EP1652162A2 - Interactive printed material and sensor apparatus - Google Patents
Interactive printed material and sensor apparatusInfo
- Publication number
- EP1652162A2 EP1652162A2 EP04743557A EP04743557A EP1652162A2 EP 1652162 A2 EP1652162 A2 EP 1652162A2 EP 04743557 A EP04743557 A EP 04743557A EP 04743557 A EP04743557 A EP 04743557A EP 1652162 A2 EP1652162 A2 EP 1652162A2
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- sensor device
- sensor
- printed material
- printed
- combination according
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
Links
Classifications
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- G—PHYSICS
- G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
- G09B—EDUCATIONAL OR DEMONSTRATION APPLIANCES; APPLIANCES FOR TEACHING, OR COMMUNICATING WITH, THE BLIND, DEAF OR MUTE; MODELS; PLANETARIA; GLOBES; MAPS; DIAGRAMS
- G09B7/00—Electrically-operated teaching apparatus or devices working with questions and answers
- G09B7/06—Electrically-operated teaching apparatus or devices working with questions and answers of the multiple-choice answer-type, i.e. where a given question is provided with a series of answers and a choice has to be made from the answers
- G09B7/063—Electrically-operated teaching apparatus or devices working with questions and answers of the multiple-choice answer-type, i.e. where a given question is provided with a series of answers and a choice has to be made from the answers with hand-placed probe or plug
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- G—PHYSICS
- G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
- G09B—EDUCATIONAL OR DEMONSTRATION APPLIANCES; APPLIANCES FOR TEACHING, OR COMMUNICATING WITH, THE BLIND, DEAF OR MUTE; MODELS; PLANETARIA; GLOBES; MAPS; DIAGRAMS
- G09B5/00—Electrically-operated educational appliances
- G09B5/06—Electrically-operated educational appliances with both visual and audible presentation of the material to be studied
- G09B5/062—Combinations of audio and printed presentations, e.g. magnetically striped cards, talking books, magnetic tapes with printed texts thereon
Definitions
- This invention relates to interactive printed material and sensor apparatus.
- Printed material is traditionally used for a wide variety of purposes,
- a typical example is a printed bar code: this is perfectly visible as a pattern of black and white stripes, and the size and arrangement of the stripes (and often of accompanying Arabic numerals) enables the human viewer to know that it is a barcode, but the human viewer can do no more than that.
- a bar code reader can extract a signal from the stripes and, using suitable programming, convert the signal, for example into a signal identifying a particular product which bears that bar code.
- printed material may be configured to provide more information than is evident to the viewer of that material in two different ways: it can contain information which is invisible to the eye, or it can contain information which, while visible, is not comprehendible or intelligible by the human viewer.
- WO-A-83/02842 discloses an interactive printed material/sensor system which makes use of information invisibly printed, but which can be detected by a sensor.
- this specification discloses a system of invisibly encoding the printing by exploiting the inability of the human eye to operate at infrared wavelengths. Based on the fact that apparently identical black printing (or four-colour process printing) reflects infrared light very differently depending upon the type of "black material" used in the ink, discrimination between visually apparently identical areas can be achieved.
- This technique can be used in practice to provide a variety of teaching and amusement systems consisting of a sensor device, usually conveniently configured as a sort of "pen” or “wand” which is held in the hand of the user, and a printed sheet or book.
- a sensor device usually conveniently configured as a sort of "pen” or “wand” which is held in the hand of the user, and a printed sheet or book.
- Other configurations of the sensor device such as a moveable cursor or “mouse” have also been proposed.
- the sensor device incorporates some form of infrared emitter and infrared sensor, usually at one end if the sensor device is an elongate "pen”, as well as appropriate electronics and a power supply, e.g. in the form of a small battery.
- the electronics is usually configured as a single chip to keep down costs and save space, the chip being designed to provide the functions necessary, i.e. sensing the property of the printed material in question (in conjunction with a suitable sensor head, and producing some form of output, usually audible and/or visible, driving e.g. one or more LEDs or an audio transducer.
- the electronics is usually in the form of an ASIC - an Application Specific Integrated Circuit - connected to the power supply, sensor and output devices. Additionally, the sensor device conventionally includes some sort of switch mechanism, e.g. a ring around the tip of the "pen" which activates the electronics when the tip is placed against a surface.
- the area of surface to be sensed is printed with printing ink and the electronics in the sensor device then reacts, for example by generating an audible or visual signal dependent upon the infrared absorptive properties of the printed ink.
- the assembly of ASIC, sensor and power supply can be thought of as a "sensor module" which is incorporated in a suitable casing to form the complete sensor device.
- one way of presenting this is in the form of a question and answer sheet where the user is confronted with a question and a set of possible answers, one of which is usually correct and the others of which are wrong.
- a patch of printing ink of appropriate infrared absorption properties adjacent a printed answer the user can tell whether the answer is right or wrong by applying the sensor device to the printed patch.
- the printed patches are often printed in different colours, for example red, green, yellow and blue, so that they appear different and attractive, but where one of them (corresponding to the right answer) contains some carbon black in the black process ink (where, as is very often the case, the patches are printed by four-colour process printing).
- the other patches may contain no carbon black, or a completely different level of carbon black, so enabling the sensor module to discriminate between right and wrong answers.
- an early learning book may ask the user to identify which fruits illustrated start with a given letter of the alphabet, for example "a".
- the accompanying illustration may, for example, show pictorial representations of an apple and an apricot (printed with an ink giving a level of infrared absorption above a given threshold) and pictures of other fruits, such as dates, bananas, oranges, greengages and lemons, all of which are printed with printing ink having a degree of infra-red absorption less than the given threshold.
- An alternative approach is to provide some form of maze or like multi-track representation, one selected track of which is printed in an ink with infra-red absorption above the threshold, and the other tracks below.
- the sensor device may indicate, e.g., by the use of a green light-emitting diode, that the sensor device is "on track” while if it is moved off the track, the output may be in the form of a red light indicating that the user has moved off the correct track.
