WO1994029957A1

WO1994029957A1 - Remote control system

Info

Publication number: WO1994029957A1
Application number: PCT/GB1994/001225
Authority: WO
Inventors: Durrell Bishop
Original assignee: Royal College Of Art
Priority date: 1993-06-04
Filing date: 1994-06-06
Publication date: 1994-12-22
Also published as: GB9311615D0; AU1030295A

Abstract

A method and system for controlling the operation of an electronic device, which comprises placing a control sheet bearing a predetermined identification mark onto an electronic tablet; identifying said control sheet and correlating the identity of the control sheet with control information in order to select a control protocol; determining the position of a pointing device on said control sheet by means of communication between said pointing device and said tablet; and sending control signals under said control protocol to said device by means of a data link, wherein said control signals are a function of the position of said pointing device on said control sheet.

Description

REMOTE CONTROL SYSTEM.

This invention relates to information, display and control systems, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for controlling the operation of a variety of devices by means of an electronic writing tablet. Recent years, particularly in the home entertainment field, have seen the increasing proliferation of remote control devices, such as those commonly associated with compact disc (CD) players, video recorders, television sets and the like. These devices generally comprise a handset provided with a number of buttons and possibly a display unit. By depressing the buttons in an appropriate manner, a signal, which generally comprises a coded pulse of infra red (IR) radiation, is beamed to the device which is to be controlled, where the signal is decoded and the appropriate function is actuated. Such remote control devices, however, are inherently limited in their application, and generally offer nothing except the convenience of remote actuation of functions already available from the console of the relevant device itself.

The present invention seeks to provide a method and apparatus whereby the remote control of a device is achieved through the interaction between an operator and a control sheet, thus opening up a wide range of hitherto unforeseen control possibilities.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling the operation of an electronic device, which method comprises placing a control sheet bearing at least one predetermined identification mark onto an electronic tablet; correlating the identity of the control sheet with control information in order to select a control protocol containing a predetermined vocabulary of control signals; selecting a position on said control sheet and using said selected position to generate one of said control signals; and sending said control signal to said device by means of a data link.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling the operation of an electronic device, which method comprises placing a control sheet bearing a predetermined identification mark onto an electronic tablet; identifying said control sheet and correlating the identity of the control sheet with control information in order to select a control protocol; determining the position of a pointing device on said control sheet by means of communication between said pointing device and said tablet; and sending control signals under said control protocol to said device by means of a data link, wherein said control signals are a function of the position of said pointing device on said control sheet.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control system for controlling an appliance, which system comprises (i) a portable electronic tablet; (ii) at least one control sheet adapted to be placed on said electronic tablet, the at least one control sheet having at least two reference points at preselected coordinate locations on said control sheet; (iii) memory means including at least one control protocol containing a vocabulary of control signals suitable for controlling the operation of said appliance; (iv) first data transmission means permitting communication between said electronic tablet and said memory means; and (v) second data transmission means permitting communication of a selected control signal to said appliance, wherein (1) selection of one of said at least two reference points on said control sheet serves to identify the appliance and the control protocol related thereto; and (2) selection of another of said at least two reference points on said control sheet activates the transmission of a control signal to said appliance.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic control system comprising a pointing device and an electronic tablet provided with a working surface, which tablet is adapted to send data relating to the position of the pointing device relative to the working surface to a control unit, which control unit provides control signals for a predetermined electronic device, and which control signals are a function of the position of the pointing device with respect to the working surface of the tablet. Selection of a chosen reference point on the control sheet may be made in a variety of ways, depending upon the mode of interaction between the electronic tablet and the control sheet. For example, selection may be effected using a stylus which becomes inductively coupled to the electronic tablet when brought into close proximity therewith. Alternatively, selection may be effected merely by touching the reference point with the finger if capacitive coupling is the chosen mode of interaction. Again, a pointing device may be used which is brought close to the working surface of the electronic tablet, thereby interacting with a coordinate sensing arrangement which may be, for example, an optical grid. A further alternative is to use a pointing device equipped with transmitting and/or receiving means for electromagnetic radiation (e.g. infrared or visible light) or ultra mnd; the location of the pointing device is then used τ.o effect selection of the desired reference point by suitable triangulation techniques, the tablet being provided with appropriate means for operating such techniques. Alternatively, the working surface may allow position selection by conductive means, selection being made through the application of pressure through the control sheet by way of the pointing device.

