FR2633424A1 - METHOD AND DEVICE FOR PRODUCING INTERACTIVE SCENARIOS USING AUDIOVISUAL INFORMATION AND MATERIAL FOR IMPLEMENTING THE PROCESS - Google Patents

Abstract

The process of the invention is intended to generate programs. It is remarkable in that optical coding is produced in the form of individualised sequences (4 to 11), in at least some of these sequences (4 to 11) there are linking signs with at least one other subsequent sequence to create a mesh of compatible sequences in a logical series constituting a program, there are in at least some sequences (4 to 11) signs of incompatibility making it impossible to acquire certain other sequences, the individual sequences are explored by an optical sign reader (30), the optical signs are converted into electrical signals, the information corresponding to these signals is temporarily stored in a memory, these electrical signals are analysed to produce their discrimination between compatible signals between two successive sequences and incompatible signals between two successive sequences and, depending whether they are compatible or not, they are transformed either into control signals for a user device (34) or into prohibition signals.

Description

Method and device for the realization of interactive scenarios using audiovisual and hardware information for the implementation of the method.

 The present invention relates to the production of interactive scenarios using recorded audiovisual information.

 Audiovisual information is understood here to mean all information representative of sounds and / or images, this information being recorded in analog or digital form.

The realization of interactive scenarios using audiovisual information, in particular scenarios creating an intelligent tree structure giving the user a logical or random evolution in his choices, finds applications in
The fields of games and education. By way of example, a particular application of the invention is to allow a user to implement the scenario of a story of which he is the hero, the principle of the game being identical to that used in books whose reader is the hero.

The invention aims to provide a method for
The implementation of such interactive scenarios using as simple as possible means both in their constitution and in their use.

According to the invention, the method comprises the steps which consist in:
- insert an information medium on which audiovisual information is recorded in a remote-controlled playback device comprising means for selective access to the recorded audiovisual information,
- read bar codes on a program medium which carries graphic information with which are associated bar codes representing instructions, audiovisual information recorded on the information medium having a relationship with graphic information carried by the program medium ,
- automatically convert the signals supplied by Barcode reading into control signals from the reading device,
- transmit the control signals to the reading device to control the operating phases thereof, the selective choice of an instruction on the program medium being thus automatically converted into a corresponding operating phase of the reading device Reading, and
- reproduce the audiovisual information read on the information medium during the operating phases of the playback device.

 The program support is advantageously in the form of a booklet or guide carrying graphic information in the form of texts and / or images. At the end of each phase of operation of the reading device, the user is brought back to a page of the booklet where several choices are offered to him in relation to graphic information appearing on this page. A barcode is associated with each choice, the reading of which automatically triggers an operating phase of the Reading device corresponding to that choice. The booklet thus constitutes a programming tool made available to the user for carrying out interactive scenarios. using visual audio information. Other bar codes can be written on the booklet, which - correspond to general instructions independent of graphic information, such as return to the previous choice, call for audiovisual assistance information, return to departure ...

 The audiovisual information medium is for example a compact disc (audio, video, or audio / video), a video disc, a magnetic tape (audio, video, or audio / video), a digital audio tape ... in general, any type of image and / or sound medium recorded in analog or digital form can be used as long as it can be read by means of a device having an address code, for example a time code or an image code, allowing precise selective access to the recorded images and / or sounds.

According to a particular feature of the process in accordance with
The invention, a control phase can be provided in order to check the compatibility of a chosen instruction with a choice made previously, to authorize or not the operating phase of the reading device corresponding to the chosen instruction. Thus, when the implementation of the process supposes that the scenario carried out follows a predefined tree structure, the user finds himself obliged to respect this tree structure by being unable to have the Reading device perform corresponding operating phases choices incompatible with previous choices.

 The transmission of the control signals to the reading device is carried out by any suitable means, preferably wireless, for example by infrared.

 According to another of its aspects, the invention aims to provide a device making it possible to implement the method defined above.