- WO-A-88/05951 discloses a sensor device provided with a programming mode and a small display screen, the degree of sophistication of activities available with such a device was still relatively limited. As described in WO-A-83/02842 and WO-A-88/05951 , the number of different levels of infrared absorption which can be handled is relatively small, which severely limits the flexibility of operation. Additionally, it is not always as easy as might first appear to render the distinction between infrared absorptive ink patches and infrared reflective ink patches wholly invisible to the naked eye.
- US-A-4627819 suggests that the scanner may have multiple levels of sensitivity and additionally suggests five different bands of "dot density", but there is no detail given as to the precise construction and operation of such a scanner, and the degree of sophistication available using the techniques described in US-A-4627819 is still relatively small.
- the basic printed material and sensor device may be enhanced in a variety of ways, and those enhancements may be used either alone or in combination with other enhancements to suit a myriad of potential applications.
- the ways in which the underlying technology defined above may be enhanced, in accordance with the invention, include:
- the sensor module such as to be able to distinguish between at least five and preferably at least ten different levels of infrared absorption
- the second property may be optical, e.g. colour, fluorescence, or non-optical, e.g. conductivity; providing memory means inside the sensor module capable of maintaining at least transiently a record of successive conditions sensed by the sensor module, and altering the future behaviour of the sensor module accordingly;
- - providing a press switch in the sensor device and means within the sensor module to store and analyse data produced on sequential switch operations and, in response thereto to produce a pre-selected output - visible or audible - and/or to modify the operational mode of the sensor module; - providing the sensor device with an output display in the form of a screen and icons, and wherein the screen and icons include at least one icon recognisably reflective of emotion, and providing within the sensor module software for analysing a series of successive inputs, and adjusting the perceived emotion represented by the screen icon accordingly;
- the sensor device with an audio output transducer and programming or configuring the sensor module to drive the transducer to produce an audio output selected from a range of possibilities depending upon the properties of an area of printed material against which the sensor device is placed.
- the range may include recognisable words or phrases or recognisable sounds such as of cheering, sobbing or laughter; providing in the sensor device means capable of projecting on to an area of the printed material adjacent the area against which a sensor head is pressed a patch of colour, for example green for a right answer and red for a wrong one;
- the - providing in the sensor device means capable of illuminating the area on the printed material adjacent an area against which a sensor head is pressed, the printed material being such as to reveal visibly to the human eye, under such illumination, one or more printed features not, or not substantially, visible under normal illumination;
- the sensor device in the form of an elongate body having a sensor tip at one end and a screen adjacent or substantially adjacent the other end, the screen being located extending along the side of the elongate body and the sensor module being programmed to display alphanumeric information in accordance with the input received by the sensor, where the direction of the line or lines of alphanumeric information read from left to right runs transversely to the longitudinal axis of the sensor device;
- the sensor device as an elongate humanoid or animal figure with a sensor at one end e.g. an infrared light- emitter/detector component, wherein the sensor is covered when the sensor device is not in use by a cover configured to represent footwear of the humanoid or animal figure;
- the sensor device as an elongate unit with a sensor located on one end, the end having a removable cap to preserve the sensor from dust, etc., the side of the sensor device having a recess shaped and sized to enable the removable end cap to be press fitted therein, and wherein the removable end cap is captive and may be positioned as desired, press fitted into the recess or covering the sensor;
- the features to be selected and/or used individually or in combination from the above list can vary widely depending upon the specific purpose envisaged. In other words, different features may be combined in different ways to provide different interactive sensor device/printed material combinations which are useful in different contexts.
- combinations of interactive printed material and sensor device which comprise printed material having information incorporated in printing applied to a substrate which is not comprehendible by the human observer, and wherein the sensor device is adapted to sense a property of the printed material and discriminate between regions of the printing thereof, the sensor device including a display screen and means adapted to display on the screen a set of stylised faces displaying, to the human observer, differing conditions, and wherein the sensor device is configured to resemble an animal or humanoid figure with the screen positioned corresponding to the position of the face thereof, and wherein the sensor device includes a sensor head located at an extremity of the humanoid or animal figure.
- the face on the screen may be animated so as to synchronise the lips with a voice output, and the eyes may be made to move randomly or blink, thus providing an illusion that the face is 'alive'.
- the techniques according to the present invention may be adapted in various combinations to provide substantially more sophisticated teaching or revision materials, or, for example, multiple choice question and answer materials which can be used to carry out a sort of self-administered quiz, either from the point of view of learning and examination of what has been learnt, or from the point of view of entertainment.
- the present invention provides an interactive printed material and sensor device combination comprising printed material having information incorporated in printing applied to a substrate which is not comprehendible by the human observer, and wherein the sensor device is adapted to sense a property of the printed material and discriminate between regions of the printing thereof, and wherein the sensor device is configured to distinguish the regions by measurement of the property of the printed material into at least five categories, and to provide a human appreciable output varying in dependence on the measurement of the property made and/or a sequence of such measurements.
- a known format for teaching or amusement material is that of printed material and a sensor pen or wand designed to be grasped by the user and brought into contact with the printed material to enable the pen or wand to sense a parameter or property of the portion of the printed material in which it comes into contact, and wherein the actual sensing process is triggered by switch means which are actuated by contact between the printed material and the pen or wand, and wherein the pen or wand contains output means such as a visual display or audible output, the display or audible output being driven in accordance with rules pre-programmed into a sensor module.
- the programmed nature of the response to be displayed on a visual display or reflected in an audio output alters in response to a combination of the switching of the switch means, the value of the parameter or property sensed by the sensor when actuated following actuation of the switch means, and the timing of the switching of the switch means and the change from one sensed value of the parameter or property to another.
- Time switching and value of the sensed parameter or property can be considered as three inputs into a complex programme stored, for example, in a microchip in the pen or wand, all three being taken into account in real time to determine, in accordance with the programming, the specific output in question, for example whether it is a specific material displayed on a visual display, specific word, music or other audible output emitted by a suitable audio transducer, or a combination of the two.