Preferably the control sheet also carries readable indicia, e.g. in the form of one or more pictorial displays and/or alphanumeric characters, which assist the user in operating the control system.

The memory means may be in the form of a discrete unit, e.g. a control unit, or it may be located within the electronic tablet or within the appliance which is to be controlled by the system.

The nature of the first data transmission means will depend upon the location of the memory means; where, for example, the latter is located within the electronic tablet, it will generally be in the form of a hard-wired link. Integrated circuitry may conveniently be employed to fabricate the electronic components which make up the memory means and the electronic tablet. The second data transmission means may transmit data in the form of an electromagnetic signal, e.g. as an infrared beam; or it may operate by inductive coupling; or by ultrasonic transmission; or it may be hard-wired to the appliance (e.g. in the case where the memory means is integrated with the appliance itself). The electronic tablet may be in the form of a flat surface incorporating coordinate sensing means; or it may form part of a small computer, e.g. of the "laptop" or "notebook" kind. Other alternative arrangements include the provision of a pointing device electrically connected to the tablet, whereby positional information passes from the pointing device to the tablet via a data link. The pointing device may be provided with switching means which switch the pointing device between 'active' mode, in which the tablet transmits positional information to a control unit, and 'inactive' mode, in which no information is transmitted. This may be achieved by means of a button or switch on the pointing device or the tablet. Alternatively, the pointing device and tablet may automatically switch to 'active' mode when the pointing device touches or comes into close proximity with the working surface of the electronic tablet.

When a suitable control sheet bearing an identification mark is placed on the tablet, the control sheet may be identified by a number of means. The tablet may be provided with detection means which detect and identify the control sheet and produce a suitable identity signal, or the pointing device may be applied to the identification mark, which by virtue of its positional coordinates provides a suitable identity signal. This identity signal will generally then be transmitted to memory means, generally associated with a control unit, which memory means may be located in the electronic tablet itself, or in the device which is to be controlled, or in a separate device. The transmission may take place over a hard-wired connection, or via a wireless data link (e.g. IR, inductive coupling or low power radio/microwave transmission). The control unit is adapted to enable data communication between the memory means and the electronic device which is to be controlled. The control unit will then select one or more predetermined control protocols by correlating the identity signal with an index of control protocols. Once the one or more appropriate control protocols have been selected, the positional coordinates of the pointing device in relation to the control sheet may be transmitted to the control unit, and the selected one or more control protocols will use this information to control the electronic device as a function of the position of the pointing device relative to the control sheet. The control unit may be a discrete unit, or an integral part of the electronic device which is to be controlled, or an integral part of the electronic tablet. The control protocols and index information may be permanently programmed into the control unit, or, preferably, may be entered by means including smart cards, reading data from a compact disc, text-scanning from a printed page, or downloading from a separate computer. For a better understanding of the present invention, and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference shall now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 shows schematically a particular embodiment of a control system according to the present invention;

FIGURE 2 shows the control unit of Figure 1;

FIGURE 3 shows two embodiments of an electronic tablet for use with the system of Figure 1; FIGURES 4 to 7 show four stages in the operation of the system shown in Figure 1;

FIGURE 8 shows schematically an alternative embodiment of a control system of the present invention; FIGURE 9 shows schematically three perspective views of an integrated embodiment of the present invention; and

FIGURE 10 shows schematically an embodiment of the electronic tablet of the present invention adapted to utilise 'smart cards'.

