Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
  • G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
  • G06K7/00—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns
  • G06K7/10—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation
  • G06K7/14—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation using light without selection of wavelength, e.g. sensing reflected white light
  • G06K7/1404—Methods for optical code recognition
  • G06K7/1439—Methods for optical code recognition including a method step for retrieval of the optical code
  • G06K7/1447—Methods for optical code recognition including a method step for retrieval of the optical code extracting optical codes from image or text carrying said optical code
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/47—End-user applications
  • H04N21/472—End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content
  • H04N21/4722—End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content for requesting additional data associated with the content
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/60—Network structure or processes for video distribution between server and client or between remote clients; Control signalling between clients, server and network components; Transmission of management data between server and client, e.g. sending from server to client commands for recording incoming content stream; Communication details between server and client 
  • H04N21/65—Transmission of management data between client and server
  • H04N21/658—Transmission by the client directed to the server
  • H04N21/6581—Reference data, e.g. a movie identifier for ordering a movie or a product identifier in a home shopping application
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/80—Generation or processing of content or additional data by content creator independently of the distribution process; Content per se
  • H04N21/85—Assembly of content; Generation of multimedia applications
  • H04N21/858—Linking data to content, e.g. by linking an URL to a video object, by creating a hotspot
  • H04N21/8586—Linking data to content, e.g. by linking an URL to a video object, by creating a hotspot by using a URL

Definitions

• the present embodiments relate to image display systems, and in particular, to systems and methods for embedding supplemental information in an image or video and displaying preferred information to viewers.
• Many visual presentations such television shows or movies, include information in addition to the still video images that make up the presentation.
• additional information such as subtitles in a variety of languages, director's commentary, closed captioning, or interesting facts may be available for selection through a menu.
• this particular solution may be time consuming and often complex to execute by an average user.
• menu-oriented systems for presenting supplemental information do not automatically present the viewer with the desired information while the movie is playing. Displaying all additional information at once may clutter the display area and overwhelm a viewer. Accordingly, it can be desirable to provide visual presentation systems which automatically present each user with information relevant to that user.
• the barcode embedding and detection techniques described provide a way to embed supplemental information into a visual presentation, provide the supplemental information to a user device, and display preferred information to the user.
• the system may include two components, a subliminal frame, or frames, in the visual presentation and a user presentation device which can detect the frame or frames and output information according to user preferences.
• the subliminal frames may comprise a barcode, such as a matrix or 2D barcode, which is not visible to the viewer.
• a barcode such as a matrix or 2D barcode
• Some embodiments of the barcodes may be non-visible to the human eye because they are spliced, physically or digitally, into a moving picture frame shown for too brief a time to be detectable to the human eye, though still detectable by a camera sensor.
• Such barcodes are referred to herein as "subliminal barcodes.”
• Other embodiments may display the barcodes superimposed over the visual presentation in infrared or ultraviolet light, which is outside of the visible spectrum but still detectable by camera sensors. For example, in one embodiment of an embedded subliminal barcode system, a movie may be projected onto a UV or IR reflective surface.
• non-visible barcodes Such barcodes are referred to herein as “non-visible barcodes," where the term non-visible denotes that the wavelength of light is outside of the visible spectrum of the typical human eye, though still detectable by a device such as an image sensor.
• imperceptible barcode may refer to either a subliminal barcode or a non-visible barcode, wherein a user watching a video with an imperceptible barcode would not notice an embedded imperceptible barcode. While a movie viewer would only be aware of the projected movie, a device of the viewer may be configured to detect reflected UV or IR barcodes and would thus be able to provide the viewer with additional information about the movie, though the viewer was unaware of the barcodes.
• a personal computing device may store preferences of a viewing user regarding preferred supplemental information, and, upon detection of a barcode in the image using a sensor of the personal computing device, the device may decode the barcode and display any available preferred information to the user.
• Some embodiments of the personal computing device may comprise a heads-up display (HUD) or head-mounted display (HMD) system for presenting information to the user.
• HUD heads-up display
• HMD head-mounted display
• an image and information display system may comprise at least one image; at least one barcode, the at least one barcode representing supplemental information about the at least one image, wherein the at least one barcode is configured to be subliminal or non-visible to the human eye; and a personal computing device of a user, the personal computing device comprising a detector configured to detect the at least one barcode, a display portion, and a processor configured to decode the supplemental information, retrieve at least one user information preference, and, if the supplemental information contains information relevant to the at least one user information preference, display the relevant information to the user on the display.
