Balance board system

A balance board system comprising:

• a balance board having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a fulcrum that enables the balance board to freely yaw, pitch and roll;
• a mechanism for mounting a phone to the balance board while a rider stands on the top surface of the balance board;
• and
• software that is executable on the phone, the software being configured to output, to an external display, a virtual environment that includes a representation of the balance board by continuously performing the following:
• obtaining orientation data from one or more sensors of the phone while the phone is mounted to the balance board;
• based on the orientation data, tracking an orientation of the balance board indicative of the yaw, pitch and roll of the balance board while the rider stands on the top surface of the balance board and causes the balance board to yaw, pitch and roll;
• updating the virtual environment by orienting the representation of the balance board based on the tracked orientation of the balance board such that the yaw, pitch and roll of the representation of the balance board in the virtual environment matches the yaw, pitch and roll of the balance board;
• and
• outputting the updated virtual environment that includes the representation of the balance board to the external display to thereby allow the rider to watch the yaw, pitch and roll of the representation of the balance board be updated within the virtual environment to match the yaw, pitch and roll that the rider causes the balance board to experience;
• wherein the software is further configured to:
• detect calibration input that is generated when the balance board remains fixed in a predefined orientation:
• in response to detecting the calibration input, calculate an updated offset;
• and
• apply the updated offset to the orientation data as part of tracking the orientation of the balance board such that the yaw, pitch and roll of the representation of the balance board is oriented based on the orientation data and the updated offset after the calibration input is detected.

A balance board system comprising:

• a balance board having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a fulcrum that is fixed at a center of the bottom surface, wherein the fulcrum has an elongated semi-spherical shape to enable the balance board to freely yaw, pitch and roll;
• a mechanism for mounting a phone to the balance board while a rider stands on the top surface of the balance board;
• and
• software that is executable on the phone, the software being configured to output, to an external display, a virtual environment that includes a representation of the balance board by continuously performing the following:
• obtaining orientation data from one or more sensors of the phone while the phone is mounted to the balance board;
• based on the orientation data, tracking an orientation of the balance board indicative of the yaw, pitch and roll of the balance board while the rider stands on the top surface of the balance board and causes the balance board to yaw, pitch and roll;
• updating the virtual environment by orienting the representation of the balance board based on the tracked orientation of the balance board such that the yaw, pitch and roll of the representation of the balance board in the virtual environment matches the yaw, pitch and roll of the balance board;
• and
• outputting the updated virtual environment that includes the representation of the balance board to the external display to thereby allow the rider to watch the yaw, pitch and roll of the representation of the balance board be updated within the virtual environment to match the yaw, pitch and roll that the rider causes the balance board to experience;
• wherein the mechanism for mounting the phone to the balance board comprises:
• a balance board phone mount comprising:
• a body having a top side and a bottom side, the body further having:
• a first side and a second side opposite the first side, the first and second side defining a width of the body, the width of the body exceeding a width of the phone, the first side and second sides being configured to fold overtop and be secured to one another to thereby hold the phone against the body;
• a first extension and a second extension opposite the first extension, the first and second extensions being configured to fold overtop and be secured to the first side and second side after the first side and second side have been folded overtop and secured to one another to thereby limit movement of the phone between the first and second sides;
• and
• a base positioned on the top side of the body, the base being configured to secure the body to the bottom surface of the balance board.