CN-116648291-B - System for limiting movement of a user in aquatic media

Abstract

A system for limiting movement of a user in aquatic media relates to swimming systems and may be used in a system that simulates Virtual Reality (VR). By using the system, swimmer return forces can be generated in response to swimmer movement in any direction, the in-situ effects in the VR can be increased, and the requirements on the surface area of the support portion and the area utilized in the swimming pool can be reduced. The system includes a flexible member that holds the swimmer (either directly or via an intermediate) and is anchored by a support system. The movement of the swimmer causes the elastic member to move as a whole without deformation such that the height of the end thereof varies. The system responds to displacement of the swimmer in the horizontal direction by bending of the elastic member. To provide a vertical degree of freedom, the elastic member is mounted on a support configured to rotate. Alternatively, the elastic member is configured to move translationally. The elastic member may be connected to the swimmer via a module fixed on the swimmer's body or a module held by the swimmer. The elastic member may have a curved shape to prevent it from colliding with a user.

Inventors

• Alexei Vladimirovich Lisenko

Assignees

• 维亚德瑞有限责任公司

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20211220

Priority Date

20201218

Claims (8)

1. 1. A system for limiting movement in a user's aquatic medium, the system comprising: A flexible member having a first end designed to be connected to a user and a second end designed to be anchored by means of a support system, The second end of the resilient member is anchored to the support system at a location above or below the surface of the aquatic medium, The support system and the elastic member are rotatable together about a horizontal axis away from the center of the swimming area, allowing the elastic member to move in its entirety without deformation, such that the height of the end of the elastic member designed to be connected to the user varies within the natural variation of the depth of the user's location when swimming along the surface of the aquatic medium; wherein any significant displacement of the user in any horizontal direction results in a bending deformation of the resilient member, thereby allowing the user to smoothly return to the centre of the swimming area.
2. 2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the elastic member ends designed to be anchored by means of the support system are fixedly connected to the ends of two inclined supports, the supports having opposite ends anchored at spaced apart points away from the centre of the swimming area, such that the supports and elastic members are rotatable relative to a straight line passing through the support anchor points.
3. 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the resilient member is configured to move translationally along a vertical axis.
4. 4. A system according to claim 3, wherein the resilient member is slidingly coupled to a system having at least two supports resting on different points away from the swimming area center.
5. 5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the elastic member is designed to be connected to the user via a module fixed on or held by the user's body.
6. 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the module is designed to be held in the hand of a user and the resilient member is bendable away from the user's head and freely rotatable about a vertical axis at a region corresponding to the height of the user's head.
7. 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the resilient member is connected to the user via an intermediate element that provides rotational mobility of the user about the resilient member.
8. 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is for a virtual reality simulation system.

Description

System for limiting movement of a user in aquatic media Technical Field The present invention relates to swimming systems and may be used in training, entertainment or rehabilitation swimming systems, including in particular virtual reality simulation systems. The claimed system is primarily intended for use in diving, i.e. swimming under water, while being equipped with a mask and breathing tube, but may also be used for other types of movements of the user (swimmer) in aquatic media. Background A system for controlling a virtual object by means of effort applied by a user is known (WO 2019027358A1, disclosed in 2019, month 2, 7, priority being 2017, month 7, 31, RU2017127259a, a63F13/428; g09b 9/00), with the aim of moving a body of a substance associated with the virtual object, which body of substance is fixed by a tether system such that the tether holds the body in a stable equilibrium position, which body is rotatable about an axis passing close to the body centre. Physical principles of system operation for measuring forces exerted by a swimmer are described, which may be used to simulate the movement of an avatar of the swimmer in virtual space. Two main uses of the system, namely simulated diving and simulated floating, are solved. Because swimmers are physically limited in their movement in the real world, applying the principles of system operation to diving differs from applying them to diving. When submerged, the swimmer is free to move relative to any of the three reference axes, while when submerged, the swimmer's movement is limited to swimming along a horizontal plane, i.e., a two-dimensional space. As such, the vertical component of the force measured by the controller on the swimmer's body is generally not related to the user's swimming intent, but rather depends on the particular characteristics of the system used to secure the user in the swimming pool. For example, in the case where the user is fixed with a tether mounted over the swimming pool, when the user leaves the center of the swimming area, he/she moves around a sphere having a radius equal to the length of the tether. In response to his/her deviation from his/her equilibrium position, the depth of his/her immersion in water changes. In response to a certain deviation from the equilibrium position, the user's body begins to float up from the water, the archimedes force decreases with a corresponding increase in the effect on the tether, and the vertical component of the tether tension increases, resulting in a stable equilibrium. The swimmer cannot intentionally change the vertical component of force other than by submerging and thereby stopping the air supply through the snorkel, which is undesirable for virtual reality systems. Any opposite variation (i.e. swimming up) is practically impossible, since no diagonal body posture can be assumed. In view of the above, the float simulation may ignore the vertical component of the measured force and may be limited to only horizontal component measurements. In this way, the vertical component of the force thus generated does not pose any significant problem to the simulation calculation. However, in the case of active swimming, the components may have a detrimental effect directly on the swimmer. If the swimmer is fixed by the tether arranged at a low level, he/she may be towed fairly strongly under the water surface, which will result in a change of the body inclination angle (the user's body deviates from a horizontal posture, in which the swimmer's belt is towed to a large depth), and at extreme depths problems in breathing through the snorkel may occur (the swimmer's head is also towed to a large depth). In the case where the tether is anchored at a high point, the above problem is not so severe, as the tether pulls the user up as he/she swims. In this case, the body first assumes a more horizontal posture under water, which normally does not prevent swimming, and when the body is pulled out onto the water surface, the archimedes force decreases, resulting in effective resistance to further pulling out. Thus, the submersible system has a swimmer restrained by an overhead tether and provides sufficient comfort for the user applying less swimming effort. However, if a moderate or high swimming effort is applied, the swimmer pulled out to the surface and the tensioned tether lead to a reduction in the realistic effect in virtual reality, which is due to the non-uniformity of the physical sensation when traversing a uniform area in virtual space. For example, when swimming in a physical space near the equilibrium point, if the movement direction changes, the tether tension becomes extremely small, and the user feels a feeling similar to that of free swimming. In the case of active swimming, shortly after such an area, the swimmer's deviation from the equilibrium position reaches its maximum, resulting in a fairly sharp increase in tether tension in the diagonal direction and in a ch