- the specific output in question for example whether it is a specific material displayed on a visual display, specific word, music or other audible output emitted by a suitable audio transducer, or a combination of the two.
- the sensor device may produce an output indicative of that, for example it may, via an appropriate voice synthesis chip, prompt the user to "Read the instructions again!, or "No! - follow the track with the end of the pen".
- the printed material or printed matter which constitutes a part of the interactive system of the invention may be produced in a variety of ways, but it is necessary, having regard to the need for the printed material to work sensibly and cooperatively with the sensor module, to exercise due care in terms of the print process used.
- the preferred method of printing to produce the printed material is four-colour process printing, i.e. material is printed using four so-called process colours and the invisible or unintelligible differences between different parts of the printed material are provided by using different ingredients in the four-colour process printing inks used, or, more particularly, using two types of black ink, one containing highly infrared absorptive carbon black, and the other not.
- Standard process black ink contains a substantial quantity of carbon black and is highly absorptive to infrared radiation.
- coloured patches may be printed using no process black ink in some cases, and process black ink in others. By adjusting the screen densities of the printing, coloured patches containing no process black ink may look just as dark as those which do.
- Using a single sensed parameter, for example infrared absorption, for the printed areas on the printed material can enable the sensor device to discriminate between a number of different conditions, conveniently thought of as different levels of infrared absorption, but even with self-calibration facilities provided on the printed material (explained further below), the number of different levels which can be discriminated is relatively small, for example a maximum of between 5 and 10, and, working towards the top end of this range, it becomes ever more difficult in terms of quality control of the sensor module and process control of the printing to ensure that reliable error-free operation will prevail when the combination is used in practice.
- the ability to discriminate between more than 10 different conditions is desired, and, in accordance with a particularly preferred feature of the present invention, this may be achieved by arranging that the sensor device looks not just at a single property of the printed material, but at two or even three properties thereof.
- a printed patch printed on relatively white paper or other substrate is printed using process yellow
- the amount of absorption is very small.
- that same yellow light is used to illuminate a patch which contains a process cyan or process magenta
- the materials in those inks absorb yellow light, so the amount of yellow light reflected will be substantially smaller.
- other spectral colours can be detected.
- the sensor device can discriminate between five different colours, and additionally contains means enabling discrimination between six levels of infrared absorption, then the simultaneous testing of a patch of printed material using the sensor device can discriminate between 6 x 5, i.e. 30 different combinations. Being able to distinguish between 30 different types of printed patch enables, for example, sophisticated or "intelligent" game play using 26 alphabetic letters in a variety of ways.
- the sensor module contains an appropriate microprocessor or ASIC, with suitable pre-programmed material stored in memory, it is possible, for example, to produce a combination of sensor device and printed material with which to play a "spelling game".
- the sensor module may be internally programmed to speak (via a voice synthesis chip and transducer) a given word, the object of the game then being to spell that word correctly.
- the sensor module can detect whether the user has selected the correct letters in the correct order to spell the word it has previously enunciated.
- the sensor device may emit a suitable congratulatory message such as "Well done! Now try spelling.", the phrase being completed by another word selected at random from a large number stored in the sensor module.
- the audio transducer may emit a spoken "word” corresponding to the letter in question, e.g. "eh”, “bee”, “sea”, etc.
- the sensor module As will be readily appreciated, operating in this way requires the sensor module to have a relatively sophisticated memory storage which will enable a variety of operational modes to be selected.
- Such sensor modules could be pre-programmed entirely during manufacture, but this is not preferred as it limits the use of the sensor device to use with printed material which operates in accordance with one of the pre-programmed modes.
- Pre-printed material which operates in accordance with a fresh mode not stored in the sensor module cannot be effectively used. For this reason, it is highly desired to have within the sensor module a re-programmable area of stored data and to carry out re-programming in accordance with the printed material to be used with the sensor device.
- An infrared sensor forming part of the sensor module can capture that data stream and the electronics internally of the sensor module can then convert it into an appropriate newly programmed operational mode conditioning the behaviour of the sensor device to match that required by the particular printed material.
- a revision test paper may be envisaged consisting of a suitable sensor device and printed material showing a printed question in words and a selection of possible answers, against each of which answers a coloured printed patch is positioned.
- the user indicates his or her choice of answer by pressing the sensor device, e.g. pen configured as a sensor against the printed patch to sense properties of that patch.
- the sensor device may react in some appropriate fashion, e.g. by giving an indication of whether the answer just identified by pressing is "right or wrong".
- the individual answer patches may in fact be visually discriminatable by the normal eye, for example they may be of different colours, but the difference which may be important will not be so visible. However, even in the case where there is one "right" answer, it is highly advantageous to have the user of the sensor device/printed material combination of the present invention provided with more information than merely whether they have got the answer right or wrong.
- the sensor module can discriminate between a large number of different states corresponding to the patch of printed material sensed, enabling very effective teaching and/or entertainment material to be produced.
- the e.g. five different answers be coded as between the correct answer and ones which are incorrect, but, in addition, the incorrect answers may be differentially coded so that the sensor device may be enabled to provide a reaction tailored not merely to the fact that the user has got the answer wrong, but giving more directed and targeted guidance.
- there may be a straightforward correct answer but the others may be close, not so close, or so remote from the question that it is astonishing that they could have been considered for a moment as a potential legitimate answer.
- the individual visible colours provide, together with the invisible carbon black non-IR-absorption black balance, a large number of differentiable combinations, so that, e.g., on pressing on a coloured patch, an appropriate voice message may emerge e.g. from a voice synthesis chip and transducer forming part of the sensor device, the particular message being selected from a wide range of stored messages.
- the present invention may be used to produce educational book materials which overcome this problem in two different ways.
- the sensor device is programmed to act generically with all corresponding pages/books. All levels are pre-assigned, and variation from one page to the next is achieved purely in the graphical content of each page, and by using game play techniques which mitigate against apparent repetition. As the user follows instructions on the printed page, hidden coding may cause the sensor device to vary the way it reacts in accordance with its internal programming.