According to the invention, the device comprises:
- a medium of recorded audiovisual information,
a remote-controlled playback device having means for reading audiovisual information recorded on the information medium, and means for selective access to the information recorded by means of an address code,
- a device for reproducing the information read by the reading device,
a program medium carrying graphic information with which are associated bar codes representing instructions, audiovisual information recorded on the information medium having a relationship with graphic information carried by the program medium,
- a bar code reader enabling the bar codes carried by the program medium to be read, and
- a remote control device connected to the barcode reader and having means for converting the signals received from the
Bar code reader into signals for controlling the operation of the reading apparatus, and means for transmitting the control signals to the reading apparatus, so that the selective choice of an instruction on the program medium is automatically converted into a corresponding operating phase of the Reading device.

The invention will be better understood on reading the description given below, by way of indication but not limitation, with reference to the appended drawings, in which:
- Figure 1 is a schematic general view of an embodiment of a device according to the invention;
- Figure 2 is a flowchart showing the operations performed during the implementation of a method according to the invention;
- Figure 3 is a functional block diagram of the barcode reader and the remote control device forming part of the device of Figure I; and
- Figure 4 is a flowchart showing the operations performed by the remote control device.

 A particular embodiment of the invention is described below in the context of the application of the invention to a game which is based on a principle similar to that used in books in which the reader is the hero, but which uses audiovisual information, for example still images, sounds, sequences of images or sequences of images and sounds.

 The audiovisual information used during the game is recorded on an information medium, such as a compact disc, video disc or tape, in analog or digital form.

In the example illustrated (FIG. 1), it is an audio / video compact disc 10 on which images and sounds are recorded in digital and / or analog form. This disc is read by means of a digital disc player 20 (reading by laser beam) to which is connected an apparatus for reproducing the images and sounds recorded on the disc, for example a television apparatus 30.

The game consists in the development of an interactive scenario by controlling successive operating phases of the disc player 20 (still image, sequence at normal speed, accelerated or slowed down ...) by means of instructions Read on a support of program 40. In the illustrated example, the program support consists of a Booklet having several pages 42 on which are printed, on the one hand graphic information 44 in the form of text and / or images and, on the other part of bar codes 46A representing instructions. Each instruction 46A on a page of the booklet corresponds to a choice among several options offered to the user for the continuation of the game in the form of a phase of operation of the disc player. This choice is made by the user in relation to the graphic information. appearing on The Booklet page. Audiovisual information which is triggered by the Execution of a selected instruction is reproduced by means of the television. At the end of each phase of operation of the disc player, the user is referred to booklet 40 either implicitly or explicitly by a message appearing on the television screen. Of course, the audiovisual information recorded on the disc and the graphical information printed on the booklet is related, the whole consisting of the disc and the booklet constituting the material necessary to produce an interactive scenario,
The audiovisual information reproduced on the television screen referring to the booklet on which are in turn selected The instructions controlling Reading and reproduction of the audiovisual information.

 The book 40 also carries bar codes 46 B which represent general instructions independent of the graphic information carried by the pages of the Book. These general instructions consist for example in returning to the starting point, Returning to a previous choice, calling for audiovisual assistance information (page or explanatory sequence) ...

In the example illustrated, the bar codes 46B are written on the front of a rigid sheet 48 forming the back cover of the booklet and of dimensions greater than those of pages 42. The bar codes 46B are written in the marginal zones 48A, 48B of sheet 48 extending beyond pages 42. The meanings of bar codes 46B are indicated on sheet 48 close to these or, as in the example illustrated, in boxes 42A on pages 42 of the booklet opposite bar codes 468. The bar codes are read by means of a bar code reader 50 to be transformed into electrical signals received by a remote control unit 60. The bar code reader 50 can be in the form of a pencil connected by a flexible sound link to the remote control unit 60. As a variant, the bar code reader can be integral with the remote control unit, or even integrated therein.

 The remote control housing 60 receives the signals produced by the bar code reader 50 and processes the corresponding control signals for the disk reader 20 to execute the selected instruction (for example reading a particular image or reproducing a particular sequence of images and sounds).

The control signals are transmitted to the disc player by a preferably wireless link, for example a
Infrared link. For this purpose, the remote control unit 60 and the disc player 20 are provided with an infrared transmitter 68 and an infrared receiver 22, respectively.

The main steps of an example process according to
The invention, as it can be implemented by means of the device which has just been described, are indicated on the flow diagram of FIG. 2.

