Optical narrowcasting augmented reality

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017193300-A1
Application number	US-201615395793-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 30, 2016
Priority date	Dec 30, 2015
Publication date	Jul 6, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems and methods for optical narrowcasting are provided for transmitting various types of content. Optical narrowcasting content indicative of the presence of additional information along with identifying information may be transmitted. The additional information (which may include meaningful amounts of advertising information, media, or any other content) may also be transmitted as optical narrowcasting content. Elements of an optical narrowcasting system may include optical transmitters and optical receivers which can be configured to be operative at distances ranging from, e.g., 400 meters to 1200 meters. Moreover, the elements can be implemented on a miniaturized scale in conjunction with small, user devices such as smartphones, thereby also realizing optical ad-hoc networking, as well as interoperability with other types of data networks. Optically narrowcast content can be used to augment a real-world experience, enhance and/or spawn new forms of social-media and media content.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for presenting an augmented reality experience utilizing optically narrowcast information, comprising:
capturing a live scene; detecting the presence of a beacon; determining an angular position of the beacon; extracting identification data from the beacon indicative of a source of the beacon; augmenting the live scene with an augmented reality representation of the beacon's angular positioning and identification data; receiving a selection regarding the augmented reality representation; extracting descriptive data from an optical signal transmitted by the source of the beacon or an optical signal source associated with the source of the beacon; and presenting the extracted descriptive data.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the presenting of the extracted descriptive data comprises augmenting the live scene with an augmented reality representation of the extracted descriptive data in conjunction with or as a replacement for the augmented reality representation of the beacon's angular positioning and identification data.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the presenting of the extracted description data occurs on a user device with which the live scene is captured.

4 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising pointing one or more optical receivers in a direction of the source of the beacon based on the angular position of the beacon.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising forwarding the extracted descriptive data to one or more applications that when executed cause one or more processors to display the extracted descriptive data.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the one or more processors comprise an additional user device other than a user device with which the live scene is captured.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising forwarding the extracted descriptive data to one or more applications that when executed cause one or more processors to display a website associated with the source of the beacon.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the extracted descriptive data comprises a universal resource locator directing the one or more applications to the website, the one or more applications comprising a web browser.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the extracted descriptive data comprises advertising information associated with one or more objects of interest within a field of view of the captured live scene.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the extracted descriptive data comprises advertising information regarding an entity associated with at least one of the source of the beacon or the optical signal source.

11 . A system, comprising:
a camera adapted to capture a live scene; an optical beacon receiver adapted to:
detect the presence of a beacon;
determine an angular position of the beacon; and
extract identification data from the beacon indicative of a source of the beacon;
one or more processors operatively connected to a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer executable program code embodied thereon, the computer executable program code, when executed, cause the one or more processors to augment the live scene with an augmented reality representation of the beacon's angular positioning and identification data; and an optical signal receiver adapted to extract descriptive data from an optical signal transmitted by the source of the beacon or an optical signal source associated with the source of the beacon upon receiving a selection regarding the augmented reality representation; wherein the computer executable program code, when executed, further causes the one or more processors to present the extracted descriptive data.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the computer executable program code causing the one or more processors to present the extracted descriptive data further causes the one or more processors to augment the live scene with an augmented reality representation of the extracted descriptive data in conjunction with or as a replacement for the augmented reality representation of the beacon's angular positioning and identification data.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the presentation of the extracted description data occurs on a display operatively connected to the camera with which the live scene is captured.

14 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the computer executable program code, when executed, further causes the one or more processors to forward the extracted descriptive data to one or more applications that when executed cause one or more processors to display the extracted description data.

15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the one or more applications are executed on the system or a user device remotely located from the system.

16 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the computer executable program code, when executed, further causes the one or more processors to forward the extracted descriptive data to one or more applications that when executed cause one or more processors to display a website associated with the source of the beacon.

17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the extracted descriptive data comprises a universal resource locator directing the one or more applications to the website, the one or more applications comprising a web browser.

18 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the extracted descriptive data comprises advertising information associated with one or more objects of interest within a field of view of the captured live scene.

19 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the extracted descriptive data comprises advertising information regarding an entity associated with at least one of the source of the beacon or the optical signal source.

20 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the optical beacon receiver and the optical signal receiver are implemented within a single optical receiver assembly.

Assignees

• Surefire Llc

Inventors

• Shatz Narkis E
• Bortz John C

Classifications

• H04B10/1143 Primary

  Bidirectional transmission · CPC title

• G02B27/30

  Collimators · CPC title

• G06F3/04842

  Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements (G06F3/0482 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04B10/116

  Visible light communication · CPC title

• H04N21/42204

  User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor (constructive details of casings for the remote control device H01H9/0235; user interfaces for controlling a tuning device of a television receiver through a remote control H03J9/00; remote control of peripheral devices connected to a television receiver through the remote control device of the television receiver H04B1/205) · CPC title