- the sensor devices are programmed with a game play which requires the responses to be coordinated with each new task. This can be automatically achieved by the sensor device displaying a number or symbol which corresponds with the appropriate printed task/activity. Only when each task is completed is a new number displayed. This new number can be the next sequential task, or a new assignment selected depending on previous performance. In this way, a book of tasks can be different each time the user uses it. The user can be allowed to override the displayed task number if the programme allows.
- the sensor module is preferably provided with a method for self-checking and re-calibrating against the particular printed material in question.
- a method for self-checking and re-calibrating against the particular printed material in question it is possible, for example, to identify on the printed material a sequence of differently printed areas or patches and optionally including an unprinted area which may be used by way of calibration materially to enhance the ability of the sensor module to discriminate between different values of a sensed property such as infrared reflectance.
- the sensor device preferably includes a switch rendering it operative, i.e. triggering a sensing procedure to measure a property.
- the internal programming of the sensor module may be such as to place it into a sleeping mode if the switch is not actuated for a given length of time, and into a calibration mode on power up so that the first thing a user does when coming to use material produced in accordance with the present invention is to calibrate the sensor device against the particular piece of printed material which is subsequently to be sensed. This is not always ideal, as users tend to ignore such 'housekeeping', but, as explained below, recalibration can also occur "on the fly", i.e. as the sensor device is being used on successive patches of printed material as part of a game or test task.
- Self-calibration is important for producing stable sensor device/printed material combinations according to the invention, as the areas of four-colour process printing, which react differently when they are looked at by the sensor module, suffer from inevitable variations in print quality, for example variations in ink application rates, screen separations, underlying paper or other stock on which the material is printed. Because of these variables, there is scope for variation in the precise response of any given printed area.
- One way of effecting calibration of the sensor module is to identify on the printed material a number of areas, one of which is simply an unprinted area of the base or substrate material and the others of which corresponding in number to the number of different levels of response it is desired to detect.
- the printed material may carry an unprinted area, and five printed areas.
- the response for example the infrared reflectance
- the response for example the infrared reflectance
- the internal processing of subsequently input data corresponding to other areas of the printed material interrogated by the sensor module can then be assessed against the values, e.g. of infrared reflectance or absorption read by the sensor module during the calibration process.
- the values e.g. of infrared reflectance or absorption read by the sensor module during the calibration process.
- the sensor module may be internally programmed to recognise as corresponding to a given one of the five levels responses within the following bands: 78-82, 61- 65, 47-53, 38-41 , 16-25. It will be noted that these ranges are spaced apart from one another so that there is no overlap. The degree of spacing between such ranges may be chosen appropriately depending upon the amount of sophistication that is built into the sensor module on the one hand and the amount of variability in the printed material emerging from the particular printing process used on the other.
- the sensor device may be arranged to prompt the user to "try again", since variations within a printed area can occur, as can variations in sensing due to, e.g. the precise angle at which the sensor device is held relative to the printed material which is under the control of the user. Very often, re-application of the sensor device will result in a response which can be assigned to one of the levels in question.
- the device may also be programmed to detect if the number or closeness on time of such "try again” prompts exceeds a certain level and, if it does, prompt the user to re-calibrate the sensor module, e.g. by placing the sensor device successively against a set of printed patches as described above.
- the sensor module self-calibrate as the sensor device is used on successive patches. This is of particular importance if the module is arranged to discriminate between several different levels of a given property where the printed patches are intended to have properties precisely corresponding to those seven levels. If the sensor module finds that for a sequence of patches, the detected response is consistently higher than or lower than the target ideal response, then the measurement base line can be shifted internally by the electronics within the sensor module to normalise the measurements to match most closely those theoretically expected. More generally, self-calibration or recalibration can compensate for a number of variations which can affect the performance of the sensor device.
- Variations in the printing of the material with which the sensor device is designed to interact are mentioned above, but these are not the only variables.
- the sensor heads preferably used are semiconductor based packages, and although with modern manufacturing techniques variations can be rendered relatively small, they are inevitable, and being able to compensate for them also enables relatively inexpensive components to be used; the tighter the performance tolerances for semiconductor packaged devices, the greater the cost.
- Another variable is the distance of the sensor head from the surface of the printed material at the point in time at which sensing takes place. This will depend on the precise geometry of the sensor head and surrounding components. Again, if these need only to be made to reasonable tolerances, the price of the sensor head assembly can be kept low.
- the device may also detect when the variation is such that a conscious re-calibration, e.g. using a sequence of different patches as indicated above, must be carried out by the user and/or the device may prompt the user, e.g. to replace the battery when recalibration is no longer sufficient to maintain satisfactory operation.
- a conscious re-calibration e.g. using a sequence of different patches as indicated above
- the apparatus of the present invention consists essentially of printed material and a sensor device.
- the sensor module in the sensor device senses a property of an area of the printed material, it needs to produce (though not always immediately) a perceptible reaction.
- the sensor device may be so constructed that each time it is applied to sense the property of an area of printed material, an indication is given that such sensing has taken place.
- application of the sensor device to the printed material causes a switch to be actuated, which switch triggers the sensing step, and which may also trigger, e.g. a visual signal such as a flash from a light-emitting diode which is part of the sensor device or an audible signal, e.g. a beep or click.
- a switch such as a flash from a light-emitting diode which is part of the sensor device
- an audible signal e.g. a beep or click.
- This latter approach is of particular value in connection with apparatus according to the invention configured as a pre-printed test sheet and associated marking sensor. The user may need to work through the entire test paper, e.g.
- This automatic indication that the sensing has taken place may be thought of as a simple and automatic output provided by the sensor device when in use.
- the sensor device may, however, contain other output devices, the particular output being dependent on the properties of the area of printing being sensed.
- the output may take the form of an audible output and/or a visual output, for example, as mentioned above, of a face expressing emotion - for example with a downturned mouth if a wrong answer is selected and a smiling mouth if a correct answer is selected.
