Interval Research Corporation

Vulcan Patents LLC

Internal Research Corporation

David A Burgess

Jonathan R Cohen

Kimberly H Johnson

Henry B Strub

David P Reed

Steven E Saunders

Lee Felsenstein

G Roberto Aiello

The invention enables 'low attention recording,' i.e., recording that need not appreciably affect interaction of a recorder (i.e., a person in control of a recording unit according to the invention) or others with the environment in which the recording is taking place. The low attention recording enabled by the invention can be particularly advantageously employed in 'social recording,' i.e., recording in which multiple participants in an event are recording the event. As described in more detail below, advantageous aspects of the invention can be provided by a small, lightweight, wearable recording unit.

Low attention recording with particular application to social recording

The invention enables a recorder to mark a recording as an event is being recorded. The invention can enable the specification of a mark so that the mark is associated with recording data obtained at a time other than the time at which the mark is specified ('non-contemporaneous marking'), i.e., prior to the time of the mark ('retrospective marking') or after the time of the mark (&#x201c;predictive marking&#x201d;). The invention can also enable the use of multiple types of marks, each type of mark having a particular meaning. Additionally, the invention can enable marking capability to be implemented so that specification of a mark causes predetermined operation of the recording unit in accordance with the type of the mark (&#x201c;augmented marking&#x201d;).

Flexible marking of recording data by a recording unit

Low attention recording, with particular application to social recording

The invention enables &ldquo;low attention recording,&rdquo; i.e., recording that need not appreciably affect interaction of a recorder (i.e., a person in control of a recording unit according to the invention) or others with the environment in which the recording is taking place. The low attention recording enabled by the invention can be particularly advantageously employed in &ldquo;social recording,&rdquo; i.e., recording in which multiple participants in an event are recording the event. As described in more detail below, advantageous aspects of the invention can be provided by a small, lightweight, wearable recording unit. In particular, a &ldquo;hybrid recording unit&rdquo; having the above-described characteristics and advantages is constructed by adding to a portable video recorder (e.g., camcorder, portable dockable videotape recorder (VTR)) one or more devices (an &ldquo;auxiliary device&rdquo;) that provide additional functionality to the portable video recorder. The auxiliary device can advantageously provide, for example, one or more of the following capabilities: marking, position sensing, physiological monitoring and/or biometric identification.

Hybrid recording unit including portable video recorder and auxillary device

The invention can enable the position (i.e., location and/or orientation) of one or more untethered objects to be tracked. One or more transmitters, each of which has a fixed and known positional relationship to a corresponding object, each emit a sequence of position tracking signals. Each transmitter can emit a unique, identifiable position tracking signal so that the transmitter (and the object to which the transmitter is coupled) from which a signal was emitted can be identified, thereby enabling the position of multiple objects to be tracked. Multiple receivers receive the position tracking signals emitted by each transmitter. The receivers record the times at which signals are received. These recorded times can be communicated to a controller, which can determine from the recorded times the location of each object at a time that a position tracking signal was emitted from the corresponding transmitter. If multiple transmitters are coupled to each object, the orientation of the object can be determined in addition to the location. The position tracking signals can advantageously be ultrasonic signals, which require relatively little power, thus enabling the transmitters to be embodied in a physically small device, so that correspondingly small objects can be tracked. The invention can be used to track objects in small and medium-scale tracking spaces and can be adapted to track the position of an object or objects in one, two or three dimensions. An inertial device can be added to the object, in addition to the transmitter, to enhance the tracking of the object's location.

Untethered position tracking system

The invention enables &ldquo;low attention recording,&rdquo; i.e., recording that need not appreciably affect interaction of a recorder (i.e., a person in control of a recording unit according to the invention) or others with the environment in which the recording is taking place. The low attention recording enabled by the invention can be particularly advantageously employed in &ldquo;social recording,&rdquo; i.e., recording in which multiple participants in an event are recording the event. As described in more detail below, advantageous aspects of the invention can be provided by a small, lightweight, wearable recording unit. In particular, a recording unit according to the invention is particularly adapted to enable use of the recording unit to record an event during which the recorder engages in vigorous physical activity (e.g., an athletic activity, such as hiking, snow skiing or ping pong). The recording unit is constructed with a particular emphasis on the wearability characteristics of the recording unit, in order to facilitate freedom of movement by the recorder and minimize distraction to, or encumbrance of, the recorder's participation in the activity.

Low attention recording unit for use by vigorously active recorder

A personal object or obstacle detector apparatus with enhanced stereo imaging capability includes a sonar system having dual receivers with field lobes positioned based on psychoacoustic considerations such as interaural intensity difference (IID) and interaural time difference (ITD). Receiver field pattern shapes and directions are selected to match the natural IID and ITD associated with human hearing. In one embodiment, dual receivers are used with a common transmitter while another embodiment utilizes two transmitter/receiver pairs with the transmitter and receiver collocated.

Personal object detector with enhanced stereo imaging capability

A personal object or obstacle detector apparatus comprises a continuous transmission frequency modulation (CTFM) ranging system and an audio output device. The CTFM ranging system transmits a frequency-swept pressure wave, receives a reflected frequency-swept pressure wave from at least one object, and forms an audio signal based upon a frequency difference between the frequency-swept pressure wave and the reflected frequency-swept pressure wave the audio signal having an amplitude dependent upon size of the object. The audio output device produces an acoustic pressure wave in dependence upon the audio signal. In a preferred embodiment, the acoustic pressure wave contains separate tones for each of the objects detected, wherein each tone has a pitch dependent upon the distance from the CTFM ranging system to the corresponding object. Another embodiment utilizes a pair of CTFM ranging systems to produce a stereo auditory map of objects and obstacles.

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Fairfield, CA, United States of America

David A Burgess