FIG. 2), the information is stored in the user&#39;s profile (step  56  in FIG. 2). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that user profile information may also be provided from alternative sources, such as from other computer records and the like. In such a case the information is extracted from the other sources (step  54  in FIG. 2) and stored in the user profile (step  56  in FIG. 2).  
         [0046]    The service provided by the illustrative embodiment allows participants in the service to search for suitable parties that are well-matched to participate in fitness activities with the participant. These well-matched parties that are accepted by the user become “fitpals” for the user. FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating the steps that a user performs to locate fitpals. Initially, the user specifies desired characteristics of fitpals (step  150  in FIG. 4). FIG. 5A shows an example of a form  160  that may be completed to identify characteristics that are desired of fitpals for user. It should be appreciated the user need not complete each of the fields listed on the form  160 ; rather the user may specify only a subset of the characteristics that are of interest to the user. For each characteristic, the user is prompted to select an option  162  and the importance  164  of the option. The form  160  asks the user to specify an age range preference  166  and a gender preference  168 . The user may also specify fitness activities  170  of interest and the desired skill levels of fitpals  172  for such activities. The user may specify the frequency  174  with which desired fitpals participate in fitness activities. The form  160  enables the user to specify a desired profession  176  for fitpals and to specify a desired location  178  for fitpals. A radius  180  relative to the location where the fitpal is willing to participate in fitness activities may also be specified. In the list box  182 , the user may specify the search profile associated with the form  160  as the default search profile that is used if no others are specified. Each search profile holds a set of desired characteristics for fitpals. For example, a user might have a first search profile that specifies women age  25 - 34  who are interested in hiking and a second search profile for mane aged  35 - 44  who are interested in basketball. A user may develop multiple search profiles by selecting different values for the fields contained in the form  160 . When the user is ready to search for a fitpal, the user may activate the search button  184 .  
         [0047]    Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the user interface for specifying fitpal characteristics may differ from that shown in FIG. 5A. Moreover, in some alternative embodiments, the user may submit a query that specifies the desired characteristics (such as through a relational algebra) rather than via a form.  
         [0048]    After user has specified the desired characteristics of a fitpal the user submits the search request (step  152  in FIG. 4). The results of the search are then returned (step  154  in FIG. 4). FIG. 5B shows an example of search results  190 . A number of matching members of the service are listed. For each member, a user name  192 , and activity  194 , skill level  196 , and indication of the skill level of the match  198  are provided. For example, the first user shown in the search results in FIG. 5B is named  200  “Dopey” and participates in “in-line skating” (see  204 ). Dopey has an “intermediate” skill level (see  206 ) in in-line skating and is a very good match (see  208 ) with the user that requested the search. A check box  202  is provided to enable the user to select one of the parties listed in the search results. The user then has the option of activating button  210  to initiate the sending of a message to the selected party or the option of activating button  212  to invite the selected party to a fitness activity. Still further, the user may activate button  214  to add the selected party to the list of fitpals that is maintained for the user.  
         [0049]    Instead of searching for fitpals on a one time basis, a user may request that the system constantly check for well-matched fitpals (such as by way of a background process). The service provides a user interface element  216  like that depicted in FIG. 5C. The user interface element  216  contains a check box  218  that enables a constant fitpal search.  
         [0050]    A user may also select which search profiles are employed in order to locate fitpals. The user interface  220  shown in FIG. 5D is suitable for the user to enable or disable search profiles. In the example shown in FIG. 5D, the default search profile may be enabled by check box  222 , whereas the squash partner profile may be enabled by check box  224 .  
         [0051]    [0051]FIG. 6 shows a flow chart that illustrates the steps that are performed by the service in determining which fitpals to return in the search results. Initially, a search request is received along with an indication of which search profiles to use (step  230  in FIG. 6). The characteristics specified in the search request are then compared with the information maintained in the user profiles of members in the database  16  (step  232  in FIG. 6). A scoring algorithm may be employed to score the degree of match between a requesting user and members (step  234  in FIG. 6). Those skilled in the art will know of many different scoring algorithms that may be used. One approach is to score based on the number of criteria that are fulfilled or matched by the scored parties. A list of the best scoring members may then be returned in the search results (step  236  in FIG. 6).  
         [0052]    Once a fitpal list is generated, the fitpal list may be edited. FIG. 7 shows an example of a user interface  240  that allows the editing of a fitpal list. The user interface element  240  specifies a list  242  of users. A particular user may be selected by activating a button, such as button  244  for user “Ed.” The selected fitpal may be deleted by activating the delete button  250 . In addition, additional information regarding the active fitpal may be obtained by activating the “get info” button  252 . Additional parties may be added to the fitpal list by activating “add” button  248 .  