- the output may be in the form of speech which is coordinated with changes in the shape of the mouth of a screen display representing a face - such a sensor device will thus appear to talk, and indeed to display a degree of "intelligence".
- the sensor module is configured to store data from previous sensing activity and then to produce an output dependent not only on the latest area of printed material sensed but additionally on the previous activity of the user.
- a third type of output may be considerably more sophisticated and is of substantial value in connection with apparatus according to the present invention for use in multiple choice question and answer tests where, for example, the output by way of a score may be displayed only at the end of the test, for example on some form of display screen built into the sensor device. That display screen may display other information as well, either alphanumerically or by use of appropriate icons.
- the degree of discrimination required of the sensor device may be relatively small. Indeed, it is sometimes possible to operate perfectly satisfactorily simply with a sensor device discriminating between only two levels of property, but there are substantial advantages in using, say, five levels of property and discriminating between them since this enables, for example, the production of a book of revision or test papers which can be scored by the device itself without necessarily having to be re- programmed before the test or revision exercise is commenced.
- a question and answer paper consists of 20 questions each with multiple possible answers, one of which is correct
- the correct answer a patch may be printed with a number of different levels, e.g. of infrared reflectance, each of which indicates to the device that the correct answer has been given, but where incorrect answers are either all provided with printing design to give the same level of response, or (preferably) with one of two levels with each question having the patches corresponding to the wrong answers set to one or other of the levels alternately.
- the microprocessor can then decode from the particular sequence the number of questions in the paper and, for example, a target time within which all of the questions should have been answered. This can be done quite easily mathematically by using a non-repeating sequence of four levels, for example of 32 variables in length. If, because the user is inadequately prepared, the sensor device can make no sense of a sequence of detected levels, a message can then be displayed, or, indeed, given audibly that it would be a good idea to go back and do some revision work before attempting the test again.
- the sensor device of the present invention may include a further output device in the form of illumination means adapted, on detecting the input, to illuminate an area adjacent the detector head of the sensor device.
- the printed material contains, printed adjacent a plurality of answer patches, intelligible material which is printed in ink not visible under normal illumination, but which may be rendered visible when illuminated with near ultraviolet light, and wherein the sensor device contains a near ultra-violet- emitting illumination device.
- the illumination device in the sensor device may be triggered and the user looking at the printed material sees, as if by magic, a new inscription emerging.
- a not very visible marking may be made to stand out strongly if illuminated, e.g. with red or green light.
- a further possibility for the output of the sensor device is an audible output, in particular the sensor device constructed to provide a tone generation, which enables the provision of a musical output.
- individual levels may correspond to individual notes so enabling a tune to be recorded on paper as a series of printed patches and the tune to be reproduced by contacting the sensor device in turn with the printed patches.
- the tune may take the form of a printed strip with the properties of the strip varying along its length, and the sensor may then be moved along the strip, sensing properties of the printed strip as it goes, and playing a tune corresponding to the printing. This can be particularly entertaining since the speed at which the tune is played can then be varied by the user.
- the sensor device output may be, in terms of audio output, relatively unsophisticated, e.g. simply producing a musical note of a fairly neutral timbre, or, of course, it may be much more sophisticated, for example emitting a note at a given pitch, but with the timbre corresponding to piano, harpsichord, guitar, trumpet, sousaphone or whatever.
- appropriate means may be provided to select from a number of different "instruments", for example by arranging for the sensor device to operate first in an instrument selection mode using information encoded in a sequence of patches with sequentially interrogated first, whereafter the device may emit an audible tone (with the timbre of the instrument selected) to show it is ready to play.
- Such an elongate pen may include an appropriate power supply, conventionally one or more batteries fitting into an appropriate compartment, some form of switch, and some form of sensor at one end.
- an optoelectronic device adapted when actuated to emit a burst of radiation, for example infrared radiation, associated with a radiation detection device adapted to measure the quantity of radiation reflected from the printed material against which the end of the sensor device is placed.
- the end conventionally includes some form of pressure switch to trigger the burst of radiation and the sensing of the amount reflected.
- the sensor device will also include some sort of processing electronics. This may vary from a simple pre-programmed fixed programme logic chip to a sophisticated re-programmable microprocessor chip or reconfigurable ASIC.
- reprogramming or reconfiguration can be arranged to be effected by any convenient means, e.g. an input direct electrical connection, and inductive loop connection or a coded infrared input/output unit such as used in "wireless" connection of computer peripherals to a central PC or to unload/download data between e.g. a PC and a PDA.
- This last is particularly preferred as it enables the sensor device to interact not only with a PDA or PC, but also, for example, with an infrared communication-enabled microchip located e.g. attached to a page of a book or embedded in a card cover thereof. If only a small amount of data is needed for reprogramming or reconfiguration, this may even be provided as a printed strip or strips on the printed material along which the sensor device is scanned to "read" the data and change the behaviour of the sensor module.
- a programmable microprocessor chip or ASIC also enables the sensor device to take far more notice of the timing of e.g. successive actuation of a proximity switch adapted to trigger a property measurement, and/or the length of time for which such actuation is effected (which may, as it were, tell the sensor device that its sensor head is being moved over a variable property track of printed material).
- a further possible input to such a microprocessor might be the angle at which the sensor device is held against the printed material, which can be detected by using an appropriate design of proximity switch adjacent the sensor head.
- the various techniques described above for increasing the sophistication of the sensor device lead to the possibility of producing interactive sensor device/printed material combinations which react in a way which is complex, unintelligible to the user, and which provides the possibility of very complex teaching or amusement materials, in particular ones where the mode of interaction between one page or sheet of the material and the sensor device varies from the mode of interaction of a different sheet or page of the same printed material.
- the sensor device appears to be picking up intelligence from the printed page or sheet and using that intelligence to modify its own behaviour in a way which is not immediately evident to the user, but which corresponds to the fact that material which is intelligible on each of the printed sheets or pages does mean something to the user because it can be viewed and interpreted.
