The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 10, 1994
Filed:
Jan. 29, 1993
M Kent Norton, Los Gatos, CA (US);
Other;
Abstract
A compact hand-held viewing apparatus that automatically determines the three-dimensional direction in which it is pointing and automatically presents information to the user related to features which are visible in the field of view of the apparatus in that three-dimensional direction. Any given embodiment of the invention is intended to be used for viewing a predetermined subject matter, such as astronomical features of the night sky or geographical features of the distant terrain. Included within the apparatus is a database with data about the predetermined subject matter correlated with three-dimensional direction. The apparatus is configured to provide data from the database in real time to the user as the user observes the field of view in a selected three-dimensional direction. If the user points the apparatus in a different three-dimensional direction, the direction-sensing mechanism determines the new direction, and the apparatus updates the data presented to the user to correspond to the new direction. The illustrated apparatus includes a visual display mechanism which presents data from the database to the user in the form of a visual reference display superimposed on the field of view so that the user may observe the actual view and the reference display at the same time. The image or text displayed in the reference display depends on the three-dimensional direction in which the apparatus is pointing. The apparatus includes appropriate processing circuitry for processing the three-dimensional directional data from the sensing mechanism and updating the reference display.