When an audio / video compact disc has been inserted in the disc player (phase 102), the user selects on the booklet 40 the bar code corresponding to the initial instruction and triggers, for example, the reproduction of a game presentation sequence (phase 104). The selected bar code is read by means of the bar code reader 50 (phase 106) and the signal produced by the reading of the bar code is transformed into a control signal by means of a circuit provided for this purpose in the housing. remote control (phase 108). The control signal, containing for example the addresses of the start and end images of the presentation sequence, is transmitted to the disc player 20 by infrared (phase 110) to control the reading of the audiovisual information composing the presentation sequence (phase This information is reproduced by means of the television set 30 (phase 114). At the end of the sequence, the user is returned to the booklet 40, for example implicitly on the first page of it or explicitly by a message displayed on
The screen of the television set, to make a new selection (phase 104). Audiovisual information sequences are thus selected successively, making up an interactive scenario following a tree structure defined by The successive choices. At any time during the game, the user can return to the starting point or to a previous choice, or can select the reproduction of assistance information to be helped in Running the game.

By way of example, the different instructions represented by the bar codes can be as follows
- still image: The barcode identifies the addressing code of the desired Image on the audiovisual information medium, i.e. either the time code (location of the Image defined by Reading time from an origin point to reach the image), that is the number of the Image;
- sequence: the bar code identifies The addressing codes for the images at the start and end of the sequence;
- slowed down sequence: the barcode identifies the addressing codes of the start and end images of the sequence and specifies a predetermined slowed down speed;
- reverse sequence: the bar code identifies the addressing codes of the images at the start and end of the sequence and specifies a predetermined reverse scrolling speed;
- timed still image: the bar code identifies the addressing code of the Image and a display duration thereof;
- audio 1: the bar code specifies whether a first audio track associated with a selected sequence should be played or not;
- audio 2: the barcode specifies whether a second audio track associated with a selected sequence should be played or not;
- variabLe speed: The bar code specifies a particular scrolling speed.

 Of course, a particular instruction can be formed by the combination of several of the above instructions, for example sequence and audio 1 or ser-nce and variable speed. The corresponding bar code is then formed by the juxtaposition of the bar codes representative of the combined instructions and is read all at once.

The barcode reader 50 is a well known device which need not be described in detail here. It includes a detector 52 which, When the reader is moved in front of the barcode, produces analog signals representative of
The Read instruction. The detector 52 is connected to a control circuit 54 which is intended to verify that the information read has a format corresponding to that of a bar code and which consequently controls, on the one hand, the production or not of an audible and / or light signal for controlling loss by means of a circuit 56 and, on the other hand, the transmission or not of the signals produced by
The detector 52.

Analog signals representative of Instruction
The reads are converted into digital form by means of a converter circuit 62 which, in the example illustrated, is integrated into the remote control device 60, but could be integrated into the
Bar code reader 50, and the digital signals obtained are received by a processing circuit 64, which is a microprocessor circuit with, in a conventional manner, a central computing unit 64A, a read-only program memory 648, a memory data circuit 64C and an input-output circuit 64D interconnected by buses 64E The processing circuit 64 essentially has the functions of controlling the instructions read by the bar code reader 50 and converting them into signals of control applied to a transmission circuit 66 which controls the infrared transmitter 68. The control signals are put in the format desired to be recognized by the disc player used, in order to remote control functions such as reading of an identified still image by an addressing code (time code or image number), Reading of a sequence identified by the addressing codes of the start and end images with specification of the direction and speed of scrolling t, playback of audio tracks. When playing a still image for a specified time, this time is decoded and counted down by
The processing unit 64 for interrupting the Reading at the end of the time read.

The instruction control function by means of
The processing unit 64 firstly recognizes that the instructions read correspond to instructions of a predetermined type recognized by the system. If the result of the control is negative, the processing unit 64 commands the emission of a light and / or sound prohibition signal by means of a circuit 58 installed in the remote control device 60 or, as in the illustrated example, in the bar code reader 50, this in order to immediately indicate to the user that the instruction read cannot be executed.

In a particular embodiment of the invention,
The processing unit 64 may also have the function of checking the compatibility of the instruction read with choices previously made by the user. Indeed, when the game is played, the successive choices made compose a scenario which follows a particular path among a plurality of possible paths forming a tree structure. When, at a point in the game, a choice has been made between several possible branches, the checks carried out during the subsequent choices consist in verifying that the user remains on the chosen branch, that is to say, in other words , that the user respects the rules of the game by following the indications provided to him at the end of each phase of operation of the disc player. When the result of the control is negative, the processing unit 64 commands
The emission of a prohibition signal, as previously. The operations carried out by the remote control device are indicated on the flow diagram of FIG. 4.