- What is viewed and interpreted can be verbal, pictorial, or a combination of the two, and it is the three way interaction between the perceived intelligible material on the printed page, the imperceptible interaction between the sensor device and the printed page and the intelligible interaction between the user and the image which appears on the display which provides for a richness of operation unachievable using the various prior art techniques set out in the specifications referred to above, or at least only achievable with very substantial outlay.
- Much, of course depends on the sophistication of the programming, and with the rise in availability of so-called computer games over the last few years, the education and amusement market has become very enured to the sophistication and complexity reflected in current product offerings in that area.
- the learning or gaming experience obtainable mediated via a computer with a display screen or monitor of standard type and some sort of input/output device such as a keyboard, joystick, mouse, or specially adapted hand-operated unit (such as sold under the Trade Mark PLAYSTATION®) is highly satisfactory, but obviously it requires the use of sophisticated, and accordingly expensive, equipment and, indeed, often fixed equipment, for example a PC in a domestic environment plugged into the normal electrical mains supply.
- the cost of corresponding recordable devices, i.e. laptop computers is very substantial, and even the actual cost of smaller hand-held devices, such as palmtop or PDAs programmed with appropriate games software, is substantial.
- the cost of the sensor device may be kept down and the cost of printed material, particularly if no special printing ink such as conductible fluorescent inks are needed, is likewise small.
- a further degree of sophistication may be built into the devices in accordance with the present invention if the programming in the sensor unit takes into account the sequence of sensed fields and variation over time. What this means is that if results can be obtained by moving the sensor device physically relative to the printed material in different ways. Thus, the sensor device may be contacted and then removed from contact with particular areas of the printed material as a sequence of individual sensings, or, for example, the device may be placed on the material and then slid across the surface thereof, the signal from the sensor head then varying as the printing underneath the device and viewed by the device changes.
- Figures 1 to 4 show a sensor device configured for use with a children's activity book
- Figure 5 some ways of presenting illustrations in such a book
- Figures 6 to 14 a sensor pen useful with a revision aid or test printed material, shown by way of example in Figure 15, and Figures 14 to 17 detailed examples of the construction of the operative end of a sensor pen.
- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a sensor unit for use in accordance with the present invention.
- Figure 2 is a view of the sensor unit of Figure 1 together with an end cap.
- Figure 3 is a view of the sensor unit of Figure 1 with the end cap applied.
- Figure 4 is a view showing how the sensor unit of Figure 1 may be held when being used.
- Figure 5 is a set of illustrations such as might appear printed on the page of an activity book.
- Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating different ways in which the sensor unit of Figures 1 to 4 may be used with different printed materials.
- Figures 7 to 10 show four variants of an alternative design of sensor unit, for use with a test paper or revision aid.
- Figure 11 shows how the end cap of a sensor pen unit may be stowed.
- Figure 12 shows a revision aid sensor pen in use with printed material.
- Figure 13 shows how the pen can be held in either hand.
- Figure 14 shows the pen in use on an enlarged scale.
- Figure 15 is a diagrammatic indication of the type of display that the sensor pen of any of Figures 7 to 14 may include.
- Figure 16 is a diagrammatic view of the first part of a revision test paper.
- Figure 17 is a partially exploded view of the sensor pen shown in Figure 11.
- Figure 18 is an exploded view of the sensor tip construction.
- Figure 19 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of the tip construction.
- Figure 20 shows how that tip construction operates when placed adjacent printed material.
- the sensor unit there illustrated is configured as a humanoid figure 1 dominated by a substantially circular face 2.
- the face is actually constituted by an LCD screen mounted behind a surrounding bezel 3.
- the face is highly stylised consisting of two eyes, two nostrils and a smiling mouth.
- a circular ring 5 on to which a cap 6 may be press fitted.
- a suitable sensor for example a combined infrared-emitting LED and infrared- receiving semiconductor detector.
- the cap 6 is configured to look like a pair of feet when placed on the body.
- the cap may be tethered by means of a strap 7 so that it does not get lost.
- the electronics may be programmed for example to ensure that when essentially no illumination reaches the sensor within ring 5, i.e. the sensor unit is not being used, then the expression on the face on screen 2 can turn into one indicating disappointment, as, for example, shown in Figure 3, where specifically that part of the display on screen 2 representing the mouth, identified at 8, is now downtumed.
- the cap 6 When the device is to be used, the cap 6 is slipped off the end and the detection of incoming light can be arranged very simply to return the display to that shown in Figures 1 and 2.
- the unit may be grasped by a user's hand 10 as shown in Figure 4 and the figure then "stood" on top of a printed area, e.g. in a children's activity book.
- the book may be a simple multiple answer recognition book, e.g. showing a picture of an animal with four printed names underneath it, only one of which corresponds to the animal depicted. There may be a printed patch by each of the names and the user seeks to identify the correct printed name, i.e. to read it. If the name is correct, the face may continue smiling and, at the same time, as shown in Figure 4, a smiley face may be projected from a masked LED set into the body of the sensor device on to the surrounding paper. This is shown at 12 in Figure 4.
- the projected face 12 may not appear and the expression on the screen 2 may change appropriately.
- a sensor device which can discriminate several different reactions from those individual patches, varied and interesting interaction may be provided. For example, in a more sophisticated self-teaching system, there may be a single question with, say, ten answers and corresponding printed patches. Of these, one or possibly two may be correct answers causing the screen display 2 to smile and the image 12 to appear.
- a next set of the ten answers may be close, which could give rise to a quizzical or puzzled expression on the face on screen 2, further answers may be downright wrong leading to a display as shown in Figure 3, and, finally, one of the answers may represent a complete "howler" which may give rise to a display on screen 2 showing an open rather than a closed mouth.
- the sensor device may be arranged to emit a suitable noise, or, indeed, if the device contains a speech synthesis chip, some words of congratulation, commiseration or encouragement.
- Figure 5 shows some typical ways in which illustrations can be arranged to appear on the printed page in an activity book for use with the sensor device shown in Figures 1 to 4.
- the illustrations are halftone prints 14 - black and white or more usually colour - showing dogs.
