US20110063522A1 - System and method for generating television screen pointing information using an external receiver - Google Patents
System and method for generating television screen pointing information using an external receiverDownload PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20110063522A1 US20110063522A1US12/774,221US77422110AUS2011063522A1US 20110063522 A1US20110063522 A1US 20110063522A1US 77422110 AUS77422110 AUS 77422110AUS 2011063522 A1US2011063522 A1US 2011063522A1
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- television
- screen
- pointing
- television receiver
- location
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
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Classifications
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- G06F3/03—Arrangements for converting the position or the displacement of a member into a coded form
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- G06F3/0308—Detection arrangements using opto-electronic means comprising a plurality of distinctive and separately oriented light emitters or reflectors associated to the pointing device, e.g. remote cursor controller with distinct and separately oriented LEDs at the tip whose radiations are captured by a photo-detector associated to the screen
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- H04N21/80—Generation or processing of content or additional data by content creator independently of the distribution process; Content per se
- H04N21/83—Generation or processing of protective or descriptive data associated with content; Content structuring
- H04N21/845—Structuring of content, e.g. decomposing content into time segments
- 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
- H04N21/854—Content authoring
- H04N21/8545—Content authoring for generating interactive applications
- 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
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N5/00—Details of television systems
- H04N5/44—Receiver circuitry for the reception of television signals according to analogue transmission standards
- H04N5/445—Receiver circuitry for the reception of television signals according to analogue transmission standards for displaying additional information
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N5/00—Details of television systems
- H04N5/76—Television signal recording
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N9/00—Details of colour television systems
- H04N9/79—Processing of colour television signals in connection with recording
- H04N9/80—Transformation of the television signal for recording, e.g. modulation, frequency changing; Inverse transformation for playback
- H04N9/82—Transformation of the television signal for recording, e.g. modulation, frequency changing; Inverse transformation for playback the individual colour picture signal components being recorded simultaneously only
- H04N9/8205—Transformation of the television signal for recording, e.g. modulation, frequency changing; Inverse transformation for playback the individual colour picture signal components being recorded simultaneously only involving the multiplexing of an additional signal and the colour video signal
- 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
- H04N21/41—Structure of client; Structure of client peripherals
- H04N21/422—Input-only peripherals, i.e. input devices connected to specially adapted client devices, e.g. global positioning system [GPS]
- H04N21/42204—User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor
- H04N21/42206—User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor characterized by hardware details
- 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
- H04N21/41—Structure of client; Structure of client peripherals
- H04N21/422—Input-only peripherals, i.e. input devices connected to specially adapted client devices, e.g. global positioning system [GPS]
- H04N21/42204—User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor
- H04N21/42206—User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor characterized by hardware details
- H04N21/42222—Additional components integrated in the remote control device, e.g. timer, speaker, sensors for detecting position, direction or movement of the remote control, microphone or battery charging device
Definitions
- FIG. 1is a diagram illustrating an exemplary television system in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.
- FIG. 2is a diagram illustrating an exemplary television receiver in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.
- FIG. 3is a diagram illustrating an exemplary television system with on-screen television sensors in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.
- FIG. 4is a diagram illustrating an exemplary television system with off-screen television sensors in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.
- FIG. 5is a diagram illustrating an exemplary television system with off-television sensors in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.
- FIG. 6is a diagram illustrating an exemplary television system with television receiver sensors in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.
- FIG. 7is a diagram illustrating an exemplary television system with television controller sensors in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.
- FIG. 8is a diagram illustrating an exemplary television receiver in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.
- FIG. 9is a flow diagram illustrating the generation of on-screen pointing information in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.
- FIG. 10is a flow diagram illustrating the generation of on-screen pointing information in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.
- modules, components or circuitsmay generally comprise hardware and/or a combination of hardware and software (e.g., including firmware).
- modulesmay also, for example, comprise a computer readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory medium) comprising instructions (e.g., software instructions) that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform various functional aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, the scope of various aspects of the present invention should not be limited by characteristics of particular hardware and/or software implementations of a module, component or circuit unless explicitly claimed as such.
- various aspects of the present inventionmay be implemented by one or more processors (e.g., a microprocessor, digital signal processor, baseband processor, microcontroller, etc.) executing software instructions (e.g., stored in volatile and/or non-volatile memory).
- processorse.g., a microprocessor, digital signal processor, baseband processor, microcontroller, etc.
- software instructionse.g., stored in volatile and/or non-volatile memory
- aspects of the present inventionmay be implemented by an application-specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”) and/or other hardware components.
- ASICapplication-specific integrated circuit
- any or all of the functional modules discussed hereinmay share various hardware and/or software components.
- any or all of the functional modules discussed hereinmay be implemented wholly or in-part by a shared processor executing software instructions.
- various software sub-modules that may be executed by one or more processorsmay be shared between various software modules. Accordingly, the scope of various aspects of the present invention should not be limited by arbitrary boundaries between various hardware and/or software components, unless explicitly claimed.
- a communication networkis generally the communication infrastructure through which a communication device (e.g., a portable communication device, television, television controller, television provider, television programming provider, television receiver, video recording device, etc.) may communicate with other systems.
- a communication networkmay comprise a cable and/or satellite television communication network, a cellular communication network, a wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN), any home or premises communication network, etc.
- WMANwireless metropolitan area network
- WLANwireless local area network
- WPANwireless personal area network
- a particular communication networkmay, for example, generally have a corresponding communication protocol according to which a communication device may communicate with the communication network. Unless so claimed, the scope of various aspects of the present invention should not be limited by characteristics of a particular type of communication network.
- Such a pointing locationrefers to a location on the television screen to which a user (either directly or with a pointing device) is pointing. Such a pointing location is to be distinguished from other types of on-screen location identification, such as, for example, using arrow keys and/or a mouse to move a cursor or to traverse blocks (e.g., on an on-screen program guide) without pointing.
- Such television programminggenerally includes various types of television programming (e.g., television programs, news programs, sports programs, music television, movies, television series programs and/or associated advertisements, educational programs, live or recorded, broadcast/multicast/unicast, etc.).
- Such television programming video contentis to be distinguished from other non-programming video content that may be displayed on a television screen (e.g., an electronic program guide, user interface menu, a television set-up menu, a typical web page, a document, a graphical video game, etc.).
- Various aspects of the present inventionmay, for example, comprise determining an on-screen pointing location during the presentation of television programming on the screen of the television.
- the exemplary system 100includes a television provider 110 .
- the television provider 110may, for example, comprise a television network company, a cable company, a movie-providing company, a news company, an educational institution, etc.
- the television provider 110may, for example, be an original source of television programming (or related information).
- the television provider 110may be a communication company that provides programming distribution services (e.g., a cable television company, a satellite television company, a telecommunication company, a data network provider, etc.).
- the television provider 110may, for example, provide programming and non-programming information and/or video content.
- the television provider 110may, for example, provide information related to a television program (e.g., information describing or otherwise related to selectable objects in programming, etc.).
- the exemplary television system 100may also include a third party program information provider 120 .
- a third party program information provider 120may, for example, provide information related to a television program.
- Such informationmay, for example, comprise information describing selectable objects in programming, program guide information, etc.
- the exemplary television system 100may include one or more communication networks (e.g., the communication network(s) 130 ).
- the exemplary communication network 130may comprise characteristics of any of a variety of types of communication networks over which video content and/or information related to video content may be communicated.
- the communication network 130may compare characteristics of a cable television network, a satellite television network, a telecommunication network, the Internet, a local area network (LAN), a personal area network (PAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), any of a variety of different types of home networks, etc.
- LANlocal area network
- PANpersonal area network
- MANmetropolitan area network
- the exemplary television system 100may include a first television 140 .
- a first television 140may, for example, comprise networking capability enabling such television 140 to communicate directly with the communication network 130 .
- the first television 140may comprise one or more embedded television receivers or transceivers (e.g., a cable television receiver, satellite television transceiver, Internet modem, etc.).
- the first television 140may comprise one or more recording devices (e.g., for recording and/or playing back video content, television programming, etc.).
- the exemplary television system 100may include a first television controller 160 .
- a first television controller 160may, for example, operate to control operation of the first television 140 .
- the first television controller 160may comprise characteristics of any of a variety of television controlling devices.
- the first television controller 160may comprise characteristics of a dedicated television control device, a universal remote control, a cellular telephone or personal computing device with television control capability, etc.
- the first television controller 160may, for example, transmit signals directly to the first television 140 to control operation of the first television 140 .
- the first television controller 160may also, for example, operate to transmit signals (e.g., via the communication network 130 ) to the television provider 110 to control video content being provided to the first television 140 , or to conduct other transactions (e.g., business transactions, etc.).
- various aspects of the present inventioninclude a user pointing to a location on a television screen (e.g., pointing to an object or person presented in television programming).
- the usermay perform such pointing in any of a variety of manners.
- One of such exemplary mannersincludes pointing with a television control device.
- the first television controller 160provides a non-limiting example of a device that a user may utilize to point to an on-screen location.
- the exemplary television system 100may also include a television receiver 150 .
- the television receivermay, for example, operate to provide a communication link between a television and/or television controller and a communication network and/or information provider.
- the television receiver 150may operate to provide a communication link between the second television 141 and the communication network 130 , or between the second television 141 and the television provider 110 (and/or third party program information provider 120 ) via the communication network 130 .
- the television receiver 150may comprise characteristics of any of a variety of types of television receivers.
- the television receiver 150may comprise characteristics of a cable television receiver, a satellite television receiver, etc.
- the television receiver 150may comprise a data communication network modem for data network communications (e.g., with the Internet, a LAN, PAN, MAN, telecommunication network, etc.).
- the television receiver 150may also, for example, comprise recording capability (e.g., programming recording and playback, etc.).
- FIGS. 2-10will present various non-limiting illustrative aspects of such a television receiver 150 .
- the exemplary television system 100may include a second television controller 161 .
- a second television controller 161may, for example, operate to control operation of the second television 141 and the television receiver 150 .
- the second television controller 161may comprise characteristics of any of a variety of television controlling devices.
- the second television controller 161may comprise characteristics of a dedicated television control device, a dedicated television receiver control device, a universal remote control, a cellular telephone or personal computing device with television control capability, etc.
- the second television controller 161may, for example, transmit signals directly to the second television 141 to control operation of the second television 141 .
- the second television controller 161may, for example, transmit signals directly to the television receiver 150 to control operation of the television receiver 150 .
- the second television controller 161may additionally, for example, operate to transmit signals (e.g., via the television receiver 150 and the communication network 130 ) to the television provider 110 to control video content being provided to the television receiver 150 , or to conduct other transactions (e.g., business transactions, etc.).
- various aspects of the present inventioninclude a user pointing to a location on a television screen (e.g., pointing to an object or person presented in television programming).
- the usermay perform such pointing in any of a variety of manners.
- One of such exemplary mannersincludes pointing with a television control device.
- the second television controller 161provides one non-limiting example of a device that a user may utilize to point to an on-screen location.
- the exemplary television system 100was provided to provide a non-limiting illustrative foundation for discussion of various aspects of the present invention. Thus, the scope of various aspects of the present invention should not be limited by any characteristics of the exemplary television system 100 unless explicitly claimed.
- FIG. 2such figure is a diagram illustrating an exemplary television receiver 200 in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.
- the exemplary television receiver 200may, for example, share any or all characteristics with the exemplary television receiver 150 illustrated in FIG. 1 and discussed previously and/or with any of the exemplary television receivers discussed herein.
- the exemplary television receiver 200includes a first communication interface module 210 .
- the first communication interface module 210may, for example, operate to communicate over any of a variety of communication media and utilizing any of a variety of communication protocols.
- the first communication interface module 210is illustrated coupled to a wireless RF antenna via a wireless port 212 , the wireless medium is merely illustrative and non-limiting.
- the first communication interface module 210may, for example, operate to communicate with one or more communication networks (e.g., cable television networks, satellite television networks, telecommunication networks, the Internet, local area networks, personal area networks, metropolitan area networks, etc.) via which television video content (e.g., television programming) and/or other data is communicated.
- communication networkse.g., cable television networks, satellite television networks, telecommunication networks, the Internet, local area networks, personal area networks, metropolitan area networks, etc.
- the first communication module 210may operate to communicate with local sources of television video content (e.g., video recorders, receivers, gaming devices, etc.). Additionally, for example, the first communication module 210 may operate to communicate with a television controller (e.g., directly or via one or more intermediate communication networks). Further for example, the first communication module 210 may operate to communicate with a television utilizing any of a variety of television communication connections and/or protocols (e.g., composite video, component video, HDMI, etc.).
- a television controllere.g., directly or via one or more intermediate communication networks.
- the first communication module 210may operate to communicate with a television utilizing any of a variety of television communication connections and/or protocols (e.g., composite video, component video, HDMI, etc.).
- the exemplary television receiver 200includes a second communication interface module 220 .
- the second communication interface module 220may, for example, operate to communicate over any of a variety of communication media and utilizing any of a variety of communication protocols.
- the second communication interface module 220may communicate via a wireless RF communication port 222 and antenna, or may communicate via a non-tethered optical communication port 224 (e.g., utilizing laser diodes, photodiodes, etc.).
- the second communication interface module 220may communicate via a tethered optical communication port 226 (e.g., utilizing a fiber optic cable), or may communicate via a wired communication port 228 (e.g., utilizing coaxial cable, twisted pair, HDMI cable, Ethernet cable, any of a variety of wired component and/or composite video connections, etc.).
- the second communication interface module 220may, for example, operate to communicate with one or more communication networks (e.g., cable television networks, satellite television networks, telecommunication networks, the Internet, local area networks, personal area networks, metropolitan area networks, etc.) via which television video content and/or other data is communicated.
- communication networkse.g., cable television networks, satellite television networks, telecommunication networks, the Internet, local area networks, personal area networks, metropolitan area networks, etc.
- the second communication module 220may operate to communicate with local sources of television video content (e.g., video recorders, other receivers, gaming devices, etc.). Additionally, for example, the second communication module 220 may operate to communicate with a television controller (e.g., directly or via one or more intervening communication networks). Further for example, the second communication module 220 may operate to communicate with a television utilizing any of a variety of television communication connections and/or protocols (e.g., composite video, component video, HDMI, etc.).
- the exemplary television receiver 200may also comprise additional communication interface modules, which are not illustrated. Such additional communication interface modules may, for example, share any or all aspects with the first 210 and second 220 communication interface modules discussed above.
- the exemplary television receiver 200may also comprise a communication module 230 .
- the communication module 230may, for example, operate to control and/or coordinate operation of the first communication interface module 210 and the second communication interface module 220 (and/or additional communication interface modules as needed).
- the communication module 230may, for example, provide a convenient communication interface by which other components of the television receiver 200 may utilize the first 210 and second 220 communication interface modules. Additionally, for example, in an exemplary scenario where a plurality of communication interface modules are sharing a medium and/or network, the communication module 230 may coordinate communications to reduce collisions and/or other interference between the communication interface modules 210 , 220 .
- the exemplary television receiver 200may comprise one or more television interface modules 235 .
- the television interface module 235may, for example, operate to manage communications between the television receiver 200 and one or more televisions that are communicatively coupled thereto (e.g., via the first 210 and/or second 220 communication interface modules).
- the television interface module 235may operate to communicate general television programming video information to a television (e.g., while the television receiver 200 is operating to determine an on-screen pointing location).
- the television interface module 235may output a signal to the television or television controller or other device with a display, where such signal comprises characteristics adapted to cause the television (or other device) to output a visual indication of on-screen pointing location.
- Such an indicationmay, for example, be communicated with (e.g., as a part of) television programming being communicated to the television (or other device), or such an indication may be communicated to the television (or other device) independent of television programming.
- the exemplary television receiver 200may additionally comprise one or more user interface modules 240 .
- the user interface module 240may generally operate to provide user interface functionality to a user of the television receiver 200 .
- the user interface module 240may operate to provide for user control of any or all standard television receiver commands (e.g., channel control, on/off, television output settings, input selection, etc.).
- the user interface module 240may, for example, operate and/or respond to user commands utilizing user interface features disposed on the television receiver (e.g., buttons, touch screen, microphone, etc.) and may also utilize the communication module 230 (and/or first 210 and second 220 communication interface modules) to communicate with a television controller (e.g., a dedicated television remote control, a universal remote control, a cellular telephone, personal computing device, gaming controller, etc.) or a television.
- a television controllere.g., a dedicated television remote control, a universal remote control, a cellular telephone, personal computing device, gaming controller, etc.
- various user interface features of the television receiver 200may comprise utilization of the television (e.g., utilizing the television screen for menu-driven or other GUI associated with television receiver operation).
- the user interface module 240may also operate to interface with and/or control operation of any of a variety of sensors that may be utilized to ascertain an on-screen pointing location. Non-limiting examples of such sensors will be provided later (e.g., in the discussion of FIGS. 3-7 and elsewhere herein).
- the user interface module 240may operate to receive signals associated with respective sensors (e.g., raw or processed signals directly from the sensors, through intermediate devices (e.g., a television, television control, surround sound system, etc.), via the communication interface modules 210 , 220 , etc.).
- the user interface module 240may operate to control the transmission of signals (e.g., RF signals, optical signals, acoustic signals, etc.) from such sensors.
- signalse.g., RF signals, optical signals, acoustic signals, etc.
- the exemplary television receiver 200may comprise one or more processors 250 .
- the processor 250may, for example, comprise a general purpose processor, digital signal processor, application-specific processor, microcontroller, microprocessor, etc.
- the processor 250may operate in accordance with software (or firmware) instructions.
- softwareor firmware instructions.
- any or all functionality discussed hereinmay be performed by a processor executing instructions.
- various modulesare illustrated as separate blocks or modules in FIG. 2 for illustrative clarity, such illustrative modules, or a portion thereof, may be implemented by the processor 250 .
- the exemplary television receiver 200may comprise one or more memories 260 . As discussed above, various aspects may be performed by one or more processors executing instructions. Such instructions may, for example, be stored in the one or more memories 260 . Such memory 260 may, for example, comprise characteristics of any of a variety of types of memory. For example and without limitation, such memory 260 may comprise one or more memory chips (e.g., ROM, RAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, one-time-programmable OTP memory, etc.), hard drive memory, CD memory, DVD memory, etc.
- memory chipse.g., ROM, RAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, one-time-programmable OTP memory, etc.
- the exemplary television receiver 200may also comprise one or more calibration modules 251 that operate to perform various calibration activities. Examples of such calibration activities will be provided later in this discussion. Briefly, such calibration activities may, for example, comprise interacting with a user and/or user pointing device to determine sensor signals under known circumstances (e.g., determine sensor signals in response to known screen pointing circumstances), and processing such sensor signals to develop algorithms (e.g., transformation matrices, static positional equations, etc.) to determine screen pointing location based on sensor signals received during normal operation. As will also be discussed later, such calibration may also be utilized to establish signal gain (or energy) patterns utilized in determining pointing location.
- algorithmse.g., transformation matrices, static positional equations, etc.
- the exemplary television receiver 200may comprise one or more location-determining modules 252 .
- various on-screen pointing location determinationsmay comprise processing location information.
- knowing the location of a usere.g., including the location of a pointing device being utilized by the user
- knowing the location of a usermay simplify the solution of various pointing direction determinations.
- knowing exactly where a pointing device is locatede.g., in three-dimensional space
- where a pointing device is located along a linee.g., knowing device location in two-dimensional space or land surface coordinates
- positional informationmay, in various exemplary scenarios, also comprise orientation information for a pointing device (e.g., yaw, pitch and/or roll).
- orientation informationmay be determined in various manners (e.g., through gyroscopic means, sensor alignment with known references, etc.).
- the location-determining module 252may operate to determine user (or pointing device) location in any of a variety of manners. For example and without limitation, the location-determining module 252 may operate to receive location information from the pointing device (e.g., via one of the communication interface modules 210 , 220 ). For example, such a pointing device may comprise positioning system capability (e.g., global positioning system, assisted GPS, cellular or other triangulation systems, etc.) and communicate information describing the position of the pointing device to the television receiver 200 .
- positioning system capabilitye.g., global positioning system, assisted GPS, cellular or other triangulation systems, etc.
- the location-determining module 252may (e.g., via the user interface modules 240 ) utilize sensor signals to determine the position (which may include orientation) of the pointing device (or user thereof). For example, a signal from a pointing device may arrive at different sensors at different times (or at different phases). Such temporal or phase differences may be processed to determine the location of the pointing device relative to the known location of such sensors. Further for example, the location-determining module 252 may operate to communicate pointing device location information with an external system that operates to determine the location of the pointing device. Such an external system may, for example, comprise a cellular telephony triangulation system, a home or premises-based triangulation system, a global positioning system, an assisted global positioning system, etc.
- an external systemmay, for example, comprise a cellular telephony triangulation system, a home or premises-based triangulation system, a global positioning system, an assisted global positioning system, etc.
