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Apple Exercise iPod Tempo Patents

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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30,670


Hrmph reports on recent patent applications from Apple which revealed that they have been working on other exercise-related features for the iPod. The recent Apple/Nike partnership Sport Kit revealed earlier this week could just be the start.

The Nike Sport Kit incorporates an accelerometer placed in your shoe that communicates wirelessly with your iPod nano. The iPod nano then displays additional information about your exercise including time, distance, calories burned and pace.

The patent application reveals that Apple has also been working on additional features that could sync your exercise to your music. One possibility described is syncing your music to the same tempo as your run.

The Pat App suggests either changing the tempo of the song or the iPod selecting songs which match the tempo (the host computer would analyse songs and add a tempo tag to each).

One aspect of the patent is to use your running speed to set the music tempo- if you're running slowly it'll play slower music- running faster- faster tempo music.
Click to expand...

Tempos could be adjusted based on user preference, but sample menus also reveal a "Training" option which could offer different tempo profiles, increasing and decreasing over time.
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2006/05/25/apple-exercise-ipod-tempo-patents/
Vaphoron

Vaphoron

macrumors 6502
Aug 5, 2004
257
0
Maryland
That would be a pretty cool feature if I had a Nano and could get up off my butt and go run, but that ain't gonna happen.
 
Y

yoshi1013

macrumors newbie
May 21, 2003
23
0
New York
Dude, a feature that plays music to how fast you run would be sweet. I already have a playlist of songs that match my walking speed. It sort of makes it feel like you're in a movie or that the world centers around you when things are in sync like that. I wonder if anyone on the street notices how my walking pace will suddenly change without any apparent reason.
 
U

Ulfhednar

macrumors newbie
Apr 12, 2005
18
0
When can I hook this here iPod to my bicycle?

I saw that Lance Armstrong was one of the Nike/iPod promotors . . . I hope that Lance being involed is some kind of hint of what's to come!
 
Dunepilot

Dunepilot

macrumors 6502a
Feb 25, 2002
880
0
UK
A brilliant idea for 4-to-the-floor house music. If, like me, you listen to a lot of math-rock (all sorts of crazy time signatures) and post-hardcore/emo (much of which is in 6/4) ... not so good.
 
j-a-x

j-a-x

macrumors 68000
Apr 15, 2005
1,562
284
Houston, Texas
The tempo thing sounds kinda dumb to me, I don't wanna listen to my music with a funky temp...

But the Nike shoe thing with running stats sounds pretty cool.
 
M

modernpixel

macrumors member
May 15, 2005
60
0
New York, NY
More exciting than excercise -- I love the idea of iTunes going through my music and setting tempo tags for everything. I was just thinking the other day that it would be great if I could somehow automate creating a playlist of slow music, or dancey music, etc. This would be a really awesome addition.
 
irishgrizzly

irishgrizzly

macrumors 65816
May 15, 2006
1,461
2
What about a tempo sync for lovers? It could be placed near a bed and adjust the music according to the vibrations. Barry White with no/little movement... etc. :)
 
F

fahlman

macrumors regular
Sep 12, 2003
107
57
j-a-x said:
The tempo thing sounds kinda dumb to me, I don't wanna listen to my music with a funky temp...
Click to expand...
It doesn't adjust the tempo of the song, but chooses a song that matches the tempo that you are running at.
 
S

SciTeach

macrumors regular
Apr 18, 2006
103
0
NEK
tkidBOSTON said:
The real question is can it play Eye of the Tiger when I'm running up stairs... :p
Click to expand...

Or the theme from ROCKY.....

"That would be a pretty cool feature if I had a Nano and could get up off my butt and go run"

Can we say electric shock? The batteries are suppose to be better.:rolleyes:
 
Scarlet Fever

Scarlet Fever

macrumors 68040
Jul 22, 2005
3,262
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Bookshop!
imagine walking with pink floyd... lol
that'd be something like one step every 2 seconds :D

my dad runs a bit, and when he first saw this Nike+Apple thing, he thought you put your nano into your shoe :p
 
M

MarcelV

macrumors 6502
Jul 12, 2004
317
0
j-a-x said:
The tempo thing sounds kinda dumb to me, I don't wanna listen to my music with a funky temp...
Click to expand...

You may not realize it, but it is done daily on the radio. Most radio stations use this kind of method to speed up the play time of a song. I can asure you that you don't notice the difference. The nifty thing here is that it adjust based on user input.
 
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