Media recording device with packet data interface
First Claim
1. A programmable apparatus for receiving instructions from a programmer and causing an action to occur on the happening of an event, comprising:
- an input device, producing an input instruction signal;
a control means for receiving said input instruction signal, and stog a program instruction associated with said input instruction signal, said control means storing sufficient program instructions to perform an action on the occurrence of an event, said control means monitoring a status of said apparatus to determine the occurrence of various events, comparing the determined events with the program instructions, and performing said action on the occurrence of said event;
a display means for interactively displaying information related to the instructions to be received, and responsive thereto, controlled by said control means, so that the programmer is presented with feedback on a current state of the apparatus and said program instruction;
wherein said control means further comprises means for detecting one or more characteristics of said input instruction signal independent of said program instruction selected from the group consisting of a velocity component, an efficiency of input, an accuracy of input, an interruption of input, a high frequency component of input and a past history of input by the programmer, whereby when said control means detects a characteristic indicating that said display means is displaying information in a suboptimal fashion, said control means controls said display means to display information in a more optimal fashion.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An adaptive interface for a programmable system, for predicting a desired user function, based on user history, as well as machine internal status and context. The apparatus receives an input from the user and other data. A predicted input is presented for confirmation by the user, and the predictive mechanism is updated based on this feedback. Also provided is a pattern recognition system for a multimedia device, wherein a user input is matched to a video stream on a conceptual basis, allowing inexact programming of a multimedia device. The system analyzes a data stream for correspondence with a data pattern for processing and storage. The data stream is subjected to adaptive pattern recognition to extract features of interest to provide a highly compressed representation that may be efficiently processed to determine correspondence. Applications of the interface and system include a video cassette recorder (VCR), medical device, vehicle control system, audio device, environmental control system, securities trading terminal, and smart house. The system optionally includes an actuator for effecting the environment of operation, allowing closed-loop feedback operation and automated learning.
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Citations
132 Claims
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1. A programmable apparatus for receiving instructions from a programmer and causing an action to occur on the happening of an event, comprising:
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an input device, producing an input instruction signal;
a control means for receiving said input instruction signal, and stog a program instruction associated with said input instruction signal, said control means storing sufficient program instructions to perform an action on the occurrence of an event, said control means monitoring a status of said apparatus to determine the occurrence of various events, comparing the determined events with the program instructions, and performing said action on the occurrence of said event;
a display means for interactively displaying information related to the instructions to be received, and responsive thereto, controlled by said control means, so that the programmer is presented with feedback on a current state of the apparatus and said program instruction;
wherein said control means further comprises means for detecting one or more characteristics of said input instruction signal independent of said program instruction selected from the group consisting of a velocity component, an efficiency of input, an accuracy of input, an interruption of input, a high frequency component of input and a past history of input by the programmer, whereby when said control means detects a characteristic indicating that said display means is displaying information in a suboptimal fashion, said control means controls said display means to display information in a more optimal fashion.
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2. A programmable apparatus for receiving instructions from a programmer and causing an action to occur on the happening of an event, comprising:
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an input device, producing an input instruction signal;
a control means for receiving said input instruction signal, and storing a program instruction associated with said input instruction signal, said control means storing sufficient program instructions to perform an action on the occurrence of an event, said control means monitoring a status of said apparatus to determine the occurrence of various events, comparing the determined events with the program instructions, and performing said action on the occurrence of said event;
a display means for interactively displaying information related to the instructions to be received, and responsive thereto, controlled by said control means, so that the programmer is presented with feedback on a current state of the apparatus and said program instruction;
wherein said control means further comprises means for detecting a need by the programmer for more detailed information displayed on said display means, by detecting one or more characteristics of said input instruction signal independent of said program instruction selected from throup consisting of a velocity component, an efficiency of input, an accuracy of input, an interruption of input, a high frequency component of input and a past history of input by the programmer, whereby when said control means detects a characteristic indicating that said display means is insufficiently detailed information, said control means controls said display means to display more detailed information.