• a method of displaying embedded information comprises generating at least one barcode representing supplemental information about an image; embedding the at least one barcode into the image, wherein the at least one barcode is embedded subliminally or non-visibly; and displaying the image with the at least one embedded barcode.
• the image may a video comprising a plurality of frames, and embedding the at least one barcode into the image may further comprise splicing the at least one barcode into a barcode frame between a first frame and a subsequent frame of the plurality of frames.
• the at least one barcode may comprise infrared or ultraviolet light, and embedding the at least one barcode into the image may further comprise overlaying at least a portion of the image with the infrared or ultraviolet light.
• a method of presenting embedded information to a user may comprise scanning an image with a portable computing device of the user, wherein the image comprises at least one subliminally embedded barcode representing supplemental information about the image; detecting the at least one subliminally embedded barcode; decoding the supplemental information; retrieving at least one user information preference; and comparing the supplemental information to the at least one user information preference; wherein, if the supplemental information contains information relevant to the at least one user information preference, the method further comprises displaying the relevant information to the user on the portable computing device.
• a user presentation device for displaying additional information to a user may comprise means for scanning an image, wherein the image comprises at least one subliminally embedded barcode representing supplemental information about the image; means for detecting the at least one subliminally embedded barcode; means for decoding the supplemental information; means for retrieving at least one information preference of a user; means for comparing the supplemental information to the at least one information preference; and means for presenting information to the user, wherein, if the supplemental information contains information relevant to the at least one information preference, the relevant information is presented to the user.
• FIGS. 1A-C illustrates an embodiment of supplemental information display system
• FIG. 2 illustrates another embodiment of supplemental information display system
• FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a supplemental information display process
• FIGS. 4A-D illustrates various embodiments of moving picture display systems with embedded imperceptible barcodes
• FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of infrared non-visible barcode display and detection process.
• One embodiment relates to systems, methods and apparatus for embedding supplemental information in a visual presentation, detecting the supplemental information, and displaying preferred supplemental information to a user.
• visual presentations such as movies or television shows
• optional supplemental information that a viewer may select for display, for example subtitles of a selected language, closed captioning, or director's commentary.
• Such systems do not automatically present the additional information desired by the viewer.
• some embodiments of the present disclosure provide systems and methods for automatically presenting a viewer with any available desired supplemental information.
• some embodiments described herein relate to a user device which is able to detect subliminal barcodes in a movie, decode the information associated with the barcode, and display at least some of the information based on specified preferences of the viewer. For example, a user may specify that they would like to see French subtitles in movies when French subtitles are available.
• a movie may be provided with embedded imperceptible barcodes containing extra information about the movie, and when the user's personal computing device detects barcodes containing French subtitle information, the device may display those subtitles to the user.
• Some embodiments provide imperceptible barcodes by inserting subliminal barcodes into a moving picture frame, wherein the subliminal barcodes are shown for too brief a time to be detectable to the human eye, for example at at least 24 frames per second.
• Other embodiments may provide imperceptible barcodes by superimposing non-visible barcodes over the visual presentation, wherein the non- visible barcodes are displayed in ultraviolet or infrared (UV/IR) light, which is not visible to the typical human eye.
• UV/IR ultraviolet or infrared
• the visible spectrum, or visible light is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that can be detected by the human eye. A typical human eye will respond to light having wavelengths from approximately 380 to 700 nm.
• infrared light refers to light having a wavelength longer than that of visible light, or light having a wavelength in the range of approximately 700 nm to 1 mm; ultraviolet light refers to light having a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, or light having a wavelength of approximately 10 nm to 380 nm.
• both the quickly-displayed barcode frame and the UV/IR barcodes are detectable by a camera on the user's portable computing device, such as a handheld device or heads-up display.
• the examples may be described as a process, which is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a finite state diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel, or concurrently, and the process can be repeated. In addition, the order of the operations may be rearranged.
• a process is terminated when its operations are completed.
• a process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a software function, its termination corresponds to a return of the function to the calling function or the main function.
• FIG. 1A-C an embodiment of an exemplary supplemental information display 100 is depicted in the context of a motion picture.
• the system 100 comprises a first movie frame 102, a supplemental information frame 104, a second movie frame 106, and a user device 1 10.
• the user device 1 10 comprises an optical sensor 1 12 and a display 1 14.
• the first movie frame 102, supplemental information frame 104, and second movie frame 106 may be displayed in some embodiments in a movie theater, for example on a projection screen. In other embodiments, the first movie frame 102, supplemental information frame 104, and second movie frame 106 may be displayed on a user device such as a television, computer, tablet, game console, smartphone, etc.