The control system shown in Figure 1 comprises an electronic tablet 1 with a pointing device 2, a control unit 3, and various electronic devices which are to be controlled, such as a Hi-Fi system 4 including a loudspeaker 26, a television 5 and a video recorder 6, which are operable by IR remote control. The control unit 3 is equipped with a ROM which stores the operating system, an EPROM which stores the IR remote control codes for the devices 4,5,6 which are to be controlled and also the basic control protocols for each of the devices, and a RAM which stores temporary page set-ups relating to a control sheet 7. The control protocol associated with the control sheet 7 is stored as a data track on CD 8, and is downloaded into the RAM of the control unit 3 from CD player 9 via an audio line or digital link 10. The control unit 3 is provided with an internal clock. The control unit 3 (shown in greater detail in Figure 2) is further provided with an IR receiver 11, which receives control information from the electronic tablet 1 (shown in greater detail in Figure 3) relating to the position of the pointing device 2 relative to the working surface 12 of the tablet. The IR receiver 11 may also read the basic IR control codes for the electronic devices 4,5,6 from their respective dedicated remote control handsets (not shown) and transmit these codes to the EPROM of the control unit 3. The IR transmitter 13 of control unit 3 sends control information to the devices 4,5,6, which control information is a function of the position of the pointing device 2 relative to the working surface 12 of the tablet 1. As shown in Figure 3, the tablet 1 may take any appropriate size, as illustrated by embodiment la which is suitable for A4 control sheets, and embodiment lb, which is suitable for control sheets the size of CD inlay cards. The tablet 1 is powered by a battery (not shown) and is provided with an IR transmitter 14 which sends data corresponding to the position of the pointing device 2 relative to the working surface 12 to the control unit 3. The pointing device 2 may be provided with a button 15 which allows the pointing device to be switched between 'active' and 'inactive' modes. Alternatively, the pointing device 2 and tablet 1 may be arranged so that the pointing device is 'active' when it touches or comes into close proximity to the control sheet 7, and 'inactive' otherwise. Four stages in the operation of one embodiment of a system of the present invention are shown in Figures 4 to 7. As shown in Figure 4, the system is initialised by inserting a CD 8 into CD player 9, and placing the CD inlay 16 on the working surface 12 of the electronic tablet 1. In Figure 5, one or more control protocols are read into the RAM of the control unit 3 from a data track on CD 8 via CD player 9 and audio line 17. The CD inlay 16 is then identified as a control sheet 7 by way of applying the pointing device 2 to an identification mark 18 on the inlay 16. An identity code is then transmitted from the tablet 1 to the control unit 3, as shown in Figure 6, and this identity signal is correlated with an appropriate control protocol in control unit 3. Once the system has been initialised, it is ready for use, as shown in Figure 7. As the pointing device 2 is applied to the CD inlay 16, positional information is transmitted to the control unit 3. This positional information is used to control the CD player 9 (and possibly also other aspects of the Hi-Fi system 4) by way of the selected control protocol and IR transmission from the control unit 3.

A simple example of the use of such a system is in the provision of a method of selecting a track of the CD 8 to be played by pointing to the track title on the inlay 16 with the pointing device 2. A more sophisticated example of the sort of application such a system may have is the provision of a 'talking book' , where the control sheets 7 comprise the pages of a book, CD inlay or magazine (accompanied by a CD for use in the CD player 9). The control protocol is arranged so that touching selected portions of text or images on the control sheet 7 causes the CD player 9 to play the section of the CD 8 which corresponds to the selected portion of text or image. The section of the CD may be music or sound effects which complement the text or image, or may be a spoken rendition of the text itself. In the case of an audio CD, this means that the CD inlay card acts as a control for the CD player, and may, by way of the system of the present invention, provide functions other than the standard functions of stop, play and scan etc.

