Heart rate measurement and mental state detection system and method for measuring heart interbeat interval and detecting a direction of attention of an individual engaged in an activity
A heart rate measurement and mental state detection system and a heart rate measurement and mental state detection method for measuring heart interbeat interval and detecting a direction of attention of an individual engaged in an activity are disclosed. The heart rate measurement and mental state detection and method are configured to instantaneously detect and measure focused attention of an individual during a pre-action phase before the individual performs an action involved in an activity while the individual engages in the activity.
1 . A heart rate measurement and mental state detection system comprising:
a computing device comprising a processing unit, a storage device, and a screen, wherein the computing device is located in a first area;
a heart rate monitor comprising a wireless communication module and which is wearable by an individual during a span of time associated with performance of an activity by the individual in a second area that is a distance away and different from the first area, wherein the heart rate monitor is communicably connected remotely from the second area to the computing device located in the first area during the span of time associated with performance of the activity, wherein performance of the activity comprises a physical act by the individual in the second area, wherein the span of time comprises a pre-action phase of up to six seconds before the individual engages in the physical act and an action phase that starts at a moment in the span of time when the individual engages in the physical act, wherein the heart rate monitor is configured to (i) capture heart rate data of the individual during the pre-action phase and the action phase while the individual performs the activity in the second area over the span of time and (ii) provide, to the computing device in the first area, the heart rate data in real-time and in sequence as the heart rate data is being captured, wherein the computing device stores the heart rate data provided by the heart rate monitor in the storage device;
a camera that is communicably connected locally to the computing device located in the first area and is configured to (i) capture, contemporaneously with the heart rate monitor capturing the heart rate data of the individual, imagery of the individual during the pre-action phase and the action phase while the individual performs the activity in the second area over the span of time and (ii) transmit the imagery to the computing device in sequence as the imagery is being captured, wherein the computing device stores the imagery transmitted by the camera in the storage device; and
a sport heart rate monitoring software application that is installed on the computing device, stored on the memory device, and which, when running on the processing unit of the computing device located in the first area, is configured to (i) receive the heart rate data in sequence along a heart rate data timeline comprising the pre-action phase and the action phase, (ii) locally receive the imagery in sequence along a video timeline comprising the pre-action phase and the action phase, (iii) synchronize the video timeline of the imagery with the heart rate data timeline of the heart rate data, (iv) utilize a scientifically validated algorithm to perform heart rate variability (HRV) analysis of the heart rate data associated with the pre-action phase of the heart rate data timeline, (v) visually output, onto the screen of the computing device, the timeline-synchronized heart rate data and imagery, (vi) visually output, onto a pre-action time segment of the timeline-synchronized heart rate data and imagery visually output onto the screen of the computing device, a pre-action event marker based on the HRV analysis associated with the pre-action phase of the heart rate data timeline, and (vii) generate a report of an outcome based on the HRV analysis of the heart rate data associated with the pre-action phase of the heart rate timeline after performance of the activity is completed.
2 . The heart rate measurement and mental state detection system of claim 1 , wherein the camera comprises a video camera that is configured to capture a video of the individual performing the activity, wherein the video of the individual performing the activity comprises a sequence of video frames corresponding to the sequence of imagery transmitted to the computing device, wherein the video timeline comprises a plurality of time segments, wherein the plurality of time segments comprises the pre-action time segment and an action time segment.
3 . The heart rate measurement and mental state detection system of claim 1 further comprising a smart watch that is worn by the individual in the second area and is paired to the heart rate monitor, wherein the smart watch comprises a wireless Bluetooth watch module that is configured to send and receive data wirelessly to and from the wireless communication module of the heart rate monitor.
4 . The heart rate measurement and mental state detection system of claim 3 , wherein the wireless communication module of the heart rate monitor comprises a wireless Bluetooth communications module that is configured to pair to the wireless Bluetooth watch module of the smart watch and further configured to simultaneously send the heart rate data wirelessly to the smart watch while providing the heart rate data to the computing device in the first area, wherein the sport heart rate monitoring software application is further configured to generate and transmit, back to the smart watch worn by the individual in the second area, data indicating that the heart rate data reflects a measurement of focused attention during performance of the activity.
5 . The heart rate measurement and mental state detection system of claim 1 , wherein the sport heart rate monitoring software application is further configured to detect heart rate deceleration (HRD) during the pre-action phase.
6 . The heart rate measurement and mental state detection system of claim 1 , wherein the sport heart rate monitoring software application is further configured to detect heart rate acceleration (HRA) during the pre-action phase.
7 . The heart rate measurement and mental state detection system of claim 1 , wherein the heart rate monitor comprises a wireless radio-frequency (RF) device that is configured to send and receive wireless data to and from the computing device.
8 . The heart rate measurement and mental state detection system of claim 7 , wherein the RF device comprises an ANT+ wireless communications device that is configured to send the heart rate data to the computing device in real-time as the heart rate data is captured by the heart rate monitor.