• the supplemental information frame 104 is illustrated as containing a matrix barcode. Though depicted as a matrix barcode and discussed in the context of barcodes herein, it will be appreciated that the supplemental information may be conveyed by any optically detectable machine-readable representation of data.
• the user device 1 10 is depicted as cinema glasses, this is intended for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to limit the types of user devices which may detect subliminal barcodes and present supplemental information to a user.
• the user device may be a heads-up display (HUD) or head- mounted display (HMD), which may be equipped with a transparent or translucent display element or other means of projecting visual information over the user's field of view.
• the user device may be a handheld portable computing device such as a tablet computer, smartphone, personal digital assistant (PDA), or handheld gaming console, or the device may be wearable, such as a watch or a pendant.
• Such embodiments may employ a screen, such as an LCD or LED screen, to display visual supplemental information to a user, and may further comprise touch-sensitive display technology.
• Some embodiments of the user device may employ contact lenses with a display element or virtual retinal display to provide information to a user.
• some embodiments may comprise an auditory element to provide a user with auditory supplemental information, such as a speaker or headphone jack. This may be used, for example, to present an audio stream of director's commentary on a movie.
• user device 1 10 may be any ubiquitous computing device or augmented reality device capable of information processing and presentation.
• the user device 1 10 may be equipped with an optical sensor 112 configured to detect barcodes, among other visual information.
• the sensor 1 12 can be, for example, a charge-coupled device (CCD), a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensor, a photodiode, or the like.
• the sensor 1 12 may be incorporated into an image sensing device such as a camera, which may scan images for barcodes.
• the sensor may be incorporated into a barcode reader additionally comprising a light source, for example a laser, and the light source may be used to scan images for barcodes.
• the light source may comprise ultraviolet or infrared light.
• the barcodes may be detectable only by light within the ultraviolet or infrared spectrum and would thus be invisible to the human eye.
• the user device 110 may be equipped with additional input devices, for example a wireless network connection or microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) sensors such as a gyroscope, accelerometer, GPS, indoor tracking/positioning system, and solid state compass, which may, in some embodiments, be used in conjunction with or instead of the optical sensor 112 to determine when to display a user with additional information.
• MEMS microelectromechanical systems
• GPS and/or indoor position coordinates may indicate to the user device that the user is in a movie theater or in front of a movie screen.
• a solid state compass may indicate when the user turns their head away from the movie screen, or location coordinates may indicate when the user has left the theater, and the device may stop displaying supplemental information when the user is not facing or in front of the movie screen.
• an embedded imperceptible barcode supplemental information display system employed in a museum may use location coordinates of pieces of interest to indicate to user device 1 10 that a barcode containing supplemental information may be present.
• a user may view a first movie frame 102 through the display 1 14 of user device 110.
• a subliminal barcode frame 104 may be presented between the first movie frame 102 and the second movie frame 106.
• the optical sensor 112 of the user device may scan the subliminal barcode frame 104 and detect the barcode.
• the user device may decode the information contained in the barcode and present relevant information to the user, for example the subtitles 1 16 presented on the display 1 14.
• a supplemental information display system 200 comprises a visual presentation 210 and a user device 220.
• the visual presentation 210 may be, as illustrated, a motion picture, and may comprise one or more subliminal barcode frames 212. Though discussed in the context of subliminal barcodes, it will be appreciated that the system 200 may operate with non-visible barcodes as well.
• the user device 220 may comprise an optical sensor 222, a barcode decoder 240, a processor 226, a display 228, and a data store 230.
• the subliminal barcode frame 212 may comprise a barcode containing supplemental information about the motion picture 210. As will be described in more detail below, in some embodiments the subliminal barcode frame 212 may be visible but spliced in between frames and displayed too briefly to be detected by the human eye. In other embodiments, the subliminal barcode frame 212 may be embedded in one or more frames of the motion picture 210 but may comprise infrared or ultraviolet light and therefore be undetectable by the human eye. However, the optical sensor 222 of the user device 220 may be configured to detect the subliminal barcode frame 212 even when it is not visible to the human eye.
• Data representing the barcode in the subliminal barcode frame 212 may be passed from the optical sensor 222 to the barcode decoding module 240.
• the sensor may capture an image of the barcode comprising an array of pixels.
• a data stream representing the array of pixels may be transmitted to the barcode decoding module 240.
• a type of barcode present in the subliminal barcode frame 212 may be recognized, for example a matrix barcode.
