Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
TITLE OF INVENTION
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR UTILIZING ATHLETE DATA TO
INCREASE ATHLETE PERFORMANCE
mon
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR
DEVELOPMENT
[0002] Not Applicable
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The present systems, apparatuses, and methods lie in the general field
of
computerized social networks. The present disclosure relates to computerized
social
networks configured to retain, transfer, disseminate, and process data sets
containing user-
generated information regarding athletes and utilize that data to increase
athlete
performance.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The Internet provides a number of social networking and media websites,
such as
Facebook , LinkedIn , Instagram , and Twitter , where a user can log in and
create a
page that is associated with that user. On his/her page, the user can post
text, photographs,
statuses, locations, and/or hypertext links, and the user may specify who can
view the page.
For example, the user can limit who can view the user's page only to those
users with whom
he/she has registered a relationship, such as Facebook "friends," Twitter or
Instagram
"followers," or Linkedln "connections." The user may also limit their profile
in a broader
sense, by allowing those who have a preregistered relationship with the user
to view the
user's profile as well. The user may also choose to let the general public as
a whole view
his/her profile.
1
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-11-04
[0005] In these social networking and media websites, the page that the user
organizes
usually contains any content that the user chooses, which would be organized
in a free-
form way. As a result, a user's page does not have a standardized format that
would easily
and clearly present specific type(s) of information that might be desirable
for certain types
of users, such as an athlete in high school who wants specifically to present
his personal
performance data to potential recruiting colleges or professional teams.
[0006] Additionally, in typical computerized social network systems, specific
performance data or other sport-related data about an individual athlete
cannot be shared
in the generic social networks in a way that other users can access easily.
Typical
computerized social network systems also do not allow for specific performance
data or
other sport-related data about many individual athletes to be used to develop
general data
about a distribution of different types of sport-related information or data
over the
population of users, as indexed by relevant sports-based or other criteria.
[0007] Furthermore, there is no current method for which athletic equipment
companies
can track in a single location how their equipment is being utilized and sold
across various
athletes in various sports. This information is unavailable from a single
location to track
and filter equipment use by various categories, such as in terms of their use,
per athlete, by
state, by city, and/or by age of the athlete.
[0008] Thus, a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art
systems, designs,
and processes as discussed above.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] The systems, apparatuses, and methods described provide an invention
that
revolutionizes and drastically improves the ability for athletic scouts to
recruit potential
prospects and that overcome the hereinafore-mentioned disadvantages of the
heretofore-
known devices and methods of this general type and that provides such features
with a
system and method for an interactive computerized social network operating
over the
Internet that provides capabilities lacking in the prior art.
[0010] With the foregoing and other objects in view, there is provided, a
three-
dimensional interactive and digital locker room system that is accessible
through the
Internet and accesses a database of profile and user data that is displayed in
the three-
dimensional, digital, and interactive locker room titled the "3D-Interactive
Locker Room
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System." Users in the Interactive Locker Room System can move around using
first
person movements, chat with users, open lockers to view profile data such as
equipment
and statistics, search for users, and share their profiles with college
coaches. Profile data
includes videos, images, and biographical data. The 3D-Interactive Locker Room
System
generates and displays featured athletes and videos, as well as favorite
athletes.
Additionally, the 3D-Interactive Locker Room System can be incorporated into a
web
application, a mobile application, and a virtual reality application.
[0011] With the objects in view, there is also provided computerized social
networking
systems and methods that allow a user-athlete to set up a personal virtual
locker within a
larger virtual locker room that is shared with other users and to provide data
or links in the
user's virtual locker corresponding to information about the user, the user's
particular
sport activities, and metrics of the user's performance. All of this data is
organized and
presented in a standardized format, where each user has a virtual player card
that can be
reviewed, especially, by coaches who are considering the user for their
particular athletic
programs.
[0012] In an exemplary embodiment of the systems and methods, an individual
user-
athlete of the system communicates with a selected subset of coaches listed in
a relational
database of all coaches in a given area, such as a country (e.g., the U.S.),
that is stored in a
memory device accessible to the computers of the system. The selected subset
of the
coaches is created by the user submitting a query to search the database, such
as for
coaches in a given region for a sport of interest to the user, and then
selecting some or all
of the coaches identified by the resulting collection of records brought up by
the query.
The communication to the coach can be a transmission (via email or instant
messaging) of
a virtual player card containing relevant data for the user-athlete. The
"player card" will
be transmitted to the desired coaches that, for example, includes the desired
or relevant
data about the player. This player card can also contain a link that, when
selected by the
coach, re-directs the coach's computer browser to the virtual locker of the
athlete-user
who sent the player card and displays to the coach the data present in the
user's virtual
locker.
[0013] In an exemplary embodiment, the systems and methods allow a user
reviewing
contents of a locker of another user to be shown sports equipment that is
endorsed by, or
that has been selected or used by, the locker-owner, and the equipment
displayed contains
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a link that connects the user with a web-based store from which the user can
buy the sports
equipment through an over-the-Internet transaction. This provides an ability
for users to
share their preferred equipment, thereby endorsing that equipment. The systems
and
methods capitalize on this purchasing opportunity by linking any other user
who views
this equipment to a store where that user can purchase the endorsed equipment,
thereby
revolutionizing marketing and purchasing potential of athletic equipment.
[0014] In an exemplary embodiment, the systems and methods allow for specific
brands
and models of athletic equipment to be tracked and measured in terms of their
use, per
athlete, by state, by city, and/or by age of the athlete. This information,
offered by the
systems and methods described herein, has heretofore been unavailable in any
reasonably
accessible way, and is invaluable for marketing by equipment manufacturers.
Additionally, this information can be used as a source of financial income for
the website
administrator based on per-click or a percentage of sales generated, in
addition to any
benefits that the website administrator may receive for linking users to
stores selling the
equipment.
[0015] In an exemplary embodiment, computerized systems and methods administer
a
social networking system over the Internet that is searchable by its users.
Exemplary
searches yield demographic, age-specific, and/or any defining or other
classification data
for users of certain sports-related products that are endorsed, owned, and/or
used by users
of the social network, based on attributes of the user, such as gender, age,
sport, physical
attributes, position played, and other sports-related parameters.
[0016] With the foregoing and other objects in view, there is provided, a
system for
utilizing athlete data, comprising a system for utilizing athlete data
comprising a player-
card reader and a host server connected to the internet and hosting a host
application. The
host application is configured to communicate with computers separate from the
host
server and connected to the host server through the internet, the computers
comprising at
least one of a second server, a desktop, a laptop, a tablet, and a smartphone.
The host
application is configured to host a coach database comprising, for each coach,
attributes
including at least one of a coach name, a team name, a team gender, a team
sport, a team
association, a team classification, and a team location. The host application
is configured
to set up and store player lockers, each locker being associated with one
player and
comprising a unique player card containing player information comprising the
player's
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unique identification, at least one picture of the player, biographical
information about the
player, and an equipment locker in which is stored equipment selected by the
player. The
host application is configured to receive the player information from the
player and store
the player information within the unique player card. The host application is
configured to
receive from the player a subset of coaches selected from the coach database.
The host
application is configured to transmit the unique player card through the
internet to at least
one coach who is contained within the coach database by at least one of email
and text.
The player-card reader is hosted on at least one of the computers separate
from the host
server and is configured to display to a user of the at least one computer the
player
information contained within the unique player card in a standardized display
format.
[0017] In accordance with another feature, the host application is configured
to send the
unique player card to the subset of coaches contained within the coach
database who are
selected by the player.
[0018] In accordance with a further feature, the host application receives at
least some of
the player information from a coach associated with the player to store within
the unique
player card.
[0019] In accordance with a concomitant feature, the player-card reader also
displays a
hyperlink that, when selected, re-directs a browser of the at least one
computer to the
player locker of the player who sent the unique player card and displays the
player
information present within the player locker.
[0020] Although the systems, apparatuses, and methods are illustrated and
described
herein as embodied in a system and method for an interactive computerized
social
network, it is, nevertheless, not intended to be limited to the details shown
because various
modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing
from the
spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the
claims.
Additionally, well-known elements of exemplary embodiments will not be
described in
detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the
systems,
apparatuses, and methods.
[0021] Additional advantages and other features characteristic of the systems,
apparatuses, and methods will be set forth in the detailed description that
follows and may
be apparent from the detailed description or may be learned by practice of
exemplary
embodiments. Still other advantages of the systems, apparatuses, and methods
may be
CA 2979136 2017-09-14
realized by any of the instrumentalities, methods, or combinations
particularly pointed out
in the claims.
[0022] Other features that are considered as characteristic for the systems,
apparatuses,
and methods are set forth in the appended claims. As required, detailed
embodiments of
the systems, apparatuses, and methods are disclosed herein; however, it is to
be
understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the systems,
apparatuses, and methods, which can be embodied in various forms. Therefore,
specific
structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted
as limiting, but
merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching
one of ordinary
skill in the art to variously employ the systems, apparatuses, and methods in
virtually any
appropriately detailed structure. Further, the terms and phrases used herein
are not
intended to be limiting; but rather, to provide an understandable description
of the
systems, apparatuses, and methods. While the specification concludes with
claims
defining the systems, apparatuses, and methods of the invention that are
regarded as novel,
it is believed that the systems, apparatuses, and methods will be better
understood from a
consideration of the following description in conjunction with the drawing
figures, in
which like reference numerals are carried forward.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0023] The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer to
identical or
functionally similar elements throughout the separate views, which are not
true to scale,
and which, together with the detailed description below, are incorporated in
and form part
of the specification, serve to illustrate further various embodiments and to
explain various
principles and advantages all in accordance with the systems, apparatuses, and
methods.
