Positional display elements

• US 8,947,297 B2
• Filed: 04/23/2010
• Issued: 02/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Jung, Edward K. Y., Levien, Royce A., Lord, Robert W., Malamud, Mark A., Rinaldo, John D. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): GREGORY, BERNARR E
• Application Number:
  US12/799,417
• Publication Number:
  US 20100245243A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,747 Days
• Field of Search: 342 29- 51, 342165-186, 342/195, 345/2.2, 345/204, 345/4, 345/5, 345/6, 345/30, 345/55, 345/84, 345/87, 345/90, 345/92, 345/93, 345/98, 345/100, 345/418, 345/581, 345/618, 345 11- 34, 345/31, 345/33, 345/48, 345/107, 345/419, 345/420, 345/421, 345/422, 345/690, 250/306, 250/307, 250/310, 250/311, 348/49, 348/80, 348/553, 348563-570, 348/42, 348/51, 348/735, 378/54, 378/69, 378/43, 356/392, 356/398, 359/368, 359/237, 359/238, 359/290, 359/296, 701/1, 701/3, 701/14, 315/291, 349/10, 349/33, 349 54- 56, 349/84, 349/158
• US Class Current: 342/179
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/60 Editing figures and text; Combining figures or text

Abstract

One aspect relates to determining a position of at least one positional display element that can be used to display at least an image portion; and displaying the at least the image portion with the at least one positional display element based at least in part on the determining the position of the at least one positional display element. Another aspect relates to determining a position of at least one positional display element, in which the position can be used to affect a visual presentation.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

providing a plurality of positional display elements distributed within a suspension medium, the plurality of positional display elements being configured to emit light to display at least an image portion;

determining a position of at least one positional display element of the plurality of positional display elements;

displaying the at least the image portion with the at least one positional display element based at least in part on the determining the position of the at least one positional display element;

arranging the plurality of the positional display elements in an irregular pattern; and

compensating an irregular attribute of at least one selected positional display element with respect to at least one other positional display element at least partially by employing one or more locations of one or more other positional display elements of the plurality of positional display elements to compensate the irregular attribute.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

compensating an irregular intensity of at least one positional display element with respect to at least one other positional display element, in which the irregular intensity at least partially results from the arranging the plurality of positional display elements in the irregular pattern.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

compensating the irregular pattern of at least one selected positional display element with respect to at least one other positional display element at least partially by employing one or more locations of one or more other positional display elements of the plurality of positional display elements to compensate the irregular pattern.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

compensating an irregular orientation of at least one selected positional display element with respect to at least one other positional display element at least partially by employing one or more locations of one or more other positional display elements of plurality of positional display elements to compensate the irregular orientation.

5. A method comprising:

providing a plurality of positional display elements distributed within a suspension medium, the plurality of positional display elements being configured to emit light to display at least an image portion and further configured to at least one of communicate or transfer data with each other;

addressing at least one positional display element of the plurality of positional display elements, the at least one positional display element being configured to derive an addressed position of the at least one positional display element; and

affecting a visual presentation at least partially using the at least one positional display element based at least in part on the addressing the at least one positional display element.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least one positional display element comprises a plurality of positional display elements, the method further comprising:

allowing at least a first one of the plurality of positional display elements to be displaced with respect to at least a second one of the plurality of positional display elements, wherein the at least the first one of the plurality of positional display elements and the at least the second one of the plurality of positional display elements are utilized in the affecting the visual presentation prior to the allowing the at least the first one of the plurality of positional display elements to be displaced.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the addressing at least one positional display element configured to derive an addressed position of the at least one positional display element is performed at least partially within the at least one positional display element.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the addressing at least one positional display element configured to derive an addressed position of the at least one positional display element is performed at least partially in a controller device that is operationally situated externally to the at least one positional display element.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the affecting a visual presentation at least partially using the at least one positional display element is performed at least partially within the at least one positional display element.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein the affecting a visual presentation at least partially using the at least one positional display element is performed at least partially in a controller device that is operationally situated externally to the at least one positional display element.