• one or more processes such as denoising, grayscale extraction, adaptive brightness equalization, and binarization of pixel values may be carried out on the captured image of the barcode prior to decoding the barcode.
• the barcode 242 may be decoded by known decoding techniques for example feature or pattern identification, extracting a bitmap from the barcode, and code word extraction.
• the information contained in the barcode 242 may comprise the available supplemental information 244 for potential display to a user.
• the supplemental information 244 may be encoded in the barcode 242 together with header information 246 identifying the type or types of supplemental information contained in the barcode 242, so that upon decoding the information, the user device 220 may quickly identify the type of supplemental information available for display.
• the supplemental information may also be associated with display information, for example an audio file or a specified duration for displaying subtitles.
• the barcode 242 may contain a link or pointer to a location where the supplemental information may be obtained.
• user device 220 may further comprise a wireless communication means such as WiFi, Bluetooth, or access to a telecommunications network.
• the barcode may be decoded to reveal a hyperlink to an Internet-based data store of supplemental information, and the user device 220 may access the data store via the wireless communication means.
• the supplemental information 244 may comprise any information relating to the visual presentation 210. Although only one piece of supplemental information 244 is illustrated, it will be appreciated that this is for clarity of illustration and that a barcode may be encoded with a large amount of supplemental information. However, a user may be overwhelmed if all available supplemental information is presented at once. Therefore, after the contents of the barcode are decoded, the decoded supplemental information is passed to the processor 226. The processor 226 compares the types of available supplemental information which has been decoded with user preferences. If there is a match, then the available and preferred information is sent to the display module 228 for presentation to the user.
• the display 228 of the user device 220 may be used to present supplemental information to the user.
• the matrix barcode has been decoded to reveal French subtitles, and the user information specifies that the user desires to see French subtitles. Therefore, "Vous sentez-vous chanceux?" will be displayed to the user.
• the display 228 may be a visual display such as an LCD or LED screen, a HUD display panel, holographic display, or the like.
• the display 228 may be an auditory display such as an audio stream transmitted through a speaker or headphones.
• Tactile means conveying information to a user may be employed as well, for example a refreshable braille display.
• a combination of display means may be employed by some embodiments of the user device 220.
• the display 228 may be static or may be configured to present changing information according to the contents of the barcode 242.
• Data store 230 may be used to store the user information preferences.
• user information preferences may comprise subtitles in a plurality of languages, and one or more languages may be selected 232 as desired information.
• user information preferences in the context of a motion picture may also specify what, if any, information is desirable to display with respect to director's commentary, closed captioning, supplemental character information, actor biographies, etc.
• Data store 230 may be incorporated into the user device 220 or may be stored remotely in a network accessible by the user device 220.
• the display 228 may also be used to present a user interface in which the user may make selections regarding types of desired supplemental information.
• the preference specification user interface may be presented, for example, upon the user opening a software application or when the user device 220 detects a subliminal barcode.
• the device 220 may determine that the user is at a theater, and the user may be prompted at the beginning of a motion picture to specify preferences regarding desired available information.
• the user may specify a set of desired supplemental information to be displayed at any future time. Whenever the device 220 detects a subliminal barcode containing specified desired information, the device 220 may display such information to the user.
• FIG. 3 depicts an embodiment of a supplemental information display process 300 which may be carried out in the portable computing devices 110 and 220 of Figures 1A-C and 2.
• the process 300 begins at step 305 in which the portable computing devices scans for an embedded imperceptible barcode.
• an imperceptible barcode is unnoticeable by a viewing user, but may be detectable by a computing device of the user.
• the optical sensors 1 12 and 222 described above with respect to Figures 1A-C and 2 may be used to carry out step 305 in some embodiments.
• the process 300 loops back to step 305 to scan for an embedded barcode.
• the process 300 may continuously or periodically execute step 305 even while other steps of the process 300 is being carried out.
• step 310 If, at step 310, a barcode is detected, then the process 300 transitions to step 315 in which the portable computing device reads information associated with the barcode. In some embodiments this may be carried out by the barcode decoding module 240 of Figure 2. In embodiments in which the barcode is decoded to contain a pointer or link identifying a location of a data store of supplemental information, step 315 may further comprise accessing the identified supplemental information database. The process 300 then moves to step 320 in which user preferences for displaying supplemental information are retrieved. For example this may be accomplished by accessing the data store 220 of Figure 2. At step 325, the process 300 compares the information decoded from the barcode with the user preferences, for instance by using the processor 226 of Figure 2.