- the exemplary television receiver 200may also comprise one or more sensor processing module(s) 253 .
- the sensor processing module 253may operate to receive sensor information (e.g., from the user interface module(s) 240 , from the television interface module 235 , etc.) and process such received sensor information to determine a location on the television screen to which a user is pointing.
- sensor processingmay, for example, comprise selecting a sensor with the strongest signal, interpolating between a plurality of sensors, interpolating between a plurality of sensors having strongest signals, determining gain (or energy) pattern intersections, etc.
- Various aspects of the present inventioncomprise, for example, determining on-screen pointing location during presentation of television programming (e.g., programming received from a television broadcaster, video recording device, etc.).
- FIG. 3is a diagram illustrating an exemplary television system 300 with on-screen television sensors in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.
- the television system 300includes a television 301 comprising a television screen 303 .
- the television system 300also includes a television controller 320 (or other pointing device) pointing to an on-screen pointing location 330 along a line 325 between the television controller 320 and the on-screen pointing location 330 .
- the television system 300also comprises a television receiver 350 that is communicatively coupled to the television 301 via a communication link 351 (e.g., a two-way communication link providing video information to the television 301 and/or receiving sensor information from the television 301 ).
- the television receiver 350may share any or all aspects with the exemplary receivers 150 , 200 discussed previously and all other receivers discussed herein. Accordingly, various aspects of the television receiver 350 will be explained herein with reference to various components of the exemplary television receiver 200 illustrated in FIG. 2 .
- the exemplary television receiver 350is also communicatively coupled to the television controller 320 via a communication link 352 .
- the exemplary television screen 303comprises an array of sensors integrated into the television screen 303 .
- One of such sensorsis labeled sensor 310 .
- Any of a variety of sensor typesmay be utilized, non-limiting examples of which include light sensors or photo detectors (e.g., photo diodes) and RF sensors (e.g., antenna elements or loops).
- the array of sensorsmay be integrated in the television screen 303 in any of a variety of manners, non-limiting examples of which will now be provided.
- the television screen 303may comprise an array of liquid crystal display (LCD) pixels for presenting video media to a user.
- LCDliquid crystal display
- An array of photo diodes and/or antenna elementsmay be integrated between or behind LCD pixels.
- every LCD pixelmay be associated with a corresponding photo diode and/or antenna element, or every N ⁇ M block of LCD pixels may be associated with a corresponding photo diode or antenna element.
- an array of photo diodes and/or RF antenna elementsmay be formed into a substrate beneath or behind transparent LCD substrates.
- a photo diode array and/or antenna element arraymay be interposed between or behind an array of LCD thin film transistors.
- an array of photo diodes and/or RF antenna elements (or other sensors)may be incorporated into a transparent screen overlay. Note that is such an implementation, such transparent screen overlay may be installed after-market. For example, a user that has a television receiver 350 with the capability to determine on-screen pointing location may install the transparent screen overlay.
- Such communication linkmay, for example, be adapted to communicate information from each sensor to the television receiver 350 serially (e.g., in a time-multiplexed manner) and/or in parallel.
- passive photo detectorsmay receive varying amounts of respective light energy depending on the pointing direction of a light source aimed at the screen.
- received signalse.g., pulsed signals
- received signalsmay arrive at different sensors at different respective times/phases (e.g., being indicative of relative position and/or pointing direction, which may also be utilized in a pointing determination).
- photo detectorsmay, for example, be tuned to react to particular light frequencies to reduce interference from output pixel light and/or associated reflections, ambient light, etc.
- photo diodesmay be tuned to detect light that is not visible to the human eye, visible light frequencies that are relatively rare, light patterns that are unlikely to occur in a television program (e.g., particular pulse codes), etc.
- an array of antenna elementsmay be formed on a substrate and placed behind light producing and/or filtering elements in the LCD screen (e.g., so as to avoid interfering with emitted light) or may be formed on a transparent substrate within or in front of the lighted region of the LCD display (e.g., utilizing microscopic antenna elements that are too small to significantly interfere with light emitted from the display).
- such an implementationmay be integrated with the television screen 303 , but may also be added as an overlay (e.g., as a production option or an after-market user or technician installation).
- passive antennasmay receive varying respective amounts of RF energy depending on the pointing direction of a directional RF source aimed at the screen.
- received signalse.g., pulsed signals
- received signalsmay arrive at different antennas at different respective times/phases (e.g., being indicative of relative position and/or pointing direction, which may also be utilized in a pointing determination)
- a usermay point a pointing device (e.g., a remote controller, a laser pointer, directional RF transmitter, specifically designed eyewear, a mobile computing device, a mobile communication device, a gesture tracking device or glove, etc.) at the television screen 303 , where the pointing device directs transmitted energy (e.g., light energy, RF energy, acoustic energy, etc.) at a particular location on the television screen 303 to which the pointing device is being pointed.
- transmitted energye.g., light energy, RF energy, acoustic energy, etc.
- Such transmitted energywill likely be transmitted directionally and be associated with an intensity or gain pattern with the highest intensity likely at the center of the pattern (i.e., along the pointing line 325 ) and decreasing as a function of angle from the center of the pattern (or distance on the screen from the on-screen pointing location).
- each sensor of the array of sensors integrated into the screen 303will likely receive some respective amount of energy.
- the sensor nearest the screen pointing location 330i.e., along the pointing line 325
- the sensor adjacent to the screen pointing location 330will likely receive a next highest range of energy
- sensors away from the pointing location 330will likely receive progressively less amounts of energy from the pointing device 320 , as a function of distance from the pointing location 330 , until such energy is lost in the noise floor.
- the television receiver 350may receive signals indicative of the energy received by the sensors of the sensor array.
- the television receiver 350may receive such signals in various manners, depending on the degree of integration of such sensors into the television 301 .
- the television receiver 350may receive such signals via a communication interface between the television receiver 350 and the television 301 .
- the television receiver 350may receive such signals via a communication link directly between the television receiver 350 and the sensors, where such a communication link may be independent of other communication links between the television receiver 350 and the television 301 .
- Such communication linkmay, for example, be adapted to communicate information from each sensor to the television receiver 350 serially (e.g., in a time-multiplexed manner) and/or in parallel.
- the user interface module 240may then, for example, provide information of such received sensor signals to the sensor processing module 253 for processing.
- the sensor processing module 253may then, for example, operate to process such information to determine the screen pointing location.
- the sensor processing module 253may perform such processing in any of a variety of manners, non-limiting examples of which will be provided below.
- the sensor processing module 253may operate to select the sensor with the highest received energy and determine that the location of such selected sensor is the on-screen pointing location. For example, in an exemplary scenario where the spatial resolution of screen-integrated sensors is relatively fine, such operation may reliably yield a desired level of accuracy without undue processing overhead.
- the sensor processing module 253may operate to select the sensor with the highest received energy and a plurality of sensors adjacent to such sensor. Then, for example, the sensor processing module 253 may interpolate between the locations of such sensors (e.g., based, at least in part, on weighting). For example, in a first dimension in which a sensor to the right of the highest energy sensor has a higher received energy than a sensor to the left of the highest energy sensor, the sensor processing module 253 may determine that the pointing location is to the right of the highest energy sensor. How much distance to the right may, for example, be determined as a function of the ratio between respective energies received by the right and left sensors. Such calculation may, for example, be a linear or non-linear calculation. Such calculation may also, for example, consider the expected energy pattern of a transmitting pointing device (e.g., in a scenario where energy fall-off is logarithmic as opposed to linear).
- the sensor processing module 253may operate to select all sensors receiving a threshold amount of energy (e.g., an absolute threshold level, a threshold level relative to the highest energy sensor, etc.). Then, for example, the sensor processing module 253 may interpolate between the locations of such sensors (e.g., based, at least in part, on respective energy weighting). For example, the sensor processing module 253 may perform non-linear splining between sensors in a horizontal direction with sensor location on a first axis and sensor energy on a second axis. The sensor processing module 253 may then operate to select the point on the sensor location axis corresponding to the peak sensor energy on the vertical axis. Such splining and selecting may then be repeated in the vertical direction. Alternatively for example, the sensor processing module 253 may operate to perform multi-dimensional splining to create a surface based on sensor energy and select the highest point on such surface and the corresponding screen coordinates of such surface.
- a threshold amount of energye.g., an absolute threshold level,
- the sensor processing module 253may operate to select a first sensor (e.g., the sensor with the highest received energy). Then, for example, the sensor processing module 253 may utilize information of the relative distance between the selected sensor and the pointing device, information of the gain pattern for the signal transmitted from the pointing device to the selected sensor, and calibration information to determine where the pointing device may be pointed in order for the sensor to receive such energy. For example, this may result in a first closed figure (e.g., a circle, cloverleaf, etc.) drawn around the sensor on the screen plane. Then the sensor processing module 253 may repeat the procedure for a second sensor (e.g., a sensor with the second highest received energy), resulting in a second closed figure.
- a first closed figuree.g., a circle, cloverleaf, etc.
- the sensor processing module 253may then, for example, determine the point(s) of intersection between the first and second figures. If only one point of intersection lies within the border of the screen, then such point of intersection might be utilized as an estimate of the pointing location. If, however, there are two potentially significant points of intersection (or more depending on the figures), then the sensor processing module 253 may repeat the procedure for a third sensor (e.g., the sensor with the third highest energy, a sensor generally along the line perpendicular to a line segment between the first and second sensors, etc.) and determine a point nearest the intersection of the first, second and third closed figures. Such a point of intersection may then be utilized as an estimate of the pointing location.
- a third sensore.g., the sensor with the third highest energy, a sensor generally along the line perpendicular to a line segment between the first and second sensors, etc.
- the above-mentioned examples of screen-integrated sensors and related pointing location determinationswere presented as exemplary illustrations. Though the above-mentioned examples generally discuss light and/or RF energy sensors, other types of sensors may also be integrated into a television screen or overlaid thereon.
- the sensorsmay comprise acoustic sensors that operate to sense acoustic energy (e.g., directed acoustic energy directed to a pointing location on the screen).
- acoustic energye.g., directed acoustic energy directed to a pointing location on the screen.
- directed acoustic energymay be formed at frequencies beyond the range of human hearing (e.g., and at frequencies beyond the range of pet hearing as well).
- various energy radiation patternsmay be used, and/or a plurality of energy radiation patterns may be used.
- a plurality of energy emissionsmay be utilized.
- a pointing devicemay transmit a plurality of different directed energy emissions (e.g., light, RF, etc.) toward the pointing direction.
- a pointing devicemay transmit one or more energy emissions that move relative to the pointing direction (e.g., in a raster pattern or any other pattern).
- the television receiver 350may communicate information of such determined location in various manners.
- the sensor processing module 253 of the television receiver 200may utilize the television interface module 235 to communicate information of such on-screen pointing location to the television 301 for presentation to the user.
- the sensor processing module 253may utilize the user interface module 240 to communicate information of such on-screen pointing location to the television controller 320 for presentation to the user. Such communication will also be addressed in the discussions of FIGS. 9-10 .
- FIG. 4is a diagram illustrating an exemplary television system 400 with off-screen television sensors in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.
- the television system 400includes a television 401 comprising a television screen 403 .
- the television system 400also includes a television controller 420 (or other pointing device) pointing to an on-screen pointing location 430 along a pointing line 425 between the television controller 420 and the on-screen pointing location 430 .
- the television system 400also comprises a television receiver 450 that is communicatively coupled to the television 401 via a communication link 451 (e.g., a two-way communication link providing video information to the television 401 and/or receiving sensor information from the television 401 ).
- the television receiver 450may share any or all aspects with the exemplary receivers ( 150 , 200 and 350 ) discussed previously and all other receivers discussed herein. Accordingly, various aspects of the television receiver 450 will be explained herein with reference to various components of the exemplary television receiver 200 illustrated in FIG. 2 .
- the exemplary television receiver 450is also communicatively coupled to the television controller 420 via a communication link 452 .
- the exemplary television 401comprises an array of sensors integrated into the television 401 around the border of the screen 403 .
- Three of such sensorsare labeled 410 , 411 and 412 .
- any of a variety of sensor typesmay be utilized, non-limiting examples of which include light sensors or photo detectors (e.g., photo diodes), RF sensors (e.g., antenna elements), acoustic sensors (e.g., microphones), etc.
- the array of sensorsmay be integrated around the television screen 403 in any of a variety of manners.
- such sensorsmay be integrated in a border of the television screen 403 that is not used for outputting video content.
- Such a configurationmay, for example, avoid sensor interference with video content being displayed on the screen.
- such sensorsmay be mounted to a border material of the television 401 .
- an array of photo detectorse.g., photo diodes
- antenna elementse.g., individual antennas or elements of an antenna array, for example, a phased array
- every screen pixel row and/or columnmay be associated with a pair of corresponding photo diodes and/or antenna elements, or every N ⁇ M block of screen pixels may be associated with one or more corresponding photo diodes or antenna elements (e.g., a row and column sensor, two row and two column elements, etc.).
- passive photo detectorsmay receive varying amounts of respective light energy depending on the pointing direction of a light source pointed at the screen.
- received signalse.g., pulsed signals
- received signalsmay arrive at different sensors at different respective times/phases (e.g., being indicative of relative position and/or pointing direction, which may also be utilized in a pointing determination).
- photo detectorsmay, for example, be tuned to react to particular light frequencies to reduce interference from output pixel light and/or associated reflections.
- photo diodesmay be tuned to detect light that is not visible to the human eye, visible light frequencies that are relatively rare, light patterns that are unlikely to occur in a television program (e.g., particular pulse codes), etc.
- the photo detectors integrated with the television body off-screenmay comprise photo diodes that operate to detect energy from a laser pointer or directed infrared energy from a television controller or other pointing device.
- various aspectsmay comprise mounting (e.g., adhering) sensors to the television body off-screen. Such sensor installation may, for example, occur at the factory or after-market by a technician or user.
- an array of antenna elementsmay be positioned around the border of the screen 403 .
- passive antennasor elements of an overall antenna matrix
- received signalse.g., pulsed signals
- received signalsmay arrive at different antennas at different respective times/phases (e.g., being indicative of relative position and/or pointing direction, which may also be utilized in a pointing determination).
- various aspectsmay comprise mounting (e.g., adhering) sensors to the television body off-screen. Such sensor installation may, for example, occur at the factory or after-market by a technician or user.
- a usermay point a pointing device (e.g., a remote controller, a laser pointer, directional RF transmitter, specifically designed eyewear, a mobile computing device, a mobile communication device, a gesture tracking device or glove, etc.) at the television screen 403 , where the pointing device directs transmitted energy (e.g., light and/or RF energy and/or acoustic energy) at a particular location on the television screen 403 to which the device is being pointed.
- transmitted energye.g., light and/or RF energy and/or acoustic energy
- transmitted energywill likely be transmitted directionally and be associated with an intensity or gain pattern with the highest intensity likely at the center of the pattern (i.e., along the pointing line 425 ) and decreasing as a function of angle from the center of the pattern.
- Such a gain patternis generally represented in FIG. 4 by the concentric circles around the on-screen pointing location 430 . Note, however, that in practice such a gain pattern is likely to be more complex than the illustrated pattern (e.g., including lobes with respective peaks and nulls).
- each sensor of the sensors integrated into the television around the border of the screen 403will likely receive some respective amount of energy.
- the sensor nearest the screen pointing location 430i.e., along the pointing line 425
- sensors along the particular axis adjacent to the screen pointing location 430will likely receive a next highest range of energy
- sensors away from the pointing location 430will likely receive progressively less amounts of energy from the pointing device 420 , as a function of distance from the pointing location 430 , until such energy is lost in the noise floor.
- sensor 410is closest to the pointing location 430 and will likely receive the highest energy, with sensors adjacent to the left and right of sensor 410 receiving the next highest amounts of energy, and so on. Also, along the vertical axis, sensors 411 and 412 will likely receive close to the highest amount of energy, with sensors above and below such sensors 411 , 412 receiving the next highest amounts of energy and so on.
- the television receiver 450may receive signals indicative of the energy received by the sensors of the television.
- the television receiver 450may receive such signals in various manners, depending on the degree of integration of such sensors into the television 401 .
- the television receiver 450may receive such signals via a communication interface between the television receiver 450 and the television 401 .
- the television receiver 450may receive such signals via a communication link directly between the television receiver 450 and the sensors, where such a communication link may be independent of other communication links between the television receiver 450 and the television 401 .
- Such communication linkmay, for example, be adapted to communicate information from each sensor to the television receiver 450 serially (e.g., in a time-multiplexed manner) and/or in parallel.
- the user interface module 240may then, for example, provide information of such received sensor signals to the sensor processing module 253 for processing.
- the sensor processing module 253may then, for example, operate to process such information to determine the screen pointing location.
- the sensor processing module 253may perform such processing in any of a variety of manners, non-limiting examples of which will be provided below.
- the sensor processing module 253may operate to select the sensor with the highest received energy along each of the horizontal and vertical axes and determine that the respective locations of such selected sensors correspond to the horizontal and vertical coordinates of the on-screen pointing location. For example, in an exemplary scenario where the spatial resolution of screen border sensors is relatively fine, such operation may reliably yield a desired level of accuracy without undue processing overhead. For example, the sensor processing module 253 may determine that sensors 410 and 411 have the highest received energy for the horizontal and vertical axes, respectively, and thus determine that the on-screen pointing location is represented in the horizontal axis by the horizontal location of the sensor 410 and represented in the vertical axis by the vertical location of the sensor 411 . Note that in scenarios where two sensors have relatively similar energy levels (e.g., as might occur at sensors 411 and 412 , the sensor processing module 253 may select a vertical midpoint between such sensors.
- the sensor processing module 253may operate to select, for each screen axis, the sensor with the highest received energy and a plurality of sensors adjacent to such sensor. Then, for example, the sensor processing module 253 may interpolate between the locations of such sensors (e.g., based, at least in part, on weighting). For example, in the horizontal dimension in which a sensor to the right of the highest energy sensor 410 has a higher received energy than a sensor to the left of the highest energy sensor 410 , the sensor processing module 253 may determine that the pointing location along the horizontal axis is to the right of the highest energy sensor 410 . How much distance to the right may, for example, be determined as a function of the ratio between respective energies received by the right and left sensors.
- Such calculationmay, for example, be a linear or non-linear calculation. Such calculation may also, for example, consider the expected energy pattern of a transmitting pointing device (e.g., in a scenario where energy fall-off is logarithmic as opposed to linear). The sensor processing module 253 may then, for example, repeat such operation in the vertical direction.
- the sensor processing module 253may operate to select all sensors in each of the axes receiving a threshold amount of energy (e.g., an absolute threshold level, a threshold level relative to the highest energy sensor, etc.). Then, for example, the sensor processing module 253 may interpolate between the locations of such sensors (e.g., based, at least in part, on respective energy weighting). For example, the sensor processing module 253 may perform non-linear splining between sensors in a horizontal direction with sensor location on a first axis and sensor energy on a second axis. The sensor processing module 253 may then operate to select the point on the sensor location axis corresponding to the peak sensor energy on the vertical axis.
- a threshold amount of energye.g., an absolute threshold level, a threshold level relative to the highest energy sensor, etc.
- the sensor processing module 253may interpolate between the locations of such sensors (e.g., based, at least in part, on respective energy weighting). For example, the sensor processing module 253 may
- Such splining and selectingmay then be repeated in the vertical screen direction.
- the sensor processing module 253may operate to perform multi-dimensional splining to create a surface based on sensor energy and select the highest point on such surface and the corresponding screen coordinates of such surface.
- the television receiver 450may communicate information of such determined location in various manners.
- the sensor processing module 253 of the television receiver 200may utilize the television interface module 235 to communicate information of such on-screen pointing location to the television 401 for presentation to the user.
- the sensor processing module 253may utilize the user interface module 240 to communicate information of such on-screen pointing location to the television controller 420 for presentation to the user. Such communication will also be addressed in the discussions of FIGS. 9-10 .
- FIG. 5is a diagram illustrating an exemplary television system 500 with off-television sensors in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.
- the television system 500includes a television 501 comprising a television screen 503 .
- the television system 500also includes a television controller 520 (or other pointing device) pointing to an on-screen pointing location 530 along a pointing line 525 between the television controller 520 and the on-screen pointing location 530 .
- the television system 500also comprises a television receiver 550 that is communicatively coupled to the television 501 via a communication link 561 (e.g., a two-way communication link providing video information to the television 501 and/or receiving sensor information from the television 501 ).
- the television receiver 550is also illustrated with one or more communication links 563 to the various sensors 551 - 556 independent of the communication link 561 .
- the television receiver 550e.g., a user interface module 240
- the exemplary television receiver 550is also communicatively coupled to the television controller 520 .
- the television receiver 550may share any or all aspects with the exemplary receivers ( 150 , 200 , 350 and 450 ) discussed previously and all other receivers discussed herein. Accordingly, various aspects of the television receiver 550 will be explained herein with reference to various components of the exemplary television receiver 200 illustrated in FIG. 2 .
