Method for distributing sports entertainment
DCFirst Claim
1. A method for distributing video images and audio signals of a race car competition from the perspective of an individual race participant to one or more individual viewers comprising the steps ofproviding each of a plurality of participants in said event with a video camera affixed to the race car and mechanically adjustable to provide a selectable view of the race and a microphone to provide sound, both from that participant'"'"'s perspective,providing each of said cameras with a respective transmitter for transmitting information regarding video images and audio generated by the camera and microphone, respectively, which video image and audio reflect the participant'"'"'s view of the race,providing retransmission equipment for receiving information transmitted by the transmitter and directing information regarding video images and audio, respectively, from each of the plurality of cameras and microphones to respective channels for remote viewing at a viewer'"'"'s location,providing channel selectors that permit viewers at their individual locations to select from among the channels a particular participant'"'"'s view of the race,simultaneously operating said cameras during the event so as to generate a plurality of camera and audio feeds during the event, each feed individually reflecting the perspective of the respective participant in real time,transmitting the plurality of feeds to the retransmitting equipment, andretransmitting the feeds to said channels, such that each of a plurality of viewers is able to select from a plurality of said channels the perspective of one or more individual participants or a group of participants,wherein the video images and audio are transmitted by way of a pay-per-view television system or Internet or other computer network and displayed as a single or a plurality of selected images on a split television or monitor screen, based on viewer selection and wherein the view of the camera is selected by a mechanical adjustment by the participant or an outside party.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for distributing sports entertainment includes the step of providing a plurality of video cameras positioned on vehicles or athletes that are participating in sporting events, transmitters for transmitting information from the plurality of cameras to a processing station, retransmission equipment for directing the camera feed from each of the plurality of cameras to separate channels for distribution and remote viewing at viewers'"'"' locations, and channel selectors that permit viewers to select from among the various channels, thereby allowing the viewers to select from the plurality of camera feeds. The cameras are simultaneously operated during the sporting event so as to generate a plurality of camera feeds during the event, each feed reflecting the perspective of an individual participant. The plurality of feeds is received by the retransmission equipment and retransmitted to selectable channels, each channel being associated with a respective camera feed. A viewer is thus allowed to select from the plurality of channels to thus enable his or her viewing of the sports event through the perspective of the participant of greatest interest to the viewer.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. A method for distributing video images and audio signals of a race car competition from the perspective of an individual race participant to one or more individual viewers comprising the steps of
providing each of a plurality of participants in said event with a video camera affixed to the race car and mechanically adjustable to provide a selectable view of the race and a microphone to provide sound, both from that participant'"'"'s perspective, providing each of said cameras with a respective transmitter for transmitting information regarding video images and audio generated by the camera and microphone, respectively, which video image and audio reflect the participant'"'"'s view of the race, providing retransmission equipment for receiving information transmitted by the transmitter and directing information regarding video images and audio, respectively, from each of the plurality of cameras and microphones to respective channels for remote viewing at a viewer'"'"'s location, providing channel selectors that permit viewers at their individual locations to select from among the channels a particular participant'"'"'s view of the race, simultaneously operating said cameras during the event so as to generate a plurality of camera and audio feeds during the event, each feed individually reflecting the perspective of the respective participant in real time, transmitting the plurality of feeds to the retransmitting equipment, and retransmitting the feeds to said channels, such that each of a plurality of viewers is able to select from a plurality of said channels the perspective of one or more individual participants or a group of participants, wherein the video images and audio are transmitted by way of a pay-per-view television system or Internet or other computer network and displayed as a single or a plurality of selected images on a split television or monitor screen, based on viewer selection and wherein the view of the camera is selected by a mechanical adjustment by the participant or an outside party.
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10. A system for distributing from the perspective of an individual participant in a racing event comprising a plurality of video cameras and microphones each mounted on the car of an individual participant in a racing event, a plurality of respective transmitters for transmitting information regarding video images from the plurality of cameras and audio signals from a plurality of microphones, retransmission equipment for receiving information from said transmitters and directing information regarding the video images and audio signals to respective channels for remote viewing and listening at individual viewers'"'"' locations, and channel selectors that permit an individual viewer to select from among the channels, thereby allowing the viewers to select and view video images and audio signals from at least one of said cameras and microphones and thereby obtain an individual participant'"'"'s view of the race, wherein the video images are transmitted by way of a pay-per-view television system, Internet or other computer network and displayed as a single or a plurality of selected images on a split television or monitor screen, based on viewer selection of a single participant or participant group and wherein the camera is affixed to the car and the video image transmitted by the camera is selected by mechanical adjustment of the camera by the race participant or an outside party to provide the participant'"'"'s view.
Specification