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3. A programmable apparatus having a data input, said apparatus receiving instructions from a programmer and causing an action to occur on the receipt of data indicating an event, comprising:
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an input device, producing an input instruction signal;
a control means for receiving said input instruction signal, and storing a program instruction associated with said input instruction signal, said control means storing sufficient program instructions to perform an action on the receipt of data indicating an event, said control means monitoring the data input;
a display means for interactively displaying information related to the instructions to be received, and responsive thereto, controlled by said control means, so that the programmer is presented with feedback on a current state of the apparatus and said program instruction;
wherein said control means receives a programming preference indicating a desired event from said input device which does not unambiguously define said event, and said control means monitors said data and causes the occurrence of the action when a correlation between said programming preference and said monitored data is above a predetermined threshold, indicating a likely occurrence of said desired event. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A programmable information storage apparatus having a data input, for receiving data to be stored, said apparatus receiving instructions from a programmer and causing an action to occur on the receipt of data indicating an event, comprising:
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means for storing data from said data input;
an input device, producing an input instruction signal;
a control means for receiving said input instruction signal, and storing a program instruction associated with said input instruction signal, said control means storing sufficient program instructions to perform an action on the receipt of data from said data input indicating an event, said control means monitoring the data input to determine the occurrence of various events, comparing the determined events with the program instructions, and performing for storing the data said action on the occurrence of said event;
wherein said control means receives identifying data from at least one of said input device and the data input, said identifying data being stored separately from said input data on a storage medium. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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12. A video tape recording apparatus, comprising a video signal receiving device, a recording device for recording said video signal, wherein said control analyzes said video signal for the presence of a symbol, and recognizes said symbol as one of a group of recognized symbols, and said control stores said recognized symbol separately from said video signal.
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13. A recording device for recording an analog signal sequentially on a recording medium, comprising means for characterizing the analog signal, wherein data representing said characterization and a location of the analog signal on the recording medium are stored in a directory location on the recording medium separately from the analog signal.
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14. An interface for a programmable control for input of a program for a controller to execute, which performs an action based on an external signal, comprising an input device, a controller for receiving data from said input device and from an external stimulus, a plant being controlled by said controller based on an input from said input device and said external stimulus, and a display device being controlled by said controller, for providing visual feedback to a user operating said input device, wherein:
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a predetermined logical sequence of programming options is presented to the user on said display device, in a plurality of display screens, each differing in available programming choices;
said logical sequence including the correct sequence of choices to set an operable control program, so that no necessary steps are omitted;
said external stimulus comprises a timing device, and said display comprises an option for programming said plant to perform an action at a time which is input through said input device as a relative position on said display device, said relative position including a means for displaying an absolute time entry and means for displaying a relative time entry, said display also comprising a means for performing an action at a time;
said control comprises means for presenting the user, on said display device, with a most probable action, which may be selected by the user through activation of said input device without entering data into said controller through said input device relating to both said action and said event;
said display also comprising means for indicating completion of a programming step after entry of data, which means will not allow the user to indicate to said controller that said programming step is completed if information necessary for execution of said step is not available to said controller; and
;
said controller being capable of controlling said display device to present information to the user relating to the use of the apparatus if necessary for use of the device by the user.
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15. A system for presenting a program to a viewer, comprising:
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a source of program material;
means for determining a viewer preference;
means for receiving the program material from said source;
means for characterizing the program material based on its content;
means for correlating said characterized content of the program material with said determined viewer preference to produce a correlation index; and
;
means for presenting the program material to the viewer, if said correlation index indicates a probable high correlation between said characterization of the program material and said viewer preference.
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21. A system for presenting a program to a viewer, comprising:
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a source of program material;
means for determining a viewer preference;
means for receiving the program material from said source;
means for storing the program material;
means for preprocessing the program material to produce a reduced data flow information signal retaining information relating to a character of the program material and eliminating data not necessary to characterize the program material;
means for characterizing said information signal based on its content;
means for correlating said characterized content of said information signal with said determined viewer preference to produce a correlation index; and
;
means for presenting said stored program material to the viewer, if said correlation index indicates a probable high correlation between said characterization of said information signal and said viewer preference. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 36, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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25. A controller for controlling a plant, having a sensor for sensing an external event and producing a sensor signal, an actuator, responsive to an actuator signal, for influencing said external event, and a control means for receiving said sensor signal and producing an actuator signal, comprising:
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means for inputting a program;
means for storing said program;
means for characterizing said sensor signal to produce a characterized signal; and
;
means for comparing said characterized signal with a pattern stored in a memory to produce a comparison index,;
wherein said actuator signal is produced on the basis of said comparison index and said program, wherein said characterization comprises an Affine transformation of said sensor signal.