- the exemplary television system 500comprises an array of sensors integrated into audio speaker components (e.g., surround sound speakers) positioned around the television 501 .
- the television system 500comprises a left speaker 531 comprising a top sensor 552 and a bottom sensor 551 .
- the television system 500comprises a right speaker 533 comprising a top sensor 556 and a bottom sensor 555 .
- the television systemcomprises a center speaker 532 comprising a left sensor 553 and a right sensor 554 .
- any of a variety of sensor typesmay be utilized, non-limiting examples of which include light sensors or photo detectors (e.g., photo diodes), RF sensors (e.g., antenna elements), acoustic sensors (e.g., microphones), etc.
- light sensors or photo detectorse.g., photo diodes
- RF sensorse.g., antenna elements
- acoustic sensorse.g., microphones
- the audio speaker component example discussed hereinis merely illustrative and that such sensors may be installed in any of a variety of locations (e.g., dedicated sensor boxes, attached to furniture, etc.).
- the array of sensorsmay be positioned around the television 501 in any of a variety of manners.
- such sensorsmay be positioned around the television 501 generally in the same plane as the television screen 503 .
- on-screen pointing locationmay be determined in a manner similar to the interpolation and/or gain pattern intersection discussed above with regard to off-screen and/or on-screen sensors.
- a calibration proceduremay be implemented (e.g., by the calibration module 251 ). Such calibration will be discussed in more detail below.
- one or more photo detectorse.g., photo diodes
- antenna elementse.g., individual antennas or elements of an antenna array
- passive photo detectorsmay receive varying amounts of respective light energy depending on the pointing direction of a light source aimed at the screen.
- directed energye.g., light, RF, acoustic, etc.
- directed energymay be transmitted in a pattern (or envelope), so even if a pointing device is pointed to a location on the television screen 530 along pointing line 525 , sensors off-screen (or even off-television) may still receive energy from the transmission (albeit likely not with the same intensity at which energy is delivered along the pointing line 525 ).
- received signalse.g., pulsed signals
- may arrive at different sensors at different respective times/phasese.g., being indicative of relative position and/or pointing direction, which may also be utilized in a pointing determination).
- photo diodesmay, for example, be tuned to react to particular light frequencies to reduce interference from output pixel light and/or associated reflections, ambient light, room lighting, etc.
- photo diodesmay be tuned to detect light that is not visible to the human eye, visible light frequencies that are relatively rare, light patterns that are unlikely to occur in a television program (e.g., particular pulse codes), etc.
- the photo detectors integrated with off-television componentsmay comprise photo diodes that operate to detect energy from a laser pointer or directed infrared energy from a television controller (or other pointing device).
- various aspectsmay comprise mounting (e.g., adhering) sensors to various off-television components. Such sensor installation may, for example, occur at the factory or after-market by a technician or user.
- an array of antenna elementsmay be positioned around off-television components (e.g., in surround sound components).
- passive antennasor elements of an overall antenna matrix
- received signalse.g., pulsed signals
- received signalsmay arrive at different antennas at different respective times/phases (e.g., being indicative of relative position and/or pointing direction, which may also be utilized in a pointing determination).
- various aspectsmay comprise mounting (e.g., adhering) sensors to the off-television components. Such sensor installation may, for example, occur at the factory or after-market by a technician or user.
- a usermay point a pointing device (e.g., a remote controller, a laser pointer, directional RF transmitter, specifically designed eyewear, a mobile computing device, a mobile communication device, a gesture tracking device or glove, etc.) at the television screen 503 , where the pointing device directs transmitted energy (e.g., light and/or RF energy and/or acoustic energy) at a particular location on the television screen 503 to which the user is pointing with the pointing device.
- transmitted energye.g., light and/or RF energy and/or acoustic energy
- Such transmitted energywill likely be transmitted directionally and be associated with an intensity or gain pattern with the highest intensity at the center of the pattern (i.e., along the pointing line 525 ) and decreasing as a function of angle from the center of the pattern.
- Such a gain patternwas discussed previously in the discussion of FIG. 4 .
- each sensor of the sensors integrated into the television system 500 off-televisionwill likely receive some respective amount of energy.
- the sensor nearest to the screen pointing location 530i.e., along the pointing line 525
- the sensor nearest to the screen pointing location 530will likely receive the highest amount of energy
- a sensor next nearest to the screen pointing location 530will likely receive a next highest range of energy
- sensors away from the pointing location 530will likely receive progressively less amounts of energy from the pointing device 520 , as a function of distance from the pointing location 530 and/or angle off the pointing line 525 (e.g., until such energy is lost in the noise floor).
- sensor 553is nearest to the pointing location 530 and will likely receive the highest energy
- sensor 552is next nearest to the pointing location 530 and will likely receive the next highest energy, and so on.
- signals from a same sensormay be utilized in determining multiple axes of pointing location.
- a calibration proceduremay be performed when the system 500 is configured to assist in such pointing determination.
- the television receiver 550may receive signals indicative of the energy received by the sensors of the television system 500 .
- the television receiver 550may receive such signals in various manners, depending on the degree of integration of such sensors into the television 501 .
- the television receiver 550may receive such signals via a communication interface between the television receiver 550 and the respective off-television components (e.g., via a communication link 563 between the television receiver 550 and the surround sound speaker components 531 - 533 ).
- the television receiver 550may receive such signals via a communication link directly between the television receiver 550 and the individual sensors, where such a communication link may be independent of other communication links between the television receiver 550 and the television 501 and/or independent of other communication links between the television receiver 550 and other television system 500 components (e.g., surround sound speaker components 531 - 533 ).
- the television receiver 550may receive such signals via a communication link directly between the television receiver 550 and the individual sensors, where such a communication link may be independent of other communication links between the television receiver 550 and the television 501 and/or independent of other communication links between the television receiver 550 and other television system 500 components (e.g., surround sound speaker components 531 - 533 ).
- the user interface module 240may then, for example, provide information of such received sensor signals to the sensor processing module 253 for processing.
- the sensor processing module 253may then, for example, operate to process such information to determine the screen pointing location.
- the sensor processing module 253may perform such processing in any of a variety of manners, non-limiting examples of which will be provided below.
- the sensor processing module 253may operate to estimate a position between sensor positions based on relative sensor energy.
- sensor 552may correspond to a relatively high amount of energy
- sensor 556may correspond to a relatively low amount of received energy.
- the sensor processing module 253may, for example, estimate a horizontal position relatively closer to sensor 552 by an amount proportional to the relative difference between respective amounts of energy.
- the sensor processing module 253may perform a similar estimation utilizing sensors 551 and 555 . Various horizontal position estimations may then be averaged.
- respective energies for the left speaker 531 sensorsmay be averaged, respective energies for the right speaker 533 sensors may be averaged, and such left and right speaker average energies may then be utilized to determine a horizontal pointing location.
- the sensor processing module 253may then, for example, perform a similar pointing direction estimate in the vertical direction.
- a calibration proceduremay be performed to determine an expected sensor energy level (e.g., absolute or relative) when the user is pointing at the sensor.
- an expected sensor energy levele.g., absolute or relative
- a first linee.g., a circle or arc
- a second linee.g., a circle or arc
- the intersection of the first and second linesutilized as an estimate of pointing location. Additional lines associated with other sensors may also be utilized. Such additional lines may, for example, be utilized when selecting between multiple line intersections and/or for greater accuracy or resolution.
- the television receiver 550may communicate information of such determined location in various manners.
- the sensor processing module 253 of the television receiver 200may utilize the television interface module 235 to communicate information of such on-screen pointing location to the television 501 for presentation to the user.
- the sensor processing module 253may utilize the user interface module 240 to communicate information of such on-screen pointing location to the television controller 520 for presentation to the user. Such communication will also be addressed in the discussions of FIGS. 9-10 .
- FIG. 6is a diagram illustrating an exemplary television system 600 with television receiver sensors in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.
- the television system 600includes a television 601 comprising a television screen 603 .
- the television system 600also includes a television controller 620 (or other pointing device) pointing to an on-screen pointing location 630 along a pointing line 625 between the television controller 620 and the on-screen pointing location 630 .
- the television system 600also comprises a television receiver 650 that is communicatively coupled to the television 601 via a communication link 651 (e.g., a two-way communication link providing video information to the television 601 and/or communicating sensor information and/or screen pointing information with the television 601 ).
- the television receiver 650comprises an array of screen pointing sensors. A portion of the sensors are labeled ( 661 - 665 ) for discussion purposes. Note that such sensors may be arranged in any of a variety of configurations (e.g., matrix configuration, border configuration, placed only at the front corners, etc.).
- the pointing sensorsmay, for example, be integrated into the television receiver 650 and/or attached to the television receiver 650 in any of a variety of manners (e.g., in any manner similar to those discussed previously with regard to the televisions and/or television system components discussed previously).
- the television receiver 650may receive additional sensor information from other sensors via the television communication line 651 and/or other communication links.
- the exemplary television receiver 650is also communicatively coupled to the television controller 620 via a communication link 652 .
- the television receiver 650may share any or all aspects with the exemplary receivers ( 150 , 200 , 350 , 450 and 550 ) discussed previously and all other receivers discussed herein. Accordingly, various aspects of the television receiver 650 will be explained herein with reference to various components of the exemplary television receiver 200 illustrated in FIG. 2 .
- the exemplary television receiver 650comprises an array of sensors integrated into the television receiver 650 .
- the television receiver 650comprises a lower left sensor 661 , upper left sensor 662 , upper right sensor 663 , lower right sensor 664 and center sensor 665 .
- any of a variety of sensor typesmay be utilized, non-limiting examples of which include light sensors or photo detectors (e.g., photo diodes), RF sensors (e.g., antenna elements), acoustic sensors (e.g., microphones), etc.
- the exemplary television receiver 650may be positioned around the television 601 in any of a variety of manners.
- the television receiver 650(and thus the sensors) may be positioned around the television 601 in an orientation such that the front face of the television receiver 650 (and thus the sensors) is generally in the same plane as the television screen 603 .
- Such placementis not necessary, but may be advantageous from an accuracy perspective.
- on-screen pointing locationmay be determined in a manner similar to the interpolation and/or gain pattern intersection discussed above with regard to off-screen and/or on-screen sensors.
- a calibration proceduremay be implemented (e.g., by the calibration module 251 ). Such calibration was discussed previously and will also be revisited below.
- one or more photo detectorse.g., photo diodes
- antenna elementse.g., individual antennas or elements of an antenna array
- additional sensors positioned away from the television receiver 650may also be utilized (e.g., any of the previously discussed sensor placements).
- passive photo detectorsmay receive varying amounts of respective light energy depending on the pointing direction of a light source aimed at the screen.
- directed energye.g., light, RF, acoustic, etc.
- sensors off-screene.g., sensors integrated into the television receiver 650
- received signalsmay arrive at different sensors at different respective times/phases (e.g., being indicative of relative position and/or pointing direction, which may also be utilized in a pointing determination).
- photo diodesmay, for example, be tuned to react to particular light frequencies to reduce interference from output pixel light and/or associated reflections, ambient light, room lighting, etc.
- photo diodesmay be tuned to detect light that is not visible to the human eye, visible light frequencies that are relatively rare, light patterns that are unlikely to occur in a television program (e.g., particular pulse codes), etc.
- the photo detectors integrated with the television receiver 650may comprise photo diodes that operate to detect energy from a laser pointer or directed infrared energy from a controller (or other pointing device).
- various aspectsmay comprise mounting (e.g., adhering) sensors to various television receiver 650 locations and/or to various off-receiver components.
- Such sensor installationmay, for example, occur at the factory or after-market by a technician or user.
- an array of antenna elementsmay be positioned at locations on the television receiver 650 (e.g., only on the television receiver 650 and/or at locations around the television receiver 650 ).
- passive antennasor elements of an overall antenna matrix
- received signalse.g., pulsed signals
- may arrive at different antennas at different respective times/phasese.g., being indicative of relative position and/or pointing direction, which may also be utilized in a pointing determination.
- various aspectsmay comprise mounting (e.g., adhering) sensors to the television receiver 650 . Such sensor installation may, for example, occur at the factory or after-market by a technician or user.
- a usermay point a pointing device (e.g., a remote controller, a laser pointer, directional RF transmitter, specifically designed eyewear, a mobile computing device, a mobile communication device, a gesture tracking device or glove, etc.) at the television screen 603 , where the pointing device directs transmitted energy (e.g., light and/or RF energy and/or acoustic energy) at a particular location on the television screen 603 to which the user is pointing with the pointing device.
- transmitted energye.g., light and/or RF energy and/or acoustic energy
- Such transmitted energywill likely be transmitted directionally and be associated with an intensity or gain (or energy) pattern with the highest intensity at the center of the pattern (i.e., along the pointing line 625 ) and decreasing as a function of angle from the center of the pattern.
- intensity or gainor energy
- each sensor of the sensors integrated into the television receiver 650 off-televisionwill likely receive some respective amount of energy.
- the sensor nearest to the screen pointing location 630i.e., along the pointing line 625
- a sensor next nearest to the screen pointing location 630will likely receive a next highest range of energy
- sensors away from the pointing location 630will likely receive progressively less amounts of energy from the pointing device 620 , as a function of distance from the pointing location 630 and/or angle off the pointing line 625 (e.g., until such energy is lost in the noise floor).
- sensor 662is nearest to the pointing location 630 and will likely receive the highest energy
- sensors 661 and 663are further from the pointing location 630 , etc., and so on.
- signals from a same sensormay be utilized in determining multiple axes of pointing location.
- a calibration proceduremay be performed when the system 600 is configured to assist in such pointing determination.
- the television receiver 650may receive signals indicative of the energy received by the sensors of the television receiver 650 .
- the television receiver 650may receive such signals in various manners, depending on the degree of integration of such sensors into the television receiver 650 and/or various components of the television system 600 .
- the television receiver 550may receive such signals via direct internal link with such sensors.
- the television receiver 650may receive information from such sensors via direct communication link or via communication link with the various components with which such sensors are integrated.
- the user interface module 240may then, for example, provide information of such received sensor signals to the sensor processing module 253 for processing.
- the sensor processing module 253may then, for example, operate to process such information to determine the screen pointing location.
- the sensor processing module 253may perform such processing in any of a variety of manners, non-limiting examples of which will be provided below.
- the sensor processing module 253may operate to estimate a position between sensor positions based on relative sensor energy.
- sensor 662may correspond to a relatively high amount of energy
- sensor 663may correspond to a relatively low amount of received energy.
- the sensor processing module 253may, for example, estimate a horizontal position relatively closer to sensor 662 by an amount proportional to the relative difference between respective amounts of energy.
- the sensor processing module 253may perform a similar estimation utilizing sensors 661 and 664 . Various horizontal position estimations may then be averaged.
- respective energies for the left side sensors 661 , 662may be averaged, respective energies for the right side sensors 663 , 664 sensors may be averaged, and such left and right speaker average energies may then be utilized (e.g., in conjunction with energy pattern characteristics) to determine a horizontal pointing location.
- the sensor processing module 253may then, for example, perform a similar pointing direction estimate in the vertical direction.
- a calibration proceduremay be performed to determine an expected sensor energy level (e.g., absolute or relative) when the user is pointing at the sensor (and/or other known locations).
- an expected sensor energy levele.g., absolute or relative
- a first linee.g., a circle or arc
- a second linee.g., a circle or arc
- the intersection of the first and second linesutilized as an estimate of pointing location. Additional lines associated with other sensors may also be utilized.
- Such additional linesmay, for example, be utilized when selecting between multiple line intersections or to increase accuracy and/or resolution of the pointing determination.
- line intersection solutionmay be applied to any of the previously discussed scenarios (e.g., as illustrated in FIGS. 3-5 ) or other scenarios discussed herein.
- FIGS. 3-5A non-limiting example of this was presented in the discussion of FIG. 3 , and another example will be provided in the following discussion of FIG. 7 .
- the television receiver 650may communicate information of such determined location in various manners.
- the sensor processing module 253 of the television receiver 200may utilize the television interface module 235 to communicate information of such on-screen pointing location to the television 601 for presentation to the user on the television screen 603 .
- the sensor processing module 253may utilize the user interface module 240 to communicate information of such on-screen pointing location to the television controller 620 for presentation to the user (e.g., on a display of the television controller 620 ). Such communication will also be addressed in the discussions of FIGS. 9-10 .
- FIG. 7is a diagram illustrating an exemplary television system 700 utilizing pointing device sensors in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.
- the exemplary television system 700includes a television 701 having a television screen 703 .
- the television system 700also comprises a television receiver 750 that is communicatively coupled to the television 701 via a communication link 751 (e.g., a two-way communication link providing video information to the television 701 and/or receiving sensor information from the television 701 ).
- the exemplary television receiver 750is also communicatively coupled to the television controller 720 via a communication link 752 .
- the television receiver 750may share any or all aspects with the exemplary receivers ( 150 , 200 , 350 , 450 , 550 and 650 ) discussed previously and all other receivers discussed herein. Accordingly, various aspects of the television receiver 750 will be explained herein with reference to various components of the exemplary television receiver 200 illustrated in FIG. 2 .
- the television system 700includes a television controller 720 (e.g., a pointing device) that comprises one or more sensors (e.g., a plurality of antenna array elements, a plurality of photo detectors, etc.).
- a television controller 720e.g., a pointing device
- sensorse.g., a plurality of antenna array elements, a plurality of photo detectors, etc.
- sensor informationmay be communicated to the television receiver 750 (e.g., to the user interface module 240 via the first 210 or second 220 communication interface modules).
- Such sensor informationmay, for example, be communicated to the television receiver 750 directly (e.g., via communication link 752 ) or indirectly (e.g., via the television 701 and communication link 751 ).
- Such informationmay then be communicated to the sensor processing module 253 for the determination of an on-screen pointing location.
- the television 701includes eight emitters (e.g., light emitters, RF transmitters, etc.) located around the border of the television screen 703 .
- emittersmay be positioned anywhere proximate the television system 700 .
- the television 701includes a first emitter 711 , second emitter 712 , third emitter 713 , fourth emitter 714 , fifth emitter 715 , sixth emitter 716 , seventh emitter 717 and eighth emitter 718 .
- Such emittersmay each emit a signal that may be received at sensors on-board the controller 720 . Such sensors may, for example, make up a directional receiver.
- the controller 720(or other pointing device) may be pointed to a location 730 on the screen 703 along a pointing line 725 .
- the sensors on-board the controller 720will receive the emitted signals at respective signal levels.
- Such sensor signalsmay then be processed in a manner similar to the manners discussed above to determine the on-screen pointing direction for the pointing device 720 .
- the pointing device at a particular locationshould receive a particular amount of energy from each of the emitters 711 - 718 when pointed directly at such emitters (or at some other known location).
- the pointing devicemay measure respective signal energies received from each of the emitters (e.g., each distinguishable by frequency, coding, timing and/or timeslotting, etc.) and communicate such information to the television receiver 750 .
- the pointing device 720may also, for example, communicate pointing device position (and/or orientation) information to the television receiver 750 .
- the television receiver 750may receive such sensor and/or position information via at least one of the communication interface modules 210 , 220 and/or the user interface module 240 and process such sensor information with the sensor processing module 253 .
- the sensor processing module 253may, for example, select a first emitter 712 (e.g., the emitter corresponding to the highest energy received at the pointing device). The sensor processing module 253 may then process the location of the pointing device, the receive gain pattern for the pointing device, and the energy received from the first emitter 712 to determine a first figure (e.g., an arc 752 ) along which the pointing device, if pointed, would be expected to receive the measured energy. Similarly, the sensor processing module 253 may perform such a procedure for a second emitter 711 resulting in a second figure (e.g., an arc 751 ). The intersection of such arcs may be utilized as an estimate of on-screen pointing location.
- a first emitter 712e.g., the emitter corresponding to the highest energy received at the pointing device.
- the sensor processing module 253may then process the location of the pointing device, the receive gain pattern for the pointing device, and the energy received from the first emitter 712 to
- the sensor processing module 253may perform such a procedure for a third emitter 714 resulting in a third figure (e.g., an arc 754 ), and so on.
- a third figuree.g., an arc 754
- the intersection of the three arcs 752 , 751 , 754may then be utilized as an estimate of on-screen pointing location.
- the solutionneed not be based on a known position (location) of the pointing device, nor on absolute received energy levels.
- differences in received energy from the various emittersmay be processed with or without position information of the on-screen pointing device.
- the pointing device 720may have six degrees of freedom (e.g., three positional degrees of freedom and three orientational degrees of freedom).
- the unknown six degrees of freedom for the pointing device 720may be ascertained by processing six known values related to such six degrees of freedom (e.g., related by a known signal energy pattern).
- measurements associated with six emitters on the televisionmay be utilized to solve for the six degrees of freedom of the pointing device 720 .
