GB2394582A - Noiseless and invisible transmission of directions and similar instructions - Google Patents

Abstract

For the purpose of soundless and invisible transmission of instructions to actors, the instructions are entered in an input device which converts these into electrical signals, wherein via a transmitter device the signals are converted into a form suitable for transmission and transmitted. Each actor wears a small and lightweight receiver device which can be worn unobtrusively below the clothing. The receiver device receives and decodes the signals transmitted and passes them on to one or more vibration emitters e.g. vibration motors, which the actor also wears unobtrusively below his clothing. Consequently, instructions and directions are relayed to actors, noiselessly.

Description

r 1 2394582

Process for Transmitting Direction or Similar Instructions to Persons The present invention relates to the use of a wireless signal transmission 5 process for the noiseless and invisible transmission of direction and similar instructions, for example from a director to actors on a scene when recording cinema, television or promotional films, in theatre direction and similar, and for transmitting instructions to persons who are performing an activity in very noisy environments, for use in the police service and similar.

On stage or on a set for film, television or similar, it is often necessary to inform the actors of when and to where they must walk, when and where they must stop, when and where they should turn to the left and right, at what time they should begin a particular action etc. The necessary movements and 15 actions are established by the director in advance and then the persons concerned such as cameraman, camera assistant, grip etc. also define in advance all necessary settings for the camera, lens, stand, camera trolley, camera crane, lighting and other stage and auxiliary media. In order for the recorded scene then to conform truly to the director's requirements, it is 2 0 important that all actors actually stand or change their movement direction at the specified points, or that an action is performed at the precise time.

Otherwise the proposed film settings do not correspond to the movement sequence or positions of the actors. Such results then do not fulfil the desired expectations and the scene must be recorded again, or for live shows a 2 5 particular action is performed at the wrong time and thus loses its effect.

Previously these instructions were established with very simple means e.g. by adhesive tape on the ground or by the visual signs from the director.

Headsets connected to voice radio devices can often not be used as they are 5 visible or in scenes with a dialogue irritate the actor. This also applies to other presenters and players in a theatre.

All these known processes have the disadvantage that the actors are distracted and cannot concentrate fully on their activity, or a recording is 10 interrupted by production instructions. Repeating this scene often is associated with considerable preparation time and high costs. Further costs arise by the over-use of film or the increased time required e.g. in film editing.

The present invention is based on the object of transmitting instructions to 15 actors without distracting them and without the transfer of instructions having a disruptive effective on the performance or recording.

According to this invention, and in one aspect, this object is achieved by a wireless signal transmission process for the transmission of direction and 20 similar instructions from a director to one or more actors in a scene, in such a manner that for the purpose of soundless and invisible transmission, the instructions to be transmitted are entered in at least one input device allocated to the director, transmitted via at least one transmission device, received via at least one receiver device allocated to the actor and there converted into tactile 2 5 signals perceptible by the actor.

According to this invention, and in another aspect, there is provided a device for performance of the signal transmission system, characterized by at least one input device for input of the instructions to be transmitted, at least one 5 transmission device for transmitting the instructions entered, at least one receiver device for receiving the instructions transmitted and at least one vibration emitter for converting the instructions received into tactile signals perceptible to the actor.

10 Starting from the knowledge that acoustic and visual signals disrupt a film recording or a live performance and are too distracting for the actors involved or restrict their field of vision, according to the invention instructions are

transmitted to the actors by means of tactile signals such as e.g. generated by vibration emitters, in miniature construction, fitted to appropriate body parts of 15 the actors, and with a receiver unit and an emitter worn invisibly under the clothing of the actor. Such vibration emitters generate no audible noise so that with the process according to the invention there is no undesirable visible and/or acoustic disruption.

20 According to the invention the desired instructions are entered at an input device. The input device converts these inputs into electrical signals which are transmitted to the actor or actors via a transmitter device in a form suitable for transmission. This transmission takes place wireless e.g. by radio or infrared in order not to hinder the actors with wires or similar.

Each actor wears a small, lightweight receiver device which can be worn unobtrusively under his clothing. The receiver device receives and decodes the transmitted signals and passes them to one or more vibration emitters e.g. vibration motors which the actor also wears unobtrusively under his clothing.

