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:
Aug. 17, 2004
Filed:
Oct. 11, 2000
Larry J. Eshelman, Ossining, NY (US);
Srinivas Gutta, Buchanan, NY (US);
John Milanski, Tarrytown, NY (US);
Hugo J. Strubbe, Yorktown Heights, NY (US);
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., Eindhoven, NL;
Abstract
The appearance of a cabinet for a device (e.g., a television) is dynamically controlled. One way of controlling the appearance of the cabinet is by providing a display panel on the cabinet. At least one input is obtained from an input device and processed by a controller. Based on these inputs, the controller sends signals to the display panel to change the appearance of the display panel. Lamps and heat-sensitive materials may be used to effectuate the desired change in appearance. The cabinet display features may be controlled to give the device the appearance of having a persona or of being an independent animate being. For example, lights in the cabinet could flash to suggest the device is laughing in response to the detection of a laugh track in a sitcom being displayed on the device. Patterns and colors can be generated to reflect moods according to the preferences of an interaction-design programmer.