Advantages of embodiments of the systems, apparatuses, and methods will be
apparent
from the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments thereof,
which
description should be considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings
in
which:
[0024] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of an exemplary embodiment of
an
overall distributed server-based system for an interactive computerized social
network
connected to the Internet;
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CA 2979136 2017-09-14
[0025] FIG. 1A is a block circuit diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a
server in
the system of FIG. 1;
[0026] FIG. 1B is a block circuit diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a
computer in
the system of FIG. 1;
[0027] FIG. 2 is a functional diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a website
architecture for a website supported by the server-based system of FIG. 1;
[0028] FIG. 3 is a screen capture of a rendered three-dimensional graphic of
an
exemplary embodiment of a locker room immersive environment as presented to a
user
viewer showing in front of the user a particular user's locker;
[0029] FIG. 3A is a screen capture of the locker room environment of FIG. 3
after the
user has selected and opened an individual's locker to reveal that
individual's player's
card and an interactive search panel;
[0030] FIG. 4A is a partial screen capture of the interactive search panel of
FIG. 3A;
[0031] FIG. 4B is a partial screen capture of the interactive search panel of
FIG. 4A with
a chat feature selected;
[0032] FIG. 5 is a partial screen capture of the interactive player's card of
FIG. 3A;
[0033] FIG. 6 is a set of partial screen captures of an exemplary embodiment
of an
interior of a user's locker in the system of FIG. 1 illustrating a process by
which
equipment is viewed or added to a user's equipment locker and the result of
selecting a
piece of equipment for view and/or purchase;
[0034] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an interactive decision menu displayed
to a user-
athlete by which the athlete can distribute the user's information to selected
coaches;
[0035] FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a communication interfaced
between the
user and a database of the system of FIG. 1;
[0036] FIG. 9 is a tree chart of an exemplary embodiment for creating a player
card; and
[0037] FIG. 10A and FIG. 10B together form a tree chart of an exemplary
embodiment
of a coaches application, the dotted line on the top right of FIG. 10A
connecting with the
dotted line on the top left of FIG. 10B to form a singular flow chart.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
[0038] As required, detailed embodiments of the systems, apparatuses, and
methods are
disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed
embodiments are
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CA 2979136 2017-09-14
merely exemplary of the systems, apparatuses, and methods, which can be
embodied in
various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed
herein are
not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as
a
representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ
the systems,
apparatuses, and methods in virtually any appropriately detailed structure.
Further, the
terms and phrases used herein are not intended to be limiting; but rather, to
provide an
understandable description of the systems, apparatuses, and methods. While the
specification concludes with claims defining the features of the systems,
apparatuses, and
methods that are regarded as novel, it is believed that the systems,
apparatuses, and
methods will be better understood from a consideration of the following
description in
conjunction with the drawing figures, in which like reference numerals are
carried
forward.
[0039] In the following detailed description, reference is made to the
accompanying
drawings which form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of
illustration
embodiments that may be practiced. It is to be understood that other
embodiments may be
utilized and structural or logical changes may be made without departing from
the scope.
Therefore, the following detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting
sense, and the
scope of embodiments is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
[0040] Alternate embodiments may be devised without departing from the spirit
or the
scope of the invention. Additionally, well-known elements of exemplary
embodiments of
the systems, apparatuses, and methods will not be described in detail or will
be omitted so
as not to obscure the relevant details of the systems, apparatuses, and
methods.
[0041] Before the systems, apparatuses, and methods are disclosed and
described, it is to
be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of
describing particular
embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. The terms "comprises,"
"comprising," or any other variation thereof are intended to cover a non-
exclusive
inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a
list of
elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements
not
expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.
An element
proceeded by "comprises ... a" does not, without more constraints, preclude
the existence
of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus
that comprises
the element. The terms "including" and/or "having," as used herein, are
defined as
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CA 2979136 2017-09-14
comprising (i.e., open language). The terms "a" or "an", as used herein, are
defined as one
or more than one. The term "plurality," as used herein, is defined as two or
more than
two. The term "another," as used herein, is defined as at least a second or
more. The
description may use the terms "embodiment" or "embodiments," which may each
refer to
one or more of the same or different embodiments.
[0042] The terms "coupled" and "connected," along with their derivatives, may
be used.
It should be understood that these terms are not intended as synonyms for each
other.
Rather, in particular embodiments, "connected" may be used to indicate that
two or more
elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with each other.
"Coupled" may mean
that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact (e.g.,
directly
coupled). However, "coupled" may also mean that two or more elements are not
in direct
contact with each other, but yet still cooperate or interact with each other
(e.g., indirectly
coupled).
[0043] For the purposes of the description, a phrase in the form "A/B" or in
the form "A
and/or B" or in the form "at least one of A and B" means (A), (B), or (A and
B), where A
and B are variables indicating a particular object or attribute. When used,
this phrase is
intended to and is hereby defined as a choice of A or B or both A and B, which
is similar
to the phrase "and/or". Where more than two variables are present in such a
phrase, this
phrase is hereby defined as including only one of the variables, any one of
the variables,
any combination of any of the variables, and all of the variables, for
example, a phrase in
the form "at least one of A, B, and C" means (A), (B), (C), (A and B), (A and
C), (B and
C), or (A, B and C).
[0044] Relational terms such as first and second, top and bottom, and the like
may be
used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action
without
necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order
between such
entities or actions. The description may use perspective-based descriptions
such as
up/down, back/front, top/bottom, and proximal/distal. Such descriptions are
merely used
to facilitate the discussion and are not intended to restrict the application
of disclosed
embodiments. Various operations may be described as multiple discrete
operations in
turn, in a manner that may be helpful in understanding embodiments; however,
the order
of description should not be construed to imply that these operations are
order dependent.
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[0045] As used herein, the term "about" or "approximately" applies to all
numeric
values, whether or not explicitly indicated. These terms generally refer to a
range of
numbers that one of skill in the art would consider equivalent to the recited
values (i.e.,
having the same function or result). In many instances these terms may include
numbers
that are rounded to the nearest significant figure. As used herein, the terms
"substantial"
and "substantially" means, when comparing various parts to one another, that
the parts
being compared are equal to or are so close enough in dimension that one skill
in the art
would consider the same. Substantial and substantially, as used herein, are
not limited to a
single dimension and specifically include a range of values for those parts
being
compared. The range of values, both above and below (e.g., "+/-" or
greater/lesser or
larger/smaller), includes a variance that one skilled in the art would know to
be a
reasonable tolerance for the parts mentioned.
[0046] It will be appreciated that embodiments of the systems, apparatuses,
and methods
described herein may be comprised of one or more processors and unique stored
program
instructions that control the one or more processors to implement, in
conjunction with
certain non-processor circuits and other elements, some, most, or all of the
functions of the
devices and methods described herein. The non-processor circuits may include,
but are
not limited to, signal drivers, clock circuits, power source circuits, and
user input and
output elements. Alternatively, some or all functions could be implemented by
a state
machine that has no stored program instructions, or in one or more application
specific
integrated circuits (ASICs) or field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), in which
each
function or some combinations of certain of the functions are implemented as
custom
logic. Of course, a combination of these approaches could also be used. Thus,
methods
and means for these functions have been described herein.
[0047] The terms "program," "software," "software application," and the like
as used
herein, are defined as a sequence of instructions designed for execution on a
computer
system or programmable device. A "program," "software," "application,"
"computer
program," or "software application" may include a subroutine, a function, a
procedure, an
object method, an object implementation, an executable application, an applet,
a servlet, a
source code, an object code, any computer language logic, a shared
library/dynamic load
library and/or other sequence of instructions designed for execution on a
computer system.
CA 2979136 2017-09-14
[0048] Herein various embodiments of the systems, apparatuses, and methods are
described. In many of the different embodiments, features are similar.
Therefore, to avoid
redundancy, repetitive description of these similar features may not be made
in some
circumstances. It shall be understood, however, that description of a first-
appearing
feature applies to the later described similar feature and each respective
description,
therefore, is to be incorporated therein without such repetition.
[0049] Described now are exemplary embodiments. Referring now to the figures
of the
drawings in detail and first, particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown a first
exemplary
embodiment of a diagrammatic representation of the overall distributed server-
based
system for an interactive computerized social network connected to the
Internet.
[0050] As best seen in FIG. 1, a number of users are connected to the Internet
by a
variety of hardware devices, for example, by desktop computers 10 or
laptops/tablets 11
that each comprise a computer processor, a mass data storage device connected
with the
processor, each specific to the hardware device in which it resides, a
keyboard, a display
or monitor, and input devices such as a computer mouse, as well as software
stored on the
data storage device so it can be executed by the processor. This software can
include any
of a variety of operating systems, such as Windows , Apple , or Linux
operating
systems, and a browser program such as Microsoft Internet Explorer , Microsoft
Edge ,
Apple Safari , Google Chrome , Mozilla Firefox , or any of a variety of
Internet
browsers.
[0051] Alternatively, users may connect to the Internet using smartphones 12,
which are
also computer processors containing data storage and software that executes an
operating
system, for example, like Android or i0S operating systems, as well as
respective
application for each operating system that accesses the Internet in a more
directed way.