An alternative embodiment of the present invention is shown in Figure 8. In this embodiment, each device 19,20,21,22,23 which is to be controlled is internally provided with circuitry equivalent to that of the control unit 3 of the first embodiment of this invention. The flexibility afforded by the means of control provided by the present invention allows IR remote control of devices which at present are not provided with remote control means, such as central heating boilers 19, washing machines 22 and telephones 23. For example, a control sheet 7 may be printed with the names of people known to the operator, and the control protocol may be adapted to correlate the position of a name on the control sheet 7 by way of the tablet 1 and pointing device 2 with the telephone number of the person of that name, which will be stored in a memory device in the telephone 23. The telephone number may then be dialled automatically by the control system.

A further embodiment of the present invention is shown in Figure 9. An electronic tablet may be provided as part of a portable CD player to form an integrated unit 24. This unit 24 may be provided with circuitry equivalent to that of the control unit 3, thus providing a self-contained IR remote control device operating according to the principles of the present invention. As shown in Figure 10, the IR remote control codes of the devices which are to be controlled may be programmed into the unit 24 by means of 'smart cards' 25.

Claims

CIAIMS :

1. A method for controlling the operation of an electronic device, which method comprises placing a control sheet bearing at least one predetermined identification mark onto an electronic tablet; correlating the identity of the control sheet with control information in order to select a control protocol containing a predetermined vocabulary of control signals; selecting a position on said control sheet and using said selected position to generate one of said control signals; and sending said control signal to said device by means of a data link.

2. A method for controlling the operation of an electronic device, which method comprises placing a control sheet bearing a predetermined identification mark onto an electronic tablet; identifying said control sheet and correlating the identity of the control sheet with control information in order to select a control protocol; determining the position of a pointing device on said control sheet by means of communication between said pointing device and said tablet; and sending control signals under said control protocol to said device by means of a data link, wherein said control signals are a function of the position of said pointing device on said control sheet.

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the identity of the control sheet is determined by locating the position of the identification mark.

4. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the identification mark incorporates semiotic information which is interpreted, and the identity of the control sheet thus determined, by detection means provided in the electronic tablet.

5. A control system for controlling an appliance, which system comprises (i) a portable electronic tablet; (ii) at least one control sheet adapted to be placed on said electronic tablet, the at least one control sheet having at least two reference points at preselected coordinate locations on said control sheet; (iii) memory means including at least one control protocol containing a vocabulary of control signals suitable for controlling the operation of said appliance; (iv) first data transmission means permitting communication between said electronic tablet and said memory means; and (v) second data transmission means permitting communication of a selected control signal to said appliance, wherein (1) selection of one of said at least two reference points on said control sheet serves to identify the appliance and the control protocol related thereto; and (2) selection of another of said at least two reference points on said control sheet activates the transmission of a control signal to said appliance.

6. An electronic control system comprising a pointing device and an electronic tablet provided with a working surface, which tablet is adapted to send data relating to the position of the pointing device relative to the working surface to a control unit, which control unit provides control signals for a predetermined electronic device, and which control signals are a function of the position of the pointing device with respect to the working surface of the tablet.

7. An electronic control system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the pointing device comprises a stylus which couples inductively with the working surface of the electronic tablet when brought into close proximity therewith.

8. An electronic control system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the pointing device is provided with transmitting and/or receiving means for electromagnetic radiation or ultrasound, and wherein the electronic tablet is provided with triangulation means adapted to determine the position of the pointing device relative to the working surface of the electronic tablet.

9. An electronic control system as claimed in any of claims 5 to 8, wherein the control sheet carries readable indicia in the form of one or more pictorial displays and/or alphanumeric characters.

10. An electronic control system as claimed in any of claims 6 to 9, wherein the control unit is a discrete article.

11. An electronic control system as claimed in any of claims 6 to 9, wherein the control unit is an integral part of the electronic device which is to be controlled.

12. An electronic control system as claimed in any of claims 6 to 9, wherein the control unit is an integral part of the electronic tablet.

13. An electronic control system as claimed in any of claims 6 to 12, wherein control data is entered into the control unit from an external memory storage device, for example a smart card or an optical disc.