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27. A method for automatically recognizing digital image data consisting of image information, the method comprising the steps performed by a data processor of:
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storing a plurality of templates;
storing the image data in the data processor;
generating a plurality of addressable domains from the stored image data, each of the domains representing a portion of the image information;
creating, from the stored image data, a plurality of addressable mapped ranges corresponding to different subsets of the stored image data, the creating step including the substep of;
executing, for each of the mapped ranges, a corresponding procedure upon the one of the subsets of the stored image data which corresponds to the mapped ranges;
assigning identifiers to corresponding ones of the mapped ranges, each of the identifiers specifying for the corresponding mapped range a procedure and a address of the corresponding subset of the stored image data;
subjecting a domain to a transform selected from the group consisting of a null transformation, a predetermined rotation, an inversion, a predetermined scaling, and a predetermined frequency domain preprocessing;
selecting, for each of the transformed domains, the one of the mapped ranges which most closely corresponds according to predetermined criteria;
representing the image information as a set of the identifiers of the selected mapped ranges; and
;
selecting, from the stored templates, a template which most closely corresponds to the set of identifiers representing the image information.
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34. An apparatus for automatically recognizing digital image data consisting of image information, comprising:
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means for storing template data;
means for storing the image data;
means for generating a plurality of addressable domains from the stored image data, each of the domains representing a different portion of the image information;
means for creating, from the stored image data, a plurality of addressable mapped ranges corresponding to different subsets of the stored image data, the creating means including means for executing, for each of the mapped ranges, a procedure upon the one of the subsets of the stored image data which corresponds to the mapped range;
means for assigning identifiers to corresponding ones of the mapped ranges, each of the identifiers specifying for the corresponding mapped range an address of the corresponding subset of stored image data;
means for selecting, for each of the domains, the one of the mapped ranges which most closely corresponds according to predetermined criteria;
means for representing the image information as a set of the identifiers of the selected mapped ranges; and
;
means for selecting, from the stored templates, a template which most closely corresponds to the set of identifiers representing the image information.
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35. A programmable control responsive to an user input and a signal received from a signal source, comprising:
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a controller, operating according to a predetermined program, for receiving the user input and the signal and producing a control output;
means for storing data relating to an activity of the user;
means for predicting a most probable action of a user based on said stored data relating to said activity of the user; and
;
means for presenting user feedback data comprising a presentation of a logical sequence of programming options to the user on said display device, including said most probable action of the user, in a plurality of display images, each display image differing in available programming options.
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38. A system for processing a program in response to a viewer input, comprising:
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a source of program material;
means for determining a viewer preference;
means for receiving the program material from said source;
means for characterizing the program material based on its content;
means for correlating said characterized content of the program material with said determined viewer preference to produce a correlation index; and
;
means for selectively processing the program material based on said correlation index.
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43. A programmable controller for controlling a system, having an input for receiving an external signal relating to said system, and an output for effecting control of said system, and a plurality of stored profiles, said controller being responsive to said external signal, comprising:
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means for inputting a control program;
means for storing said control program;
means for characterizing said external signal to produce a characterized signal; and
;
means for comparing said characterized signal with at least one of said plurality of stored profiles to produce a comparison index,;
wherein said output is determined on the basis of said comparison index and said program. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 49, 50, 51)
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46. An image information retrieval apparatus, comprising:
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means for storing compressed data representing a plurality of images;
means for retrieving compressed data representing at least one of said plurality of images and having an output;
means for storing characterization data representing a plurality of image types, having an output; and
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an image processor, receiving as inputs said outputs from said retrieving means and said characterization data storage means, and producing a signal corresponding to a relation between at least one of said plurality of images of said compressed data and at least one of said image types of said characterization data.
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47. A video interface device for a user comprising:
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means for simultaneously transmitting data representing a plurality of programs;
means for selecting at least one of said plurality of programs, being responsive to an input;
a program database containing information relating to said plurality of programs, having an output;
a graphical user interface for defining commands, comprising;
(a) an image display device having at least two dimensions of display, being for providing visual image feedback; and
;
(b) a multidimensional input device having at least two dimensions of operability, adapted to correspond to said two dimensions of said display device, and having an output,;
so that the user may cause said input device to produce a corresponding change in an image of said display device by translating an indicator segment of said display in said at least two dimensions of display, based on said visual feedback received from said display device, said indicator segment being moved to a translated location of said display device corresponding to a user command; and
;
means for controlling said graphical user interface and for producing said input of said selecting means, receiving as a control said output of said multidimensional input device, said control means receiving said output of said program database and presenting information relating to at least one of said plurality of programs on said display device associated with a command, said command being interpreted by said control means as said user command to produce said input of said selecting means to select said at least one of said plurality of programs associated with said command.