[0052] All of these devices 10, 11, and 12, communicate over the Internet and
access at
least one server 13 that is also connected to the Internet and receives and
transmits data
=
across the Internet. The at least one server 13 comprises one or more computer
data
processing systems all connected with a data storage device that supports a
common
database(s) stored thereon, and is shared among the server computers by
computer
architecture. The server 13 exchanges information over the Internet with the
various
computers 10, 11, and 12, usually using the http format, and the server 13 is
accessed over
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the Internet by its worldwide web URL designation, for example,
www.onthehopnation.com.
[0053] Referring now to FIG. 1A, a block diagram of a data processing system
that may
be implemented as a server, such as 13 in FIG. 1, is depicted in accordance
with one
exemplary embodiment. A data processing system 1000 may be a symmetric
multiprocessor (SMP) system including a plurality of processors 1002, 1004
connected to
a system bus 1006. Alternatively, a single processor system may be employed.
Also
connected to a system bus 1006 is a memory controller/cache 1008, which
provides an
interface to a local memory 1009. An I/O bus bridge 1010 is connected to a
system bus
1006 and provides an interface to an I/0 bus 1012. A memory controller/cache
1008 and
an 1/0 bus bridge 1010 may be integrated as depicted in FIG. 1A. The
processor, as
depicted by 1002 or 1004, or by a single processor in a single processor
system, can also
work in conjunction with any other memory device or storage locations, such as
external
data storage areas, to serve as a monitor for monitoring data being stored
and/or accessed
on the data storage areas.
[0054] A peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus bridge 1014 connected to
an I/0
bus 1012 provides an interface to a PCI local bus 1016. A number of modems may
be
connected to the PCI local bus 1016. Typical PCI bus implementations will
support four
PCI expansion slots or add-in connectors. Communications links to computers
10, 11, 12
in FIG. 1 may be provided through a modem 1018 and a network adapter 1020
connected
to the PCI local bus 1016 through add-in boards, or may be done through
wireless
communications, possibly via Bluetooth .
[0055] Additional PCI bus bridges 1022, 1024 provide interfaces for additional
PCI
buses 1026, 1028, from which additional modems or network adapters may be
supported.
In this manner, a data processing system 1000 allows for connections to
multiple network
computers. A memory-mapped graphics adapter 1030 and a hard disk 1032 may also
be
connected to the I/O bus 1012 as depicted, either directly or indirectly.
[0056] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the hardware
depicted in
FIG. 1A may vary. For example, other peripheral devices, such as optical disk
or solid-
state drives and the like, also may be used in addition to or in place of the
hardware
depicted. The depicted example is not meant to imply architectural limitations
with
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respect to the embodiment of the server, it is simply an exemplary embodiment
of a server,
which is a primary component of the described systems and methods.
[0057] Herein, the terms "computer program medium," "computer usable medium,"
and
"computer readable medium" are used to generally refer to media such as the
main
memory 1009, a removable storage drive 1031, a removable media 1033, a hard
disk
1032, and signals. These computer program products are measures for providing
software
to the computer system. The computer readable medium allows the computer
system to
read data, instructions, messages or message packets, and other computer
readable
information from the computer readable medium. The computer readable medium,
for
example, may include non-volatile memory, such as Floppy, ROM, Flash memory,
Disk
drive memory, solid-state drive memory, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, and other permanent
external storage. These memory applications are useful, for example, for
transporting
information, such as data and computer instructions, between computer systems.
Furthermore, the computer readable medium may include computer readable
information
in a transitory state medium such as a network link and/or a network
interface, including a
wired network or a wireless network, which allows a computer to read such
computer
readable information.
[0058] Computer programs (also called computer control logic) are stored in
memory.
Computer programs may also be received through a communications interface such
as PCI
local bus 1016. Such computer programs, when executed, enable the computer
system to
perform the features as described herein. In particular, the computer
programs, when
executed, enable the processors 1002 and/or 1004 to perform the features of
the computer
system. Accordingly, such computer programs represent controllers of the
computer
system.
[0059] With reference now to FIG. 1B, a block diagram illustrating a data
processing
system is depicted in which the systems and methods may be implemented. A data
processing system 1100 is an example of a computer 10, 11, and/or 12. The data
processing system 1100 employs a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) local
bus
architecture. Although the depicted example employs a PCI bus, other bus
architectures
such as Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) and Industry Standard Architecture
(ISA) may
be used. The processor 1102 and the main memory 1104 are connected to a PCI
local bus
1106 through a PCI bridge 1108. The PCI bridge 1108 may also include an
integrated
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memory controller and cache memory for processor 1102. Additional connections
to the
PCI local bus 1106 may be made through direct component interconnection or
through
add-in boards. In the depicted example, a local area network (LAN) adapter
1110, a small
computer system interface (SCSI) host bus adapter 1112, and an expansion bus
interface
1114 are connected to the PCI local bus 1106 by direct component connection.
In
contrast, an audio adapter 1116, a graphics adapter 1118, and an audio/video
adapter 1119
are connected to the PCI local bus 1106 by add-in boards inserted into
expansion slots.
The expansion bus interface 1114 provides a connection for a keyboard and
mouse adapter
1120, a modem 1122, and additional memory 1124, for example. The SCSI host bus
adapter 1112 provides a connection for a hard disk drive 1126, a tape drive
1128, and a
CD-ROM drive 1130, for example. Typical PCI local bus implementations will
support
three or four PCI expansion slots or add-in connectors.
[0060] An operating system runs on the processor 1102 and is used to
coordinate and
provide control of various components within the data processing system 1100
in FIG. 1B.
Each user is able to execute a different operating system. The operating
system may be
commercially available operating systems, such as WINDOWS , which is available
from
Microsoft Corporation. A database program such as ORACLE may run in
conjunction
with the operating system and provide calls to the operating system from JAVA
programs or applications executing on the data processing system 1100.
Instructions for
the operating system, the object-oriented operating system, and applications
or programs
are located on storage devices, such as the 'hard disk drive 1126, and may be
loaded into
the main memory 1104 for execution by the processor 1102.
[0061] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the hardware in
FIG. 1B
may vary depending on the implementation. Other internal hardware or
peripheral
devices, such as flash ROM (or equivalent nonvolatile memory), optical disk
drives, or
solid-state drives and the like, may be used in addition to or in place of the
hardware
depicted in FIG. 1B. Also, the processes of the system may be applied to a
multiprocessor
data processing system.
[0062] As another example, the data processing system 1100 may be a stand-
alone
system configured to be bootable without relying on some type of network
communication
interface, regardless of whether or not the data processing system 1100
includes some type
of network communication interface. As a further example, the data processing
system
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1100 may be a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) device or smartphone, which are
configured with ROM and/or flash ROM in order to provide non-volatile memory
for
storing operating system files and/or user-generated data.
[0063] The depicted example in FIG. 1B and above-described examples are not
meant to
imply architectural limitations. For example, the data processing system 1100
also may be
a notebook computer, a hand-held computer, a kiosk, or a Web appliance in
addition to
taking the form of a PDA or smartphone.
[0064] Referring to FIG. 2, when a user on the Internet accesses the URL of
the server
13, the server 13 returns a data package to the interrogating computer that
contains an
HTML home page 200 that is displayed on the display screen of the
interrogating
computer, and that is organized with subsidiary links, for example, according
to the
diagram of FIG. 2. The homepage HTML data and the other pages of the website
are
stored at the server 13. The home page 200 and the other pages described
herein may also
be further populated with a variety of other scrips or functionalities in
various languages
or protocols, such as pop-ups, Flash ActionScript, WEB DL, Java applets, or a
variety of
other features and formats of Internet webpage design.
[0065] The home page 200, when accessed by the browser of the user's computer
10, 11
or smartphone 12, displays a log-in page with spaces for a username and a
password, and a
virtual button in the display that can be virtually pressed using the user's
applicable
input/output device, such as a computer mouse, when those fields are
completed. In
addition, there is an invitation to create a username account and password if
the visiting
user does not have one. The page also may contain a variety of other banners
and
advertisements or news items that are displayed as desired to the public
visiting the
homepage of the website.
[0066] The user may enter his or her username and password and, on entry of a
valid
username and password, the home page 200 links immediately to a page that
displays a
locker room 210, which creates on the user's monitor an animated display, from
a first-
person point of view of the user, of doors opening and the user entering a
three-
dimensional (3D) immersive locker room environment. The locker room 210
displays on
the user's monitor or screen a real-time rendering of a 3D immersive
environment locker
room. In an exemplary embodiment, the real-time view is a streamed video made
up of
sequentially streamed images, each of which is generated for the individual
user for a
CA 2979136 2017-09-14
respective point in time, preferably at a high enough speed between the image
frames that
the video changes smoothly based on movement of the user in the virtual
environment or
the user's actions in the virtual locker room environment. An exemplary
embodiment of a
single rendered image of this virtual environment is shown in FIG. 3. In
addition, a virtual
reality application may provide for a user to use a headset to enter into the
3D locker room
and examine its contents.
[0067] The locker room system as a whole is within a virtual environment,
meaning that
the user navigates through it by simulated physical movement using the arrow
keys of the
keyboard of the computer, the mouse or joystick connected to the computer, or
any other
input/output device that may be developed in the future. In this 3D immersive
environment, the user's individual locker or lockers 240 are organized around
a central
pillar, although any other organization of lockers is acceptable in the 3D
environment.