- the illustrations incorporate a number of printed "buttons", which may appear on the illustration itself as shown at 15, or to one side, denoted 16.
- Figure 5 is but one example of a type of activity book page, and very many other types of activity book page can be envisaged.
- the activity book page may, for example, be one providing a track along which the pen should be slid to produce appropriate effects, or it may have a sequence, for example of jumbled numbers, which need to be contacted in turn by the end of the sensor unit in order to produce the desired effect.
- Another type of illustration which may be incorporated in an activity book may be a hidden pattern, e.g. of alternating levels of absorption in the infrared spectrum, superimposed on an illustration.
- the user may be able to secure a reaction from that illustration by placing the tip of the sensor unit on it and sliding it to and fro in an oscillating zig-zag or scribbling motion.
- This can, for example, be used, in an illustrated story book, to produce in an appropriate voice a greeting message from the character illustrated, or, for example, a caricature of the character illustrated on a display screen.
- a further possibility is a printed illustration sheet with a number of pairs of items illustrated in a left and right hand column to the side of a central dividing line.
- the instructions may ask the user to place the end of the sensor unit on an item in the left hand column and then, sliding the end of the unit across the page and over the central line, slide it on to its "pair" in the right hand column. This can be done with illustrations or with printed words.
- Figure 6 shows diagrammatically how the sensor unit may be used over a period of time.
- the six types of game are identified at the left hand edge of each of the six parts of the illustration forming Figure 6 and are described as spotting, tracking, joining, scribbling, jumping and sliding types of interaction.
- the black dots at the end of a line indicate when the end of the sensor unit is placed on the paper (where the line extending from the dot is to the right, but not to the left, or taken off the paper, where the line extending from the dot goes to the left and not to the right).
- the sensor unit is successively brought into contact with the printed page and then removed.
- the diagrammatic illustration 6 showing seven different levels. As can be seen, not all of them are necessarily used in connection with each type of game.
- Figure 6 illustrates in the third section the "joining" mode of operation where, for example, the infrared absorption of the central line in the middle of the page is designated as level 100 and the diagram illustrates the pen being placed on something in the left hand column with a sensed value of 20, then moved around and across the line in the middle sensed 100 and then back successfully to pick the correct pair which likewise gives a sensed level of 20.
- a particular advantage of this particular type of game is that it is extremely tolerant of print variations. All that is necessary to operate successfully is to programme the pen so that it reacts appropriately, e.g.
- Figures 7 to 15 show varieties of a sensor pen unit configured as a revision aid for students.
- Figures 7 to 10 show four possible body designs for the pen, each of which consists of an elongate casing 20 provided with a sensor tip 21 at one end and, near the other end, an LCD display screen 22.
- the unit has two press buttons 23, 24 arranged one just adjacent screen 22 and the other closer to tip 21.
- An end cap 25 may be press fitted over the end of the unit and, as shown in Figures 10a, b and c, may be easily pulled out of the way of the actual sensor, and twisted round (it is held captive by a tab 27) and lodged in a complementary recess 26 in the side of the casing 20 essentially opposite the screen 22.
- Such a pen is shown in use in Figure 12 with printed material 29 which, for example, may take the form of a revision book, each page of which reproduces a number of questions each accompanied by a number of patches of printed material adjacent possible answers, likewise printed.
- printed material 29 which, for example, may take the form of a revision book, each page of which reproduces a number of questions each accompanied by a number of patches of printed material adjacent possible answers, likewise printed.
- Figure 16 shows four questions, numbered 1 to 4. Alternate questions are surrounded by a printed rectangular frame 28.
- Below each printed question is a set of four cartouches 30, each of which contains a printed possible answer, an has a patch of coloured printing 32 at its left hand end, against which the sensor tip 21 is to be placed.
- the patches 32 may differ in colour, but also differ in e.g. infra-red reflectance, to enable the sensor device to discriminate between the user pressing the sensor tip on a "wrong" answer, and on a "right” one
- the casing 20 is configured so that the pen can be easily held in the left hand as shown in Figure 13a or in the right hand as shown in Figure 13b.
- the thumb may be used to operate press button 24, and that press button may itself act as a switch, for example causing the pen then to sense a property of the piece of printed material with which it is at the time engaged.
- This is useful in a revision situation where, for example, the student has control over the recordal of each answer, i.e. recordal does not take place automatically and possibly inadvertently; rather, recordal of the student answer only takes place when button 24 is depressed by the user's thumb.
- the liquid crystal display screen 22 is configured with a number of icons. These are shown more clearly (and as a full set of possibly contrasting areas) in Figure 15.
- the two buttons 23 and 24 are designated as a mode button and a start button respectively and the first press of the start button (after powering up the device) may serve to start a clock going which will be indicated, for example, in the top line of the display.
- the printed page of book 29 may include at the bottom right hand corner, for example, a "test ended” area which causes the sensor pen, when applied to that printed area and button 24 depressed, to display a percentage score on the top line.
- the next line of the display as shown in Figure 15 consists of four areas which can be selectively energised to show a cross if a wrong answer is indicated and a tick if a correct one.
- This can be, for example, the only part of the display energised if the sensor unit is used in learning mode (apart from the learning mode icon at the bottom right).
- the pen may also be provided with a projection device arranged to project a cone of irradiation on to an area identified as 31 in Figure 14.
- a projection device arranged to project a cone of irradiation on to an area identified as 31 in Figure 14. If the irradiated light is ultraviolet light from a suitable LED and if the illuminated area 31 includes, on the printed page of book 29, a legend printed in fluorescent (but normally invisible) ink, when the button 24 is pressed, the UV ink fluoresces and the user can see an additional intelligible message.
- Figures 17 to 20 show details of the construction of the unit and, in particular, that the overall casing 20 has a circular aperture 33 at one end into which a switchable head 32 is fitted.
- Figure 17 shows the individual components of head 32 together with one end of a printed circuit board 35 which carries the main electronics used to analyse the results of the sensing and drive the liquid crystal display 22.
