BACKGROUND

Exercise is an important part of maintaining an individual's health and wellbeing. For many people, exercising is an activity that typically involves going to a gymnasium where they partake in a workout guided by an instructor (e.g., a fitness instructor, a personal trainer). However, dedicating a regular period of time to exercise at a gym can be a challenging endeavor due to other commitments in one's daily life (e.g., a person's job, family obligations). Oftentimes, a gym may be located at an inconvenient location and/or an instructor's availability is limited to certain periods of time during the day, thus limiting a person's ability to attend a workout at the gym. This inconvenience may also be detrimental to the instructor whose clientele may be restricted to people who are able to attend their workout at the gym at the prescribed period of time.

SUMMARY

Embodiments described herein are directed to a reflective video display apparatus (also referred to herein as a “smart mirror” and an “interactive exercise system”) configured to display video content, such as a pre-recorded or live workout led by an instructor, to a user and provide an interface that allows the user to interact and personalize the video content. The smart mirror may be a networked device communicatively coupled to a content provider (e.g., a server, a cloud service) and/or a smart device (e.g., a smart phone, a tablet, a computer). The smart mirror may include a display panel and a speaker to output video content and audio to the user. The smart mirror may also include a camera and a microphone to capture video and audio of the user during a workout. The smart mirror may thus enable two-way communication between the user and the instructor during a workout. In this manner, the smart mirror may provide a convenient option for the user to receive a guided workout while enabling greater personalization and individual guidance similar to a workout provided by a personal trainer or instructor at a conventional gymnasium.

One example of a smart mirror includes a communications interface to receive video imagery of an exercise instructor, a display, operably coupled to the communications interface, to show the video imagery of the exercise instructor, and a mirror, disposed in front of the display, to reflect an image of a person opposite the display. The mirror has a partially reflecting section to transmit the video imagery of the exercise instructor to the person opposite the display such that the video imagery of the exercise instructor appears superimposed on a portion of the image of the person.

Another example of a smart mirror includes a mirror having a partially reflecting section and a fully reflecting section, a display arranged to display exercise content through the partially reflecting section of the mirror where the exercise content includes (1) video imagery of an exercise instructor, (2) biometric data of a first person exercising while viewing the exercise content, and (3) information about a second person watching the video imagery on another interactive exercise system, and a frame, disposed behind the mirror, to hold the display opposite the partially reflecting section of the mirror where the frame has a width equal to or smaller than a width of the mirror and a height equal to or smaller than a height of the mirror.

One example of an interactive exercise method includes the follow steps: (1) streaming exercise content to an interactive video system comprising a mirror having a partially reflecting section and a display disposed on one side of the partially reflecting section, (2) displaying the exercise content to a user via the display and the partially reflecting section of the mirror, and (3) reflecting an image of the user with the mirror such that the image of the user appears at least partially superimposed on the exercise content displayed via the display and the partially reflecting section of the mirror.

One example of a method of using a smart mirror includes the following steps while displaying exercise content to a user on a video display behind a partially transmissive mirror: (1) reflecting an image of the user with the partially transmissive mirror, (2) measuring a heart rate of the user with a heart rate monitor attached to the user, (3) transmitting the heart rate from the heart rate monitor to an antenna operably coupled to the video display, (4) displaying the heart rate of the user on the video display, and (5) displaying a target heart rate for the user on the video display.

One example of a method of exercising using the smart mirror includes the following steps: (1) displaying an exercise video on the smart mirror to a person, (2) displaying a first target heart rate zone for the person to reach during a first segment of the exercise video where the first target heart rate zone is based on an exercise displayed during the first segment of the exercise video and at least one of the person's age, height, weight, exercise history, or preference, (3) displaying a second target heart rate zone for the person to reach during a second segment of the exercise video where the second target heart rate zone is different from the first target heart rate zone and based on an exercise displayed during the second segment of the exercise video and the at least one of the person's age, gender, height, weight, exercise history, or preference, (4) acquiring heart rate data from the heart rate monitor while displaying the first segment of the exercise video and the second segment of the exercise video on the smart mirror and while transitioning from the first segment of the exercise video to the second segment of the exercise video, (5) determining a score based on a change in the heart rate data associated with a transition from the first segment of the exercise video to the second segment of the exercise video, and (6) displaying an indication of the score on the smart mirror while displaying the exercise video to the person.

All combinations of the foregoing concepts and additional concepts discussed in greater detail below (provided such concepts are not mutually inconsistent) are contemplated as being part of the inventive subject matter disclosed herein. In particular, all combinations of claimed subject matter appearing at the end of this disclosure are contemplated as being part of the inventive subject matter disclosed herein. Terminology explicitly employed herein that also may appear in any disclosure incorporated by reference should be accorded a meaning most consistent with the particular concepts disclosed herein.