The lockers that are displayed in this locker room to the entering user are
generally lockers
associated with a group of other users whom the user has identified. This
group can be a
list of data identifying connected users linked to him or her, for example, as
"friends" in
other networks, or some other set of recognized users with whom the user has
social
contact in the locker room. In addition to linked third-party or other users
being near the
current user's locker, lockers of famous athletes or others involved in the
sport in whom
the current user is interested may also be in the area or adjacent the current
user's locker
240, so that the current user can move through the 3D environment and access
those
lockers and view their contents quickly and easily, as will be discussed
below.
[0068] In an exemplary embodiment shown with regard to FIGS. 3 and 3A, a
locker 240
initially displays only the name of the individual who owns the locker 240.
When the
owner of that locker 240 clicks on the locker 240, two interactive "pop-up"
windows
appear, a search panel 40 and a player card 241. Each of these are described
in further
detail below. In contrast, when a third-party clicks on the locker 240 of a
user, only the
player card 241 appears.
[0069] As also seen in FIG. 3, the immersive 3D locker room imagery has the
ability to
show on its virtual walls various promotions 280 (e.g., advertisements,
invitations, posters,
banners) that can be accessed by the user by clicking on the promotion 280
and, through
an associated website link, will take the user to other places in the locker
room 210 or sites
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outside the locker room 210, such as preferred advertising pages or other
pages that may
be of interest to the user.
[0070] The locker room view shown in FIG. 3 is an image that is displayed in a
frame
on the browser of the user, and does not occupy the entire display screen of
the user's
display. As depicted in FIG. 3A, the user's display shows additional areas
including the
interactive search panel 40 (an example of which is shown in FIG. 4A) and the
player card
241, shown in FIG. 5, which are activated, in an exemplary embodiment, by
providing a
virtual button that the user can virtually push and, when activated, displays
and gives the
locker's owner access to both the interactive search panel 40 and the player
card 241.
[0071] The interactive search panel 40 provides for a number of
functionalities, as
indicated in the functional map of FIG. 2. On the search panel 40, users may
browse the
system for information on a particular athlete in an athlete search panel 230.
The athlete
search panel 230 allows a user to view a locker 240 (for example, created by a
famous
athlete) by relying on a database search or query capability. This capability
allows the
user to search through all of the athletes (famous, not famous, professional,
and amateur)
that are users of the system, for example, by first name, by last name, by
gender, by sport
played, by position played, by height, by weight, by graduation year, by
state, by school,
and by a variety of other parameters, as seen in the entry spaces of the
athlete search panel
230 shown in FIG. 4A.
[0072] Upon completing a browse-athlete search in the athlete search panel
230, the
system returns a list of athletes conforming to the parameters of the desired
search. Any
of the athletes on the resulting list can be selected. Selecting a user-
athlete from the list of
query results by, for example, clicking with a mouse on the athlete's name or
picture in the
search results, triggers a redirect command sent to the server 13 that causes
the server 13
to send to the browser of the searching user data packets defining contents of
the locker
240 of the selected user-athlete, which can be opened. The browser will
subsequently
display the contents of the locker 240 of that user-athlete either
automatically or after the
user has clicked to open that locker 240, as shown in FIG. 3A.
[0073] On the search panel 40, users also may access a chat room 220, in which
the user
can initiate a chat or participate in existing chats with fellow users of
their authorized
group, with the user's connected user list, or with any set of users that are
selected by the
initiator of the chat. The chat room 220 allows for a public chat in public
chat room 221
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and also allows for an individual chat through an instant message window 222
or for
individual message transmission to a listed connected user in message window
223 (see
FIG. 2). The messaging windows 222, 223 function, for example, by allowing the
user to
communicate with his or her friends via a messaging facility whiteboard, or a
user can
transmit a message from the internal networking system to another user of the
system by
initiating the message in the system, which then sends a message from the
network
administrator to the recipient via that user's e-mail.
[0074] In this exemplary embodiment, a news panel 260 indicating relevant news
is also
displayed in the search panel 40, as is a set 270 of featured videos 271, 272
or other links
(see FIG. 2), coupled ideally with promotions 280 relevant to the user. News
links within
the news panel 260 may divide into subsets of subjects of interest such as
sports news 261
or fitness or health news 262, which are populated with additional links to
news stores in
those areas. Similarly, the link to featured videos 271, 272 directs the user
to videos or
videos of individual athletes that are potentially of interest to the user.
[0075] Another band of links is found at a favorite athletes panel 250, which
shows a
train of images or names of a group of athletes selected by the user that are
of interest to
the user. When a user selects one of the favorite athletes 251 by, for
example, mouse-
clicking on the displayed face or name, the server 13 redirects the user's
view to the
contents of the locker 240 of that favorite athlete 251. The favorite
athlete's locker 240
may be set up by the athlete herself/himself as a user, or, in the case of
famous or
professional athletes, may be set up by the athlete's employer, team, school,
agent, or fans,
etc., or even by an employee of the company in charge of the systems/methods
described
herein.
[0076] Additionally, upon entering the search panel 40 for a first time,
featured athletes
and videos may be transmitted automatically to the interrogating computer from
the
server. The athletes and videos featured in the locker room will be determined
and
generated by the server, using, for example, an algorithm that calculates an
average of
likes and comments per video and display the video with the highest average as
the
featured video. This can be set to recalculate every day, week, or month. One
exemplary
embodiment for determining the highest average is set forth in the following
example. A
first video has twenty Likes and twelve Comments and an average of 16 is
calculated
according to the formula: (20 + 12) / 2 = 16. A second video has thirty Likes
and two
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CA 2979136 2017-09-14
Comments. Using this same formula, (22 + 2) / 2 = 12, an average of 12 is
determined.
By comparing these two averages, the first video will be rated higher and,
therefore,
display as the featured video. If, however, the highest determined average is
the same for
multiple videos, then, in one exemplary embodiment, the most recently added
video will
display as the featured video. Alternatively, those with the same average can
rotate by
being displayed one after the other for each next viewer. This process is
able, therefore, to
determine which athletes, and which videos, would be most applicable or
appealing to
each individual user.
[0077] To activate any one of the functionalities of the search panel 40, the
user simply
clicks or double clicks on that functionality, for example, the chat room 220,
the athlete
search panel 230, favorite athletes panel 250, the news panel 260 (sports new
261 and
fitness/health news 262), the set 270 of featured videos 271 or athlete videos
272, or
individual promotions 280, and the user is taken to a page that contains the
relevant
material or results. When clicked, prior to that shift, the specific area that
has been
selected is highlighted, as is seen in FIG. 4B for example, by an enlarged
frame 41
surrounding the particular area within the search panel 40 having the desired
functionality.
FIG. 4B illustrates the search panel 40 after the user has selected the
functionality of the
chat room 220.
[0078] Referring to FIG. 2, the user who visits the locker 240 of another user
can only
see the player card 241 displayed to that visiting user. Any user on the
system can go to
any locker 240 and open it, for example, by simply clicking on the door of the
virtual
locker 240 in the locker room immersive environment. The door of the locker
240 opens
through rendered or scripted animation and the visitor to the locker is shown,
on the
visitor's display device, a player card 241 of the user who owns the locker.
[0079] The owner of the locker 240, in contrast, can edit at least some of the
contents of
the user's player card 241, including biographical data 242, a coaches
database 243,
videos 244, images 245, an equipment locker 246, or other displayed content.
Certain
aspects of the player card 241 can be hidden or made public. For example, the
owner of
that locker 240 can make the player card 241 and locker 240 entirely public.
Alternatively, the user can make the player card 241 and locker 240 visible to
only to
those other users who are directly connected to the user. In this regard, when
the owner of
the locker 240 opens the player card 241, the owner has access to a "Follow"
button and
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CA 2979136 2017-09-14
an "Add Connection" button. When Follow is activated, the locker 240 is
updated by
adding the third-party user who was just Followed to the owner's profile and
will be
displayed in the feed section of that user's profile. When Add Connection is
activated,
that third-party user will be added to the owner's network of connections to
others. In a
locker edit mode, the owner is provided with those buttons that enable or
disable the
ability to Follow another user or to add a connection to another user. The
user can also
toggle a button to hide or show the locker 240 and hide or show the player
card 241.
[0080] FIG. 5 shows an exemplary embodiment of the contents of a virtual
locker 240 as
it is displayed to a user when the user logs into the home page 200, enters
the immersive
environment of the locker room 210, clicks on the door of another's locker
240, and then
passes through to reveal the user's publicly available player card 241. FIG.
2, therefore,
can represent the HTML link structure of the interior for the user's view of
the locker 240.
The user's view of the player card 241 is made up of a number of elements,
including, but
not limited to, the biographical data 242 associated with the user/player, a
coaches
database 243 (which may be maintained by the user, by a registered coach, or
both; see
FIG. 2), the videos 244 selected and uploaded by the user or authorized third-
parties (such
as a coach), and the images 245 selected and uploaded by the user or
authorized third-
parties (such as a coach). In addition, the locker 240 contains an equipment
locker 246 in
which the user may place links and/or images and/or thumbnails defining a
collection of
equipment 247 used by or preferred by or endorsed by the individual user.