11. A method comprising:

arranging a plurality of positional display elements in an irregular pattern, one or more of the plurality of positional display elements being configured to communicate with one or more other positional display elements of the plurality of positional display elements;

determining a relative position of at least one of the plurality of positional display elements that have been arranged in the irregular pattern;

displaying at least a portion of an image at least partially in response to the determining the relative position of the at least one of the plurality of positional display elements that have been arranged in the irregular pattern; and

compensating an irregular attribute of at least one selected positional display element with respect to at least one other positional display element at least partially by employing one or more locations of one or more other positional display elements of the plurality of positional display elements to compensate the irregular attribute.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

allowing at least a first one of the plurality of positional display elements to be displaced with respect to at least a second one of the plurality of positional display elements, wherein the at least the first one of the plurality of positional display elements and the at least the second one of the plurality of positional display elements are utilized in the displaying the at least the portion of the image after the allowing the at least the first one of the plurality of positional display elements to be displaced.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the arranging a plurality of positional display elements in an irregular pattern comprises:

suspending the a plurality of positional display elements in a suspending media.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the arranging a plurality of positional display elements in an irregular pattern comprises:

attaching the a plurality of positional display elements to a substrate.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the arranging a plurality of positional display elements in an irregular pattern comprises:

allowing motion of the plurality of positional display elements.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the arranging a plurality of positional display elements in an irregular pattern comprises:

maintaining the plurality of positional display elements in a substantially fixed position.

17. A method comprising:

determining a desired operation of a first positional display element suspended within a suspension medium, the first positional display element being configured to emit light;

determining that the first positional display element is operating at an undesired operation based at least partially on at least one of a communication or transfer of data between the first positional display element and a second positional display element suspended within the suspension medium, the second positional display element being configured to emit light, the undesired operation being other than the desired operation; and

compensating for the undesired operation of the first positional display element by altering a display operation of the second positional display element.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the second positional display element is a neighbor of the first positional display element.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising polling the first positional display element to determine the undesired operation of the first positional display element.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein determining that the first positional display element is operating at an undesired operation based at least partially on at least one of a communication or transfer of data between the first positional display element and a second positional display element suspended within the suspension medium, the second positional display element being configured to emit light, the undesired operation being other than the desired operation includes:

determining that the first positional display element is operating at an undesired operation, the undesired operation being at least one of an undesired illumination or an undesired reflection.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein compensating for the undesired operation of the first positional display element by altering a display operation of a second positional display element includes:

adjusting at least one of an illumination or a reflection of the second positional display element to compensate for the undesired operation of the first positional display element.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein the first and second positional display elements are free-floating positional display elements distributed within the suspension medium.

23. A system comprising:

circuitry for arranging a plurality of positional display elements in an irregular pattern, the plurality of positional display elements being moveably suspended within a suspension medium;

circuitry for determining a relative position of at least one the plurality of positional display elements that have been arranged in the irregular pattern; and

circuitry for displaying at least a portion of an image at least partially in response to the determining the relative position of the at least one the plurality of positional display elements that have been arranged in the irregular pattern.

24. A method comprising:

providing a plurality of positional display elements distributed within a suspension medium, the plurality of positional display elements being configured to emit light to display at least an image portion, the plurality of positional display elements being further configured to at least one of communicate or transfer data with each other;

determining a position of at least one positional display element of the plurality of positional display elements; and

displaying the at least the image portion with the at least one positional display element based at least in part on the determining the position of the at least one positional display element.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the determining a position of at least one positional display element configured to display at least an image portion comprises:

determining the position of the at least one positional display element configured to display an at least a magnified image portion.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein the determining a position of at least one positional display element configured to display at least an image portion comprises:

determining the position of the at least one positional display element configured to display an at least a reduced image portion.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein the determining a position of at least one positional display element configured to display at least an image portion comprises:

determining the position of the at least one positional display element configured to display an at least a focused image portion.

28. The method of claim 24, wherein the determining a position of at least one positional display element configured to display at least an image portion comprises:

determining the position of the at least one positional display element configured to display at least an image processed image portion.

29. The method of claim 24, wherein the determining a position of at least one positional display element configured to display at least an image portion comprises:

determining the position of the at least one positional display element configured to display at least a smoothed image portion.