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48. An apparatus, receiving as an input from a human user having a user characteristic, comprising:
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an input device, producing an input signal from the human user input;
means for displaying information relating to the input from the user and feedback on a current state of the apparatus, having an alterable image type;
means for extracting an input instruction relating to a desired change in a state of the apparatus from the input signal;
means for detecting one or more temporal-spatial user characteristics of the input signal, independent of said input instruction, selected from the group consisting of a velocity component, an efficiency of input, an accuracy of input, an interruption of input and a high frequency component of input;
means for storing data related to said user characteristics in a memory; and
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means for altering said image type based on the user characteristics.
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52. An adaptive programmable apparatus having a plurality of states, being programmable by a programmer and operating in an environment in which a plurality of possible events occur, each of the events being associated with different data, comprising:
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an data input for receiving data;
an programmer input, producing an input signal from an action of the programmer;
a feedback device for providing information relating to said input signal and a current status of the apparatus to the programmer;
means for storing program instructions associated with said input signal and for controlling the response of said apparatus relating to the detection of an input signal or data associated with an event, having a control input; and
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means for abstracting information from at least one of said input signal and said data, and altering an execution of said storing and executing means based on said abstracted information, comprising;
means for processing said at least one of said input signal or said data to reduce an amount of information while substantially retaining an abstract portion of said information;
a memory for storing a quantity of said abstracted information;
means for processing said abstracted information in conjunction with said stored quantity of abstracted information; and
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an output for providing said control input of said storing and executing means. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61)
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62. A method for identifying image data comprising the steps of:
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providing a plurality of models;
creating, from the image data, a plurality of accessible mapped ranges corresponding to different subsets of the image data;
assigning identifiers to corresponding ones of the mapped ranges, each of the identifiers specifying for the corresponding mapped range a procedure and a corresponding subset of the image data;
executing, for a plurality of the mapped ranges, a corresponding procedure upon the one of the subsets of the stored image data which corresponds to the mapped ranges;
selecting one of the mapped ranges corresponding to a portion of the image data;
representing the image data as a set of the identifiers of the selected mapped ranges; and
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matching the representation of the image data with it least one of said plurality of models based on an image-to-model correspondence. - View Dependent Claims (63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69)
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70. An apparatus for automatically recognizing digital image data consisting of image information, comprising:
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means for storing template data;
means for storing the image data;
means for generating a plurality of addressable domains from the stored image data“
, each of the domains representing a different portion of the image information;
means for creating, from the stored image data, a plurality of addressable mapped ranges corresponding to different subsets of the stored image data, the creating means including means for executing, for each of the mapped ranges, a procedure upon the one of the subsets of the stored image data which corresponds to the mapped range;
means for assigning identifiers to corresponding ones of the mapped ranges, each of the identifiers specifying for the corresponding mapped range an address of the corresponding subset of stored image data;
means for selecting, for each of the domains, the one of the mapped ranges which most closely corresponds according to predetermined criteria;
means for representing at least a portion of the image information as a set of the identifiers of the selected mapped ranges; and
;
means for selecting, from the stored templates, a template which most closely corresponds to the set of identifiers representing the image information.
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71. A programmable control responsive to an user input and a signal received from a signal source, comprising:
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a controller, operating according to a predetermined program, for receiving the user input and the signal and producing a control output;
a memory for storing data relating to an activity of the user;
a data processing system for predicting a most probable action of a user based on said stored data relating to said activity of the user; and
;
a user feedback data presenting system comprising a display device for presentation of a sequence of programming options to the user, including said most probable action of the user, in a plurality of display images, each display image differing in available programming options. - View Dependent Claims (72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 79, 80, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101)
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78. A programmable controller for controlling a system, having an input for receiving an external signal relating to said system, and an output for effecting control of said system, and a plurality of stored profiles, said controller being responsive to said external signal, comprising:
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an input for inputting a control program;
a memory for storing said control program;
a processor for characterizing said external signal to produce a characterized signal; and
;
means for comparing said characterized signal with at least one of said plurality of stored profiles to produce a comparison index,;
wherein said output is determined on the basis of said comparison index and said program.
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81. An image information retrieval apparatus, comprising:
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a memory for storing compressed data representing a plurality of images;
a data storage system for retrieving compressed data representing at least one of said plurality of images and having an output;
a memory for storing characterization data representing a plurality of image types, having an output; and
;
an image processor, receiving as inputs said outputs from said data storage system and said characterization data memory, and producing a signal corresponding to a relation between at least one of said plurality of images of said compressed data and at least one of said image types of said characterization data.