[0081] In the particular exemplary embodiment of FIG. 5, the image shown is
that
which will be viewed by a user other than the owner of the locker 240 when the
user has
opened the locker 240. When so opened, the player card 241 is revealed and
contains data
provided by the owner-player, as well as data that has been developed or
enhanced by the
software processing of the player's data at the server 13 based on information
provided by
the player, for example, certain metrics of the player's abilities and
performances that
appear in a public form of the player card 241.
[0082] In exemplary embodiments, a user's locker 240 is capable of being
viewed by
anybody who locates the user in the system and contains public information of
the
associated player card 241 and, in this manner, the public player card 241 can
be viewed
by coaches and any other visitor.
CA 2979136 2017-09-14
[0083] Each player card 241 contains the biographical data 242, videos 244,
and images
245 that are uploaded or authorized by the user/player who owns the player
card 241. In
exemplary embodiments, a user-editable version of the player card 241 includes
a number
of buttons that trigger scripts or links allowing the owner to alter the
content of the player
card 241. As seen at the top of FIG. 5, these buttons may include, for
example, Edit
Profile 50, Write Post 51, Upload Photo 52, Upload Video 53, Attach Link 54,
Post 55,
Message 56, Share 57, Block 58, Report 59, each of which allow a user to alter
data
regarding that player card 241 of the locker 240.
[0084] As seen in FIG. 5, the upper left hand corner of the player card 241
shows the
name of the player and displays a photograph 249 of the user, as well as an
indication of
how many people follow the news or postings of the user (Followers 248) and
how many
other users this particular user is Following 249, in other words, the user
has elected to
Follow another user. A data sheet and scores prepared by analytics that are a
series of
calculations performed by software executed on the server 13 is shown in a
left-hand
column 60 of the player card 241. Additionally, a virtual coach-share button
61 allows the
user to share his public player card 241 with college coaches of the user's
selection.
[0085] The biographical data 242 provided in the left-hand column 60 includes,
for
example, the user's age, hometown, high school attended, high school
graduation year,
name of the club or team on which the user plays/played, grade point average
(GPA),
height, weight, and list of achievements or awards that the user has received,
all of which
may be edited or supplied by the user. Also included at the bottom of the left-
hand side
column 60 is a user's score 63, which is an analytic that represents an
assessment of the
player's abilities and skills in the given sport, relative to other users in
the database. The
administrating software of the server 13 derives the analytic score 63. In an
exemplary
embodiment, to determine the score 63, the system calculates an average of all
performance statistics in each category that are fed into the athlete's player
card 241 from
a coaches application 300 (see FIG. 10A). A number is then assigned to
performance
average ranges. For example, a score of "5" is applied to averages of 80-100,
and a score
of "4" is applied to averages of 60-80, etc. Other value or values from
statistics or data
can be assigned as well.
[0086] A middle column 62 shows a continuously running newsfeed that is
updated with
news that is relevant to the user of the player card 241 and/or for other
users either
21
CA 2979136 2017-09-14
selected by the user or those who are followers 248 or following 249, for
example. The
middle column 62 also includes the virtual buttons used to access the videos
244 and images
245, as well as the control buttons (51 to 59).
[0087] In addition to the score 63, each player card 241 can also contain
multi-
dimensional scores based on different categories and abilities and sport.
These additional
scores can be derived, for example, by number of views, number of likes,
number of shares,
ratings, and statistics of the particular athlete user. A calculated score in
each of these
additional displays prompt the user to approve that score and requires an
affirmative virtual
click for approval to show the score(s) on the user's profile, either publicly
or privately.
These additional scores can be displayed next to the score 63 or they can be
populated in a
pop-up window that appears when a user of the system, for example, clicks on
the box
containing the score 63. New scores that are assigned to the user prompt the
user to receive
training and nutrition recommendations (the user must virtually click 'yes' or
'no' to
accept). If these recommendations are requested and approved (by the user's
affirmative
approval), then the user will be required to input two weeks of performance
data per each
recommendation. This data
is processed and incorporated into the system's
recommendation algorithm, which is enhanced as the system gathers more
information, thus
expanding its database. The recommendation algorithm searches the database for
players
who are playing the same sport and are in the same age range and have the same
gender, for
example. Training/nutrition program recommendations from the top three
performance
averages or scores of the players can be displayed. The user is prompted to
approve the
scores before displaying in their player card 241.
[0088] Under this algorithm, data is analyzed according to a computer-
implemented and
computer-learned analytical model to produce equipment and nutritional
recommendation
to increase the athlete's performance. Specifically, the analytical component
is specially
programmed to analyze records in the database, recognize statistical patterns,
and
transactional relationships that can predict competitive opportunities
according to the
principles of machine deep learning. The prior art is replete with various
computer
intelligent learning systems for data analysis and, therefore, a significant
number of
references detail fundamental technologies that may be improved according to
the
exemplary embodiments described, or incorporated together to form a part of
the present
disclosure. However, the disclosure herein is not intended to be limiting as
to the knowledge
22
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-11-04
of a person of ordinary skill in the art. Any recitation below of these
teachings or reference
to these teachings is not meant to imply that the inventors hereof were
necessarily in any
way involved in these references, nor that the claimed inventions disclosed
herein were
made or conceived after the publication of these references. Rather,
recitation of these
references is made to provide a background and to gain an appreciation of the
pattern
recognition and machine learning frameworks and theories that are utilized by
the present
systems, methods, and processes as it is disclosed here forth. In general,
machine learning
is an aspect of artificial intelligence that involves the creation and study
of systems that can
learn from data. Pattern recognition is one element of machine learning,
whereby the data
is mined for patterns and regularities in the data. The training of the
machine to perform
this recognition is, in some embodiments, through the use of neural networks
(or other
machine learning networks) that are trained with known input and outcome data
to provide
predictions with an acceptable level of accuracy, thus automatically inferring
rules for
recognizing statistical patterns and regularities. Accordingly, the networks
are adaptive
because they are reconfigured during training and during actual use to learn
new rules or to
find new patterns in new data. In some instances, the determined patterns may
be complex
and non-linear, such that their existence cannot be easily recognized by
humans in the
absence of machine intelligence. A detailed discussion of the fundamental
aspects of
machine learning and neural networks may be found in "Neural Networks and Deep
Learning, Chapter 1: Using Neural Nets to Recognize Handwritten Digits" by
Michael
Nielsen, January 2016, Web. 10 Feb. 2016. In addition, a thorough explanation
of pattern
recognition may be found in "Pattern Recognition," Web. 10 Feb. 2016
<https ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattem_recognition>.
[0089] With respect to the present disclosure, in an exemplary embodiment, the
analytical
component is trained, according to the machine learning and pattern
recognition principles
discussed above, to recognize when an athlete has similar statistics with
another athlete. In
a further exemplary embodiment, the analytical component is trained to
recognize
increasingly complex statistical patterns. For example, the analytical
23
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-11-04
component may recognize when an athlete can use a type of equipment and follow
a
certain nutrition regimen to increase their performance statistics.
[0090] Accordingly, the data that is gathered and stored in the database(s) is
used
intelligently by the automated system to produce meaningful correlations and
indicators
for identifying athletes with similar stats, thus making recommendations to
increase
performance statistics. Therefore, as the sheer volume of data in the system
database(s)
expands, the analytical results that are generated by the system become more
refined and
improved over time. The data gathered and the analysis performed is
continuously
evolving in real time and in a dynamic manner, and relies entirely upon the
input of age,
gender, sport, height and weight, and location of all athletes on the network,
as well as
performance data captured by a third-party device or inputted by the athlete
themselves.
One example of a third party device is an activity tracker called and
manufactured by
Fitbite. Data from this tracker can be downloaded and utilized to enhance the
biographical data 242 of a particular user/athlete. In this example, many data
points can
be included to define a particular athlete's biometrics. These data points
could include, for
example, resting heart rate, maximum heart rate, duration of exercise zone for
heart rate,
sleep duration, and amount of steps per day to name a few, Thus, as mentioned
above, this
type of data bank and statistical analysis cannot realistically be achieved
solely within the
human mind using a pencil and paper, as the knowledge of such a person would
undoubtedly be limited in scope to just the human-reported data to which that
particular
entity or person is exposed. Furthermore, in view of the massive amounts of
data
accumulated over time, the systems and processes disclosed herein require the
use of a
non-human computing device to provide an analytical result that is both useful
and
remarkable. It would be impossible for the human mind, with or without the aid
of a
pencil and paper, to be able to store and recollect such large amounts of data
and to carry
out the recognition of statistical patterns and determination of correlations
that take into
account the entire data bank, which contains tens of thousands (or more) data
points. One
could not arrive at such an analytical result without utilizing the entire
massive bank of
data being stored in the system database(s). By employing machine learning,
the entire
data bank, which is continuously changing, can be effectively analyzed such
that the
analytical results will evolve and become more fine-tuned or accurate over
time to an
extent that is not possible in the human mind.
24
CA 2979136 2017-09-14
[0091] Continuing with the description of the player card 241, a right-hand
side column
64 is made up of, at the top, the user's equipment locker 246 and, at the
bottom, additional
advertising content 66 that may be selected based on the user's activities or
just in general
by the manager/administrator of the website hosting the locker room 210.
Contents of the
equipment locker 246 in the form of selected equipment 247 are defined by the
user, who
is able to select choices from a list of possible equipment that the user uses
or endorses.
FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary process by which the user loads the equipment
locker 246
with equipment 247. Initially, an empty equipment locker 65 is empty and has
no name
associated with the equipment locker 246. Once assigned to the user, the
equipment
locker 246 is altered to have a unique identifier corresponding to the user,
indicated with
reference numeral 66, wherein the locker 246 shows the name of the user (e.g.,
along the
bottom) and is populated in the center initially with standard equipment icons
associated
with the user's given sport. Thereafter, the identified equipment locker 66 is
changed to
show the exact equipment 247 used by or endorsed by the user.
[0092] Each piece of equipment 247 has a unique URL for that given piece of
equipment and, if supplied by the system, a store associated with being able
to purchase
that piece of equipment. In one exemplary embodiment, any user visiting the
locker and
seeing the public player card 241 can click on the image of the individual
piece of
equipment 247 to activate a pop-up window 67 that is associated with a web
link that,
when activated, will take the view a description of the piece of equipment on
display with
an option to purchase and/or to a store website for purchasing that piece of
equipment,
where an online transaction will be offered for the viewer to buy the
equipment. In an
exemplary embodiment, the lowest three prices and respective selling stores
found on the
web will be displayed through a pricing data feed or a comparison shopping
engine (CSE).
In an exemplary embodiment, the store itself may be run by an administrator of
the
website for the locker room 210 (as opposed to an on-line retailer) and a pop-
up window
67 may open to identify the product to be purchased and provide a virtual
button allowing
the visitor to buy that piece of equipment 247. When it is the user who
purchases a piece
of equipment 247, the associated information will become loaded equipment 247
owned
by that user-athlete and will populate their personal equipment locker 246.
[0093] If a user elects to visit an online store for equipment purchases, the
user's
selections and purchases may be tracked, and the information may be used
subsequently
CA 2979136 2017-09-14
by the system to provide the user with suggestions for other equipment, and/or
to provide
the user with tailored locker room content or videos during future visits.
[0094] Users of the system input data about their sports activities and
demographics and
team information, etc., and that information is then integrated into a
relational database of
all the users of the system, their general demographics, and other attributes.
The
identification of equipment that is used by the user or athlete to whom a
virtual locker 240
is assigned is also included in that database, which is organized so that it
is possible to
provide reports from the database of the number, percentages, and types of
athletes who
select specific pieces of equipment. This data may be offered or sold to
manufacturers or
resellers of equipment to allow them to better understand the relevant
marketplace for their
products.
[0095] The recommendation algorithm described above searches the database for
user-
athletes who are playing the same sport and are the same age and gender.
Equipment
recommendations from the top three performance averages or scores of the
players are
displayed. This will be displayed on a user's player card 241 after the player
is prompted
to approve and an approval by the user is given. The recommendation algorithm
recommends equipment to the user-athletes based on gender, sport, statistics,
location, and
other athletes in the On the Hop (0TH) network. If the algorithm determines a
direct
match between an athlete and a piece of equipment, the athlete will be
prompted to "buy
now," at which point the user will be required to either virtually press 'no'
or 'buy.'
[0096] A particularly desirable feature of the systems and methods herein is
that they
allow a user-athlete to transmit a virtual player card 241 by email to coaches
in athletic
programs of interest to the user-athlete. A process for generating and
transmitting the
player card 241 described below and is illustrated in the chart of FIG. 9.
When first
setting up the player card, the user logs into the system and selects a unique
identification
of the user. This identifier includes at least the person's name. In branches
90 and 91, the
user adds statistics and biographical data 242. The user can also start the
process for
communicating with a coach or coaches in branch 92. The user can request
information
from the coach, such as statistics, in branch 94, or the user can request
player statistics
from a wearable device (e.g., something similar to a Fitbit activity
tracker). The
wearable device captures data that include, for example, sprint and long-
distance running
times. When the player requests statistics data from the wearable device, the
data will
26
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populate into the athlete's player's card upon approval from the athlete. As
the data is
fetched, the athlete will be prompted to approve by clicking a yes or no
button, before the
data can be populated onto the player's card. If the user is ready to
communicate with the
coaches, the user can select from the coaches database 243 a given number of
coaches to
whom the user wants to transmit the player card 241 in branch 96. Transmission
of the
player card 241 to the selected coaches occurs in branch 98. In an exemplary
embodiment, when the player card 241 is transmitted outside the system to a
coach, for
example, it can be in a form that is readable by a simple separate player-card
reader
application. Transmission can occur by email or text or any other form of
electronic data
transfer. When recipients of a player card desire to read a player card, the
recipient can
open the app (similar to the way that Adobe Reader opens a PDF file) and,
with the app,
read the player card 241 in a system-defined, easy-to-read format. The type of
file can
have, for example, a ".oth" extension in the file name, which makes the file
able to only be
opened with the player-card reader. The recipient can view the player card 241
in a 3D
format, as well as chat and communicate with the athlete with appropriate
embedded
hyperlinks.
[0097] The owner of the player card 241 adds as many pictures 245 and/or
videos 244 as
desired in branch 100. Finally, the user selects the equipment 247 that is
desired to be
listed within the equipment locker 246 in branches 110 and 112. If desired,
the user can
obtain a recommendation for equipment 247 to be added to the equipment locker
246 in
branches 114 and 116 and, further, can even buy equipment 247; the user can
decide
whether or not to add that purchased equipment 247 to the equipment locker
246.
[0098] The player card 241 is transmitted (e.g., by email) from the
administrative
software system of the server 13 to coaches who are selected by the user from
a database
of coaches. In this exemplary embodiment, the email includes the player card
241 or a
link to the user's locker 240, which, when virtually clicked on, brings the
email recipient
to the locker 240 and to the public player card 241 of that user, along with
his/her
statistical and biographical data. If the communication includes the player
card 241, the
attachment will be in the .oth file format. When the .oth file is opened with
the player-
card reader, the athlete's 3D locker and player card 241 will be visible with
the ability to
chat and send messages between the sender and the recipient. It is noted that
the Follow
and Add Connection buttons are removed as irrelevant in this format.
27
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[0099] The process for transmitting the player card 241 is described with
regard to FIG.
7. When a user wishes to present his/her public player card 241 to coaches for
schools or
teams for whom she/he would like to play, the user virtually presses the coach-
share
button 61 (see FIG. 5). This action initiates a script that opens up, in one
exemplary
embodiment, a window (or in another exemplary embodiment a pop-up) that allows
for
entry of data defining a search to be performed on a database of coaches
(e.g., college
coaches). This database is maintained by the administrating software of the
system. The
database is a searchable relational database containing data records with
attributes of every
coach (at the university level or higher) in the U.S. and any other countries
that may be
relevant or selected by the user.
[00100] A coach-share box or window 70 (seen in FIG. 7) appears when the
button 61 is
selected. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 7, the window 70 has pull down
menus or
data search fields for attributes or names associated with coaches, from which
a subset of
coaches may be obtained, each of which is of interest to the user-athlete for
possible
recruitment for the coach's team. The pull-down menus include, in this
exemplary
embodiment, a gender menu 71 that is used to select a gender of the team for
which the
coach represents, a sport menu 72 used to select the sport being played, a
classification
menu 73 for a particular division, class, and/or level of the team being
sought (e.g., if the
sport is at a collegiate level), and a location menu 74 used to select a
town/city/county/district/state/country in which the team is located.
Exemplary
embodiments may include other menus with other attributes or parameters for a
coach or a
team or a location, for example, a team name or a team association (such as
with a
particular college).
[00101] Once the user selects the menus or data fields, a search button 75 is
selected by
the user, which triggers a results window 76 to open up that contains a
listing of coaches
who match the search parameters selected by the user. The results window 76
can be, for
example, a pop-up window. The coaches are identified/selected by searching
through the
relational database by a query prepared based on the search input, with each
coach being
indexed by university, state, sport, team gender, and name, as well as other
parameters for
searching.
[00102] The result of such query is shown in the middle of FIG. 7. Coaches are
listed in
order of their relevance to the search conducted by the user, as seen in
results window 76.
28
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Results window 76 also includes a column of control buttons 77 that can be
each selected
and, when selected, indicates the coaches to whom the user wishes to transmit
his or her
player card 241. Once the coaches are selected, a further transmission window
78 appears
and lists the selected coaches by their school and the coaches' names. The
transmission
window 78 has a final transmit button 79 that, when selected, causes the
system (on server
13) to transmit the player card 241 by to the selected coach or coaches (e.g.,
by email, text,
mail). In an exemplary embodiment, the number of coaches that can be contacted
is
restricted to a pre-determined limit, for example, five, which encourages the
athlete to
focus on specific coaches rather than just a wide broadcast that may be less
successful in
promotion of the user-athlete.
[00103] Upon reviewing the information on a player card 241, a coach may
decide that
he/she wants to contact the user. If contact is desired, then the coach has
the option to
click on a button located within the athlete's profile, which causes a message
to be sent to
the user notifying the user that the coach is interested and will be
contacting the user soon.
The option need not be restricted to an athlete's profile. Coaches may also be
considered
users of the system for searching or following up contacts from user-athletes.
Coaches are
provided with a user name and a password in the same manner as a user but do
not need to
have a locker, although a locker can be created if desired. Other facilities
for coaches may
be provided, such as access to the chat room(s) 220 and news feed(s) 261, 262,
for
example.