30. The method of claim 24, wherein the displaying the at least the image portion with the at least one positional display element based at least in part on the determining the position of the at least one positional display element comprises:

displaying the at least the image portion at least partially using a plurality of positional display elements arranged as at least one of a wand, a propeller, or at least one confetti display.

31. The method of claim 24, wherein the determining a position of at least one positional display element configured to display at least an image portion is performed at least partially at the at least one positional display element.

32. The method of claim 24, wherein the determining a position of at least one positional display element configured to display at least an image portion is performed at least partially at a device that is distinct from the at least one positional display element.

33. The method of claim 24, wherein the at least one positional display element is secured using at least one of a connector, a mesh, or a fabric.

34. The method of claim 24, wherein the at least one positional display element includes at least one of a mote display element, an LCD-based display element, or a plasma-based display element.

35. The method of claim 24, wherein the at least one positional display element comprises a plurality of positional display elements, the method further comprising:

arranging the plurality of positional display elements in a regular array.

36. The method of claim 24, wherein the at least one positional display element comprises a plurality of positional display elements, the method further comprising:

arranging the plurality of positional display elements in an irregular configuration.

37. The method of claim 24, wherein the at least one positional display element comprises a plurality of positional display elements, the method further comprising:

compensating an irregular attribute of the at least one positional display element with respect to at least one other positional display element.

38. The method of claim 24, wherein the at least one positional display element comprises a plurality of positional display elements, the method further comprising:

allowing at least a first one of the plurality of positional display elements to be displaced with respect to at least a second one of the plurality of positional display elements,

wherein the at least the first one of the plurality of positional display elements and the at least the second one of the plurality of positional display elements are utilized in the displaying the at least the image portion after the allowing the at least the first one of the plurality of positional display elements to be displaced.

39. The method of claim 24, wherein providing a plurality of positional display elements configured to display at least an image portion distributed within a suspension medium includes:

suspending a plurality of free-floating positional display elements distributed within the suspension medium using one or more levitation mechanisms.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein suspending a plurality of free-floating positional display elements distributed within the suspension medium using one or more levitation mechanisms

suspending one or more of the plurality of free-floating positional display elements distributed within the suspension medium using at least one of a fluid pump, a balloon, a propeller, a spinner, a tether, or a fluid blower.

41. The method of claim 24,

wherein displaying the at least the image portion with the at least one positional display element based at least in part on the determining the position of the at least one positional display element includes:

displaying the at least the image portion using data at least one of communicated or transferred between two or more positional display elements of the plurality of positional display elements.

42. The method of claim 24, wherein providing a plurality of positional display elements distributed within a suspension medium, the plurality of positional display elements being configured to emit light to display at least an image portion comprises:

providing a plurality of positional display elements distributed within a suspension medium, at least one of the plurality of positional display elements being a robotic positional display element, the robotic positional display element providing capability to direct and control movement of the robotic positional display element.

43. A method comprising:

providing a plurality of robotic positional display elements, the plurality of robotic positional display elements being configured to emit light to display at least an image portion and being configured to at least one of communicate or transfer data with at least one other of the plurality of robotic positional display elements;

determining a position of at least one robotic positional display element of the plurality of robotic positional display elements; and

displaying the at least the image portion with the at least one robotic positional display element based at least in part on the determining the position of the at least one robotic positional display element.

44. The method of claim 43, further comprising:

compensating an irregular characteristic of at least one selected robotic positional display element with respect to at least one other robotic positional display element at least partially by employing one or more locations of one or more other robotic positional display elements of the plurality of robotic positional display elements to compensate the irregular characteristic.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein compensating an irregular characteristic of at least one selected robotic positional display element with respect to at least one other robotic positional display element at least partially by employing one or more locations of one or more other robotic positional display elements of the plurality of robotic positional display elements to compensate the irregular characteristic comprises:

compensating an irregular characteristic of at least one selected robotic positional display element with respect to at least one other robotic positional display element at least partially by employing one or more locations of one or more other robotic positional display elements of the plurality of robotic positional display elements to compensate the irregular characteristic, the irregular characteristic including at least one of an irregular pattern, an irregular orientation, an irregular attribute, or an irregular intensity.