- the calibration module 251 of the television receiver 200may operate to perform calibration operations. Such calibrating may be performed in any of a variety of manners. For example and without limitation, calibration may be utilized to determine expected received energy when transmitters and receivers are located and oriented in a particular manner.
- a non-limiting example of a calibration proceduremay comprise presenting an on-screen target at various locations and measuring respective sensor signals received when the pointing device is being pointed at such targets.
- a calibration proceduremay comprise directing a user (e.g., using the user interface module 240 ) to point to each of a plurality of sensors to determine an expected amount of received energy when the user is pointing directly at such sensors.
- signal energy (or gain) patternmay be utilized in various on-screen pointing determinations.
- Such an energy (or gain) patternmay be predefined for a particular pointing device (e.g., at the factory), but may also be measured by the television receiver 200 .
- the calibration module 251may direct the user to utilize a pointing device to point to a location on the screen and process information received from multiple sensors (e.g., embedded in the screen, embedded in the television around the border of the screen, located in off-television devices, located on the television receiver 750 , located in the pointing device, etc.) to develop a custom gain pattern for the particular pointing device.
- multiple sensorse.g., embedded in the screen, embedded in the television around the border of the screen, located in off-television devices, located on the television receiver 750 , located in the pointing device, etc.
- such calibrationmay determine the shape of the gain pattern, the signal energy falloff characteristics, etc.
- the television receiver 200may comprise one or more location modules 252 that operate to determine relevant position information.
- the location module 252may operate to perform such location determining (e.g., of the user or pointing device and/or the television) in any of a variety of manners.
- the location module 252may utilize a communication interface module 210 , 220 to receive position information (e.g., of the television receiver 200 or of the pointing device) from an external source of such information (e.g., global positioning system, cellular triangulation system, home triangulation system, etc.).
- the location module 252may receive position information directly from the pointing device (e.g., where such pointing device has position-determining capability).
- the pointing devicee.g., where the pointing device is a handheld computer, such computer may comprise GPS (or A-GPS) capability to determine its position.
- the pointing devicemay wirelessly communicate information of its position to the television receiver 200 , and ultimately to the location module 252 via a communication interface module 210 , 220 .
- the location module 232may operate to process sensor information to determine location of the pointing device (e.g., location in relation to the television screen). For example, as mentioned previously, a signal (e.g., a pulse) transmitted from a pointing device to the television will arrive at different sensors at different points in time depending on the respective distance from the pointing device to each sensor. The location module 232 may process such time-of-arrival information at various sensors to determine the position of the pointing device relative to the television. Similarly, in a scenario including signal emitters associated with the television and sensors on the pointing device, simultaneously transmitted signals from different emitters will arrive at the pointing device at different respective times depending on the position of the pointing device relative to such emitters. Alternatively, the location module 232 may also operate to process phase difference information (in addition to timing information or instead of such information) to determine pointing device location.
- phase difference informationin addition to timing information or instead of such information
- the television receiver 200may utilize such information in any of a variety of manners.
- the sensor processing module 253may operate to generate information of the determined on-screen pointing location, and one or more modules of the television receiver 200 may operate to communicate a signal (e.g., to a television, television controller, other display device, etc.) that comprises characteristics that cause presentation of a visual indication (e.g., on the television screen, controller screen, other display, etc.) to indicate to the user the on-screen location to which the television receiver 200 has determined the user is pointing.
- a signale.g., to a television, television controller, other display device, etc.
- a visual indicatione.g., on the television screen, controller screen, other display, etc.
- Such a visual indicationmay, for example, comprise characteristics of a cursor or other graphical construct, bright spot, highlighting, color variation, brightness variation, etc.
- the television receiver 200may operate to overlay such indication on video content (e.g., television programming) being presented to the user (e.g., presented on the television screen, presented on a screen of the television controller, etc.).
- the sensor processing module 253may provide information of the determined on-screen pointing location to one or more other modules of the television receiver 200 (e.g., the processing module 250 and/or other modules thereof) to identify an object in video content (e.g., television programming) to which a user is pointing.
- one or more modules of the television receiver 200may operate to communicate signals (e.g., to a television, television controller having a screen, other display device, etc.) that cause highlighting of an object to which the user is pointing and/or provide information regarding such object.
- various modules of the television receiver 200may operate to communicate on-screen pointing location information to television system components separate from the television (e.g., to a different television receiver, video recorder, remote programming source, communication network infrastructure, advertising company, provider of goods and/or services, etc.). Also for example, various modules of the television receiver 200 may operate to communicate information of the determined on-screen pointing location to the pointing device of the user (e.g., for providing pointing feedback to the user at a remote controller, etc.).
- FIG. 2provided a diagram illustrating an exemplary television receiver 200 in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.
- FIG. 8provides another diagram illustrating an exemplary television receiver 800 in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.
- the exemplary television receiver 800may share any or all aspects with any of the television receivers discussed herein and illustrated in FIGS. 1-7 .
- the exemplary television receiver 800(or various modules thereof) may operate to perform any or all functionality discussed herein.
- the components of the exemplary television receiver 800may be co-located a single housing.
- the television receiver 800comprises a processor 830 .
- a processor 830may, for example, share any or all characteristics with the processor 250 discussed with regard to FIG. 2 .
- the television receiver 800comprises a memory 840 .
- Such memory 840may, for example, share any or all characteristics with the memory 260 discussed with regard to FIG. 2 .
- the television receiver 800may comprise any of a variety of user interface module(s) 850 .
- Such user interface module(s) 850may, for example, share any or all characteristics with the user interface module(s) 240 discussed previously with regard to FIG. 2 .
- the user interface module(s) 850may comprise: a display device, a camera (for still or moving picture acquisition), a speaker, an earphone (e.g., wired or wireless), a microphone, a video screen (e.g., a touch screen display), a vibrating mechanism, a keypad, a remote control interface, and/or any of a variety of other user interface devices (e.g., a mouse, a trackball, a touch pad, touch screen, light pen, game controlling device, etc.).
- the exemplary television receiver 800may also, for example, comprise any of a variety of communication modules ( 805 , 806 , and 810 ). Such communication module(s) may, for example, share any or all characteristics with the communication interface module(s) 210 , 220 discussed previously with regard to FIG. 2 .
- the communication interface module(s) 810may comprise: a Bluetooth interface module; an IEEE 802.11, 802.15, 802.16 and/or 802.20 module; any of a variety of cellular telecommunication interface modules (e.g., GSM/GPRS/EDGE, CDMA/CDMA2000/1x-EV-DO, WCDMA/HSDPA/HSUPA, TDMA/PDC, WiMAX, etc.); any of a variety of position-related communication interface modules (e.g., GPS, A-GPS, etc.); any of a variety of wired/tethered communication interface modules (e.g., USB, Fire Wire, RS-232, HDMI, component and/or composite video, Ethernet, wireline and/or cable modem, etc.); any of a variety of communication interface modules related to communicating with external memory devices; etc.
- the exemplary television receiver 800is also illustrated as comprising various wired 806 and/or wireless 805 front-end modules that may, for example, be included in the communication interface modules and/
- the exemplary television receiver 800may also comprise any of a variety of signal processing module(s) 890 .
- Such signal processing module(s) 890may, for example, be utilized to assist in processing various types of information discussed previously (e.g., with regard to sensor processing, position determination, video processing, image processing, audio processing, general user interface information data processing, etc.).
- the signal processing module(s) 890may comprise: video/graphics processing modules (e.g.
- audio processing modulese.g., MP3, AAC, MIDI, QCELP, AMR, CMX, etc.
- tactile processing modulese.g., Keypad I/O, touch screen processing, motor control, etc.
- FIG. 9is a flow diagram 900 illustrating the generation of on-screen pointing information (e.g., in a television receiver) in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.
- the exemplary method 900may, for example, share any or all characteristics with the television receiver operation discussed previously.
- the exemplary method 900may begin executing at step 905 .
- the exemplary method 900may begin executing in response to any of a variety of causes and/or conditions.
- the method 900may begin executing in response to a user command to begin, detected user interaction with a pointing device (e.g., a television controller), detected user presence in the vicinity, detected user interaction with a television implementing the method 900 , etc.
- the method 900may begin executing in response to a television presenting programming or other video content for which on-screen pointing is enabled and/or relevant.
- the exemplary method 900may, for example at step 910 , comprise receiving pointing sensor information.
- step 910may comprise any or all sensor information receiving characteristics described previously with regard the various modules of the exemplary television receivers illustrated in FIGS. 1-8 and discussed previously.
- step 910may share any or all sensor information receiving characteristics discussed previously with regard to at least the user interface module 240 , television interface module 235 , processor module 250 , communication interface modules 210 , 220 , sensor processing module 253 , location module 252 and calibration module 251 .
- Step 910may, for example, comprise receiving sensor information from (or associated with) sensors integrated in the television receiver. Also for example, step 910 may comprise receiving sensor information from (or associated with) off-receiver sensors (e.g., integrated with or attached to a television, off-television sensors, sensors integrated with a pointing device (e.g., a television controller), etc. As discussed previously, such sensors may comprise any of a variety of characteristics, including without limitation, characteristics of light sensors, RF sensors, acoustic sensors, active and/or passive sensors, etc.
- step 910may comprise receiving pointing sensor information. Accordingly, the scope of various aspects of the present invention should not be limited by characteristics of any particular manner of receiving pointing sensor information unless explicitly claimed.
- the exemplary method 900may, at step 920 , comprise processing received sensor information (e.g., as received at step 910 ) to determine a location on a screen of the television to which a user is pointing (e.g., pointing with a pointing device).
- step 920may comprise any or all pointing location processing characteristics described previously with regard the various modules of the exemplary television receivers illustrated in FIGS. 1-8 and discussed previously.
- step 920may share any or all pointing location determining characteristics discussed previously with regard to at least the processor module 250 , sensor processing module 253 , location module 252 and calibration module 251 .
- Step 920may, for example, comprise determining on-screen pointing location in any of a variety of manners.
- step 920may comprise determining on-screen pointing location based on a location of a selected sensor, based on interpolation between sensor locations (e.g., linear and/or non-linear interpolation), based on determining energy pattern intersection(s), etc. Many examples of such determining were provided previously.
- step 920may comprise processing received sensor information (e.g., independently and/or in conjunction with other information) to determine a location on a screen of the television to which a user is pointing. Accordingly, the scope of various aspects of the present invention should not be limited by characteristics of any particular manner of performing such processing unless explicitly claimed.
- the exemplary method 900may, at step 930 , comprise generating information indicative of a determined on-screen pointing location (e.g., as determined at step 920 ).
- step 930may comprise any or all pointing location information generation characteristics described previously with regard the various modules of the exemplary television receivers illustrated in FIGS. 1-8 and discussed previously.
- step 930may share any or all information generation characteristics discussed previously with regard to at least the processor module 250 , sensor processing module 253 , location module 252 , calibration module 251 , television interface module 235 , user interface module 240 and/or communication interface modules 210 , 220 .
- Step 930may, for example, comprise generating such information in any of a variety of manners.
- step 930may comprise generating on-screen pointing location data to communicate to internal modules of the television receiver, to equipment external to the television receiver (e.g., to the television and/or television controller), to television network components, to a television programming source, etc.
- Such informationmay, for example, be communicated to various system components and may also be presented to the user (e.g., utilizing visual feedback displayed on a screen of a television, television controller, etc.).
- Such informationmay, for example, be generated in the form of screen coordinates, identification of a video content object (e.g., a programming object or person) to which an on-screen pointing location corresponds, generation of an on-screen cursor or highlight or other graphical feature, etc.
- a video content objecte.g., a programming object or person
- step 930may comprise generating information indicative of a determined on-screen pointing location. Accordingly, the scope of various aspects of the present invention should not be limited by characteristics of any particular manner of generating such information unless explicitly claimed.
- the exemplary method 900may, at step 995 , comprise performing continued processing.
- Such continued processingmay comprise characteristics of any of a variety of types of continued processing, various examples of which were presented previously.
- step 995may comprise looping execution flow back up to any earlier step (e.g., step 910 ).
- step 995may comprise presenting (or causing the presentation of) visual feedback indicia of the on-screen pointing location for a user.
- step 995may comprise communicating information of the on-screen pointing location to system components external to the television receiver implementing the method 900 (e.g., to a television, television controller, etc.).
- step 995may comprise utilizing the on-screen pointing information to identify a video content object (e.g., an object presented in television programming) to which a user is pointing, etc.
- a video content objecte.g., an object presented in television programming
- step 995may comprise performing continued processing. Accordingly, the scope of various aspects of the present invention should not be limited by characteristics of any particular manner of performing continued processing unless explicitly claimed.
- FIG. 10such figure is a flow diagram 1000 illustrating the generation of on-screen pointing information (e.g., in a television receiver) in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.
- the exemplary method 1000may, for example, share any or all characteristics with the television receiver operation discussed previously (e.g., in reference to FIGS. 1-9 ).
- the exemplary method 1000may begin executing at step 1005 .
- Step 1005may, for example, share any or all characteristics with step 905 of the exemplary method 900 illustrated in FIG. 9 and discussed previously.
- the exemplary method 1000may, for example at step 1008 , comprise performing a calibration procedure with the user.
- a calibration proceduremay, for example, be performed to develop a manner of processing received sensor information to determine on-screen pointing location.
- Step 1008may, for example, comprise any or all calibration aspects discussed previously (e.g., with reference to the calibration module 251 ).
- the exemplary method 1000may, for example at step 1010 , comprise receiving pointing sensor information.
- step 1010may comprise any or all sensor information receiving characteristics described previously with regard the various modules of the exemplary television receivers illustrated in FIGS. 1-8 and FIG. 9 (e.g., step 910 ) and discussed previously.
- the exemplary method 1000may, for example at step 1015 , comprise determining user position (e.g., determining position of a user pointing device).
- step 1015may comprise any or all position determining characteristics discussed previously with regard to FIGS. 1-9 .
- positionmay also, for example, include orientation.
- step 1015may share any or all position determining characteristics discussed previously with regard to at least the processor module 250 , sensor processing module 253 , location module 252 and calibration module 251 .
- step 1015may comprise determining user position based, at least in part, on received sensor signals.
- step 1015may comprise determining user position based, at least in part, on position information received from one or more systems external to the television receiver implementing the method 1000 .
- step 1015may comprise determining user position (e.g., pointing device position). Accordingly, the scope of various aspects of the present invention should not be limited by characteristics of any particular manner of determining user position unless explicitly claimed.
- the exemplary method 1000may, for example, at step 1020 , comprise processing received sensor information (e.g., as received at step 1010 ) and/or user position information (e.g., as determined at step 1015 ) to determine a location on a screen of the television to which a user is pointing (e.g., pointing with a pointing device).
- step 1020may comprise any or all pointing location determination characteristics described previously with regard the various modules of the exemplary television receivers illustrated in FIGS. 1-8 and FIG. 9 (e.g., step 920 ) and discussed previously.
- step 1020may share any or all pointing location determining characteristics discussed previously with regard to at least the processor module 250 , sensor processing module 253 , location module 252 and calibration module 251 .
- Step 1020may, for example, comprise determining on-screen pointing location in any of a variety of manners.
- step 1020may comprise determining on-screen pointing location based on a location of a selected sensor, based on location of the pointing device, based on interpolation between sensor locations (e.g., linear and/or non-linear interpolation), based on energy pattern intersection points, etc. Many examples of such determining were provided previously.
- step 1020may comprise processing received sensor information and/or user position information to determine a location on a screen of the television to which a user is pointing (e.g., pointing with a pointing device). Accordingly, the scope of various aspects of the present invention should not be limited by characteristics of any particular manner of performing such processing unless explicitly claimed.
- the exemplary method 1000may, at step 1030 , comprise generating information indicative of a determined on-screen pointing location (e.g., as determined at step 1020 ).
- step 1030may comprise any or all information generation characteristics described previously with regard the various modules of the exemplary television receivers illustrated in FIGS. 1-8 and FIG. 9 (e.g., step 930 ) and discussed previously.
- step 1030may share any or all information generation characteristics discussed previously with regard to at least the processor module 250 , sensor processing module 253 , location module 252 , calibration module 251 , television interface module 235 , user interface module 240 and/or communication interface modules 210 , 220 .
- the exemplary method 1000may, at step 1095 , comprise performing continued processing.
- Such continued processingmay comprise characteristics of any of a variety of types of continued processing, various examples of which were presented previously.
- step 1095may comprise looping execution flow back up to any earlier step (e.g., step 1008 ).
- step 1095may comprise presenting (and/or causing the presentation of) visual feedback indicia of the on-screen pointing location for a user.
- step 1095may comprise communicating information of the on-screen pointing location to system components external to the television receiver implementing the method 1000 .
- step 1095may comprise utilizing the on-screen pointing information to identify a video content object (e.g., an object presented in television programming) to which a user is pointing, etc.
- a video content objecte.g., an object presented in television programming
- step 1095may comprise performing continued processing. Accordingly, the scope of various aspects of the present invention should not be limited by characteristics of any particular manner of performing continued processing unless explicitly claimed.
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Abstract
Description
- This patent application is related to and claims priority from provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/242,234 filed Sep. 14, 2009, and titled “TELEVISION SYSTEM,” the contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. This patent application is also related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, filed concurrently with, titled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GENERATING SCREEN POINTING INFORMATION IN A TELEVISION”, Attorney Docket No. 21034US02; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, filed concurrently herewith, titled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GENERATING SCREEN POINTING INFORMATION IN A TELEVISION CONTROL DEVICE”, Attorney Docket No. 21036US02. The contents of each of the above-mentioned applications are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
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- Present television receivers are incapable of providing pointing information to television program viewers. Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.
- Various aspects of the present invention provide a system and method, in a television receiver, for generating screen pointing information, substantially as shown in and/or described in connection with at least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims. These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the present invention, as well as details of illustrative aspects thereof, will be more fully understood from the following description and drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary television system in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary television receiver in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary television system with on-screen television sensors in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary television system with off-screen television sensors in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary television system with off-television sensors in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary television system with television receiver sensors in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary television system with television controller sensors in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary television receiver in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating the generation of on-screen pointing information in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating the generation of on-screen pointing information in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.- The following discussion will refer to various communication modules, components or circuits. Such modules, components or circuits may generally comprise hardware and/or a combination of hardware and software (e.g., including firmware). Such modules may also, for example, comprise a computer readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory medium) comprising instructions (e.g., software instructions) that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform various functional aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, the scope of various aspects of the present invention should not be limited by characteristics of particular hardware and/or software implementations of a module, component or circuit unless explicitly claimed as such. For example and without limitation, various aspects of the present invention may be implemented by one or more processors (e.g., a microprocessor, digital signal processor, baseband processor, microcontroller, etc.) executing software instructions (e.g., stored in volatile and/or non-volatile memory). Also for example, various aspects of the present invention may be implemented by an application-specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”) and/or other hardware components.
- Additionally, the following discussion will refer to various television system modules (e.g., television receiver modules). It should be noted that the following discussion of such various modules is segmented into such modules for the sake of illustrative clarity. However, in actual implementation, the boundaries between various modules may be blurred. For example, any or all of the functional modules discussed herein may share various hardware and/or software components. For example, any or all of the functional modules discussed herein may be implemented wholly or in-part by a shared processor executing software instructions. Additionally, various software sub-modules that may be executed by one or more processors may be shared between various software modules. Accordingly, the scope of various aspects of the present invention should not be limited by arbitrary boundaries between various hardware and/or software components, unless explicitly claimed.
- The following discussion may also refer to communication networks and various aspects thereof. For the following discussion, a communication network is generally the communication infrastructure through which a communication device (e.g., a portable communication device, television, television controller, television provider, television programming provider, television receiver, video recording device, etc.) may communicate with other systems. For example and without limitation, a communication network may comprise a cable and/or satellite television communication network, a cellular communication network, a wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN), any home or premises communication network, etc. A particular communication network may, for example, generally have a corresponding communication protocol according to which a communication device may communicate with the communication network. Unless so claimed, the scope of various aspects of the present invention should not be limited by characteristics of a particular type of communication network.
- The following discussion will at times refer to an on-screen pointing location. Such a pointing location refers to a location on the television screen to which a user (either directly or with a pointing device) is pointing. Such a pointing location is to be distinguished from other types of on-screen location identification, such as, for example, using arrow keys and/or a mouse to move a cursor or to traverse blocks (e.g., on an on-screen program guide) without pointing.
- Additionally, the following discussion will at times refer to television programming. Such television programming generally includes various types of television programming (e.g., television programs, news programs, sports programs, music television, movies, television series programs and/or associated advertisements, educational programs, live or recorded, broadcast/multicast/unicast, etc.). Such television programming video content is to be distinguished from other non-programming video content that may be displayed on a television screen (e.g., an electronic program guide, user interface menu, a television set-up menu, a typical web page, a document, a graphical video game, etc.). Various aspects of the present invention may, for example, comprise determining an on-screen pointing location during the presentation of television programming on the screen of the television.
