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[Audience Noise] [Whistle blown] [Sound of kicking ball]
Introducing extreme Jump Trainer
In this project we are exploring a new
and innovative form of sports training, a type of
sports training that does not require expert coaches, expensive
camps, clinics and private lessons, boring repetitive exercises
or expensive training equipment. Rather, this project is
delving into a style of sports training that could revolutionize
how young athletes are trained by combining biomechanical analysis and
an interactive video game experience. This project is creating
a training environment that is fun, cheap, works
around your schedule, happens in the comfort of your
own home and fosters effective advanced biomechanical training. To demonstrate
the concept of this style of training, we chose
to focus on vertical jump training. We chose this
activity because of its relevance to a large number of
sports such as basketball, volleyball, football and track
and field. We wanted to demonstrate that this style
of training can positively impact a large group of young
athletes and their sports development. The vertical jump training
stood out as an ideal activity. In traditional jump training,
an athlete works one on one with a coach
in a gym or weight room the athlete is put
through a variety of drills and exercises that target different
components of jumping abilities such as technique, balance,
agility, speed and proprioception. The drills themselves
are simplistic and repetitive and the training needs to occur
several times a week over a course of several weeks
before any noticeable improvement is seen. This style of
training works very well, but requires a lot of
time and effort before seeing any results. Now,
imagine if those same training results could be achieved from
a fun, engaging experience an experience where a traditional
sports activity, in this case, side by side
jumping. This turned into a game where biomechanical feedback
and suggestions for improvement are given after each exercise.
Where motivation is provided through a challenging video game where
athletes are inspired to improve their technique to achieve a
higher score and reach new levels. This type of
training could give a young athlete preparing for a big
tryout an edge over other competitors could allow a
young athlete who doesn't have access to the top coaches
an opportunity to reach their full potential could provide
kids who might otherwise shy away from sports. The
motivation to stay involved. Here is how the application works
A Microsoft connect is connected to a PC and
then the skeleton information is streamed to our game application
using OpenNI and Fast. The game
environment which was created using the Vizard virtual reality toolkit
features an avatar that moves according to the user.
The avatar is infused into a side to side jumping activity
when the user jumps the avatar jumps. If the
athlete exceeds a certain distance threshold, the avatar jumps
to the other rock. If the user does not
jump far enough, the avatar falls into the lava.
If the user waits too long in between jumps
the avatar sinks into the lava. During each activity,
the biomechanics are recorded and compared against an ideal model.
Training tips are displayed to the user after each
activity, suggesting ways to improve for following rounds.
For example, someone who isn't driving their arms
back during the crouch phase would get a training tip
telling them to use their arms more as well as
a graphic comparing their actions to the ideal model.
Then in following rounds, the user could change their
technique and once again see how their actions compared to
the ideal model. Over continued use with the application,
the user would see improvements in their jumping around
mechanics. This application is just the beginning. There
are amounts of possibilities for extending this concept. Further
different applications can be made for different physical activities and
sports. Applications could also be developed to specifically address young
users who may be ready to give up on sports
and physical activity. The bottom mechanical training could be
extended greatly, perhaps even to allow customization by high
level coaches and athletes. These concepts could also be
applied to physical therapy to make the mundane rehabilitation exercises
more exciting to the patients during injury recovery. Thanks,
I hope you enjoyed this project