LIGHT TIME SPACE MOVE : GROUP ONE [B1.1] BENCHMAX PRODUCT REPORT

RACHEL VAN BERLOPOUYA BOZORGZADEHJOEP LE BLANCFLORIAAN BRUINS (Former B1.1 student)

COACH: J. D. BAKKER

INDEX

PAGE: CONTENT:

3 INTRODUCTION4 NUMBERS & FACTS5 CONCEPT6 DIRECT FEEDBACK7 EXERCISE FEEDBACK8 CONCEPT SCENARIO9-10 FORMSTUDY11 PROTOTYPE HARDWARE12-13 FUTURE PERSPECTIVE

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LTSM ACTIVE LEARNING PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Light, Time, Space, MoveDPM66 Active learningLiterature shows that fun or play contribute to an intrinsically motivated learning experience. Four key elements make things fun to learn: challenge, fantasy, curiosity, and control.In order for an activity to be challenging, it must provide a goal whose outcome is uncertain. Fantasy makes activities more interesting by evoking images of physical objects or social situations that are not actually present. Curiosity can be evoked by providing environments that have an optimal level of informational complexity. With regard to control, the activity should promote feelings of self-determination and control on the part of the learner. Design a learning environment where activity and light play a pivotal role.Proposer(s) Kees, Harm, JacobClient(s) Patrizia Marti (Siena University)

INTRODUCTION

In every gym you will be able to find one, a bench-press. Bench-pressing is one of the best ways of training your pectoral muscles, the only problem is that most people that start doing the exercise, do it in a wrong way.Our product is meant to improve stability of the bench-press exercise, for beginning and advanced level bench-pressing.

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NUMBERS, RESEARCH AND FACTS

The first step was actually going to a gym and talking with a gym instructor about the bench-press exercise. We were trying to find out what the most common mistakes are when bench-pressing. The answers were as follows:

1. People often select too much weight2. Beginners don’t know how to execute the exercise properly3. The angles under which the exercise is done, are not right, therefore damaging muscles

We also analyzed that problem by doing medical studies on bench-press exercises and we came to a few clear conclusions:

1. Nine out of fifteen muscle injuries is from bench-pressing2. There are several angles that decrease the actual muscle training and increase muscle damage

Observations at the gym showed us that not only beginners were having trouble with the exercise, more experienced bench-pressers also had problems with the angles and stance of their arms and choosing the weight.

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CONCEPT

The BenchMax is an innovative device that will teach its user how to perform a bench-press exercise more stable. The system is placed onto a bench-press barbell as follows:

1. Benchpressbarbell

2. BenchMax system

3. System on thebarbell

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DIRECT FEEDBACK

The BenchMax system gives feedback on the stability of the barbell. The accelerometer inside the system measures x-, y- and z-direction movement. (The y-axis movement is not necessary in our concept because y-axis movement is neglect able for the feedback in the exercise.) The system works with direct light feedback which will be displayed on a LED display and it will work as follows:

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PERFORMANCE FEEDBACK

The BenchMax also has a feedback system for longer term exercise improvement. When you are doing the exercise in the right way, which means exercising in a stable position, you will get rewarded by the BenchMax lighting up. The more you do it right, the brighter the light. When you are done exercising, the lights will stay on for 30 seconds. This is the average resting time in between two exercise rounds. This would be an implementation interesting for body builders for instance, using not only their muscles, but also the bench max to show their capabilities.

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CONCEPT SCENARIO

When the BenchMax concept is connected to the bench-press barbell the system will teach the user how to bench-press in a stable way. The light feedback will be delivered through a LED display as shown in these scenario examples.

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FORMSTUDY

For the BenchMax Shape Prototype we did a form study to find an attractive shape. We underpinned our shape with the theory coming from the book: ‘understanding aesthetics for the merchandising and design profession’. By Ann Marie FioreThis book defines aesthetic experience, factors influencing aesthetic experience or preference and it describes different elements of design such as color, light, lines and shapes, texture etc. It describes the concepts novelty, complexity and order and their relationship and finally it describes principles of design.The book states:The greatest pleasure comes from adding a high level of variety (complexity) along with a maximum level of unity (order). A good designer understands how to select these units so that they form a recognizable unity.