- Turning first to
FIG. 1 , such figure is a diagram illustrating a non-limitingexemplary television system 100 in accordance with various aspects of the present invention. Theexemplary system 100 includes atelevision provider 110. Thetelevision provider 110 may, for example, comprise a television network company, a cable company, a movie-providing company, a news company, an educational institution, etc. Thetelevision provider 110 may, for example, be an original source of television programming (or related information). Also for example, thetelevision provider 110 may be a communication company that provides programming distribution services (e.g., a cable television company, a satellite television company, a telecommunication company, a data network provider, etc.). Thetelevision provider 110 may, for example, provide programming and non-programming information and/or video content. Thetelevision provider 110 may, for example, provide information related to a television program (e.g., information describing or otherwise related to selectable objects in programming, etc.). - The
exemplary television system 100 may also include a third partyprogram information provider 120. Such a provider may, for example, provide information related to a television program. Such information may, for example, comprise information describing selectable objects in programming, program guide information, etc. - The
exemplary television system 100 may include one or more communication networks (e.g., the communication network(s)130). Theexemplary communication network 130 may comprise characteristics of any of a variety of types of communication networks over which video content and/or information related to video content may be communicated. For example and without limitation, thecommunication network 130 may compare characteristics of a cable television network, a satellite television network, a telecommunication network, the Internet, a local area network (LAN), a personal area network (PAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), any of a variety of different types of home networks, etc. - The
exemplary television system 100 may include afirst television 140. Such afirst television 140 may, for example, comprise networking capability enablingsuch television 140 to communicate directly with thecommunication network 130. For example, thefirst television 140 may comprise one or more embedded television receivers or transceivers (e.g., a cable television receiver, satellite television transceiver, Internet modem, etc.). Also for example, thefirst television 140 may comprise one or more recording devices (e.g., for recording and/or playing back video content, television programming, etc.). - The
exemplary television system 100 may include afirst television controller 160. Such afirst television controller 160 may, for example, operate to control operation of thefirst television 140. Thefirst television controller 160 may comprise characteristics of any of a variety of television controlling devices. For example and without limitation, thefirst television controller 160 may comprise characteristics of a dedicated television control device, a universal remote control, a cellular telephone or personal computing device with television control capability, etc. - The
first television controller 160 may, for example, transmit signals directly to thefirst television 140 to control operation of thefirst television 140. Thefirst television controller 160 may also, for example, operate to transmit signals (e.g., via the communication network130) to thetelevision provider 110 to control video content being provided to thefirst television 140, or to conduct other transactions (e.g., business transactions, etc.). - As will be discussed in more detail later, various aspects of the present invention include a user pointing to a location on a television screen (e.g., pointing to an object or person presented in television programming). In such a scenario, the user may perform such pointing in any of a variety of manners. One of such exemplary manners includes pointing with a television control device. The
first television controller 160 provides a non-limiting example of a device that a user may utilize to point to an on-screen location. - The
exemplary television system 100 may also include atelevision receiver 150. The television receiver may, for example, operate to provide a communication link between a television and/or television controller and a communication network and/or information provider. For example, thetelevision receiver 150 may operate to provide a communication link between thesecond television 141 and thecommunication network 130, or between thesecond television 141 and the television provider110 (and/or third party program information provider120) via thecommunication network 130. - The
television receiver 150 may comprise characteristics of any of a variety of types of television receivers. For example and without limitation, thetelevision receiver 150 may comprise characteristics of a cable television receiver, a satellite television receiver, etc. Also for example, thetelevision receiver 150 may comprise a data communication network modem for data network communications (e.g., with the Internet, a LAN, PAN, MAN, telecommunication network, etc.). Thetelevision receiver 150 may also, for example, comprise recording capability (e.g., programming recording and playback, etc.). The following discussion ofFIGS. 2-10 will present various non-limiting illustrative aspects of such atelevision receiver 150. - The
exemplary television system 100 may include asecond television controller 161. Such asecond television controller 161 may, for example, operate to control operation of thesecond television 141 and thetelevision receiver 150. Thesecond television controller 161 may comprise characteristics of any of a variety of television controlling devices. For example and without limitation, thesecond television controller 161 may comprise characteristics of a dedicated television control device, a dedicated television receiver control device, a universal remote control, a cellular telephone or personal computing device with television control capability, etc. - The
second television controller 161 may, for example, transmit signals directly to thesecond television 141 to control operation of thesecond television 141. Thesecond television controller 161 may, for example, transmit signals directly to thetelevision receiver 150 to control operation of thetelevision receiver 150. Thesecond television controller 161 may additionally, for example, operate to transmit signals (e.g., via thetelevision receiver 150 and the communication network130) to thetelevision provider 110 to control video content being provided to thetelevision receiver 150, or to conduct other transactions (e.g., business transactions, etc.). - As will be discussed in more detail later, various aspects of the present invention include a user pointing to a location on a television screen (e.g., pointing to an object or person presented in television programming). In such a scenario, the user may perform such pointing in any of a variety of manners. One of such exemplary manners includes pointing with a television control device. The
second television controller 161 provides one non-limiting example of a device that a user may utilize to point to an on-screen location. - The
exemplary television system 100 was provided to provide a non-limiting illustrative foundation for discussion of various aspects of the present invention. Thus, the scope of various aspects of the present invention should not be limited by any characteristics of theexemplary television system 100 unless explicitly claimed. - Turning next to
FIG. 2 , such figure is a diagram illustrating anexemplary television receiver 200 in accordance with various aspects of the present invention. Theexemplary television receiver 200 may, for example, share any or all characteristics with theexemplary television receiver 150 illustrated inFIG. 1 and discussed previously and/or with any of the exemplary television receivers discussed herein. - The
exemplary television receiver 200 includes a firstcommunication interface module 210. The firstcommunication interface module 210 may, for example, operate to communicate over any of a variety of communication media and utilizing any of a variety of communication protocols. For example, though the firstcommunication interface module 210 is illustrated coupled to a wireless RF antenna via a wireless port212, the wireless medium is merely illustrative and non-limiting. The firstcommunication interface module 210 may, for example, operate to communicate with one or more communication networks (e.g., cable television networks, satellite television networks, telecommunication networks, the Internet, local area networks, personal area networks, metropolitan area networks, etc.) via which television video content (e.g., television programming) and/or other data is communicated. Also for example, thefirst communication module 210 may operate to communicate with local sources of television video content (e.g., video recorders, receivers, gaming devices, etc.). Additionally, for example, thefirst communication module 210 may operate to communicate with a television controller (e.g., directly or via one or more intermediate communication networks). Further for example, thefirst communication module 210 may operate to communicate with a television utilizing any of a variety of television communication connections and/or protocols (e.g., composite video, component video, HDMI, etc.). - The
exemplary television receiver 200 includes a secondcommunication interface module 220. The secondcommunication interface module 220 may, for example, operate to communicate over any of a variety of communication media and utilizing any of a variety of communication protocols. For example, the secondcommunication interface module 220 may communicate via a wirelessRF communication port 222 and antenna, or may communicate via a non-tethered optical communication port224 (e.g., utilizing laser diodes, photodiodes, etc.). Also for example, the secondcommunication interface module 220 may communicate via a tethered optical communication port226 (e.g., utilizing a fiber optic cable), or may communicate via a wired communication port228 (e.g., utilizing coaxial cable, twisted pair, HDMI cable, Ethernet cable, any of a variety of wired component and/or composite video connections, etc.). The secondcommunication interface module 220 may, for example, operate to communicate with one or more communication networks (e.g., cable television networks, satellite television networks, telecommunication networks, the Internet, local area networks, personal area networks, metropolitan area networks, etc.) via which television video content and/or other data is communicated. Also for example, thesecond communication module 220 may operate to communicate with local sources of television video content (e.g., video recorders, other receivers, gaming devices, etc.). Additionally, for example, thesecond communication module 220 may operate to communicate with a television controller (e.g., directly or via one or more intervening communication networks). Further for example, thesecond communication module 220 may operate to communicate with a television utilizing any of a variety of television communication connections and/or protocols (e.g., composite video, component video, HDMI, etc.). - The
exemplary television receiver 200 may also comprise additional communication interface modules, which are not illustrated. Such additional communication interface modules may, for example, share any or all aspects with the first210 and second220 communication interface modules discussed above. - The
exemplary television receiver 200 may also comprise acommunication module 230. Thecommunication module 230 may, for example, operate to control and/or coordinate operation of the firstcommunication interface module 210 and the second communication interface module220 (and/or additional communication interface modules as needed). Thecommunication module 230 may, for example, provide a convenient communication interface by which other components of thetelevision receiver 200 may utilize the first210 and second220 communication interface modules. Additionally, for example, in an exemplary scenario where a plurality of communication interface modules are sharing a medium and/or network, thecommunication module 230 may coordinate communications to reduce collisions and/or other interference between thecommunication interface modules - The
exemplary television receiver 200 may comprise one or moretelevision interface modules 235. Thetelevision interface module 235 may, for example, operate to manage communications between thetelevision receiver 200 and one or more televisions that are communicatively coupled thereto (e.g., via the first210 and/or second220 communication interface modules). For example, thetelevision interface module 235 may operate to communicate general television programming video information to a television (e.g., while thetelevision receiver 200 is operating to determine an on-screen pointing location). - Also, for example, as will be discussed in more detail later, the
television interface module 235 may output a signal to the television or television controller or other device with a display, where such signal comprises characteristics adapted to cause the television (or other device) to output a visual indication of on-screen pointing location. Such an indication may, for example, be communicated with (e.g., as a part of) television programming being communicated to the television (or other device), or such an indication may be communicated to the television (or other device) independent of television programming. - The
exemplary television receiver 200 may additionally comprise one or moreuser interface modules 240. Theuser interface module 240 may generally operate to provide user interface functionality to a user of thetelevision receiver 200. For example, and without limitation, theuser interface module 240 may operate to provide for user control of any or all standard television receiver commands (e.g., channel control, on/off, television output settings, input selection, etc.). Theuser interface module 240 may, for example, operate and/or respond to user commands utilizing user interface features disposed on the television receiver (e.g., buttons, touch screen, microphone, etc.) and may also utilize the communication module230 (and/or first210 and second220 communication interface modules) to communicate with a television controller (e.g., a dedicated television remote control, a universal remote control, a cellular telephone, personal computing device, gaming controller, etc.) or a television. For example, various user interface features of thetelevision receiver 200 may comprise utilization of the television (e.g., utilizing the television screen for menu-driven or other GUI associated with television receiver operation). - The
user interface module 240 may also operate to interface with and/or control operation of any of a variety of sensors that may be utilized to ascertain an on-screen pointing location. Non-limiting examples of such sensors will be provided later (e.g., in the discussion ofFIGS. 3-7 and elsewhere herein). For example and without limitation, theuser interface module 240 may operate to receive signals associated with respective sensors (e.g., raw or processed signals directly from the sensors, through intermediate devices (e.g., a television, television control, surround sound system, etc.), via thecommunication interface modules user interface module 240 may operate to control the transmission of signals (e.g., RF signals, optical signals, acoustic signals, etc.) from such sensors. - The
exemplary television receiver 200 may comprise one ormore processors 250. Theprocessor 250 may, for example, comprise a general purpose processor, digital signal processor, application-specific processor, microcontroller, microprocessor, etc. For example, theprocessor 250 may operate in accordance with software (or firmware) instructions. As mentioned previously, any or all functionality discussed herein may be performed by a processor executing instructions. For example, though various modules are illustrated as separate blocks or modules inFIG. 2 for illustrative clarity, such illustrative modules, or a portion thereof, may be implemented by theprocessor 250. - The
exemplary television receiver 200 may comprise one ormore memories 260. As discussed above, various aspects may be performed by one or more processors executing instructions. Such instructions may, for example, be stored in the one ormore memories 260.Such memory 260 may, for example, comprise characteristics of any of a variety of types of memory. For example and without limitation,such memory 260 may comprise one or more memory chips (e.g., ROM, RAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, one-time-programmable OTP memory, etc.), hard drive memory, CD memory, DVD memory, etc. - The
exemplary television receiver 200 may also comprise one ormore calibration modules 251 that operate to perform various calibration activities. Examples of such calibration activities will be provided later in this discussion. Briefly, such calibration activities may, for example, comprise interacting with a user and/or user pointing device to determine sensor signals under known circumstances (e.g., determine sensor signals in response to known screen pointing circumstances), and processing such sensor signals to develop algorithms (e.g., transformation matrices, static positional equations, etc.) to determine screen pointing location based on sensor signals received during normal operation. As will also be discussed later, such calibration may also be utilized to establish signal gain (or energy) patterns utilized in determining pointing location. - The
exemplary television receiver 200 may comprise one or more location-determiningmodules 252. For example, as will be discussed later, various on-screen pointing location determinations may comprise processing location information. As a non-limiting example, knowing the location of a user (e.g., including the location of a pointing device being utilized by the user) may simplify the solution of various pointing direction determinations. For example, knowing exactly where a pointing device is located (e.g., in three-dimensional space) or where a pointing device is located along a line (e.g., knowing device location in two-dimensional space or land surface coordinates) relative to the television screen (and/or relative to the television receiver) may remove a number of unknown variables from applicable positional equations. Note that such positional information may, in various exemplary scenarios, also comprise orientation information for a pointing device (e.g., yaw, pitch and/or roll). Such orientation information may be determined in various manners (e.g., through gyroscopic means, sensor alignment with known references, etc.). - The location-determining
module 252 may operate to determine user (or pointing device) location in any of a variety of manners. For example and without limitation, the location-determiningmodule 252 may operate to receive location information from the pointing device (e.g., via one of thecommunication interface modules 210,220). For example, such a pointing device may comprise positioning system capability (e.g., global positioning system, assisted GPS, cellular or other triangulation systems, etc.) and communicate information describing the position of the pointing device to thetelevision receiver 200. - Also for example, the location-determining
module 252 may (e.g., via the user interface modules240) utilize sensor signals to determine the position (which may include orientation) of the pointing device (or user thereof). For example, a signal from a pointing device may arrive at different sensors at different times (or at different phases). Such temporal or phase differences may be processed to determine the location of the pointing device relative to the known location of such sensors. Further for example, the location-determiningmodule 252 may operate to communicate pointing device location information with an external system that operates to determine the location of the pointing device. Such an external system may, for example, comprise a cellular telephony triangulation system, a home or premises-based triangulation system, a global positioning system, an assisted global positioning system, etc. - The
exemplary television receiver 200 may also comprise one or more sensor processing module(s)253. As will be explained below, thesensor processing module 253 may operate to receive sensor information (e.g., from the user interface module(s)240, from thetelevision interface module 235, etc.) and process such received sensor information to determine a location on the television screen to which a user is pointing. Various examples of such processing will be provided below. Briefly, such processing may, for example, comprise selecting a sensor with the strongest signal, interpolating between a plurality of sensors, interpolating between a plurality of sensors having strongest signals, determining gain (or energy) pattern intersections, etc. Various aspects of the present invention comprise, for example, determining on-screen pointing location during presentation of television programming (e.g., programming received from a television broadcaster, video recording device, etc.). - Various aspects of the present invention will now be illustrated by way of non-limiting example. Throughout the following discussion, reference will continue to be made to the various modules of the
television receiver 200 illustrated inFIG. 2 . It should be noted that the following non-limiting examples provide specific examples of various aspects, and as such, the scope of various aspects of the present invention should not be limited by characteristics of any of the specific examples, unless specifically claimed. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating anexemplary television system 300 with on-screen television sensors in accordance with various aspects of the present invention. Thetelevision system 300 includes atelevision 301 comprising atelevision screen 303. Thetelevision system 300 also includes a television controller320 (or other pointing device) pointing to an on-screen pointing location 330 along a line325 between thetelevision controller 320 and the on-screen pointing location 330.- The
television system 300 also comprises atelevision receiver 350 that is communicatively coupled to thetelevision 301 via a communication link351 (e.g., a two-way communication link providing video information to thetelevision 301 and/or receiving sensor information from the television301). Thetelevision receiver 350 may share any or all aspects with theexemplary receivers television receiver 350 will be explained herein with reference to various components of theexemplary television receiver 200 illustrated inFIG. 2 . Theexemplary television receiver 350 is also communicatively coupled to thetelevision controller 320 via acommunication link 352. - The
exemplary television screen 303 comprises an array of sensors integrated into thetelevision screen 303. One of such sensors is labeledsensor 310. Any of a variety of sensor types may be utilized, non-limiting examples of which include light sensors or photo detectors (e.g., photo diodes) and RF sensors (e.g., antenna elements or loops). - The array of sensors may be integrated in the
television screen 303 in any of a variety of manners, non-limiting examples of which will now be provided. For example, thetelevision screen 303 may comprise an array of liquid crystal display (LCD) pixels for presenting video media to a user. An array of photo diodes and/or antenna elements may be integrated between or behind LCD pixels. For example, every LCD pixel may be associated with a corresponding photo diode and/or antenna element, or every N×M block of LCD pixels may be associated with a corresponding photo diode or antenna element. - As a non-limiting example, an array of photo diodes and/or RF antenna elements may be formed into a substrate beneath or behind transparent LCD substrates. As another example, a photo diode array and/or antenna element array may be interposed between or behind an array of LCD thin film transistors. Also for example, an array of photo diodes and/or RF antenna elements (or other sensors) may be incorporated into a transparent screen overlay. Note that is such an implementation, such transparent screen overlay may be installed after-market. For example, a user that has a
television receiver 350 with the capability to determine on-screen pointing location may install the transparent screen overlay. In such an exemplary scenario, there may be one or more communication links established between thetelevision receiver 350 and the sensors in the overlay, where such communication links may be independent of a communication link over which non-sensor information (e.g., video and/or control information) is communicated between thetelevision 301 and thetelevision receiver 350. Such communication link may, for example, be adapted to communicate information from each sensor to thetelevision receiver 350 serially (e.g., in a time-multiplexed manner) and/or in parallel. - In a photo detector implementation, passive photo detectors may receive varying amounts of respective light energy depending on the pointing direction of a light source aimed at the screen. Also for example, received signals (e.g., pulsed signals) may arrive at different sensors at different respective times/phases (e.g., being indicative of relative position and/or pointing direction, which may also be utilized in a pointing determination). In such a photo detector implementation (e.g., utilizing photo diodes), photo detectors may, for example, be tuned to react to particular light frequencies to reduce interference from output pixel light and/or associated reflections, ambient light, etc. As a non-limiting example, photo diodes may be tuned to detect light that is not visible to the human eye, visible light frequencies that are relatively rare, light patterns that are unlikely to occur in a television program (e.g., particular pulse codes), etc.