The present invention thus allows instructions to be transmitted to actors, presenters and players without them being distracted and without the transmission of instructions having a disruptive effect on the performance or recording. In a second embodiment of the invention the complexity of connecting a receiver device with a multiplicity of vibration emitters is reduced. This allows the application to body parts of vibration emitters which are unobtrusively connected together.

In a third embodiment of the invention the material complexity required for implementation of the process is reduced.

The said embodiments of the invention can be combined as required with 20 each other.

The invention is now described with reference to three embodiment examples shown diagrammatically to a greater or lesser extent in the drawing.

These show:

Fig. 1 a block circuit diagram showing the sequence of the procedure for transmitting instructions to actors according to a first embodiment of the invention; 5 Fig. 2 a block circuit diagram showing the sequence of the procedure for transmitting instructions to actors according to a second embodiment of the invention; Fig. 3 a block circuit diagram showing the sequence of a 10 procedure for transmitting instructions to actors according to a third embodiment of the invention.

With reference to figure 1, the process is described below of transmitting instructions to actors according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

First the director R or another person enters an instruction at an input device 1. This is done via buttons, switches or similar input elements 2 of the input device 1. These instructions can also be entered voicecontrolled. The input device 1 furthermore has a replay device 2 to display the instruction 20 entered. Allocated to the input device 1 is a memory device 4 in which is stored a sequence of instructions for the progress of a scene, which instructions are activated manually at the corresponding time, or for long scenes via control signals. 2 5 From the input device 1 the instructions entered in the form of electrical

signals are passed to a transmitter device 5. In the transmitter device 5 the signals are converted i.e. coded so they have a form suitable for transmission.

The transmission device 5 has a transmission element in the form of an antenna 6 for wireless transmission of the signals.

Each actor A, B etc. who is to receive instructions for his acting wears unobtrusively below his clothing a receiver device 8. The receiver device 8 has a receiver element in the form of an antenna 7 for receiving signals. The signals received via the receiver element 7 are prepared in the receiver device 8 i.e. 10 decoded to determine whether they are intended for the receiver device of the actor concerned and which instructions are concerned.

Each actor A, B etc. also wears unobtrusively below his clothing a multiplicity of vibration emitters 9 (9a, 9b, 9c etc.) in the form of vibration motors 15 which are fitted to various body parts or various parts of the clothing. The vibration emitters 9 are connected with the receiver device 8 and triggered by the receiver device 8 as a function of the signals received so that each of the vibration emitters, to which is allocated an instruction received, in set in vibration. The actor feels the vibration at the corresponding body part and thus 20 knows which instruction he should follow.

In this way each actor can receive instructions at any time without having to concentrate on anything other than his immediate activity. He does not need to note markings e.g. on the floor, or signs given to him visually or acoustically.

2 5 This avoids disrupting the performance or recording with acoustic or optical

signals. Such receiver devices and vibration emitters can be constructed very small and lightweight, and applied to the body of the actor or his clothing in a 5 simple manner.

According to a second embodiment of the invention a separate receiver device is allocated to each vibration emitter as shown as fig. 2.

10 As described above for the first embodiment, first the director R or another person enters an instruction via the input elements 2 at the input device 1. This instruction is converted by the transmitter device 5 and transmitted via the transmitter element 6.

15 Each actor A, B etc. who is to receive instructions wears - as already stated - unobtrusively below his clothing a multiplicity of receiver devices 8 (8a, 8b etc.). Each receiver device 8 receives the signals via its receiver elements 7 (7a, 7b etc.) and decodes them as described for the first embodiment.

20 Also as in the first embodiment, each actor A, B etc. wears a multiplicity of vibration emitters 9 (9a, 9b etc.) e.g. vibration motors. Each vibration emitter 9 is connected with its own receiver device 8. The receiver device 8 decodes an instruction allocated to it and then sets the associated vibration emitter 9 in vibration.