9 . A heart rate measurement and mental state detection method for measuring heart interbeat interval and detecting a direction of attention of an individual engaged in an activity, said heart rate measurement and mental state detection method comprising:
applying a heart rate monitor approximately to a body area of an individual, wherein the heart rate monitor comprises a wireless communication module;
starting, on a computing device located in a first area that is different from a second area in which the individual performs an activity involving focused attention, a sport heart rate monitoring software application that is installed on the computing device;
connecting, by way of one of a wireless connection and a wired connection, a camera located in the first area to the computing device located in the first area;
providing a wireless connection between the wireless communication module of the heart rate monitor, when the individual is in the second area, and the computing device located in the first area, wherein the wireless connection enables remote access, by the sport heart rate monitoring software application on the computing device located in the first area, to heart rate data of the individual performing the activity involving focused attention in the second area;
simultaneously starting, at a simultaneous start time, the heart rate monitor and the camera, wherein the heart rate monitor captures and transmits, to the sport heart rate monitoring software application on the computing device located in the first area, a sequence of heart rate data of the individual while the individual performs the activity involving focused attention in the second area, wherein the camera captures a sequence of images (video) of the individual while the individual performs the activity involving focused attention in the second area, wherein performance of the activity spans a duration of time comprising a pre-action time period corresponding to a pre-action phase during which the individual prepares to perform the activity and an action time period corresponding to an action phase during which the individual actively performs the activity;
capturing, by the heart rate monitor, heart rate data during both the pre-action phase as the individual prepares to perform the activity and the action phase as the individual actively performs the activity;
wirelessly transmitting in real-time, to the sport heart rate monitoring software application of the computing device by the wireless communication module of the heart rate monitor, the captured heart rate data during both the pre-action phase as the individual prepares to perform the activity and the action phase as the individual actively performs the activity;
receiving, by the sport heart rate monitoring software application of the computing device in real-time, the sequence of heart rate data captured by the heart rate monitor and transmitted by the wireless communication module, wherein the sequence of heart rate data corresponds to a heart rate data timeline;
analyzing and validating, by the sport heart rate monitoring software application of the computing device, the received heart rate data;
capturing, by the camera in the first area and simultaneously with the heart rate monitor capturing the heart rate data of the individual in the second area, the sequences of images as a video of the individual during both the pre-action phase as the individual prepares to perform the activity and the action phase as the individual actively performs the activity;
receiving, from the camera and by the computing device in real-time as the camera captures the sequences of images, a video stream of the video captured by the camera, wherein the video stream is received as a plurality of sequential video frames corresponding to a video timeline;
pairing, by the sport heart rate monitoring software application during performance of the activity by the individual in the second area, the sequence of heart rate data along the heart rate data timeline with the plurality of sequential video frames of the video stream along the video timeline;
synchronizing, by the sport heart rate monitoring software application, the heart rate data timeline of the sequence of heart rate data with the video timeline of the video stream of the video starting at the simultaneous start time (“synchronized timeline”), wherein the video timeline comprises a plurality of video time segments corresponding to the plurality of sequential video frames of the video stream, wherein the heart rate data timeline comprises a plurality of heart rate data time segments corresponding to the plurality of video time segments;
visually outputting, on a screen of the computing device by the sport heart rate monitoring software application, the time-synchronized video and heart rate data for playback viewing by a user operating the computing device in the first area during performance of the activity by the individual in the second area;
adding event markers to the heart rate data as the video is being viewed by the user during playback, wherein the event markers delimit the pre-action phase as a first time segment of the plurality of video time segments and the corresponding plurality of heart rate data time segments from the action phase as a second time segment of the plurality of video time segments and the corresponding plurality of heart rate data time segments; and
calculating heart rate variability (HRV) data based on changes in the heart rate data between the first time segment and the second time segment, wherein calculating HRV comprises at least one of (i) detecting heart rate deceleration (HRD) during the pre-action phase, (ii) detecting heart rate acceleration (HRA) during the pre-action phase, (iii) detecting standard deviation of NN (SDNN), (iv) detecting root mean square of the successive differences (RMSSD), and (v) detecting a ratio of low-frequency power divided by high-frequency power (LH/HF ratio).
10 . The heart rate measurement and mental state detection method of claim 9 , wherein adding the event markers to the heart rate data as the video is being viewed by the user during playback comprises adding a neutral time event marker to delimit a particular time segment that does not overlap the pre-action phase and the action phase of the synchronized timeline, wherein the particular time segment is different from the first time segment and the second time segment, wherein the neutral time event marker added to the synchronized timeline spans a plurality of timeline positions along the synchronized timeline from a first timeline position at a moment of completion the action phase of a first activity and a second timeline position at a moment of the pre-action phase upon starting performance of a second activity.
11 . The heart rate measurement and mental state detection method of claim 10 , wherein adding the event markers to the heart rate data as the video is being viewed by the user during playback further comprises adding one or more of a pre-action event marker, an action event marker, a sport demand event marker, a no go event marker, a downtime event marker, and a custom event marker.