         [0053]    [0053]FIG. 8 depicts an example of a portion of a web page  260  that may be provided by the service to enable members to perform activities relative to the service. A member may plan a fitness activity by clicking on “plan an activity”  262 . A member may find a fitpal by clicking on “find me a fitpal”  264  and review a calendar of fitness activities that is maintained by the service for the user by clicking on “my calendar”  266 . The user may review messages sent to the user or initiate the sending of other messages by selecting “my message center”  268 . A user may edit a user profile or review a user profile by selecting “my profile”  270 . Information  272  regarding events of a current scheduled user may be displayed. A fitpal list may also be displayed for each fitpal, indication may be provided whether there is a new message from the fitpal. In the example shown in FIG. 8, a fitpal  276  has sent a message to the member as indicated by the envelope icon  278 . Similarly, the icon  280  indicates that a fitpal is online, and the absence of the icon  280  indicates that the associated fitpal is not online.  
         [0054]    As mentioned above, a user may initiate the planning of a fitness activity, such as by clicking on the text  262 . The user specifies activity parameters and then submits requests for scheduling of the activity (step  300  in FIG. 9). Other forms may be utilized, and, in some embodiments, the user may be asked a series of questions to obtain the requisite information. FIG. 10 shows an example of a form  310  that is provided by the service to plan an activity. A list box  312  is provided to the user to specify the type of activity that the user wishes to plan. List box  314  enables the user to select the location for the activity, and list box  316  enables the user to select a date for the activity. User interface elements  318  enable the user to select a time for the activity. List box  320  enables the user to identity what parties are to be invited. The parties are listed in area  322  and “add” button  324  may be provided to add a party as an invitee. Similarly, and invitee may be removed from the list by activating the “remove” button  326 . The user may activate check box  328  so that the user is sent a reminder communication regarding the activity. Once the user has completed the form  310 , the user may activate the “submit” button  330  to initiate the scheduling of an activity.  
         [0055]    Once the user has submitted a request to schedule a fitness activity (step  300  in FIG. 9), an invitation is sent to the invitees (step  302  in FIG. 9). The invitations may take the form of electronic communications that are forwarded to the invitees. Suitable forms of communication include, but are not limited to, electronic mail messages and instant messages. FIG. 10B shows an example of an electronic mail invitation  340 . The invitation  340  identifies the inviting party  342 . The invitation also specifies the type of activity  344 , the location of the activity  346 , the date and time  348  of the activity and the invitees for to the activity  350 . The invitee may accept the invitation by activating the “accept” button  354  or decline the invitation by activating the “decline” button  356 . Check box  352  may be selected to request that reminders to be sent to the invitee. Thus, in step  305  in FIG. 4, the invitee accepts or declines the invitation. If there is a sufficient number of invitees, the activity may remain scheduled.  
         [0056]    A party may view particulars regarding a scheduled activity via the service. FIG. 11A shows an example of a display  360  regarding an activity. The particulars  361  of the activity are listed as well as a check box  362  that enables the party to request a reminder. Button  364  enables the party to request a cancellation of the activity from the party&#39;s calendar. If a party cancels an activity, a cancellation communication, such as cancellation email  370  shown in FIG. 11B, is forwarded to other participants that are scheduled for the fitness activity.  
         [0057]    The party that initiated the scheduling of fitness activity may change the parameters regarding the activity. In such a case an activity change communication  372  (FIG. 12) is forwarded to other participants.  
         [0058]    Invitees may cancel their participation in a fitness activity. In such a case, participants are informed by an invitee cancelled communication  374  (FIG. 13).  
         [0059]    As mentioned above, the service provides reminders to help motivate members to participate in fitness activities. FIG. 14 shows an example of a reminder  376 . The reminder specifies the particulars of the activity, such as type of activity, location, date and time, and scheduled participants.  
         [0060]    Participants are able to provide feedback regarding fitness activities and participants that jointly participated in the fitness activity. The service provides a form  380  that enables users to specify this information. The participant is requested to provide information regarding the quality of the overall experience. Participant is asked to provide information regarding the quality of the overall experience for fellow participants in the fitness activity  384 . The participant is asked to rate the location where the fitness activity took place  386 . The participant may also provide additional comments  388 . Participant may specify the time and duration of the fitness activity  390  and the skill level of the participant  392 .  
         [0061]    The service enables each member to maintain a calendar of fitness activities. As shown in FIG. 16A, the calendar for  100  may have tabs  402 ,  404 , and  406  for selecting a day&#39;s view, week&#39;s view, or month&#39;s view of fitness activities. In the example shown in FIG. 16A, the day&#39;s view of the fitness activity is listed. The calendar  400  lists the activities that are scheduled for the party during the current day or selected day. FIG. 16B shows an example of a week&#39;s view where fitness activities for an entire week are displayed. Lastly, FIG. 16C shows a month&#39;s view, which lists fitness activities for an entire month.  
         [0062]    The present invention has been described with reference to an illustrative embodiment thereof. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the intended scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims. For example, these interface elements depicted in the drawings may differ significantly in alternative embodiments of the present invention. The user interface elements depicted in the drawings are intended to be merely illustrative and not limiting of the present invention.