 When an instruction has been acquired (phase 202), it is checked, first from the point of view of its conformity with the instructions recognized by the system (phase 204), then, possibly, from the point of view of its compatibility. with the choices made previously (phase 206). If the result of one of the checks is negative, the transmission of the prohibition signal is commanded (phase 208) and the system returns to the start pending the acquisition of a new instruction. If the result of the check is positive, the instruction read is converted into control signals (phase 210) which are transmitted to the disc player by means of the transmission circuit 66 and of the infrared transmitter 68.

 From the above, it appears that the invention allows the realization of interactive scenarios by relatively simple means and very easy to use. In the case of the envisaged application, each game is particularized by the set formed by the disc and the Booklet. If a check is made of the compatibility of the instructions chosen, it is also necessary to provide for each game a specific program for the remote control device, for example in the form of a plug-in read-only memory.

 Of course, the invention can be used in other applications than the game described above, in particular for teaching, professional training ...

Claims (10)

1. A method for producing interactive scenarios using audiovisual information, characterized in that it comprises the steps which consist in  - insert an information medium, on which audiovisual information is recorded, in a remote-controlled playback device comprising means for selective access to the recorded audiovisual information,  - Read bar codes on a program medium which carries graphic information with which are associated bar codes representing instructions, audiovisual information recorded on the information medium having a relationship with graphic information carried by the program medium ,  - automatically convert the signals supplied by the Reading of bar codes as control signals from the Reading,  - transmit the control signals to the Reading for controlling operating phases thereof, the selective choice of an instruction on the program medium being thus automatically converted into a corresponding operating phase of the reading apparatus, and  - reproduce the audiovisual information read on the information medium during the operating phases of the playback device. 2. Method seLon claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises a step of controlling the ccinpatibility of a chosen instruction with a choice made previously. 3. Device for the production of interactive scenarios using audiovisual information, characterized in that it comprises  - a medium (10) of recorded audiovisual information,  a remote-controlled reading device (20) having means for reading audiovisual information recorded on the information medium, and means for selective access to the information recorded by means of an address code,  - an apparatus (30) for reproducing the information read by the reading apparatus,  - a program medium (40) carrying graphic information (44) with which are associated bar codes (46A, 468) representing instructions, audiovisual information recorded on the information medium having a relationship with graphic information carried by program support,  - a barcode reader (502 allowing to read The bar codes carried by the program support, and  a remote control device (60) connected to the bar code reader and having means (64) for converting the signals received from the bar code reader into signals for controlling the operation of the reading apparatus, and means ( 66, 68) of transmission of the control signals to the Reading device (30), so that the selective choice of an instruction on the program medium is automatically converted into a corresponding operating phase of the Reading device . 4. Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the remote control device (60) comprises means for controlling the instructions selected on the program medium (40) and in that a signal transmission circuit (58) prohibition is provided to issue a prohibition signal under the control of the control means when a read instruction does not meet specific criteria. 5. Device according to any one of claims 3 and 4, characterized in that the means for transmitting the control signals comprise an infrared transmitter (68). 6. Device according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that the reading device (20) is a digital disc player, the information medium (10) being constituted by a disc on which images and sounds are recorded in digital form. 7. Device according to any one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that the program medium consists of a Booklet (40) of several pages (42) carrying graphic information (44) and bar codes (46A , 468). 8. Equipment for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that it comprises  - an information medium (10) on which audiovisual information is recorded capable of being read by means of a playback device having means for selective access to the information recorded on the medium, and  - a program medium (40) carrying graphic information (44) with which are associated bar codes (46A) representing control instructions for reading audiovisual information on the information medium, audiovisual information recorded on the medium information related to graphical information carried by the program medium. 9. Equipment according to claim 8, characterized in that the program support is constituted by a booklet (40) having several pages (42) on which appear graphic information (44) and first bar codes (46A) intended for be selected in relation to graphic information, the booklet further bearing second bar codes (468) which correspond to general instructions independent of the graphic information. 10. Equipment according to any one of claims 8 and 9, characterized in that the information medium (10) is a disc on which images and sounds are recorded in digital and / or analog form.