Education and demonstration – Physical education – Dancing
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-10
2001-11-13
Martin-Wallace, Valencia (Department: 3713)
Education and demonstration
Physical education
Dancing
C434S247000, C434S258000, C084S600000, C084S46400A, C084S47000P, C084S468000, C362S103000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06315571
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to footwear which can be used to train a user to dance.
BACKGROUND
Dancing is a fun, social and healthy pastime desired to be enjoyed by many Americans. However, what stops many people from dancing is the difficulty of learning how to dance. Although there have been countless books and videotapes on dancing, most of these tools are not effective because the user is forever staring at a book or a screen trying to imitate movements shown. Many of theses products, in particular, audio tape and compact discs, are put together with the anticipation that they will be listened to in the course of the person practicing their dancing. Even video tapes are produced with the understanding that the tapes will be used during practice. However, all the user sees is the resulting dance and not the steps used to create the dance. Thus, the user hopelessly imitates the look of the dance rather than the dance itself. Furthermore, in trying to watch a tape, the user loses the feel of dancing to the music and rather vainly tries to memorize steps. Therefore, the best result of this training is that the user somehow manages to learn a few steps which are used ad nauseam on the dance floor. For young children, this process is particularly difficult as a child's attention span is short and paying attention to a video tape while trying to master new dance steps is difficult at best. As a result there are countless dancing schools for both adults and children. Teachers are very good about showing a student how to place his feet. However, many families cannot afford the time and money associated with such lessons. Furthermore, unless the lessons are the very expensive individualized lessons, a student is forced to learn at the pace of the class and thus may not be able to fully master steps.
Thus, there is a need for a system which can be used at an individual's own learning pace. There is also a need for a system which functions respond to the music from the loudspeaker on the shoe or from other musical sources. It is also desirable that the system train the user to dance by training the users brain feet and ears to coordinate and move to the music.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to remedy the deficiencies of the prior art heretofore discussed.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a system for training a user to dance.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a system which can be used at an individual user's pace.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a system which trains a user to dance to music from an outside source.
A training shoe is disclosed. The shoe, preferably a soft shoe such as a slipper is designed to emit audio and/or physical stimuli which assists the user in learning dance or other steps. The shoe comprises electromechanical members which are responsive to electrical output signals to control movement to guide a user to perform the appropriate dance steps. In preferred embodiments, the shoe also comprises a loudspeaker through which music is played. In alternate embodiments, the electromechanical members are responsive to audio stimuli such as the music from the loudspeaker on the shoe or from other musical sources.
More particularly, in accordance with the present invention the inventive item of footwear comprises a footwear base. The footwear base comprises a heel and sole portion. An upper is secured to said footwear base. The upper and the footwear base together form a shoe body configured and dimensioned to be worn on the foot of a person. An electromechanical member is mechanically attached to the shoe body. In accordance with the preferred embodiment, an electronic control circuit having at least one electrical output terminal is provided. The electrical output terminal provides its own electrical output signal and the electromechanical member is responsive to the electrical output signal. The result is a mechanical movement adapted to be felt by the person wearing the inventive item of footwear. The inventive system can further comprise an information storage device coupled to the electronic control circuit. The information storage device is coupled to the electronic control circuit and sends a block of information to the electronic control circuit. The block of information is transformed into the electrical output signal output by the electrical output and coupled to the electromechanical member to create the mechanical movement which is adapted to be felt by the person wearing the item of footwear. In alternate embodiments, the shoe is responsive to other shoes so that the beats are synchronized.
The system of the present invention is believed to be particularly advantageous, in so far as it provides for a very direct coupling of information to that part of the body which must be used to dance. More particularly, in accordance with the invention, the foot which is doing the dancing is stimulated directly. Such stimulation may be to one foot or to both feet. The slippers are synchronized to each other by infrared or other means. This is mentally a much easier process to implement for the user. In particular, the user is used to receiving tactile information and synchronizing movements to the song. For example, during walking, tactile information is coupled to the heel and toe and this is fed back to the brain along well-established paths to cause the user to synchronize his movements to the terrain, thus enabling him to easily and quickly execute highly refined movements and walk over sometimes irregular and difficult terrain. In other words, the body is practiced, evolved and developed to receive tactile information from the foot to control foot movement. This natural ability of body and the brain is taken advantage of in accordance with the invention by providing tactile stimulation with dance movement information directly to the foot which a body can most easily assimilate. The result is improved training. At the same time, the activity is also very easy for the body, making the training enjoyable. Thus, even children, perhaps with minimal interest in learning to dance, will be attracted to practice more.
The above action of the system of the present invention is enhanced by the playing of music in the slipper synchronous with the beat. This makes the activity very enjoyable because children love to listen to music.
In accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, infrared sensors may be included with a quality stereo-ability system to produce the information and transmit the same to infrared receivers on the slippers. Such beat information may be contained on dedicated tracks synchronized to the music information on special-purpose compact discs. The system may be implemented most easily on a computer because of the multitasking capability of the computer. In accordance with yet a further refinement of this embodiment of the invention, the system may include logic circuitry for developing the information from any compact disc or other source of music.
Still yet another advantage of the inventive system is that the same may be used to implement physical therapy or other training regimens. Children are particularly difficult to engage in such activities even in the face of what could be very substantial handicaps that could follow them for the rest of their lives. The result is that trainers and rehabilitation professionals must go to great efforts to be certain that that the child will follow the prescribed regimen. Because, in accordance with present invention, the regimen is presented in an attractive and fun fashion to the child, compliance becomes much easier and more effective. Indeed, it would be expected, if the regimen were tied to music in which the child was interested, a compliance and exercising far above compliance would be the result.
The shoe may also be used for other non-dance training purposes. For example, the shoe may be programmed to teach fencing steps or soccer dribbling. In such as a case sensors for sensing a soccer ba
Chosun International Inc.
Handal & Morofsky
Harris Chanda
Martin-Wallace Valencia
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