- In an antenna element implementation, an array of antenna elements may be formed on a substrate and placed behind light producing and/or filtering elements in the LCD screen (e.g., so as to avoid interfering with emitted light) or may be formed on a transparent substrate within or in front of the lighted region of the LCD display (e.g., utilizing microscopic antenna elements that are too small to significantly interfere with light emitted from the display). As discussed above, such an implementation may be integrated with the
television screen 303, but may also be added as an overlay (e.g., as a production option or an after-market user or technician installation). - In an RF antenna implementation, passive antennas (or elements of an overall antenna matrix) may receive varying respective amounts of RF energy depending on the pointing direction of a directional RF source aimed at the screen. Also for example, received signals (e.g., pulsed signals) may arrive at different antennas at different respective times/phases (e.g., being indicative of relative position and/or pointing direction, which may also be utilized in a pointing determination)
- In an exemplary scenario, a user may point a pointing device (e.g., a remote controller, a laser pointer, directional RF transmitter, specifically designed eyewear, a mobile computing device, a mobile communication device, a gesture tracking device or glove, etc.) at the
television screen 303, where the pointing device directs transmitted energy (e.g., light energy, RF energy, acoustic energy, etc.) at a particular location on thetelevision screen 303 to which the pointing device is being pointed. Note that such transmitted energy will likely be transmitted directionally and be associated with an intensity or gain pattern with the highest intensity likely at the center of the pattern (i.e., along the pointing line325) and decreasing as a function of angle from the center of the pattern (or distance on the screen from the on-screen pointing location). - In such an exemplary scenario, each sensor of the array of sensors integrated into the
screen 303 will likely receive some respective amount of energy. For example, the sensor nearest the screen pointing location330 (i.e., along the pointing line325) will likely receive the highest amount of energy, sensors adjacent to thescreen pointing location 330 will likely receive a next highest range of energy, and sensors away from thepointing location 330 will likely receive progressively less amounts of energy from thepointing device 320, as a function of distance from thepointing location 330, until such energy is lost in the noise floor. - In such an exemplary scenario, the television receiver350 (e.g., the
user interface module 240 of thetelevision receiver 200 illustrated inFIG. 2 ) may receive signals indicative of the energy received by the sensors of the sensor array. Thetelevision receiver 350 may receive such signals in various manners, depending on the degree of integration of such sensors into thetelevision 301. For example, in an exemplary scenario where the sensors are fully integrated into thetelevision screen 303 and operationally integrated into thetelevision 301, thetelevision receiver 350 may receive such signals via a communication interface between thetelevision receiver 350 and thetelevision 301. Also for example, in another exemplary scenario where the sensors are overlaid on thetelevision screen 303, and where operation of such sensors is independent of thetelevision 301, thetelevision receiver 350 may receive such signals via a communication link directly between thetelevision receiver 350 and the sensors, where such a communication link may be independent of other communication links between thetelevision receiver 350 and thetelevision 301. Such communication link may, for example, be adapted to communicate information from each sensor to thetelevision receiver 350 serially (e.g., in a time-multiplexed manner) and/or in parallel. - The
user interface module 240 may then, for example, provide information of such received sensor signals to thesensor processing module 253 for processing. Thesensor processing module 253 may then, for example, operate to process such information to determine the screen pointing location. Thesensor processing module 253 may perform such processing in any of a variety of manners, non-limiting examples of which will be provided below. - For example, the
sensor processing module 253 may operate to select the sensor with the highest received energy and determine that the location of such selected sensor is the on-screen pointing location. For example, in an exemplary scenario where the spatial resolution of screen-integrated sensors is relatively fine, such operation may reliably yield a desired level of accuracy without undue processing overhead. - In another example, the
sensor processing module 253 may operate to select the sensor with the highest received energy and a plurality of sensors adjacent to such sensor. Then, for example, thesensor processing module 253 may interpolate between the locations of such sensors (e.g., based, at least in part, on weighting). For example, in a first dimension in which a sensor to the right of the highest energy sensor has a higher received energy than a sensor to the left of the highest energy sensor, thesensor processing module 253 may determine that the pointing location is to the right of the highest energy sensor. How much distance to the right may, for example, be determined as a function of the ratio between respective energies received by the right and left sensors. Such calculation may, for example, be a linear or non-linear calculation. Such calculation may also, for example, consider the expected energy pattern of a transmitting pointing device (e.g., in a scenario where energy fall-off is logarithmic as opposed to linear). - In an additional example, the
sensor processing module 253 may operate to select all sensors receiving a threshold amount of energy (e.g., an absolute threshold level, a threshold level relative to the highest energy sensor, etc.). Then, for example, thesensor processing module 253 may interpolate between the locations of such sensors (e.g., based, at least in part, on respective energy weighting). For example, thesensor processing module 253 may perform non-linear splining between sensors in a horizontal direction with sensor location on a first axis and sensor energy on a second axis. Thesensor processing module 253 may then operate to select the point on the sensor location axis corresponding to the peak sensor energy on the vertical axis. Such splining and selecting may then be repeated in the vertical direction. Alternatively for example, thesensor processing module 253 may operate to perform multi-dimensional splining to create a surface based on sensor energy and select the highest point on such surface and the corresponding screen coordinates of such surface. - In a further example, the
sensor processing module 253 may operate to select a first sensor (e.g., the sensor with the highest received energy). Then, for example, thesensor processing module 253 may utilize information of the relative distance between the selected sensor and the pointing device, information of the gain pattern for the signal transmitted from the pointing device to the selected sensor, and calibration information to determine where the pointing device may be pointed in order for the sensor to receive such energy. For example, this may result in a first closed figure (e.g., a circle, cloverleaf, etc.) drawn around the sensor on the screen plane. Then thesensor processing module 253 may repeat the procedure for a second sensor (e.g., a sensor with the second highest received energy), resulting in a second closed figure. Thesensor processing module 253 may then, for example, determine the point(s) of intersection between the first and second figures. If only one point of intersection lies within the border of the screen, then such point of intersection might be utilized as an estimate of the pointing location. If, however, there are two potentially significant points of intersection (or more depending on the figures), then thesensor processing module 253 may repeat the procedure for a third sensor (e.g., the sensor with the third highest energy, a sensor generally along the line perpendicular to a line segment between the first and second sensors, etc.) and determine a point nearest the intersection of the first, second and third closed figures. Such a point of intersection may then be utilized as an estimate of the pointing location. - The above-mentioned examples of screen-integrated sensors and related pointing location determinations were presented as exemplary illustrations. Though the above-mentioned examples generally discuss light and/or RF energy sensors, other types of sensors may also be integrated into a television screen or overlaid thereon. For example and without limitation, the sensors may comprise acoustic sensors that operate to sense acoustic energy (e.g., directed acoustic energy directed to a pointing location on the screen). For example, such directed acoustic energy may be formed at frequencies beyond the range of human hearing (e.g., and at frequencies beyond the range of pet hearing as well).
- Also note that various energy radiation patterns may be used, and/or a plurality of energy radiation patterns may be used. For example, though (e.g., for illustrative clarity) the discussion herein generally discusses a single energy emission from the pointing device, a plurality of energy emissions may be utilized. For example and without limitation, a pointing device may transmit a plurality of different directed energy emissions (e.g., light, RF, etc.) toward the pointing direction. Also for example, a pointing device may transmit one or more energy emissions that move relative to the pointing direction (e.g., in a raster pattern or any other pattern).
- After determining on-screen pointing location, the
television receiver 350 may communicate information of such determined location in various manners. For example and without limitation, thesensor processing module 253 of thetelevision receiver 200 may utilize thetelevision interface module 235 to communicate information of such on-screen pointing location to thetelevision 301 for presentation to the user. Also for example, thesensor processing module 253 may utilize theuser interface module 240 to communicate information of such on-screen pointing location to thetelevision controller 320 for presentation to the user. Such communication will also be addressed in the discussions ofFIGS. 9-10 . - In addition to various television configurations in which sensors are integrated into the television screen, sensors may be incorporated into the television off-screen. Such sensors may, for example, be incorporated in a border around the screen (or overlaid thereon). For example and without limitation,
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating anexemplary television system 400 with off-screen television sensors in accordance with various aspects of the present invention. Thetelevision system 400 includes atelevision 401 comprising atelevision screen 403. Thetelevision system 400 also includes a television controller420 (or other pointing device) pointing to an on-screen pointing location 430 along apointing line 425 between thetelevision controller 420 and the on-screen pointing location 430. - The
television system 400 also comprises atelevision receiver 450 that is communicatively coupled to thetelevision 401 via a communication link451 (e.g., a two-way communication link providing video information to thetelevision 401 and/or receiving sensor information from the television401). Thetelevision receiver 450 may share any or all aspects with the exemplary receivers (150,200 and350) discussed previously and all other receivers discussed herein. Accordingly, various aspects of thetelevision receiver 450 will be explained herein with reference to various components of theexemplary television receiver 200 illustrated inFIG. 2 . Theexemplary television receiver 450 is also communicatively coupled to thetelevision controller 420 via acommunication link 452. - The
exemplary television 401 comprises an array of sensors integrated into thetelevision 401 around the border of thescreen 403. Three of such sensors are labeled410,411 and412. As discussed above, any of a variety of sensor types may be utilized, non-limiting examples of which include light sensors or photo detectors (e.g., photo diodes), RF sensors (e.g., antenna elements), acoustic sensors (e.g., microphones), etc. - The array of sensors may be integrated around the
television screen 403 in any of a variety of manners. For example, such sensors may be integrated in a border of thetelevision screen 403 that is not used for outputting video content. Such a configuration may, for example, avoid sensor interference with video content being displayed on the screen. Also for example, as illustrated inFIG. 4 , such sensors may be mounted to a border material of thetelevision 401. - For example, an array of photo detectors (e.g., photo diodes) and/or antenna elements (e.g., individual antennas or elements of an antenna array, for example, a phased array) may be incorporated into a border of the
television 401 around thescreen 403. For example, every screen pixel row and/or column may be associated with a pair of corresponding photo diodes and/or antenna elements, or every N×M block of screen pixels may be associated with one or more corresponding photo diodes or antenna elements (e.g., a row and column sensor, two row and two column elements, etc.). - In a photo detector implementation, passive photo detectors may receive varying amounts of respective light energy depending on the pointing direction of a light source pointed at the screen. Also for example, received signals (e.g., pulsed signals) may arrive at different sensors at different respective times/phases (e.g., being indicative of relative position and/or pointing direction, which may also be utilized in a pointing determination). In such a photo detector implementation (e.g., utilizing photo diodes), photo detectors may, for example, be tuned to react to particular light frequencies to reduce interference from output pixel light and/or associated reflections. As a non-limiting example, photo diodes may be tuned to detect light that is not visible to the human eye, visible light frequencies that are relatively rare, light patterns that are unlikely to occur in a television program (e.g., particular pulse codes), etc. In one example, the photo detectors integrated with the television body off-screen may comprise photo diodes that operate to detect energy from a laser pointer or directed infrared energy from a television controller or other pointing device. Note that analogously to the on-screen sensors discussed previously, various aspects may comprise mounting (e.g., adhering) sensors to the television body off-screen. Such sensor installation may, for example, occur at the factory or after-market by a technician or user.
- In an antenna element implementation, an array of antenna elements may be positioned around the border of the
screen 403. In an RF antenna implementation, passive antennas (or elements of an overall antenna matrix) may receive varying amounts of respective RF energy depending on the pointing direction of a directional RF source aimed at the screen. Also for example, received signals (e.g., pulsed signals) may arrive at different antennas at different respective times/phases (e.g., being indicative of relative position and/or pointing direction, which may also be utilized in a pointing determination). Note that analogously to the on-screen sensors discussed previously, various aspects may comprise mounting (e.g., adhering) sensors to the television body off-screen. Such sensor installation may, for example, occur at the factory or after-market by a technician or user. - In an exemplary scenario, a user may point a pointing device (e.g., a remote controller, a laser pointer, directional RF transmitter, specifically designed eyewear, a mobile computing device, a mobile communication device, a gesture tracking device or glove, etc.) at the
television screen 403, where the pointing device directs transmitted energy (e.g., light and/or RF energy and/or acoustic energy) at a particular location on thetelevision screen 403 to which the device is being pointed. Note that such transmitted energy will likely be transmitted directionally and be associated with an intensity or gain pattern with the highest intensity likely at the center of the pattern (i.e., along the pointing line425) and decreasing as a function of angle from the center of the pattern. Such a gain pattern is generally represented inFIG. 4 by the concentric circles around the on-screen pointing location 430. Note, however, that in practice such a gain pattern is likely to be more complex than the illustrated pattern (e.g., including lobes with respective peaks and nulls). - In such an exemplary scenario, each sensor of the sensors integrated into the television around the border of the
screen 403 will likely receive some respective amount of energy. For example, along a particular axis the sensor nearest the screen pointing location430 (i.e., along the pointing line425) will likely receive the highest amount of energy, sensors along the particular axis adjacent to thescreen pointing location 430 will likely receive a next highest range of energy, and sensors away from thepointing location 430 will likely receive progressively less amounts of energy from thepointing device 420, as a function of distance from thepointing location 430, until such energy is lost in the noise floor. - For example, along the horizontal axis,
sensor 410 is closest to thepointing location 430 and will likely receive the highest energy, with sensors adjacent to the left and right ofsensor 410 receiving the next highest amounts of energy, and so on. Also, along the vertical axis,sensors such sensors - In such an exemplary scenario, the television receiver450 (e.g., the
user interface module 240 of thetelevision receiver 200 illustrated inFIG. 2 ) may receive signals indicative of the energy received by the sensors of the television. Thetelevision receiver 450 may receive such signals in various manners, depending on the degree of integration of such sensors into thetelevision 401. For example, in an exemplary scenario where the sensors are fully integrated into the television401 (e.g., into a border around the screen403) and operationally integrated into thetelevision 401, thetelevision receiver 450 may receive such signals via a communication interface between thetelevision receiver 450 and thetelevision 401. Also for example, in another exemplary scenario where the sensors are overlaid on (e.g., adhered to) thetelevision screen 401, and where operation of such sensors is independent of thetelevision 401, thetelevision receiver 450 may receive such signals via a communication link directly between thetelevision receiver 450 and the sensors, where such a communication link may be independent of other communication links between thetelevision receiver 450 and thetelevision 401. Such communication link may, for example, be adapted to communicate information from each sensor to thetelevision receiver 450 serially (e.g., in a time-multiplexed manner) and/or in parallel. - The
user interface module 240 may then, for example, provide information of such received sensor signals to thesensor processing module 253 for processing. Thesensor processing module 253 may then, for example, operate to process such information to determine the screen pointing location. Thesensor processing module 253 may perform such processing in any of a variety of manners, non-limiting examples of which will be provided below. - For example, the
sensor processing module 253 may operate to select the sensor with the highest received energy along each of the horizontal and vertical axes and determine that the respective locations of such selected sensors correspond to the horizontal and vertical coordinates of the on-screen pointing location. For example, in an exemplary scenario where the spatial resolution of screen border sensors is relatively fine, such operation may reliably yield a desired level of accuracy without undue processing overhead. For example, thesensor processing module 253 may determine thatsensors sensor 410 and represented in the vertical axis by the vertical location of thesensor 411. Note that in scenarios where two sensors have relatively similar energy levels (e.g., as might occur atsensors sensor processing module 253 may select a vertical midpoint between such sensors. - In another example, the
sensor processing module 253 may operate to select, for each screen axis, the sensor with the highest received energy and a plurality of sensors adjacent to such sensor. Then, for example, thesensor processing module 253 may interpolate between the locations of such sensors (e.g., based, at least in part, on weighting). For example, in the horizontal dimension in which a sensor to the right of thehighest energy sensor 410 has a higher received energy than a sensor to the left of thehighest energy sensor 410, thesensor processing module 253 may determine that the pointing location along the horizontal axis is to the right of thehighest energy sensor 410. How much distance to the right may, for example, be determined as a function of the ratio between respective energies received by the right and left sensors. Such calculation may, for example, be a linear or non-linear calculation. Such calculation may also, for example, consider the expected energy pattern of a transmitting pointing device (e.g., in a scenario where energy fall-off is logarithmic as opposed to linear). Thesensor processing module 253 may then, for example, repeat such operation in the vertical direction. - In another example, the
sensor processing module 253 may operate to select all sensors in each of the axes receiving a threshold amount of energy (e.g., an absolute threshold level, a threshold level relative to the highest energy sensor, etc.). Then, for example, thesensor processing module 253 may interpolate between the locations of such sensors (e.g., based, at least in part, on respective energy weighting). For example, thesensor processing module 253 may perform non-linear splining between sensors in a horizontal direction with sensor location on a first axis and sensor energy on a second axis. Thesensor processing module 253 may then operate to select the point on the sensor location axis corresponding to the peak sensor energy on the vertical axis. Such splining and selecting may then be repeated in the vertical screen direction. Alternatively for example, thesensor processing module 253 may operate to perform multi-dimensional splining to create a surface based on sensor energy and select the highest point on such surface and the corresponding screen coordinates of such surface. - After determining on-screen pointing location, the
television receiver 450 may communicate information of such determined location in various manners. For example and without limitation, thesensor processing module 253 of thetelevision receiver 200 may utilize thetelevision interface module 235 to communicate information of such on-screen pointing location to thetelevision 401 for presentation to the user. Also for example, thesensor processing module 253 may utilize theuser interface module 240 to communicate information of such on-screen pointing location to thetelevision controller 420 for presentation to the user. Such communication will also be addressed in the discussions ofFIGS. 9-10 . - In addition to various television configurations in which sensors are integrated into the television off-screen or off the video presentation portion of the screen, sensors may be incorporated into the television system off-television. Such sensors may, for example, be incorporated in other components of a television system besides the television. For example and without limitation,
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating anexemplary television system 500 with off-television sensors in accordance with various aspects of the present invention. Thetelevision system 500 includes atelevision 501 comprising atelevision screen 503. Thetelevision system 500 also includes a television controller520 (or other pointing device) pointing to an on-screen pointing location 530 along apointing line 525 between thetelevision controller 520 and the on-screen pointing location 530. - The
television system 500 also comprises atelevision receiver 550 that is communicatively coupled to thetelevision 501 via a communication link561 (e.g., a two-way communication link providing video information to thetelevision 501 and/or receiving sensor information from the television501). Thetelevision receiver 550 is also illustrated with one ormore communication links 563 to the various sensors551-556 independent of thecommunication link 561. Note that in various exemplary scenarios, the television receiver550 (e.g., a user interface module240) may receive sensor information via thetelevision communication link 561 and/or via the independent communication link(s)563. Theexemplary television receiver 550 is also communicatively coupled to thetelevision controller 520. - The
television receiver 550 may share any or all aspects with the exemplary receivers (150,200,350 and450) discussed previously and all other receivers discussed herein. Accordingly, various aspects of thetelevision receiver 550 will be explained herein with reference to various components of theexemplary television receiver 200 illustrated inFIG. 2 . - The
exemplary television system 500 comprises an array of sensors integrated into audio speaker components (e.g., surround sound speakers) positioned around thetelevision 501. For example, thetelevision system 500 comprises aleft speaker 531 comprising atop sensor 552 and abottom sensor 551. Also for example, thetelevision system 500 comprises aright speaker 533 comprising atop sensor 556 and abottom sensor 555. Additionally for example, the television system comprises a center speaker532 comprising aleft sensor 553 and aright sensor 554. As discussed above, any of a variety of sensor types may be utilized, non-limiting examples of which include light sensors or photo detectors (e.g., photo diodes), RF sensors (e.g., antenna elements), acoustic sensors (e.g., microphones), etc. Note that the audio speaker component example discussed herein is merely illustrative and that such sensors may be installed in any of a variety of locations (e.g., dedicated sensor boxes, attached to furniture, etc.). - The array of sensors may be positioned around the
television 501 in any of a variety of manners. For example, such sensors may be positioned around thetelevision 501 generally in the same plane as thetelevision screen 503. In such an exemplary scenario, on-screen pointing location may be determined in a manner similar to the interpolation and/or gain pattern intersection discussed above with regard to off-screen and/or on-screen sensors. Note that since the locations of the sensors are likely to be inconsistent between various television system configurations, a calibration procedure may be implemented (e.g., by the calibration module251). Such calibration will be discussed in more detail below. - In an exemplary configuration, one or more photo detectors (e.g., photo diodes) and/or antenna elements (e.g., individual antennas or elements of an antenna array) may be incorporated into a plurality of respective surround sound speakers positioned around the
television 501. - For example, in a photo detector implementation, passive photo detectors may receive varying amounts of respective light energy depending on the pointing direction of a light source aimed at the screen. As discussed previously, directed energy (e.g., light, RF, acoustic, etc.) may be transmitted in a pattern (or envelope), so even if a pointing device is pointed to a location on the
television screen 530 along pointingline 525, sensors off-screen (or even off-television) may still receive energy from the transmission (albeit likely not with the same intensity at which energy is delivered along the pointing line525). Also for example, received signals (e.g., pulsed signals) may arrive at different sensors at different respective times/phases (e.g., being indicative of relative position and/or pointing direction, which may also be utilized in a pointing determination). - In a photo detector implementation (e.g., utilizing photo diodes), photo diodes may, for example, be tuned to react to particular light frequencies to reduce interference from output pixel light and/or associated reflections, ambient light, room lighting, etc. As a non-limiting example, photo diodes may be tuned to detect light that is not visible to the human eye, visible light frequencies that are relatively rare, light patterns that are unlikely to occur in a television program (e.g., particular pulse codes), etc. In one example, the photo detectors integrated with off-television components may comprise photo diodes that operate to detect energy from a laser pointer or directed infrared energy from a television controller (or other pointing device). Note that analogously to the on-screen sensors discussed previously, various aspects may comprise mounting (e.g., adhering) sensors to various off-television components. Such sensor installation may, for example, occur at the factory or after-market by a technician or user.
- In an antenna element implementation, an array of antenna elements may be positioned around off-television components (e.g., in surround sound components). In an RF antenna implementation, passive antennas (or elements of an overall antenna matrix) may receive varying amounts of respective RF energy depending on the pointing direction of a directional RF source pointed at a location on the screen. Also for example, received signals (e.g., pulsed signals) may arrive at different antennas at different respective times/phases (e.g., being indicative of relative position and/or pointing direction, which may also be utilized in a pointing determination). Note that analogously to the on-screen sensors discussed previously, various aspects may comprise mounting (e.g., adhering) sensors to the off-television components. Such sensor installation may, for example, occur at the factory or after-market by a technician or user.