[00104] The specific architecture of the system from the user standpoint may
vary. For
example, in an exemplary embodiment, a relational database of users may be
maintained
separately from the coach database, or, in another exemplary embodiment, the
two
databases may be combined and supported (e.g., on the same mass storage
device, as seen
in FIG. 8). A user device 82 interacts with the complete database, including a
coach
database 80 supported on the server 13. Communication is accomplished through
a
communication device 81 that is running on the user's computer 10, 11 or
smartphone 12,
which can be in the form of the .oth player-card reader app mentioned above or
in another
form for transmitting and receiving electronic data. The communication device
81 has
code written for the given user device 82, for example, an Android t
smartphone or an
iPhonee, or the communication device 81 may be a JavaScript or other program
that
executes in the browser of a computer 10, 11 that comprises the user device
82.
29
CA 2979136 2017-09-14
[00105] The system's relational database is made up of a number of primary
data fields
that are broken up into further indexed subfields. These primary data fields
include, for
example, player card data, graphics, coaches' data, equipment, videos,
athletes, images,
news, and analytics, each of which is described in further detail below.
[00106] In an exemplary embodiment, player card data can be in the form of a
data
packet created by the user to present the user-athlete according to a standard
set of
informational data, plus any other content the user wishes to include, plus
some
proprietary performance scores or analytic metrics determined by the server
13, as
mentioned above in the description of the algorithm.
[00107] Coaches' data is a constantly updated relational database containing
data
defining all of the coaches who are relevant to any of the users, the data
being broken
down by the coach's name, state, school, team, sport, and other relevant data
defining their
responsibilities. This data, of course, is searchable by a query as a
relational database and
can yield a number of results that can be used for transmitting player cards
241 as has been
described above.
[00108] Equipment data is selected by the user, who can select from an
extensive list of
equipment and providers who provide data defining equipment that the user may
purchase
and use. In an exemplary embodiment, the equipment data is linked through the
administrator of the system to a store associated with the administrator to
allow users who
see this equipment to buy it through an online transaction.
[00109] Continuing with the description of the player card 241, videos are
either
uploaded by the user to play on the user's player card 241 or locker 240, or
they may be
selected by the user offline and automatically acquired and stored by the
system directly
into users' player cards 241 or locker 240 to provide news and other
information that the
user(s) may be interested in seeing.
[00110] Athlete data identifies all the user-athletes and contains indexed
data fields
relating to their sports, locations, attributes, etc. This relational database
of the user-
athletes can be searched using queries or other search techniques that rely on
the
organization and indexing of the database to locate relevant results.
[00111] Images may also be uploaded by the user or may be located by queries
to the
administrator and automatically placed as news or other data in the player
cards 241 or
CA 2979136 2017-09-14
lockers 240 of users who have specified various interests that may be
associated
automatically with pre-defined user queries.
[00112] News items may also be obtained and provided by the administrating
software of
the website to place in the newsfeeds of users interested in news on those
subjects. As
above, the news items may be placed automatically into user(s) player cards
241 or lockers
240 based on user-defined queries.
[00113] Analytics data develops an assessment of athletic abilities for each
of the users,
as well as a knowledge of the equipment used by the users sorted by various
demographic
and personal attributes of the users. The analytics data also develops a
variety of other
data that can be established based on the information uploaded to the
administrator by the
user and by the data that is available regarding the user's activity in the
sport.
[00114] FIGS. 10A and 10B together form a tree chart illustrating a coaches
application
300 and outlines how the systems and methods can be utilized by schools and/or
teams.
Coaches can add team members for each of the various types of sports in branch
310.
Through branch 320, the coaches can add player statistics (branch 321) and
game statistics
(branch 322) to each of the team members. The statistics input by the coaches
(in branch
324) are automatically fed into the athlete's player card 241, for example,
after pushing a
virtual button to send the entry/ies in branch 326. Approval of this
information into the
designated player card 241 can be automatic or it can be manually accepted by
the athlete
user.
[00115] The user can be required and prompted in branch 327 to view any
changes and to
approve those changes to the user's profile in branches 328 and 329.
[00116] Coaches can also create game and practice schedules in branches 330,
332, 334.
Through this process, the coaches can additionally send messages to team
members in
branches 336 and 338, for example: "Practice is at 3 pm. Press [yes] if you
will be
attending." Based on this, player attendance can be predicted and tracked. All
data is
stored on the server 13. Analytics can provide graphs of, for example, wins
and losses per
player, per opposing teams, etc. The coaches can also be requested to add
information
about training and nutrition regimens of their players in branches 340, 342,
and 344. This
information is available to both the coaches and the players.
[00117] In this way the system can be given large amounts of data regarding
particular
teams' training regimens 342 and nutrition regimens 344 and, by correlating
successful or
31
CA 2979136 2017-09-14
unsuccessful win/loss records or player stats, the team or players can be
ranked, thereby
providing coaches with information about training and nutrition regimens that
are
"working" (i.e., for those teams with winning statistics or for those players
who have
higher than average personal statistics) and for those that are "failing" or
"not working"
(i.e., for those teams with losing statistics or for those players who have
lower than
average personal statistics). For example, the learning algorithm searches the
On The Hop
(0TH) database for teams that are playing the same sport, age, and gender.
From the
search results, training and nutrition programs are pulled from the top three
team records.
A coach can, thereafter, seek from the system a training or nutrition regimen
that is
comparatively "better" than the one that is currently in use by the coach or
the coach can
just select a highly rated regimen in branch 346. The coach for a given team
is prompted
to accept or select not to display the training and nutrition program in their
application
view in branch 348. When accepted, the algorithm provides recommendations on
what the
team needs to improve on based on stats, sport, and other team stats that are
in the 0TH
network. The network administrator can view data for every team. In an
alternative
embodiment, instead of simply taking the regimens of the top team records, a
machine-
learning component could statistically recognize and associate certain
features of regimens
amongst top performers, for example, by comparing the stats, ages, genders,
and regions.
[00118] With regards to the operation of the systems and methods, in
operation, when a
user enters into the website through the home page, the user becomes a moving
avatar in a
3D interactive digital locker room 210, for example, as shown in FIG. 3. The
user can
create his/her own avatar or the application can create a set of avatars from
which the user
can choose. In an exemplary embodiment, the user can upload an image with pre-
defined
dimensions to be displayed on the body of the avatar. In the locker room 210,
the user can
view any number of lockers 240, which can be located by searching or simply by
walking
towards one. In addition, there may be avatars of other players in the locker
room 210 or
even of professional athletes or known entities who may be seen in this locker
room
environment. One way to identify an avatar is to display a user's name above
the avatar's
head. Alternatively, the face of the avatar could display a picture that the
user downloads.
3D modeling techniques known in the art could also take an image of the
person's head to
place on top of the avatar in a more realistic representation.
32
CA 2979136 2017-09-14
[00119] Within the 3D virtual locker room 210, the user is able to move around
in first-
person movements using, for example, arrow buttons, a mouse, a joystick, or
any other
input/output device. Upon meeting other uses within the locker room, or by
using the chat
room 220 in the search panel 40, the user can chat with other users. In an
exemplary
embodiment, the avatars displayed to the user only include the user's
connections who are
currently online. If one user desires to interact with another user, the user
can click on the
avatar of the other user, which will bring them to the player card 241 and
locker 240, in
which chatting is made possible.
[00120] The user can also open lockers 240 of any other user to view that
person's
profile, as well as the data that the user places in that locker 240, such as
equipment 247 of
the user, and statistics of the user's performance, etc. As the user moves
around the locker
room 210 with first person 3D movement, various things may be encountered,
generally
including promotions 280 on the walls or other designated areas in the locker
room 210
that may be selected if they are of interest to the user. The user also will
see featured
athletes and videos potentially projected on a surface or walking around
inside the locker
room 210 as a 3D rendering.
[00121] The systems and methods generate relevant athletes and videos that
respond to
the given user and are intended to educate the user about a particular sport
or athlete, to
cause the user to seek further information about the applicable athlete or
video, or to cause
the user to make purchases that are relevant to the applicable user's sport or
past choices
or preferences.
[00122] If a user is selected to be featured and, therefore, appear in the
favorite athletes
panel 250 of other users, then that user is prompted to approve his/her
appearance in the
system by virtually clicking "yes" to approve or "no" to prevent such exposure
to other
users. This does not have to be a repetitive selection for each time the user
is online. For
example, the user could be prompted once and, thereafter, the user will
display in the
featured athlete section visible to all of the other users.
[00123] The search panel 40 may also be used to search for other users and to
locate their
lockers 240 when moving as a first person through the 3D virtual environment
of the
locker room 210. This can be of particular importance when the user's location
in the
locker room 210 is not close to, or does not allow for easy access to, the
particular locker
240 desired to be found. In an exemplary embodiment, the user can choose a set
of top
33
CA 2979136 2017-09-14
connections (e.g., 10, 15, 20) that are located on the same pillar or adjacent
pillars of the
user's locker so that movement to those connections is relatively quick and
easy.
[00124] Links to advertising sites may be placed on the walls of the locker
room 210 as
promotions 280. Those advertisements are selected by the system based on the
personal
data information about the individual user who is navigating the locker room
210.
[00125] The profile of the user, for example, the player card 241, includes
videos 244,
images 245, and biographical data 242, all of which is organized in the user's
locker 240
to be displayed according to a format that dictates how the player card 241 is
displayed,
and also videos of featured athletes 272 and offering other featured videos
271 to the user
that are determined to be of interest to the user.