- the sensor head 32 consists of an outer metal casing 36, an inner cylindrical metal sleeve 37 having four sprung tags 38 extending from one end thereof, an annulus having a part-spherical surface 39, a mounting tube 40 with a frusto-conically outwardly flared end 45 and an optoelectrical device 42, e.g. a semiconductor emitter/receptor component.
- connection leads 41 which, when the item is assembled together, connect to appropriate tracks on printed circuit board 35.
- the frusto-conical outwardly flared end 45 surrounds the polished emission and reception faces of the device 42 with leads 41 , and acts in conjunction with the sprung tabs 38 to hold the part-spherical annulus 39 captive.
- FIG 19 in the position shown, there is no contact between sprung tabs 38 and the lower edge of metallic casing 36, particularly as the tabs 38 are registered with gaps 34 in the lower periphery of casing 36.
- the annular part- spherical ring 39 When the end of the sensor pen is approached towards the surface of a printed book or test paper, denoted 50 in Figure 20, the annular part- spherical ring 39 first swivels so as to lie flat against the surface of the printed material 50 even if the sensor pen, as shown in Figure 20, is not positioned exactly perpendicularly to the surface of the printed material 50. This also acts to shield against stray incoming light, thus assisting the optoelectronic device 42 to sense the properties of the printed image lying thereunder accurately. This is the position shown in the right hand half of Figure 20.
- a learning mode may be entered by the electronics, for example enabling it to accept complex re-programming via the optoelectronic component 42 which, for this purpose, may, for example, act as the receiving sensor for a coded infrared signal.
- the optoelectronic component 42 which, for this purpose, may, for example, act as the receiving sensor for a coded infrared signal.
- Various devices for emitting coded infrared signals are known and, in particular, it is possible to use a PC, palm top or laptop which is appropriately equipped with infrared emission technology and an appropriate programme as the source of such a stream of coded infrared signals.
- the parameters detected of the printed material may be more than the simple infrared absorption level as illustrated in the above description with reference to the drawings.
- an estimation of the visible colour of a printed patch may be made by the device and that may be used as a discriminating factor as well, either by itself or in combination with a less visible differentiation such as the variable IR absorption "black" component systems.
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
- Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Educational Administration (AREA)
- Educational Technology (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Multimedia (AREA)
- Toys (AREA)
- Electrically Operated Instructional Devices (AREA)
- Printing Methods (AREA)
Abstract
Description
Claims
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
GB0317488A GB0317488D0 (en) | 2003-07-25 | 2003-07-25 | Interactive printed material and sensor apparatus |
PCT/GB2004/003228 WO2005013237A2 (en) | 2003-07-25 | 2004-07-26 | Interactive printed material and sensor apparatus |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP1652162A2 true EP1652162A2 (en) | 2006-05-03 |
Family
ID=27772718
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP04743557A Withdrawn EP1652162A2 (en) | 2003-07-25 | 2004-07-26 | Interactive printed material and sensor apparatus |
Country Status (7)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP1652162A2 (en) |
JP (1) | JP2007502437A (en) |
CN (1) | CN1842830A (en) |
AU (1) | AU2004262113A1 (en) |
CA (1) | CA2533866A1 (en) |
GB (1) | GB0317488D0 (en) |
WO (1) | WO2005013237A2 (en) |
Families Citing this family (7)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US7883420B2 (en) | 2005-09-12 | 2011-02-08 | Mattel, Inc. | Video game systems |
JP4892956B2 (en) * | 2005-12-20 | 2012-03-07 | 凸版印刷株式会社 | Image inspection method |
GB2445030B (en) * | 2006-12-22 | 2009-06-17 | Duncan Richard Louttit | Improvements in graphic recognition devices |
CN101212548B (en) * | 2006-12-31 | 2010-05-19 | 北京爱国者妙笔数码科技有限责任公司 | System for operating TV set-top box with a contact sensing control device |
JP4243641B1 (en) * | 2007-12-21 | 2009-03-25 | 健治 吉田 | Remote control device capable of reading dot pattern formed on medium and display |
KR100984721B1 (en) * | 2009-12-04 | 2010-10-01 | 장진혁 | System, apparatus and method for reproducing multimedia |
KR102278291B1 (en) * | 2019-07-08 | 2021-07-19 | 주식회사 지니로봇 | System and method for providing coding training using peer terminals connected to the cloud platform |
Family Cites Families (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
IT1164865B (en) * | 1982-02-10 | 1987-04-15 | Price Stern Sloan Publishers | EQUIPMENT FOR TEACHING OR FUN |
US4627819A (en) * | 1985-01-23 | 1986-12-09 | Price/Stern/Sloan Publishers, Inc. | Teaching or amusement apparatus |
GB8702728D0 (en) * | 1987-02-06 | 1987-03-11 | Price Stern Sloan Publishers | Teaching & amusement apparatus |
GB9407473D0 (en) * | 1994-04-15 | 1994-06-08 | Popovich Milan M | Print "reading" device |
-
2003
- 2003-07-25 GB GB0317488A patent/GB0317488D0/en not_active Ceased
-
2004
- 2004-07-26 EP EP04743557A patent/EP1652162A2/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2004-07-26 JP JP2006521654A patent/JP2007502437A/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2004-07-26 CA CA002533866A patent/CA2533866A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2004-07-26 CN CNA2004800247916A patent/CN1842830A/en active Pending
- 2004-07-26 AU AU2004262113A patent/AU2004262113A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2004-07-26 WO PCT/GB2004/003228 patent/WO2005013237A2/en active Application Filing
Non-Patent Citations (1)
Title |
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See references of WO2005013237A3 * |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
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GB0317488D0 (en) | 2003-08-27 |
WO2005013237A2 (en) | 2005-02-10 |
WO2005013237A3 (en) | 2005-09-15 |
JP2007502437A (en) | 2007-02-08 |
AU2004262113A1 (en) | 2005-02-10 |
CN1842830A (en) | 2006-10-04 |
CA2533866A1 (en) | 2005-02-10 |
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