The inverted-U relationship of pleasure states that a medium level of complexity leads to a higher level of pleasure. (Walker 1980) Complexity (and order) relates to the degree of stimulation from the number and physical quality of units, the degree of dissimilarity of units , and the level of organization in the arrangement of units. Novelty is the perceived newness of the units and their organization, based on comparison of the present form with forms and past experience. Thus complexity is affected by the following components:

- Number of units (the number of identifiable parts of the form)

- Degree of interest of nits- Cohesion of units

To increase complexity: We have scaled these degrees of complexity 1-5

- Increase the number of units = 5 - Increase the degree of interest of units = 5- Decrease the cohesion of units = 1

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FORMSTUDY

‘The inverted-U relationship of pleasure states that a medium level of complexity leads to a higher level of pleasure. (Walker 1980)’ A gym often doesn’t provide the maximum pleasure because the degree of interest is too little.Shaping the new product means anticipating on the shortcomings of the gym.The degree of interest had to be improved: We improved from having three points of interest to having five points of interest in one product.The gym the shape prototype + Irregular geometric shapes <> - simple regular geometric shape + Large size shapes + large size shapes- Smooth, sheer, flat texture - smooth, sheer, flat texture- Straight lines, soft edges <> + jagged,curved or hard+ Diagonal or vertical lines, multi-directions + diagonal or vertical lines, multi-directions- Low intensity color <> + high intensity color- Low value contrast <> + high value contrast- Low – intensity or accent lighting - Low – intensity or accent lighting

11 different sketches with different qualities and levels of interest gave us the final choice.

For the proportions we chose the mathematical phenomenon of the golden ratio. At least since the Renaissance, many artists and architects have proportioned their works to approximately the golden ratio.

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PROTOTYPE HARDWARE

The hardware in the BenchMax prototype consists of an 3-axis accelerometer, an Arduino chip and a LED display. The analog output values of the accelerometer are wired to an Arduino chip. The Arduino program translates the analog input in a light output. The parts are connected in this way:

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FUTURE PERSPECTIVE

This concept has a lot of dimensions, of which only few where demonstrated, they represent the core of the concept. However, far more dimensions can or must be implemented to make a final product. Taking the future in perspective, we could still make these implementations:

IMPLEMENT DIFFICULTY LEVELSOur concept’s target group is the beginner, starting the bench press exercises. We could make our product useful for more than just beginners. We would do that by implementing different levels of expertise. Where we now use the four rings in our shape to show long term feedback, we could make use of them by using the bigger ones to still give this feedback, and the smaller ones for the different levels of expertise. This would be an implementation interesting for body builders for instance, using not only their muscles, but also the bench max to show their capabilities. A point of attention is keeping the balance between attraction and distraction during the exercises.

ATTACHING THE SYSTEM TO THE BARBELLThe shape prototype represents what it says: the shape. However we cannot slide this over a barbell as is insinuated in this prototype. This is why we need to think of a system to put or click it on the barbell, without losing the concept of the shape.

ADD COLOR AND TEXTURE TO SHAPETo finish the shape, and to anticipate on the form study, we should make the bench max have colors of high intensity and a high intensity contrast in color. A new study should be devoted to find the right colors. To increase complexity, one can also think about the texture, the focus would not be on the user-friendliness of the surface, since you will not be handling the apparatus during the exercise. It is important however, that we keep the complexity optimal.

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FUTURE PERSPECTIVE

HANDLEBARSMany problems where encountered within the exercise bench pressing. Amongst those is a 10% risk of wrist injury. This injury is especially caused because the wrist is in the wrong angle. The force of the weight then is distributed in the wrong way, overburdening and straining some of the muscles. A solution for this problem we thought of was making handlebars.These handlebars would not only provide extra grip, which is useful and pleasant to the hands, (it means less callus and blisters to the hands), but also correct and only make the right position of the wrist and the hands possible.To exclude one of the other most important injury causing problems, we could continue with the handlebars.

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