[00126] Once having entered the world of the 3D locker room 210, an image is
rendered
based on the point of view of the user within the virtual world of the locker
room 210.
This point of view is rendered using 3D rendering techniques and video
corresponding to a
series of images that are developed for the instantaneous position and
viewpoint of a
virtual eye of the user in the locker room, and are streamed to the receiving
device of the
user, for example, the computer 10, 11 or smartphone 12 over the Internet.
[00127] The user, having entered the locker room 210, can trigger an
interactive pop-up
window, the search panel 40 shown in FIG. 4A and 4B, and search for athletes
of interest
by a number of parameters or by their names. The user can also visit the
lockers 240 of
favorite athletes to look at the current news or data that these athletes are
posting. The
user can review featured video highlights 271, 272 that are posted by the
administrator of
the website to observe things that might be of interest. Also, the user may
access the chat
room 220 to communicate with other connected users that are identified as a
set of
contacts for the user. Also, as discussed above, a streaming newsfeed of news
headlines
may also be presented to the user in a news panel 260 of this pop-up window.
[00128] When the user clicks on any locker 240 and "opens" it to see what is
contained
inside, the user sees images of the athlete's equipment and profile data, for
example, in the
form of that locker owner's player card 241. If the user is interested in
purchasing
equipment, a virtual click on the athlete's equipment will link to a URL
pointing to a store
either run by the administrator, or at another website to allow for purchase
of the selected
equipment. The referral to another website or a partner store may be counted
for purposes
of developing a revenue stream, as would the sale of a product by a website so
referred.
34
CA 2979136 2017-09-14
[00129] In the chat room 220, the users have the ability to chat through a
public chat
room 221, as well as chat through an instant message (via instant message
window 222) or
through a private message (via message window 223). If a public chat is
desired, the user
can create a topic for the public chat, and subsequently launch the new chat
topic. All
users can then view and monitor this public chat thread and participate. For
example, any
user can join the chat, if it is of interest to them. It is additionally
possible that video or
voice chat could be provided for users that find this ability desirable.
[00130] Chatting through an instant message may also be performed by the user
through
their connection list, which represents their "friends" in the system. In this
form of
chatting, voice chat is supported as well through the server 13 or some other
linked
communication service.
[00131] Private messages may be sent by the user composing a message and
sending it to
a connection, or "friend," of the user. Upon receipt of a private message, the
recipient of
the message is notified of the private message by virtue of a dialogue box, or
similar pop-
up box, which signifies a message received, where the recipient has the option
to respond
or ignore this private message from the other user. Additionally, users have
the ability to
block private messages from other users if so desired. If this is the case,
the locker room
administrator's system prepares any message received by such user and
transmits it, for
example, as an e-mail from the administrator's service.
[00132] An athlete search 230 is performed by users searching for athletes on
the
network, and each search, or query, can be distinguished by sport, age,
location, high
school, gender, and, optionally, a metric score, all of which are listed in
the search pop-up
window. The metric score itself is a metric of the athlete based on the
athlete's historical
performance, as well as other information, which can include, but is not
limited to, height,
weight, age, school, etc. Once a successful search is performed and a desired
user is
located, the user who performed the search is brought directly to that
athlete's locker 240,
and can subsequently virtually look inside that locker 240 to see the
publically available
contents thereof, including the aforementioned player's card 241, which
contains the
biographical data 242, the coaches database 243, videos 244, images 245,
equipment
locker 246, and athlete's equipment 247 inside of the equipment locker 246.
[00133] Appearance of the locker 240 of another user-athlete when opened is
similar to
that shown in the example of FIG. 5, except that modifications, uploads, and
other user-
CA 2979136 2017-09-14
only buttons will not be present. A player card 241 as described above is
created with
biographical data 242, videos 244, and images 245. In an exemplary embodiment,
the
user can post updates on another user's player card 241, and can also follow
other athletes
and display showcases and programs that the user is attending. In this regard,
the player
card 241 has flexibility as a social media platform. In addition, the player
card 241
contains multi-dimensional scores for different categories and abilities,
which vary per
sport played by the user-athlete. Each of these scores is calculated by views,
such as
shared ratings and athlete statistics, which are all determined using the
machine-learning
algorithm of the system. In an exemplary embodiment, the algorithm calculates
an
average of each performance category and a score is assigned to a range of
averages.
From this, each user-athlete's scores are analyzed, with a higher range
equating to a higher
score.
[00134] As mentioned previously, the systems and methods herein allow for
equipment to
be sold through users clicking on products in the athlete's equipment lockers
246. An
administrative aspect of the system accomplishes this by having a user upload
an image
and a description of the equipment that he or she uses, thereby permitting the
system to
identify and catalog this piece of equipment. Subsequently, the system
generates and
assigns a URL to the image of equipment in the user's locker so that visitors
to the user's
locker can purchase the equipment by clicking on the image in a store located
by the
administrator of the system. In an exemplary embodiment, the system selects
the store
based on the brand, model, best price, and location of both the user and the
store for
shipment. Or, the store can be selected based on a contract with the
administrator of the
system.
[00135] Featured videos 271 and athlete videos 272 are selected for each user-
athlete
based on the score, or other calculated metric, of the user, which determines
which videos
271, 272 are featured. The videos can be found from the Internet or can be
supplied to the
system by users and given tags that identify whom would be interested or the
subject
matter of the videos so that they can be assigned to users. Then, the featured
videos 271,
272 can be filtered by state, city, school, sport, and/or gender, which
provides the most
relevant featured videos to each user. Featured videos 271, 272 are also
selected based on
data available to the administrator, for example, by likes, comments, and/or
shares of
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CA 2979136 2017-09-14
various videos available for posting. These videos can also be filtered by
state, city,
school, sport, or gender to make them more relevant to the user.
[00136] News 261, 262 is transmitted to the user in the most recent and up-to-
date form
for youth, college, and professional sports. This news can be fed from a third-
party news
source, for example, local television sports programs, or by a particular
online news
channel, such as ESPN . News can also arise from the system itself to showcase
success
of particular teams or athletes, whether professional or amateur.
[00137] Athlete statistics that are tracked and measured per athlete by state,
city, gender,
sport, and age, and are all tracked and stored in the database of the server
12. In addition,
other aspects of the player, such as position played, and any of a variety of
other factors
that may be considered in assessing the performance and analysis of a player,
may be
employed by the custom analytics developed by the system. In addition,
equipment usage
can be polled across an entire population of the athlete users. This means
that any specific
desired brand and/or model of equipment can be tracked and measured in terms
of their
use, per athlete, by state, by city, and/or by age of the athlete. This
information is
invaluable for marketing purposes of the equipment manufacturers, and is
unavailable
from any other location in any reasonable way. Furthermore, in a similar
manner, this
information can also be used as a source of financial income for the
administrator of the
system, in addition to any benefits that the administrator may receive for
linking users to
the stores who are selling the equipment.
[00138] Users can view up-to-date fitness or health news 262 as well sports
news 261
about players and others relevant topics associated with a particular
condition, or if
applicable, their own condition.
[00139] The score 63 associated with the player card 241 calculates an average
score of
each performance category. For example, a score of "5" is applied to averages
of 80-100.
A score is assigned to a range of averages, where a higher range equates to a
higher score.
With this in mind, it is understood that a score of "4" is applied to averages
of 60-80. This
is a metric by which the player's ability is evaluated and given some value,
which is of
interest to coaches who could be recruiting such user-athletes, as well as to
players who
want to compare themselves to other user-athletes.
[00140] In an exemplary embodiment, the equipment 247 sold in the locker room
210 is
provided with a URL based on a process that searches for the lowest price on
the Internet.
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The administrator is prompted to accept or cancel each lowest price or the
selection can be
done automatically. If accepted, the URL is assigned to a piece of equipment,
and
subsequently linked to the store that provides that piece of equipment for
sale.
[00141] The set 270 of featured videos 271 and athletes 272 are also selected
for the user
based on the user's data and actions.
[00142] Custom analytics, such as data reported for the usage of equipment or
number of
people following an athlete, is a valuable source of information for companies
who are
selling equipment, and also for athletes who are looking to promote their own
following.
[00143] It is noted that various individual features of the inventive
processes and systems
may be described only in one exemplary embodiment herein. The particular
choice for
description herein with regard to a single exemplary embodiment is not to be
taken as a
limitation that the particular feature is only applicable to the embodiment in
which it is
described. All
features described herein are equally applicable to, additive, or
interchangeable with any or all of the other exemplary embodiments described
herein and
in any combination or grouping or arrangement. In particular, use of a single
reference
numeral herein to illustrate, define, or describe a particular feature does
not mean that the
feature cannot be associated or equated to another feature in another drawing
figure or
description. Further, where two or more reference numerals are used in the
figures or in
the drawings, this should not be construed as being limited to only those
embodiments or
features, they are equally applicable to similar features or not a reference
numeral is used
or another reference numeral is omitted.
[00144] The foregoing description and accompanying drawings illustrate the
principles,
exemplary embodiments, and modes of operation of the systems, apparatuses, and
methods. However, the systems, apparatuses, and methods should not be
construed as
being limited to the particular embodiments discussed above. Additional
variations of the
embodiments discussed above will be appreciated by those skilled in the art
and the
above-described embodiments should be regarded as illustrative rather than
restrictive.
Accordingly, it should be appreciated that variations to those embodiments can
be made
by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the systems,
apparatuses,
and methods as defined by the following claims.
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