Method and system for providing interactive virtual tablecloth

• US 20080022328A1
• Filed: 06/30/2006
• Published: 01/24/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Miller, Robert R.
• Application Number:
  US11/478,820
• Publication Number:
  US 20080022328A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/86
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41415 involving a public display, viewable by several users in a public space outside their home, e.g. movie theatre, information kiosk
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4227 Providing Remote input by a user located remotely from the client device, e.g. at work
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44218 Detecting physical presence or behaviour of the user, e.g. using sensors to detect if the user is leaving the room or changes his face expression during a TV program methods or arrangements for recognising human body or animal bodies or body parts G06V40/10; methods or arrangements for acquiring or recognising human faces, facial parts, facial sketches, facial expressions G06V40/16; methods or arrangements for recognising movements or behaviour G06V40/20; arrangements for identifying users in broadcast systems H04H60/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6181 involving transmission via a mobile phone network arrangements for providing broadcast or conference services to substation in data switching networks in combination with wireless systems H04L12/189; wireless uplink channel access H04W74/004

Abstract

A method and system for providing an interactive virtual tablecloth. A server transmits various types of content, and a projector projects images corresponding to the transmitted content onto a display surface. For example, the display surface can be a table. The server receives control signals from at least one wireless client device, and adjusts the content based on the control signals. When a plurality of users share a common display surface, such as restaurant customers at a table, the display surface is divided into windows for each of the users. Each user can use a wireless client device to control his/her own window.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

transmitting content from a server;

projecting images corresponding to the transmitted content onto a display surface;

receiving control signals at the server via a wireless data network; and

adjusting the content based on the received control signals.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving step comprises:

receiving said control signals from at least one wireless client device via the wireless data network.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said at least one wireless client device comprises at least one of a personal digital assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, and a lap top computer.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said display surface comprises a table.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said transmitting step comprises:

transmitting content for each of a plurality of users.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said projecting step comprises:

formatting the content for each of the plurality of users into separate images; and

multiplexing the separate images onto the display surface such that each of the separate images appears as a respective window on the display surface.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said display surface comprises a table and each window on the display surface corresponds to seats at the table.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

associating a wireless client device of each of the plurality users with one of the windows on the display surface.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said receiving step comprises:

receiving control signals from at least one wireless client device via the wireless data network.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said adjusting step comprises:

adjusting content corresponding to the images displayed on at least one window on the display surface associated with said at least one wireless client device.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the content comprises at least one of movie content, gaming content, television content, music content, advertising content, and business related content.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the content is obtained via the Internet.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the content comprises an interactive restaurant menu.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said receiving step comprises:

receiving control signals at the server via the wireless data network corresponding to at least one user ordering from the interactive menu.

15. A system comprising:

a server to transmit various types of content;

at least one display surface;

at least one projector to project images corresponding to the content transmitted from the server onto the at least one display surface; and

at least one wireless client device communicating with the server via a wireless data network to control the content transmitted by the server.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

at least one projector control device connected with the at least one projector to receive the content transmitted by the server and to format the content into the images corresponding to the content.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein said at least one display surface comprises a plurality of tables, and said at least one projector comprises a plurality of projectors, each corresponding to one of the tables.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein said at least one wireless client device comprises a wireless client device for each of one or more users at each of the plurality of tables.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein each projector projects images to one or more windows on the corresponding table, the one or more windows corresponding to the one or more users at the table, and each wireless client device controls content corresponding to images projected on one of the windows.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein said projector comprises one of a digital light processing (DLP) projector and a liquid crystal display (LCD) projector.

21. The system of claim 15, wherein the at least one wireless client device comprises at least one of a personal digital assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, and a lap top computer.

22. The system of claim 15, wherein said content comprises at least one of Internet content, movie content, gaming content, television content, music content, advertising content, and business related content.