Golf swing tempo measurement system

A method of feeding back synthesized sounds indicative of swing tempo of an elongated member, the method comprising the steps of:

• generating a plurality of acceleration signals indicative of the acceleration of the elongated member at different locations thereof;
• processing the acceleration signals to reduce the contribution of gravity in the signals;
• forming a sequence of digital samples of the processed acceleration signals, each sample comprising a plurality of bits related to an angular rotational speed raised to a power;
• defining groups of the plurality of bits in a sample, each group having an associated tonal composition and amplitude value related to a group's digital value;
• generating commands for the synthesis of sounds representative of the tonal composition and amplitudes of the groups;
• and
• feeding back synthesized sounds.

A biofeedback system including an elongated member for feeding back sounds indicative of swing tempo of the elongated member, the system comprising:

• a plurality of sensors coupled to the elongated member for deriving digital signals indicative of motion of the elongated member;
• means for processing the signals to reduce an effect of gravity, generating a multi-bit digital number indicative of an angular velocity raised to a power and associating the bits into a plurality of groups each having an associated tonal composition and amplitude indicative of bit content and for fanning commands indicative of the tonal composition and amplitude value;
• a synthesizer responsive to the commands for producing audio signals;
• and
• means for outputting the audio signals.

A method of feeding back sounds indicative of swing tempo of an elongated member, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a plurality of sensors mounted along the elongated member for deriving digital signals indicative of motion of the elongated member;
• processing the signals to eliminate or reduce an effect of gravity, generating a multi bit digital number indicative of the angular velocity raised to a power at at least two positions along the elongated member, and mapping the bits into a plurality of groups each having an associated tonal composition and an amplitude indicative of bit content;
• synthesizing a sound signal having the tonal composition associated with a group and amplitude indicative of the bit value of the group;
• and
• outputting the audio signal.

A biofeedback system for converting motion characteristics of an elongated member into sounds, the biofeedback system comprising:

• a plurality of sensors positioned along the elongated member to capture motion parameters as multi-bit digital numbers;
• a processor to map the bits of each of the numbers into a plurality of groups each having an associated tonal composition and an amplitude indicative of bit content;
• a synthesizer for generating an audio signal responsive to the mapped bits;
• and
• means for outputting the audio signal.

A method for providing biofeedback signals to a user using sensors to capture motion characteristics of an elongated member, the meted comprising:

• providing a plurality of sensors positioned along the elongated member for capturing motion parameters thereof as multi-bit digital numbers;
• mapping the bits of each of the numbers into a plurality of groups each having an associated tonal composition and an amplitude indicative of bit content;
• synthesizing a sound signal responsive to the mapped bits to produce a signal having the tonal composition associated with a group and amplitude indicative of bit content;
• and
• outputting the signal.