The advantage of this process in relation to the first embodiment lies in particular in that there is no need for one receiver device to be connected with a multiplicity of vibration sensors. These connecting lines must namely also be worn by the actor unobtrusively below his clothing and could hinder his 5 movements. Also in this way the vibration emitters can be mounted with the allocated receiver even on body parts at which, with the clothing proposed, they cannot be connected or only with difficulty connected together unobtrusively.

Evidently in this embodiment too more than one vibration emitter can be 10 connected to a receiver e.g. if they are physically adjacent or at this point the connections do not cause disruption.

Instead of providing an individual vibration emitter for each instruction, it is also possible to distinguish the instructions from each other by differently 15 structured vibration signals e.g. with short and long vibration signals or pulsed signals. With reference to figure 3, a process is described below for transmitting instructions to actors according to a third embodiment of the invention.

20 As described above for the first embodiment, first the director R or another person enters an instruction via the input elements 2 at the input device 1. This instruction is converted by the transmitter device 5 and transmitted via the transmitter element 6.

Each actor A, B etc. who is to receive instructions wears unobtrusively below his clothing a receiver device 8 which via its receiver element 7 receives and decodes the signals as described for the first embodiment.

5 Each actor A, B etc. also wears a vibration emitter 9. The vibration emitter 9 is connected with the receiver device 8. The receiver device 8 then decodes a signal allocated to it, and sets the associated vibration emitter 9 in vibration.

Here a particular vibration signal or particular sequence of vibration signals is allocated to each instruction so that the actor can tell from the vibration signal 10 which instruction he should follow.

With this embodiment the material complexity necessary to implement the process is reduced to a minimum. This also minimises the requirement to fit the devices unobtrusively on the actor so that they disturb him as little as possible.

15 Naturally in the third embodiment, as in the first and second embodiments, it is also possible to use more than one receiver device and/or more than one vibration emitter. The possibility of transmitting several instructions via one vibration emitter however in any case reduces the number of receiver devices and vibration emitters necessary.

Also in all three embodiments it is possible to use not only one transmitter device but also two or more. This does not affect the principle of performance of the process. The movement sequence of an entire scene can also be determined in advance, stored in the input device and triggered by signals.

The devices described above for transmitting instructions to actors consequently have at least the following components: one or more input devices to enter the instructions to be transmitted, one or more transmitter 5 devices for transmitting the instructions entered, one or more receiver devices for receiving the instructions transmitted, and one or more vibration emitters for tactile transfer of the instructions received to the actor or actors.

REFERENCE LIST

1 Input device 5 2 Input element 3 Display device 4 Storage device 5Transmission device 6Transmission element 10 7 Receiver element 8 Receiver device 9Vibration emitter R Director 15 A Actor A B Actor B

Claims (8)

1. Use of a wireless signal transmission process for the transmission of direction and similar instructions from a director to one or 5 more actors in a scene, in such a manner that for the purpose of soundless and invisible transmission, the instructions to be transmitted are entered in at least one input device allocated to the director, transmitted via at least one transmission device, received via at least one receiver device allocated to the actor and there converted into tactile signals 10 perceptible by the actor.

2. Signal transmission process according to claim 1, characterized in that to convert the instructions into tactile signals for each actor, several vibration emitters are used which are attached to different 15 body parts of the actor concerned.

3. Signal transmission process according to claim 1, characterized in that to convert the instructions into tactile signals for each actor, a single vibration emitter is used which generates different types of 20 tactile signal.

4. Signal transmission process according to claim 1, characterized in that to convert the instructions into tactile signals for each actor, several vibration emitters are used attached to different body parts 2 5 and which generate different types of tactile signal.

5. Signal transmission process according to claim 1, characterized in that the stored instructions are triggered automatically by a device, a computer or a sensor system.

6. Device for performance of the signal transmission system according to claims 1 to 5, characterized by at least one input device for input of the instructions to be transmitted, at least one transmission device for transmitting the instructions entered, at least one receiver device for 10 receiving the instructions transmitted and at least one vibration emitter for converting the instructions received into tactile signals perceptible to the actor.

7. Signal transmission process as described herein and 15 exemplified with reference to the drawings.

8. Device for performance of a signal transmission system as described herein and exemplified with reference to the drawings.