• the process 300 determines whether preferred information is available in the supplemental information decoded from the barcode. If no preferred information is available, the process 300 loops back to step 305 to scan for a new embedded imperceptible barcode. If preferred information is available, then the process 300 transitions to step 335 in which the preferred information is presented to the user for a specified duration.
• the information may comprise a subtitle and may be specified for display for the duration of some portion of dialogue.
• the process 300 After completing the step 335 of displaying preferred information to a user, the process 300 loops back to step 305 to scan for further embedded imperceptible barcodes. In some embodiments, the process 300 may continue looping back to step 305 for a specified duration, for example the length of a movie. In certain embodiments, the process 300 may continue as long as a supplemental information display program or application is open on the user device. In other embodiments a user device may be configured to execute the process 300 whenever it is powered on.
• Figure 4A illustrates an embodiment in which a barcode frame 415 has been spliced between frames in a movie 414.
• a barcode frame may be physically spliced between frames in cellulose film.
• the movie 414 is pictured as comprising a series of frames on physical film, it will be appreciated that the movie may also be a digital file comprising a plurality of frames.
• the barcode frame 415 may be digitally spliced between frames of a digital movie file.
• the movie 414 containing at least one spliced barcode 415 is then sent to a projector 420 for display.
• the movie 414 may also be stored as a digital file for playback on an electronic display.
• Figure 4B illustrates an embodiment in which a barcode insertion system 410 communicates with the projector 420.
• Some embodiments of barcode insertion system 410 may provide subliminal barcodes by inserting the barcodes into a moving picture frame shown for too brief a time to be detectable to the human eye, for example at a rate of at least 24 frames per second.
• the barcode insertion system 410 may be part of a computing device.
• the barcode insertion system 410 may comprise a data store (not illustrated) configured to store a movie file 411 as well as at least one barcode 412.
• the movie file 411 and at least one barcode 412 may be sent to a merging module 413.
• the merging module 413 may insert the at least one barcode 412 between the relevant frames in the movie 411, creating a second movie file 414 with at least one spliced barcode 415.
• the barcode insertion may occur in realtime during the display of the movie. In other embodiments the barcode insertion may occur in advance of a movie showing and a data file comprising the second movie file 414 with at least one spliced barcode 415 may be digitally stored for later playback.
• the barcode insertion system 410 may send the second movie file 414 to the projector 420 or another display device.
• Figure 4C illustrates another embodiment in which a barcode insertion system 410 communicates with the projector 420.
• the barcode insertion system 410 may provide non-visible barcodes, e.g. UV or IR barcodes.
• the barcode insertion system 410 may be part of a computing device.
• the barcode insertion system 410 may comprise a data store (not illustrated) configured to store a movie file 411 as well as at least one barcode 412.
• the movie file 411 and at least one barcode 412 may be sent to a merging module 413.
• the merging module 413 may be configured to embed the at least one barcode 412 in the relevant frames in the movie 411, for example by overlaying the barcode 412, creating a second movie file 414 with at least one embedded imperceptible barcode 416. As discussed above, the barcode embedding may occur in real-time during the display of the movie or in advance of a movie showing.
• the barcode insertion system 410 may send the second movie file 414 to the projector 420 or another display device configured to display both visible images and UV/IR barcodes.
• Figure 4D illustrates another embodiment in which a barcode insertion system 410 communicates with the projector 420. Similar to the embodiment illustrated in Figure 4C, this embodiment may provide non-visible barcodes, e.g. UV or IR barcodes. The embodiment of Figure 4D may also provide subliminal barcodes.
• a movie file 411 and at least one barcode 412 may be passed to a synchronization module 417.
• the synchronization module may store the movie file 41 1 and at least one barcode 412 and send them to a movie projector 420 and a UV/IR barcode projector 430, respectively.
• non-visible barcode display and detection process 500 will now be described with greater detail with respect to Figure 5.
• the process 500 may be carried out using moving picture display systems such as described with respect to Figures 4C and 4D above.
• the process 500 beings at step 505, in which a display surface reflective to IR and/or UV frequencies of light is provided, dependent upon the frequency of light which will be used to display non-visible barcodes.
• the surface may also have material properties which are conducive to high-quality display of a movie in the visible spectrum of light.
• the process 500 then transitions to step 510 in which a movie overlaid with non-visible barcodes is generated, for example by the barcode insertion system 410 of Figures 4C-D described above.
• the movie generated in step 510 is projected onto the surface provided in step 505.
