System for enhancing books with special paper

• US 20040023200A1
• Filed: 07/31/2002
• Published: 02/05/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Blume, Leo
• Granted Patent: US 6,915,103 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 434/317
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03545 Pens or stylus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/02 with visual presentation of the material to be studied, e.g. using film strip

Abstract

A system for enhancement of books or other reading material includes an item of reading material, printed on a substrate having a substantially invisible, machine-readable coordinate grid. A pointing device is configured to detect the coordinate grid on the substrate when placed in proximity thereto. An output device receives input from the pointing device to determine the location of the pointing device relative to the substrate, and provides output corresponding to contents of the reading material at the location. The output may be in the form of audio and/or video.

Claims

1. A system for enhancement of printed reading material, comprising:

a) an item of reading material, printed on a substrate having a machine-readable coordinate grid;

b) a pointing device, configured to detect the coordinate grid on the substrate when placed in proximity thereto; and

c) an output device, configured to receive input from the pointing device and to determine the location of proximity of the pointing device to the substrate, and to provide output corresponding to contents of the reading material associated with the location.

2. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the coordinate grid also includes information selected from the group consisting of the book title, page number, and date of publication.

3. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the reading material is selected from the group consisting of a book, a newspaper, a magazine, and a printed page.

4. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the pointing device comprises a stylus having a narrow spectrum lamp for providing narrow spectrum light, and an optical scanner configured to scan images, and the coordinate grid comprises a compound which is visibly detectable by the optical scanner when exposed to the narrow spectrum light.

5. A system in accordance with claim 4, wherein the narrow spectrum lamp is an ultraviolet lamp, and the coordinate grid comprises a fluorescing compound which is optically detectable when exposed to ultraviolet light.

6. A system in accordance with claim 4, further comprising optical character recognition software associated with the output device, whereby human-readable content on the substrate may be electronically detected.

7. A system in accordance with claim 6, wherein the output device is configured to compare the detected location of proximity and the content associated therewith, with the content actually detected by the optical character recognition software, so as to increase the accuracy of determination of the location of proximity.

8. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the pointing device further comprises operational controls for the output device.

9. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the substrate is paper.

10. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the pointing device comprises a stylus having an electrical coil, and the coordinate grid comprises ferro-magnetic material, configured such that the ferro-magnetic material induces a current in the coil when the coil is moved in proximity thereto.

11. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the output is selected from the group consisting of audio output and video output.

12. A system in accordance with claim 11, wherein the audio output is selected from the group consisting of a spoken representation of a word printed on the substrate, a spoken translation of a word printed on the substrate, a spoken definition of a word printed on the substrate, and a sound associated with an image printed on the substrate.

13. A system in accordance with claim 12, wherein the sound associated with an image on the page of the book is selected from the group consisting of music and sound effects.

14. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the output device provides access to a database of content associated with the reading material.

15. A system in accordance with claim 14, wherein the database is stored upon removable media programmed with the contents of the reading material, and the output device includes an interface for receiving the removable media.

16. A system in accordance with claim 14, further comprising a connection to a computer network, the database being accessible via the computer network.

17. A system in accordance with claim 16, wherein the computer network is the Internet.

18. A system in accordance with claim 16, wherein the output device is configured to receive information that augments the contents of the reading material.

19. A system in accordance with claim 16, wherein the connection is a wireless connection.

20. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the machine-readable coordinate grid is substantially invisible to the human eye.

21. A system for audio-enhanced reading, comprising:

a) an item of reading material, printed on a substrate having a substantially invisible, machine-readable coordinate grid;

b) a pointing device, configured to detect the coordinate grid on the substrate when placed in proximity thereto at a selected location; and

c) an output device, configured to receive input from the pointing device and to determine the selected location, and to provide audio output corresponding to contents of the reading material at the selected location.

22. An interactive reading system, comprising:

a) a page of reading material, printed on a substrate having a substantially invisible, machine-readable coordinate grid; and

b) an output device configured to provide output, from a database associated with the reading material, related to a selected image on the page, based upon (i) the identity of the reading material, (ii) the selected page, and (iii) a selected coordinate location on the page.

23. A method for reading, comprising the steps of:

a) interacting with a location of selected content on a page of reading material having a substantially invisible coordinate grid;

c) detecting the location of said interaction on the page in relation to the coordinate grid; and

d) broadcasting, through an output device, output corresponding to the selected content from a database of information associated with the reading material.