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82. A video interface device for a user comprising:
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a data transmission system for simultaneously transmitting data representing a plurality of programs;
a selector for selecting at least one of said plurality of programs, being responsive to an input;
a program database containing information relating to said plurality of programs, having an output;
a graphical user interface for defining commands, comprising;
(a) an image display device having at least two dimensions of display, being for providing visual image feedback; and
;
(b) a multidimensional input device having at least two dimensions of operability, adapted to correspond to said two dimensions of said display device, and having an output,;
so that the user may cause said input device to produce a corresponding change in an image of said display device by translating an indicator segment of said display in said at least two dimensions of display, based on said visual feedback received from said display device, said indicator segment being moved to a translated location of said display device corresponding to a user command; and
;
a controller for controlling said graphical user interface and for producing said input of said selector, receiving as a control said output of said multidimensional input device, said controller receiving said output of said program database and presenting information relating to at least one of said plurality of programs on said display device associated with a command, said command being interpreted by said control means as said user command to produce said input of said selector to select said at least one of said plurality of programs associated with said command.
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83. An apparatus, receiving as an input from a human user having a user characteristic, comprising:
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an input device, producing an input signal from the human user input;
a display for displaying information relating to the input from the user and feedback on a current state of the apparatus, having an alterable image type;
an input processor for extracting an input instruction relating to a desired change in a state of the apparatus from the input signal;
a detector for detecting one or more temporal-spatial user characteristics of the input signal, independent of said input instruction, selected from the group consisting of a velocity component, an efficiency of input, an accuracy of input, an interruption of input and a high frequency component of input;
a memory for storing data related to said user characteristics; and
;
a controller for altering said image type based on the user characteristics. - View Dependent Claims (84, 85, 86)
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87. An adaptive programmable apparatus having a plurality of states, being programmable by a programmer and operating in an environment in which a plurality of possible events occur, each of the events being associated with different data, comprising:
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an data input for receiving data;
an programmer input, producing an input signal from an action of the programmer;
a feedback device for providing information relating to said input signal and a current status of the apparatus to the programmer;
a memory for storing program instructions associated with said input signal; and
;
a processor for controlling the response of said apparatus relating to the detection of an input signal or data associated with an event, having a control input;
for abstracting information from at least one of said input signal and said data, and altering an execution of said storing and executing means based on said abstracted information, being for processing said at least one of said input signal or said data to reduce an amount of information while substantially retaining an abstract portion of said information;
storing a quantity of said abstracted information;
processing said abstracted information in conjunction with said stored quantity of abstracted information; and
providing said control input of said storing and executing means. - View Dependent Claims (88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96)
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102. A human interface system, comprising:
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a user input, receiving user instructions for control of a system;
an intelligent analysis system, monitoring said user instructions, to determine a user instruction pattern;
a feedback system, presenting an output representing the determined user instruction pattern, and receiving modification input from the user representing a concurrence with said determined user instruction pattern, data relating to said modification input being provided to said intelligent analysis system for alteration of said determined user instruction pattern based on said modification input; and
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an operative system, presenting surrogate user instructions for control of the system based on said determined user instruction pattern. - View Dependent Claims (103, 104)
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105. A human interface system, comprising:
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a user input, receiving user instructions for control of a system;
an intelligent analysis system, monitoring said“
-user instructions, to determine a user instruction pattern;
a feedback system, presenting an output representing the determined user instruction pattern, and receiving modification input from the user representing a concurrence with said determined user instruction pattern, data relating to said modification input being provided to said intelligent analysis system for alteration of said determined user instruction pattern based on said modification input;
an operative system, presenting surrogate user instructions for control of the system based on said determined user instruction pattern. - View Dependent Claims (106, 107)
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108. An apparatus, comprising:
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a user interface, receiving a control input and a user attribute from the user;
a memory system, storing said control input and user attribute;
an input for receiving content data;
means for storing data describing elements of said content data;
means for presenting information to the user relating to said content data, said information being for assisting the user in defining a control input, said information being based on the stored user attribute and said data describing elements of said content data; and
means for processing elements of said content data in dependence on said control input, having an output. - View Dependent Claims (109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132)
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117. A method, comprising the steps of:
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receiving data describing an user attribute;
receiving a content data stream, and extracting from the content data stream information describing a plurality of program options;
processing the data describing a user attribute and the information describing a plurality of program options to determine a likely user preference;
selectively processing a program option based on said likely user preference.
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125. A device for identifying a program in response to user preference data and program control information concerning available programs, comprising:
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means for gathering the user preference data;
means, connected to the gathering means, for storing the gathered user preference data;
means for accessing the program control information;
means, connected to the storing means and accessing means, for identifying one or more programs based on a correspondence between a user'"'"'s programming preferences and the program control information.
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Specification