Animated poster

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9786088-B2
Application number	US-201414295125-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 3, 2014
Priority date	Jun 3, 2014
Publication date	Oct 10, 2017
Grant date	Oct 10, 2017

Abstract

An animated poster system including a simulation panel, an image server having appropriately processed media, and a projector enable a moving image to appear on a textured surface of the panel with no detectable projection devices. The simulation panel includes a portion that, when illuminated by the projector with the media, appears to be paper that is wrinkled, torn, and/or pasted to the wall, and includes graphics that also appear to be printed but include moving images. The animated poster system can produce a convincing illusion of an animated poster, even at close observing distances.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An animated poster system, comprising:
a simulation panel comprising a poster portion, wherein the poster portion comprises a cast resin in which a sheet configured to act as an illumination surface is positioned;
a projector configured to project an image onto a first side of the simulation panel so as to illuminate the sheet such that the image is reproduced on the sheet; and
an image server in communication with the projector and comprising a non-transitory, machine-readable medium storing data representative of the image, and the data is such that the image reproduced on the sheet contains animated image elements, thereby creating an appearance of an animated poster on the poster portion; and
wherein the sheet is translucent with respect to light corresponding to the projected image.

2. The animated poster system of claim 1 , wherein the simulation panel is secured to and forms at least a part of a wall, the simulation panel comprises a surrounding wall portion at least partially surrounding the poster portion and having a textured pattern that is substantially the same as a textured pattern of the wall.

3. The animated poster system of claim 1 , wherein the simulation panel is configured to secure to and form at least a part of a wall, the simulation panel comprises a surrounding wall portion at least partially surrounding the poster portion and having a textured pattern that is substantially the same as a textured pattern of the wall, and wherein the surrounding wall portion comprises the casting resin and a filler disposed within the casting resin configured to provide structural reinforcement to the simulation panel.

4. The animated poster system of claim 1 , wherein the simulation panel is configured to secure to and form at least a part of a wall, the simulation panel comprises a surrounding wall portion at least partially surrounding the poster portion and having a textured pattern that is substantially the same as a textured pattern of the wall, and wherein the simulation panel is a continuous piece having the surrounding wall portion and the poster portion.

5. The animated poster system of claim 1 , wherein at least the poster portion comprises a neutral density filter configured to physically filter light that is incident on the sheet from the projector.

6. The animated poster system of claim 5 , wherein the simulation panel is a rear projection panel that enables the projector to project the image through the cast resin, through the neutral density filter, and onto the sheet.

7. The animated poster system of claim 1 , wherein the cast resin is substantially transparent with respect to visible light.

8. The animated poster system of claim 1 , wherein the data is such that the image reproduced on the sheet simulates a texture of paper.

9. The animated poster system of claim 1 , wherein the image server, the projector, or both, are configured to adjust a brightness of the image reproduced on the sheet to balance with ambient lighting in a setting including the simulation panel such that the image reproduced on the sheet has the appearance of a flat, graphic surface.

10. The animated poster system of claim 1 , wherein the simulation panel is formed by a process comprising:
securing a poster to a wall;
creating a mold of at least the poster using a mold material such that the mold comprises a texture and geometry of the poster;
filling the mold with a casting material;
curing the casting material to form a cast resin having the texture and geometry of the poster; and
placing the sheet within a position corresponding to the geometry of the poster.

11. The animated poster system of claim 10 , wherein creating a mold of at least the poster using the mold material comprises applying the mold material to the wall beyond a perimeter of the poster such that the mold material is also applied directly to the wall, and such that the mold also comprises a geometry and texture of a portion of the wall.

12. A method, comprising:
forming a simulation panel by a process comprising:
creating a mold of at least a poster on a textured wall using a mold material such that the mold comprises a texture and geometry of the poster;
filling the mold with a casting material;
curing the casting material to form a cast resin, wherein the cast resin comprises the texture and geometry of the poster; and
placing a translucent sheet in a position corresponding to the geometry of the poster, wherein the translucent sheet is placed in the position corresponding to the geometry of the poster after the curing of the casting material, or before the curing of the casting material.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the process comprises placing a neutral density filter in the position corresponding to the geometry of the poster in an overlapping relationship with the translucent sheet.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein creating a mold of at least the poster using the mold material comprises applying the mold material to the wall beyond a perimeter of the poster such that the mold material is also applied directly to the wall, and such that the mold also comprises a geometry and texture of a portion of the wall.

15. The method of claim 14 , comprising removing at least some of the portion of the wall that was molded to form an opening in the wall, and securing the simulation panel to the wall such that the opening is at least partially filled with the simulation panel.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein securing the simulation panel to the wall such that the opening is at least partially filled with the simulation panel comprises trimming a perimeter of the simulation panel to match a brick pattern of a remaining portion of the wall at the opening.

17. The method of claim 15 , comprising:
positioning a projector on one side of the wall, the projector being in communication with an image server comprising one or more non-transitory, machine readable media storing data corresponding to one or more images; and
projecting the one or more images onto a projection surface of the simulation panel at least in a region corresponding to a position of the translucent sheet so as to reproduce the one or more images on the simulation panel, wherein the data corresponding to the one or more images is such that when the one or more images is reproduced on the simulation panel, the one or more images comprise static elements and animated elements to thereby create the appearance of an animated poster.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein positioning the projector on the one side of the wall comprises hiding the projector from vantage points on an opposite side of the wall from where the one or more images are viewed on the simulation panel.

19. A system, comprising:
a simulation panel formed by a process comprising:
securing a poster to a wall;
creating a mold of the poster and at least a portion of the wall beyond a perimeter of the poster using a mold material such that the mold comprises a texture and geometry of the poster and a texture and geometry of the portion of the wall;
filling the mold with a casting material;
polymerizing the casting material to form a cast resin, the cast resin having at least some of the texture and the geometry of the poster and the wall, and wherein the casting material is such that the cast resin has a first optical transmittance; and
placing a translucent sheet in a position corresponding to the geometry of the poster such that the translucent sheet is disposed within an inset of the casting

Assignees

• Universal City Studios Llc

Inventors

• Kawash Sameer
• Hibbs Derek
• Fretts Joel
• Ogden Michael

Classifications

• G09F19/18 Primary

  involving the use of optical projection means, e.g. projection of images on clouds (projection apparatus per se G03B) · CPC title

• G09F13/08

  using both translucent and non-translucent layers · CPC title

• G09F13/0409

  Arrangements for homogeneous illumination of the display surface, e.g. using a layer having a non-uniform transparency (arrangements of reflectors G09F13/14) · CPC title

• G03B21/62 Primary

  Translucent screens · CPC title

• G06T13/80 Primary

  Two-dimensional [2D] animation, e.g. using sprites · CPC title