- In an exemplary scenario, a user may point a pointing device (e.g., a remote controller, a laser pointer, directional RF transmitter, specifically designed eyewear, a mobile computing device, a mobile communication device, a gesture tracking device or glove, etc.) at the
television screen 503, where the pointing device directs transmitted energy (e.g., light and/or RF energy and/or acoustic energy) at a particular location on thetelevision screen 503 to which the user is pointing with the pointing device. Note that such transmitted energy will likely be transmitted directionally and be associated with an intensity or gain pattern with the highest intensity at the center of the pattern (i.e., along the pointing line525) and decreasing as a function of angle from the center of the pattern. Such a gain pattern was discussed previously in the discussion ofFIG. 4 . - In such an exemplary scenario, each sensor of the sensors integrated into the
television system 500 off-television will likely receive some respective amount of energy. For example, along a particular axis, the sensor nearest to the screen pointing location530 (i.e., along the pointing line525) will likely receive the highest amount of energy, a sensor next nearest to thescreen pointing location 530 will likely receive a next highest range of energy, and sensors away from thepointing location 530 will likely receive progressively less amounts of energy from thepointing device 520, as a function of distance from thepointing location 530 and/or angle off the pointing line525 (e.g., until such energy is lost in the noise floor). For example,sensor 553 is nearest to thepointing location 530 and will likely receive the highest energy,sensor 552 is next nearest to thepointing location 530 and will likely receive the next highest energy, and so on. - Note that in the implementation illustrated in
FIG. 5 , in particular since there are a relatively low number of sensors, signals from a same sensor may be utilized in determining multiple axes of pointing location. As mentioned previously, a calibration procedure may be performed when thesystem 500 is configured to assist in such pointing determination. - In an exemplary scenario, the television receiver550 (e.g., the
user interface module 240 of thetelevision receiver 200 illustrated inFIG. 2 ) may receive signals indicative of the energy received by the sensors of thetelevision system 500. Thetelevision receiver 550 may receive such signals in various manners, depending on the degree of integration of such sensors into thetelevision 501. For example, in an exemplary scenario where the sensors are fully integrated into thetelevision system 500 components (e.g., surround sound speaker components531-533) and operationally integrated into such components, thetelevision receiver 550 may receive such signals via a communication interface between thetelevision receiver 550 and the respective off-television components (e.g., via acommunication link 563 between thetelevision receiver 550 and the surround sound speaker components531-533). Also for example, in another exemplary scenario where the sensors are overlaid on (e.g., adhered to) the off-television components, and where operation of such sensors is independent of thetelevision 501, thetelevision receiver 550 may receive such signals via a communication link directly between thetelevision receiver 550 and the individual sensors, where such a communication link may be independent of other communication links between thetelevision receiver 550 and thetelevision 501 and/or independent of other communication links between thetelevision receiver 550 andother television system 500 components (e.g., surround sound speaker components531-533). - The
user interface module 240 may then, for example, provide information of such received sensor signals to thesensor processing module 253 for processing. Thesensor processing module 253 may then, for example, operate to process such information to determine the screen pointing location. Thesensor processing module 253 may perform such processing in any of a variety of manners, non-limiting examples of which will be provided below. - In an exemplary scenario, the
sensor processing module 253 may operate to estimate a position between sensor positions based on relative sensor energy. For example, in the horizontal dimension,sensor 552 may correspond to a relatively high amount of energy, andsensor 556 may correspond to a relatively low amount of received energy. Thesensor processing module 253 may, for example, estimate a horizontal position relatively closer tosensor 552 by an amount proportional to the relative difference between respective amounts of energy. Thesensor processing module 253 may perform a similarestimation utilizing sensors left speaker 531 sensors may be averaged, respective energies for theright speaker 533 sensors may be averaged, and such left and right speaker average energies may then be utilized to determine a horizontal pointing location. Thesensor processing module 253 may then, for example, perform a similar pointing direction estimate in the vertical direction. - In another exemplary scenario, a calibration procedure may be performed to determine an expected sensor energy level (e.g., absolute or relative) when the user is pointing at the sensor. In such a scenario, combined with a gain pattern and user (or pointing device) location relative to the
television 501, a first line (e.g., a circle or arc) may be drawn around afirst sensor 552. Similarly, a second line (e.g., a circle or arc) may be drawn around asecond sensor 553, and the intersection of the first and second lines utilized as an estimate of pointing location. Additional lines associated with other sensors may also be utilized. Such additional lines may, for example, be utilized when selecting between multiple line intersections and/or for greater accuracy or resolution. Note that such line intersection solution may be applied to any of the previously discussed scenarios (e.g., as illustrated inFIGS. 3-4 ). A non-limiting example of this was presented in the discussion ofFIG. 3 , and another example will be provided in the following discussion ofFIG. 7 . - After determining on-screen pointing location, the
television receiver 550 may communicate information of such determined location in various manners. For example and without limitation, thesensor processing module 253 of thetelevision receiver 200 may utilize thetelevision interface module 235 to communicate information of such on-screen pointing location to thetelevision 501 for presentation to the user. Also for example, thesensor processing module 253 may utilize theuser interface module 240 to communicate information of such on-screen pointing location to thetelevision controller 520 for presentation to the user. Such communication will also be addressed in the discussions ofFIGS. 9-10 . - As discussed above, pointing sensors may be incorporated into the television system off-television (i.e., placed separately in stand-alone housings, integrated with other apparatus, attached to other apparatus, etc.). Another example of such off-television sensor placement is presented in
FIG. 6 . In particular, the screen pointing sensors may be integrated into the television receiver.FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating anexemplary television system 600 with television receiver sensors in accordance with various aspects of the present invention. - The
television system 600 includes atelevision 601 comprising atelevision screen 603. Thetelevision system 600 also includes a television controller620 (or other pointing device) pointing to an on-screen pointing location 630 along apointing line 625 between thetelevision controller 620 and the on-screen pointing location 630. - The
television system 600 also comprises atelevision receiver 650 that is communicatively coupled to thetelevision 601 via a communication link651 (e.g., a two-way communication link providing video information to thetelevision 601 and/or communicating sensor information and/or screen pointing information with the television601). Thetelevision receiver 650 comprises an array of screen pointing sensors. A portion of the sensors are labeled (661-665) for discussion purposes. Note that such sensors may be arranged in any of a variety of configurations (e.g., matrix configuration, border configuration, placed only at the front corners, etc.). The pointing sensors may, for example, be integrated into thetelevision receiver 650 and/or attached to thetelevision receiver 650 in any of a variety of manners (e.g., in any manner similar to those discussed previously with regard to the televisions and/or television system components discussed previously). - Note that in various exemplary scenarios, the television receiver650 (e.g., a user interface module240) may receive additional sensor information from other sensors via the
television communication line 651 and/or other communication links. Theexemplary television receiver 650 is also communicatively coupled to thetelevision controller 620 via acommunication link 652. - The
television receiver 650 may share any or all aspects with the exemplary receivers (150,200,350,450 and550) discussed previously and all other receivers discussed herein. Accordingly, various aspects of thetelevision receiver 650 will be explained herein with reference to various components of theexemplary television receiver 200 illustrated inFIG. 2 . - The
exemplary television receiver 650 comprises an array of sensors integrated into thetelevision receiver 650. For example, thetelevision receiver 650 comprises a lowerleft sensor 661, upperleft sensor 662, upperright sensor 663, lowerright sensor 664 andcenter sensor 665. As discussed above, any of a variety of sensor types may be utilized, non-limiting examples of which include light sensors or photo detectors (e.g., photo diodes), RF sensors (e.g., antenna elements), acoustic sensors (e.g., microphones), etc. - The
exemplary television receiver 650 may be positioned around thetelevision 601 in any of a variety of manners. For example, the television receiver650 (and thus the sensors) may be positioned around thetelevision 601 in an orientation such that the front face of the television receiver650 (and thus the sensors) is generally in the same plane as thetelevision screen 603. Such placement is not necessary, but may be advantageous from an accuracy perspective. In such an exemplary scenario, on-screen pointing location may be determined in a manner similar to the interpolation and/or gain pattern intersection discussed above with regard to off-screen and/or on-screen sensors. Note that since the locations of the sensors are likely to be inconsistent between various television system configurations (i.e., it is unlikely that every user will place/position thetelevision receiver 650 in the same manner), a calibration procedure may be implemented (e.g., by the calibration module251). Such calibration was discussed previously and will also be revisited below. - In an exemplary configuration, one or more photo detectors (e.g., photo diodes) and/or antenna elements (e.g., individual antennas or elements of an antenna array) may be incorporated into the faceplate of the
television receiver 650. Note that additional sensors positioned away from thetelevision receiver 650 may also be utilized (e.g., any of the previously discussed sensor placements). - For example, in a photo detector implementation, passive photo detectors may receive varying amounts of respective light energy depending on the pointing direction of a light source aimed at the screen. As discussed previously, directed energy (e.g., light, RF, acoustic, etc.) may be transmitted in a pattern (or envelope), so even if a pointing device is pointed to a location on the
television screen 630 along pointingline 625, sensors off-screen (e.g., sensors integrated into the television receiver650) may still receive energy from the transmission (albeit likely not with the same intensity at which energy is delivered along the pointing line625). Also for example, received signals (e.g., pulsed signals) may arrive at different sensors at different respective times/phases (e.g., being indicative of relative position and/or pointing direction, which may also be utilized in a pointing determination). - In a photo detector implementation (e.g., utilizing photo diodes), photo diodes may, for example, be tuned to react to particular light frequencies to reduce interference from output pixel light and/or associated reflections, ambient light, room lighting, etc. As a non-limiting example, photo diodes may be tuned to detect light that is not visible to the human eye, visible light frequencies that are relatively rare, light patterns that are unlikely to occur in a television program (e.g., particular pulse codes), etc. In one example, the photo detectors integrated with the
television receiver 650 may comprise photo diodes that operate to detect energy from a laser pointer or directed infrared energy from a controller (or other pointing device). Note that analogously to the on-screen sensors discussed previously, various aspects may comprise mounting (e.g., adhering) sensors tovarious television receiver 650 locations and/or to various off-receiver components. Such sensor installation may, for example, occur at the factory or after-market by a technician or user. - In an antenna element implementation, an array of antenna elements may be positioned at locations on the television receiver650 (e.g., only on the
television receiver 650 and/or at locations around the television receiver650). In an RF antenna implementation, passive antennas (or elements of an overall antenna matrix) may receive varying amounts of respective RF energy depending on the pointing direction of a directional RF source pointed at a location on the screen. Also for example, received signals (e.g., pulsed signals) may arrive at different antennas at different respective times/phases (e.g., being indicative of relative position and/or pointing direction, which may also be utilized in a pointing determination). Note that analogously to the on-screen sensors discussed previously, various aspects may comprise mounting (e.g., adhering) sensors to thetelevision receiver 650. Such sensor installation may, for example, occur at the factory or after-market by a technician or user. - In an exemplary scenario, a user may point a pointing device (e.g., a remote controller, a laser pointer, directional RF transmitter, specifically designed eyewear, a mobile computing device, a mobile communication device, a gesture tracking device or glove, etc.) at the
television screen 603, where the pointing device directs transmitted energy (e.g., light and/or RF energy and/or acoustic energy) at a particular location on thetelevision screen 603 to which the user is pointing with the pointing device. Note that such transmitted energy will likely be transmitted directionally and be associated with an intensity or gain (or energy) pattern with the highest intensity at the center of the pattern (i.e., along the pointing line625) and decreasing as a function of angle from the center of the pattern. Such a gain pattern was discussed previously in the discussion ofFIG. 4 . - In such an exemplary scenario, each sensor of the sensors integrated into the
television receiver 650 off-television will likely receive some respective amount of energy. For example, along a particular axis, the sensor nearest to the screen pointing location630 (i.e., along the pointing line625) will likely receive the highest amount of energy, a sensor next nearest to thescreen pointing location 630 will likely receive a next highest range of energy, and sensors away from thepointing location 630 will likely receive progressively less amounts of energy from thepointing device 620, as a function of distance from thepointing location 630 and/or angle off the pointing line625 (e.g., until such energy is lost in the noise floor). For example,sensor 662 is nearest to thepointing location 630 and will likely receive the highest energy,sensors pointing location 630, etc., and so on. - Note that in the implementation illustrated in
FIG. 6 , in particular since there are a relatively low number of sensors, signals from a same sensor may be utilized in determining multiple axes of pointing location. As mentioned previously, a calibration procedure may be performed when thesystem 600 is configured to assist in such pointing determination. - In an exemplary scenario, the television receiver650 (e.g., the
user interface module 240 of thetelevision receiver 200 illustrated inFIG. 2 ) may receive signals indicative of the energy received by the sensors of thetelevision receiver 650. Thetelevision receiver 650 may receive such signals in various manners, depending on the degree of integration of such sensors into thetelevision receiver 650 and/or various components of thetelevision system 600. For example, in an exemplary scenario where the sensors are fully integrated into thetelevision receiver 650, thetelevision receiver 550 may receive such signals via direct internal link with such sensors. Also for example, in a scenario where various sensors are off thetelevision receiver 650, thetelevision receiver 650 may receive information from such sensors via direct communication link or via communication link with the various components with which such sensors are integrated. - The
user interface module 240 may then, for example, provide information of such received sensor signals to thesensor processing module 253 for processing. Thesensor processing module 253 may then, for example, operate to process such information to determine the screen pointing location. Thesensor processing module 253 may perform such processing in any of a variety of manners, non-limiting examples of which will be provided below. - In an exemplary scenario, the
sensor processing module 253 may operate to estimate a position between sensor positions based on relative sensor energy. For example, in the horizontal dimension,sensor 662 may correspond to a relatively high amount of energy, andsensor 663 may correspond to a relatively low amount of received energy. Thesensor processing module 253 may, for example, estimate a horizontal position relatively closer tosensor 662 by an amount proportional to the relative difference between respective amounts of energy. Thesensor processing module 253 may perform a similarestimation utilizing sensors left side sensors right side sensors sensor processing module 253 may then, for example, perform a similar pointing direction estimate in the vertical direction. - In another exemplary scenario, a calibration procedure may be performed to determine an expected sensor energy level (e.g., absolute or relative) when the user is pointing at the sensor (and/or other known locations). In such a scenario, combined with a gain pattern and user (or pointing device) location relative to the
television 601, a first line (e.g., a circle or arc) may be drawn around afirst sensor 662. Similarly, a second line (e.g., a circle or arc) may be drawn around asecond sensor 663, and the intersection of the first and second lines utilized as an estimate of pointing location. Additional lines associated with other sensors may also be utilized. Such additional lines may, for example, be utilized when selecting between multiple line intersections or to increase accuracy and/or resolution of the pointing determination. Note that such line intersection solution may be applied to any of the previously discussed scenarios (e.g., as illustrated inFIGS. 3-5 ) or other scenarios discussed herein. A non-limiting example of this was presented in the discussion ofFIG. 3 , and another example will be provided in the following discussion ofFIG. 7 . - After determining on-screen pointing location, the
television receiver 650 may communicate information of such determined location in various manners. For example and without limitation, thesensor processing module 253 of thetelevision receiver 200 may utilize thetelevision interface module 235 to communicate information of such on-screen pointing location to thetelevision 601 for presentation to the user on thetelevision screen 603. Also for example, thesensor processing module 253 may utilize theuser interface module 240 to communicate information of such on-screen pointing location to thetelevision controller 620 for presentation to the user (e.g., on a display of the television controller620). Such communication will also be addressed in the discussions ofFIGS. 9-10 . - Various aspects of the present invention may also, for example, include one or more sensors incorporated into the pointing device.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating anexemplary television system 700 utilizing pointing device sensors in accordance with various aspects of the present invention. - The
exemplary television system 700 includes atelevision 701 having atelevision screen 703. Thetelevision system 700 also comprises atelevision receiver 750 that is communicatively coupled to thetelevision 701 via a communication link751 (e.g., a two-way communication link providing video information to thetelevision 701 and/or receiving sensor information from the television701). Theexemplary television receiver 750 is also communicatively coupled to thetelevision controller 720 via acommunication link 752. - The
television receiver 750 may share any or all aspects with the exemplary receivers (150,200,350,450,550 and650) discussed previously and all other receivers discussed herein. Accordingly, various aspects of thetelevision receiver 750 will be explained herein with reference to various components of theexemplary television receiver 200 illustrated inFIG. 2 . - The
television system 700 includes a television controller720 (e.g., a pointing device) that comprises one or more sensors (e.g., a plurality of antenna array elements, a plurality of photo detectors, etc.). In such a configuration, sensor information may be communicated to the television receiver750 (e.g., to theuser interface module 240 via the first210 or second220 communication interface modules). Such sensor information may, for example, be communicated to thetelevision receiver 750 directly (e.g., via communication link752) or indirectly (e.g., via thetelevision 701 and communication link751). Such information may then be communicated to thesensor processing module 253 for the determination of an on-screen pointing location. - In the exemplary configuration, the
television 701 includes eight emitters (e.g., light emitters, RF transmitters, etc.) located around the border of thetelevision screen 703. Note that such emitters may be positioned anywhere proximate thetelevision system 700. For example, thetelevision 701 includes afirst emitter 711,second emitter 712,third emitter 713,fourth emitter 714,fifth emitter 715, sixth emitter716,seventh emitter 717 andeighth emitter 718. Such emitters may each emit a signal that may be received at sensors on-board thecontroller 720. Such sensors may, for example, make up a directional receiver. In such a configuration, the controller720 (or other pointing device) may be pointed to alocation 730 on thescreen 703 along apointing line 725. With such an orientation and a directional signal reception pattern, the sensors on-board thecontroller 720 will receive the emitted signals at respective signal levels. Such sensor signals may then be processed in a manner similar to the manners discussed above to determine the on-screen pointing direction for thepointing device 720. - For example, through a calibration procedure, it may be known that the pointing device at a particular location should receive a particular amount of energy from each of the emitters711-718 when pointed directly at such emitters (or at some other known location). In such a scenario, the pointing device may measure respective signal energies received from each of the emitters (e.g., each distinguishable by frequency, coding, timing and/or timeslotting, etc.) and communicate such information to the
television receiver 750. Thepointing device 720 may also, for example, communicate pointing device position (and/or orientation) information to thetelevision receiver 750. Thetelevision receiver 750 may receive such sensor and/or position information via at least one of thecommunication interface modules user interface module 240 and process such sensor information with thesensor processing module 253. - The
sensor processing module 253 may, for example, select a first emitter712 (e.g., the emitter corresponding to the highest energy received at the pointing device). Thesensor processing module 253 may then process the location of the pointing device, the receive gain pattern for the pointing device, and the energy received from thefirst emitter 712 to determine a first figure (e.g., an arc752) along which the pointing device, if pointed, would be expected to receive the measured energy. Similarly, thesensor processing module 253 may perform such a procedure for asecond emitter 711 resulting in a second figure (e.g., an arc751). The intersection of such arcs may be utilized as an estimate of on-screen pointing location. Additionally, for accuracy or for selecting between multiple intersection points, should they occur, thesensor processing module 253 may perform such a procedure for athird emitter 714 resulting in a third figure (e.g., an arc754), and so on. The intersection of the threearcs - Alternatively, the solution need not be based on a known position (location) of the pointing device, nor on absolute received energy levels. In such a scenario, differences in received energy from the various emitters may be processed with or without position information of the on-screen pointing device. For example, the
pointing device 720 may have six degrees of freedom (e.g., three positional degrees of freedom and three orientational degrees of freedom). In such a scenario, if the position and orientation of thetelevision 701 are known, the unknown six degrees of freedom for thepointing device 720 may be ascertained by processing six known values related to such six degrees of freedom (e.g., related by a known signal energy pattern). In such a scenario, measurements associated with six emitters on the television (and potentially more) may be utilized to solve for the six degrees of freedom of thepointing device 720. - The above-mentioned exemplary scenarios were presented to illustrate numerous manners in which the television receiver750 (e.g., sensor processing module253) may operate to determine on-screen pointing location. Such examples are merely exemplary and thus the scope of various aspects of the present invention should not be limited by any particular characteristics of such examples unless explicitly claimed.
- As discussed above, the
calibration module 251 of thetelevision receiver 200 may operate to perform calibration operations. Such calibrating may be performed in any of a variety of manners. For example and without limitation, calibration may be utilized to determine expected received energy when transmitters and receivers are located and oriented in a particular manner. For example, a non-limiting example of a calibration procedure may comprise presenting an on-screen target at various locations and measuring respective sensor signals received when the pointing device is being pointed at such targets. Also for example, a calibration procedure may comprise directing a user (e.g., using the user interface module240) to point to each of a plurality of sensors to determine an expected amount of received energy when the user is pointing directly at such sensors. - As mentioned previously, signal energy (or gain) pattern may be utilized in various on-screen pointing determinations. Such an energy (or gain) pattern may be predefined for a particular pointing device (e.g., at the factory), but may also be measured by the
television receiver 200. In a non-limiting example, thecalibration module 251 may direct the user to utilize a pointing device to point to a location on the screen and process information received from multiple sensors (e.g., embedded in the screen, embedded in the television around the border of the screen, located in off-television devices, located on thetelevision receiver 750, located in the pointing device, etc.) to develop a custom gain pattern for the particular pointing device. For example, such calibration may determine the shape of the gain pattern, the signal energy falloff characteristics, etc. - Various aspects discussed above included the processing of position information. In such exemplary cases, the
television receiver 200 may comprise one ormore location modules 252 that operate to determine relevant position information. Thelocation module 252 may operate to perform such location determining (e.g., of the user or pointing device and/or the television) in any of a variety of manners. For example, thelocation module 252 may utilize acommunication interface module television receiver 200 or of the pointing device) from an external source of such information (e.g., global positioning system, cellular triangulation system, home triangulation system, etc.). - Also for example, the
location module 252 may receive position information directly from the pointing device (e.g., where such pointing device has position-determining capability). For example, in a non-limiting exemplary scenario, where the pointing device is a handheld computer, such computer may comprise GPS (or A-GPS) capability to determine its position. In such a scenario, the pointing device may wirelessly communicate information of its position to thetelevision receiver 200, and ultimately to thelocation module 252 via acommunication interface module - Additionally for example, the location module232 may operate to process sensor information to determine location of the pointing device (e.g., location in relation to the television screen). For example, as mentioned previously, a signal (e.g., a pulse) transmitted from a pointing device to the television will arrive at different sensors at different points in time depending on the respective distance from the pointing device to each sensor. The location module232 may process such time-of-arrival information at various sensors to determine the position of the pointing device relative to the television. Similarly, in a scenario including signal emitters associated with the television and sensors on the pointing device, simultaneously transmitted signals from different emitters will arrive at the pointing device at different respective times depending on the position of the pointing device relative to such emitters. Alternatively, the location module232 may also operate to process phase difference information (in addition to timing information or instead of such information) to determine pointing device location.