• Step 515 may be executed throughout the remainder of the process 500, as the barcode detection steps 520 through 535 are carried out during playback of the movie projected in step 515.
• a camera with an IR or UV filter scans the surface for barcodes.
• the camera may be the optical sensors 112 and 222 described above in Figures 1 and 2. If, at step 525, a barcode is not detected, then the process 500 loops back to step 520 to scan for barcodes. If, at step 525, a barcode is detected, then the process 500 moves to step 530 in which the barcode is decoded to obtain supplemental information about the film. For example, the decoding may be carried out by the barcode decoder 240 of Figure 2 as described above. Next, at step 535, any relevant available supplemental information is displayed for a specified period of time. The process 500 then moves to step 540 in which it is determined whether the movie is over. If the movie is not over, the process 500 loops back to step 520 to scan for additional barcodes. If, at step 540, it is determined that the movie is over, then the process 500 ends.
• UV or IR barcodes to convey information has a wide range of applications in other contexts.
• the example of barcodes superimposed over motion picture frames is intended to illustrate and not limit the use of such barcodes.
• UV/IR barcodes may be used to convey additional information about still images, groceries, commercial products, books, etc.
• Museums or art galleries may benefit from the use of UV/IR barcodes superimposed over items of interest, such as on a protective glass or acrylic panel, to provide viewers with supplemental information about the items of interest.
• a viewer's device may be configured to detect and decode the barcode and provide relevant supplemental information according to user preferences, as described above.
• the technology is operational with numerous other general purpose or special purpose computing system environments or configurations.
• Examples of well-known computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with the invention include, but are not limited to, personal computers, server computers, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, processor-based systems, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices, and the like.
• instructions refer to computer-implemented steps for processing information in the system. Instructions can be implemented in software, firmware or hardware and include any type of programmed step undertaken by components of the system.
• a processor may be any conventional general purpose single- or multi-chip processor such as a Pentium ® processor, a Pentium ® Pro processor, a 8051 processor, a MIPS ® processor, a Power PC ® processor, or an Alpha ® processor.
• the processor may be any conventional special purpose processor such as a digital signal processor or a graphics processor.
• the processor typically has conventional address lines, conventional data lines, and one or more conventional control lines.
• the system is comprised of various modules as discussed in detail. As can be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, each of the modules comprises various sub-routines, procedures, definitional statements and macros. Each of the modules are typically separately compiled and linked into a single executable program.
• each of the modules is used for convenience to describe the functionality of the preferred system.
• the processes that are undergone by each of the modules may be arbitrarily redistributed to one of the other modules, combined together in a single module, or made available in, for example, a shareable dynamic link library.
• the system may be used in connection with various operating systems such as Linux®, UNIX® or Microsoft Windows®.
• the system may be written in any conventional programming language such as C, C++, BASIC, Pascal, or Java, and ran under a conventional operating system.
• C, C++, BASIC, Pascal, Java, and FORTRAN are industry standard programming languages for which many commercial compilers can be used to create executable code.
• the system may also be written using interpreted languages such as Perl, Python or Ruby.
• DSP digital signal processor
• ASIC application specific integrated circuit
• FPGA field programmable gate array
• a general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine.
• a processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.
• the functions and methods described may be implemented in hardware, software, or firmware executed on a processor, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer- readable medium.
• Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another.
• a storage medium may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer.
• such computer- readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.
• any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium.
• the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave
• DSL digital subscriber line
• wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave
• Disk and disc includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Multimedia (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
• Databases & Information Systems (AREA)
• Toxicology (AREA)
• Computer Vision & Pattern Recognition (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• Artificial Intelligence (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Electromagnetism (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Controls And Circuits For Display Device (AREA)
• User Interface Of Digital Computer (AREA)
• Two-Way Televisions, Distribution Of Moving Picture Or The Like (AREA)

Priority Applications (4)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=51263486

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (6)

Families Citing this family (31)

Citations (4)

Family Cites Families (41)

• 2013
  • 2013-07-12 US US13/941,252 patent/US9471824B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2014
  • 2014-07-02 JP JP2016525385A patent/JP2016527788A/ja active Pending
  • 2014-07-02 WO PCT/US2014/045264 patent/WO2015006134A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2014-07-02 KR KR1020167001685A patent/KR20160030951A/ko not_active Ceased
  • 2014-07-02 CN CN201480038857.0A patent/CN105359547B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2014-07-02 EP EP14747185.8A patent/EP3020211A1/en not_active Ceased

Patent Citations (4)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events