- Once the television receiver200 (e.g., the sensor processing module253) determines an on-screen pointing location, the
television receiver 200 may utilize such information in any of a variety of manners. For example and without limitation, thesensor processing module 253 may operate to generate information of the determined on-screen pointing location, and one or more modules of thetelevision receiver 200 may operate to communicate a signal (e.g., to a television, television controller, other display device, etc.) that comprises characteristics that cause presentation of a visual indication (e.g., on the television screen, controller screen, other display, etc.) to indicate to the user the on-screen location to which thetelevision receiver 200 has determined the user is pointing. Such a visual indication may, for example, comprise characteristics of a cursor or other graphical construct, bright spot, highlighting, color variation, brightness variation, etc. For example, thetelevision receiver 200 may operate to overlay such indication on video content (e.g., television programming) being presented to the user (e.g., presented on the television screen, presented on a screen of the television controller, etc.). - Additionally for example, the
sensor processing module 253 may provide information of the determined on-screen pointing location to one or more other modules of the television receiver200 (e.g., theprocessing module 250 and/or other modules thereof) to identify an object in video content (e.g., television programming) to which a user is pointing. In such an exemplary scenario, one or more modules of thetelevision receiver 200 may operate to communicate signals (e.g., to a television, television controller having a screen, other display device, etc.) that cause highlighting of an object to which the user is pointing and/or provide information regarding such object. - Further for example, various modules of the television receiver200 (e.g., the processor module250) may operate to communicate on-screen pointing location information to television system components separate from the television (e.g., to a different television receiver, video recorder, remote programming source, communication network infrastructure, advertising company, provider of goods and/or services, etc.). Also for example, various modules of the
television receiver 200 may operate to communicate information of the determined on-screen pointing location to the pointing device of the user (e.g., for providing pointing feedback to the user at a remote controller, etc.). FIG. 2 provided a diagram illustrating anexemplary television receiver 200 in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.FIG. 8 provides another diagram illustrating anexemplary television receiver 800 in accordance with various aspects of the present invention. Theexemplary television receiver 800 may share any or all aspects with any of the television receivers discussed herein and illustrated inFIGS. 1-7 . For example, the exemplary television receiver800 (or various modules thereof) may operate to perform any or all functionality discussed herein. As with theexemplary television receiver 200, the components of theexemplary television receiver 800 may be co-located a single housing.- For example, the
television receiver 800 comprises aprocessor 830. Such aprocessor 830 may, for example, share any or all characteristics with theprocessor 250 discussed with regard toFIG. 2 . Also for example, thetelevision receiver 800 comprises amemory 840.Such memory 840 may, for example, share any or all characteristics with thememory 260 discussed with regard toFIG. 2 . - Also for example, the
television receiver 800 may comprise any of a variety of user interface module(s)850. Such user interface module(s)850 may, for example, share any or all characteristics with the user interface module(s)240 discussed previously with regard toFIG. 2 . For example and without limitation, the user interface module(s)850 may comprise: a display device, a camera (for still or moving picture acquisition), a speaker, an earphone (e.g., wired or wireless), a microphone, a video screen (e.g., a touch screen display), a vibrating mechanism, a keypad, a remote control interface, and/or any of a variety of other user interface devices (e.g., a mouse, a trackball, a touch pad, touch screen, light pen, game controlling device, etc.). - The
exemplary television receiver 800 may also, for example, comprise any of a variety of communication modules (805,806, and810). Such communication module(s) may, for example, share any or all characteristics with the communication interface module(s)210,220 discussed previously with regard toFIG. 2 . For example and without limitation, the communication interface module(s)810 may comprise: a Bluetooth interface module; an IEEE 802.11, 802.15, 802.16 and/or 802.20 module; any of a variety of cellular telecommunication interface modules (e.g., GSM/GPRS/EDGE, CDMA/CDMA2000/1x-EV-DO, WCDMA/HSDPA/HSUPA, TDMA/PDC, WiMAX, etc.); any of a variety of position-related communication interface modules (e.g., GPS, A-GPS, etc.); any of a variety of wired/tethered communication interface modules (e.g., USB, Fire Wire, RS-232, HDMI, component and/or composite video, Ethernet, wireline and/or cable modem, etc.); any of a variety of communication interface modules related to communicating with external memory devices; etc. Theexemplary television receiver 800 is also illustrated as comprising various wired806 and/orwireless 805 front-end modules that may, for example, be included in the communication interface modules and/or utilized thereby. - The
exemplary television receiver 800 may also comprise any of a variety of signal processing module(s)890. Such signal processing module(s)890 may, for example, be utilized to assist in processing various types of information discussed previously (e.g., with regard to sensor processing, position determination, video processing, image processing, audio processing, general user interface information data processing, etc.). For example and without limitation, the signal processing module(s)890 may comprise: video/graphics processing modules (e.g. MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.263, H.264, JPEG, TIFF, 3-D, 2-D, MDDI, etc.); audio processing modules (e.g., MP3, AAC, MIDI, QCELP, AMR, CMX, etc.); and/or tactile processing modules (e.g., Keypad I/O, touch screen processing, motor control, etc.). - Various aspects of the present invention were previously exemplified by non-limiting illustrations and described in terms of operations performed by various modules of the television. Various aspects of the present invention will now be illustrated in the form of method flow diagrams.
FIG. 9 is a flow diagram900 illustrating the generation of on-screen pointing information (e.g., in a television receiver) in accordance with various aspects of the present invention. Theexemplary method 900 may, for example, share any or all characteristics with the television receiver operation discussed previously.- The
exemplary method 900 may begin executing at step905. Theexemplary method 900 may begin executing in response to any of a variety of causes and/or conditions. For example and without limitation, themethod 900 may begin executing in response to a user command to begin, detected user interaction with a pointing device (e.g., a television controller), detected user presence in the vicinity, detected user interaction with a television implementing themethod 900, etc. Also for example, themethod 900 may begin executing in response to a television presenting programming or other video content for which on-screen pointing is enabled and/or relevant. - The
exemplary method 900 may, for example atstep 910, comprise receiving pointing sensor information. For example and without limitation, step910 may comprise any or all sensor information receiving characteristics described previously with regard the various modules of the exemplary television receivers illustrated inFIGS. 1-8 and discussed previously. For example, step910 may share any or all sensor information receiving characteristics discussed previously with regard to at least theuser interface module 240,television interface module 235,processor module 250,communication interface modules sensor processing module 253,location module 252 andcalibration module 251. - Step910 may, for example, comprise receiving sensor information from (or associated with) sensors integrated in the television receiver. Also for example, step910 may comprise receiving sensor information from (or associated with) off-receiver sensors (e.g., integrated with or attached to a television, off-television sensors, sensors integrated with a pointing device (e.g., a television controller), etc. As discussed previously, such sensors may comprise any of a variety of characteristics, including without limitation, characteristics of light sensors, RF sensors, acoustic sensors, active and/or passive sensors, etc.
- In general,
step 910 may comprise receiving pointing sensor information. Accordingly, the scope of various aspects of the present invention should not be limited by characteristics of any particular manner of receiving pointing sensor information unless explicitly claimed. - The
exemplary method 900 may, atstep 920, comprise processing received sensor information (e.g., as received at step910) to determine a location on a screen of the television to which a user is pointing (e.g., pointing with a pointing device). For example and without limitation, step920 may comprise any or all pointing location processing characteristics described previously with regard the various modules of the exemplary television receivers illustrated inFIGS. 1-8 and discussed previously. For example, step920 may share any or all pointing location determining characteristics discussed previously with regard to at least theprocessor module 250,sensor processing module 253,location module 252 andcalibration module 251. - Step920 may, for example, comprise determining on-screen pointing location in any of a variety of manners. For example, step920 may comprise determining on-screen pointing location based on a location of a selected sensor, based on interpolation between sensor locations (e.g., linear and/or non-linear interpolation), based on determining energy pattern intersection(s), etc. Many examples of such determining were provided previously.
- In general,
step 920 may comprise processing received sensor information (e.g., independently and/or in conjunction with other information) to determine a location on a screen of the television to which a user is pointing. Accordingly, the scope of various aspects of the present invention should not be limited by characteristics of any particular manner of performing such processing unless explicitly claimed. - The
exemplary method 900 may, atstep 930, comprise generating information indicative of a determined on-screen pointing location (e.g., as determined at step920). For example and without limitation, step930 may comprise any or all pointing location information generation characteristics described previously with regard the various modules of the exemplary television receivers illustrated inFIGS. 1-8 and discussed previously. For example, step930 may share any or all information generation characteristics discussed previously with regard to at least theprocessor module 250,sensor processing module 253,location module 252,calibration module 251,television interface module 235,user interface module 240 and/orcommunication interface modules - Step930 may, for example, comprise generating such information in any of a variety of manners. For example, step930 may comprise generating on-screen pointing location data to communicate to internal modules of the television receiver, to equipment external to the television receiver (e.g., to the television and/or television controller), to television network components, to a television programming source, etc. Such information may, for example, be communicated to various system components and may also be presented to the user (e.g., utilizing visual feedback displayed on a screen of a television, television controller, etc.). Such information may, for example, be generated in the form of screen coordinates, identification of a video content object (e.g., a programming object or person) to which an on-screen pointing location corresponds, generation of an on-screen cursor or highlight or other graphical feature, etc.
- In general,
step 930 may comprise generating information indicative of a determined on-screen pointing location. Accordingly, the scope of various aspects of the present invention should not be limited by characteristics of any particular manner of generating such information unless explicitly claimed. - The
exemplary method 900 may, atstep 995, comprise performing continued processing. Such continued processing may comprise characteristics of any of a variety of types of continued processing, various examples of which were presented previously. For example and without limitation, step995 may comprise looping execution flow back up to any earlier step (e.g., step910). Also for example, step995 may comprise presenting (or causing the presentation of) visual feedback indicia of the on-screen pointing location for a user. Additionally for example, step995 may comprise communicating information of the on-screen pointing location to system components external to the television receiver implementing the method900 (e.g., to a television, television controller, etc.). Further for example, step995 may comprise utilizing the on-screen pointing information to identify a video content object (e.g., an object presented in television programming) to which a user is pointing, etc. - In general,
step 995 may comprise performing continued processing. Accordingly, the scope of various aspects of the present invention should not be limited by characteristics of any particular manner of performing continued processing unless explicitly claimed. - Turning next to
FIG. 10 , such figure is a flow diagram1000 illustrating the generation of on-screen pointing information (e.g., in a television receiver) in accordance with various aspects of the present invention. Theexemplary method 1000 may, for example, share any or all characteristics with the television receiver operation discussed previously (e.g., in reference toFIGS. 1-9 ). - The
exemplary method 1000 may begin executing atstep 1005.Step 1005 may, for example, share any or all characteristics with step905 of theexemplary method 900 illustrated inFIG. 9 and discussed previously. - The
exemplary method 1000 may, for example atstep 1008, comprise performing a calibration procedure with the user. Such a calibration procedure may, for example, be performed to develop a manner of processing received sensor information to determine on-screen pointing location.Step 1008 may, for example, comprise any or all calibration aspects discussed previously (e.g., with reference to the calibration module251). - The
exemplary method 1000 may, for example atstep 1010, comprise receiving pointing sensor information. For example and without limitation,step 1010 may comprise any or all sensor information receiving characteristics described previously with regard the various modules of the exemplary television receivers illustrated inFIGS. 1-8 andFIG. 9 (e.g., step910) and discussed previously. - The
exemplary method 1000 may, for example atstep 1015, comprise determining user position (e.g., determining position of a user pointing device). For example and without limitation,step 1015 may comprise any or all position determining characteristics discussed previously with regard toFIGS. 1-9 . Note that position may also, for example, include orientation. - For example,
step 1015 may share any or all position determining characteristics discussed previously with regard to at least theprocessor module 250,sensor processing module 253,location module 252 andcalibration module 251. For example,step 1015 may comprise determining user position based, at least in part, on received sensor signals. Also for example,step 1015 may comprise determining user position based, at least in part, on position information received from one or more systems external to the television receiver implementing themethod 1000. - In general,
step 1015 may comprise determining user position (e.g., pointing device position). Accordingly, the scope of various aspects of the present invention should not be limited by characteristics of any particular manner of determining user position unless explicitly claimed. - The
exemplary method 1000 may, for example, atstep 1020, comprise processing received sensor information (e.g., as received at step1010) and/or user position information (e.g., as determined at step1015) to determine a location on a screen of the television to which a user is pointing (e.g., pointing with a pointing device). For example and without limitation,step 1020 may comprise any or all pointing location determination characteristics described previously with regard the various modules of the exemplary television receivers illustrated inFIGS. 1-8 andFIG. 9 (e.g., step920) and discussed previously. For example,step 1020 may share any or all pointing location determining characteristics discussed previously with regard to at least theprocessor module 250,sensor processing module 253,location module 252 andcalibration module 251. Step 1020 may, for example, comprise determining on-screen pointing location in any of a variety of manners. For example,step 1020 may comprise determining on-screen pointing location based on a location of a selected sensor, based on location of the pointing device, based on interpolation between sensor locations (e.g., linear and/or non-linear interpolation), based on energy pattern intersection points, etc. Many examples of such determining were provided previously.- In general,
step 1020 may comprise processing received sensor information and/or user position information to determine a location on a screen of the television to which a user is pointing (e.g., pointing with a pointing device). Accordingly, the scope of various aspects of the present invention should not be limited by characteristics of any particular manner of performing such processing unless explicitly claimed. - The
exemplary method 1000 may, atstep 1030, comprise generating information indicative of a determined on-screen pointing location (e.g., as determined at step1020). For example and without limitation,step 1030 may comprise any or all information generation characteristics described previously with regard the various modules of the exemplary television receivers illustrated inFIGS. 1-8 andFIG. 9 (e.g., step930) and discussed previously. For example,step 1030 may share any or all information generation characteristics discussed previously with regard to at least theprocessor module 250,sensor processing module 253,location module 252,calibration module 251,television interface module 235,user interface module 240 and/orcommunication interface modules - The
exemplary method 1000 may, atstep 1095, comprise performing continued processing. Such continued processing may comprise characteristics of any of a variety of types of continued processing, various examples of which were presented previously. For example and without limitation,step 1095 may comprise looping execution flow back up to any earlier step (e.g., step1008). Also for example,step 1095 may comprise presenting (and/or causing the presentation of) visual feedback indicia of the on-screen pointing location for a user. Additionally for example,step 1095 may comprise communicating information of the on-screen pointing location to system components external to the television receiver implementing themethod 1000. Further for example,step 1095 may comprise utilizing the on-screen pointing information to identify a video content object (e.g., an object presented in television programming) to which a user is pointing, etc. - In general,
step 1095 may comprise performing continued processing. Accordingly, the scope of various aspects of the present invention should not be limited by characteristics of any particular manner of performing continued processing unless explicitly claimed. - In summary, various aspects of the present invention provide a system and method in a television receiver for generating screen pointing information. While the invention has been described with reference to certain aspects and embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from its scope. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.
Claims (27)
1. A method, in a television receiver housed separately from a television having a screen, for generating screen pointing information, the method comprising:
in the television receiver:
receiving sensor information related to a location on the screen to which a user is pointing;
processing said received sensor information to determine said location on the screen to which the user is pointing; and
generating information indicative of said determined location on the screen.
2. The method ofclaim 1 , comprising, in the television receiver, outputting a signal to the television that, when processed by the television, causes the television to display on the screen a visual indication of said determined location on the screen.
3. The method ofclaim 2 , comprising, in the television receiver, overlaying the visual indication on a television program being output to the television for presentation on the screen.
4. The method ofclaim 1 , wherein receiving sensor information comprises receiving sensor information from the television.
5. The method ofclaim 4 , wherein receiving sensor information from the television comprises receiving sensor information associated with one or more sensors integrated in the television screen.
6. The method ofclaim 4 , wherein receiving sensor information from the television comprises receiving sensor information associated with one or more sensors integrated off-screen in a body of the television.
7. The method ofclaim 1 , wherein receiving sensor information comprises receiving sensor information from one or more sensors integrated in the television receiver.
8. The method ofclaim 1 , wherein receiving sensor information comprises receiving sensor information from one or more sensors separate from both of the television and the television receiver.
9. The method ofclaim 1 , comprising, in the television receiver, determining location of the user.
10. The method ofclaim 9 , comprising, in the television receiver, processing said received sensor information and said determined location of the user to determine said location on the screen to which the user is pointing.
11. The method ofclaim 1 , comprising, in the television receiver, performing a calibration procedure with the user to develop a manner of processing the received sensor information to determine said location on the screen to which the user is pointing.
12. The method ofclaim 1 , wherein processing said received sensor information to determine said location on the screen to which the user is pointing comprises selecting a sensor corresponding to a strongest sensor signal.
13. The method ofclaim 1 , wherein processing said received sensor information to determine said location on the screen to which the user is pointing comprises interpolating between a plurality of sensor signal strengths.
14. A television receiver, housed separately from a television having a screen, that generates screen pointing information, the television receiver comprising:
at least one module operable to, at least:
receive sensor information related to a location on the screen to which a user is pointing;
process said received sensor information to determine said location on the screen to which the user is pointing; and
generate information indicative of said determined location on the screen.
15. The television receiver ofclaim 14 , wherein the at least one module comprises:
a user interface module; and
a processor module.
16. The television receiver ofclaim 14 , wherein the at least one module is operable to output a signal to the television that, when processed by the television, causes the television to display on the screen a visual indication of said determined location on the screen.
17. The television receiver ofclaim 16 , wherein the at least one module is operable to overlay the visual indication on a television program being output to the television for presentation on the screen.
18. The television receiver ofclaim 14 , wherein the at least one module is operable to receive sensor information by, at least in part, operating to receive sensor information from the television.
19. The television receiver ofclaim 18 , wherein the at least one module is operable to receive sensor information from the television by, at least in part, operating to receive sensor information associated with one or more sensors integrated in the television screen.
20. The television receiver ofclaim 18 , wherein the at least one module is operable to receive sensor information from the television by, at least in part, operating to receive sensor information associated with one or more sensors integrated off-screen in a body of the television.
21. The television receiver ofclaim 14 , wherein the at least one module is operable to receive sensor information by, at least in part, operating to receive sensor information from one or more sensors integrated in the television receiver.
22. The television receiver ofclaim 14 , wherein the at least one module is operable to receive sensor information by, at least in part, operating to receive sensor information from one or more sensors separate from both of the television and the television receiver.
23. The television receiver ofclaim 14 , wherein the at least one module is operable to determine location of the user.
24. The television receiver ofclaim 23 , wherein the at least one module is operable to process said received sensor information and said determined location of the user to determine said location on the screen to which the user is pointing.
25. The television receiver ofclaim 14 , wherein the at least one module is operable to perform a calibration procedure with the user to develop a manner of processing the received sensor information to determine said location on the screen to which the user is pointing.
26. The television receiver ofclaim 14 , wherein the at least one module is operable to process said received sensor information to determine said location on the screen to which the user is pointing by, at least in part, operating to select a sensor corresponding to a strongest sensor signal.
27. The television receiver ofclaim 14 , wherein the at least one module is operable to process said received sensor information to determine said location on the screen to which the user is pointing by, at least in part, operating to interpolate between a plurality of sensor signal strengths.
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| US12/774,221US20110063522A1 (en) | 2009-09-14 | 2010-05-05 | System and method for generating television screen pointing information using an external receiver |
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| US12/851,075AbandonedUS20110067069A1 (en) | 2009-09-14 | 2010-08-05 | System and method in a parallel television system for providing for user-selection of an object in a television program |
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