Wireless augmented reality communication system

• US 9,479,726 B2
• Filed: 01/12/2015
• Issued: 10/25/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/15/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Throop, LLC (Intellectual Discovery Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Throop, LLC (Intellectual Discovery Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Devereaux, Ann, Jedrey, Thomas, Agan, Martin
• Primary Examiner(s): OSORIO, RICARDO
• Application Number:
  US14/595,191
• Publication Number:
  US 20160006980A1
• Time in Patent Office: 652 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0015 characterised by features of the telemetry system
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/006 Mixed reality object pose determination, tracking or camera calibration for mixed reality G06T7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 17/02 using a radio link
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1063 Application servers providing network services systems providing special services to telephonic subscribers H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/147 Communication arrangements, e.g. identifying the communication as a video-communication, intermediate storage of the signals selecting H04Q
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/152 Multipoint control units therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/155 involving storage of or access to video conference sessions tracking arrangements for later retrieval of a computer conference content or participants activities H04L12/1831
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/18 Network protocols supporting networked applications, e.g. including control of end-device applications over a network

Abstract

The system of the present invention is a highly integrated radio communication system with a multimedia co-processor which allows true two-way multimedia (video, audio, data) access as well as real-time biomedical monitoring in a pager-sized portable access unit. The system is integrated in a network structure including one or more general purpose nodes for providing a wireless-to-wired interface. The network architecture allows video, audio and data (including biomedical data) streams to be connected directly to external users and devices. The portable access units may also be mated to various non-personal devices such as cameras or environmental sensors for providing a method for setting up wireless sensor nets from which reported data may be accessed through the portable access unit. The reported data may alternatively be automatically logged at a remote computer for access and viewing through a portable access unit, including the user'"'"'s own.

Claims

1. A communication system comprising:

a portable access unit comprising a wearable device, a touchpad and a transceiver;

the wearable device comprising a transparent display;

the touchpad connected to the wearable device and configured to receive user commands; and

the transceiver capable of wirelessly connecting to a general purpose node for establishing a data link with one or more media devices connected to the general purpose node,

wherein subsequent to connecting to the general purpose node, the portable access unit is configured to display on the transparent display a list of one or more media devices that are connected to the general purpose node,

wherein the portable access unit is configured to receive, at the touchpad, a first user command for selecting a first media device from the list to establish a data link with the first media device via the general purpose node,

wherein subsequent to establishing the data link with the first media device, the portable access unit is configured to display a multimedia content on the transparent display.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first media device comprises one or more selected from the group consisting of:

a camera for providing video signals for display as the multimedia content on the portable access unit;

a display for receiving video signals transmitted from the portable access unit for presenting on the display;

a speaker for receiving audio signals transmitted from the portable access unit for presenting on the speaker; and

a microphone for transmitting audio signals to the portable access unit for presenting on a speaker attached to the portable access unit.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the first media device comprises a processor, wherein the portable access unit is configured to transmit control commands to the first media device.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable access unit further comprises a sensor for collecting data and is configured for transmitting data collected by the sensor to the first media device.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the sensor comprises a biological sensor or an environmental sensor.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the first media device comprises a sensor for collecting data and configured for transmitting data collected by the sensor to the portable access unit.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the sensor comprises a biological sensor or an environmental sensor.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the first media device is wirelessly or electrically connected to the network.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable access unit is referred to as a first portable access unit, wherein the system comprises a plurality of portable access units comprising the first portable access unit, each portable access unit being capable of wirelessly connecting to the general purpose node for establishing a data link with the one or more media devices.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the general purpose node is referred to as a first general purpose node, wherein the system comprises a plurality of general purpose nodes comprising the first general purpose node, wherein each general purpose node is configured for communicating with a subset of the plurality of additional portable access units.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein each portable access unit is configured for dynamically associating with and de-associating from one of the plurality of general purpose nodes.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein each portable access unit is configured for listing on its display other portable access units that are associated with one of the plurality of general purpose nodes.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein each portable access unit is configured for listing on its display the one or more media devices.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein each portable access unit is configured to present on its display biological data for a user of at least one of the other portable access units in response to selection of the at least one other portable access unit displayed in the list.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable access unit further comprises a camera configured to capture motion images and integrated with the wearable device, wherein the transceiver is capable of transmitting a video data stream of the captured motion images to the first media device.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the portable access unit is configured to receive, via the touchpad, a second user command for transmitting the video data stream to the first media device.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable access unit is configured to update the list of one or more media devices connected to the general purpose node such that a disconnected device is removed from the list.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable access unit comprises a codec configured to encode and decode the multimedia content, wherein the multimedia content includes video and audio data, and the codec is configured to encode and decode the video and audio data.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the portable access unit further comprises a multimedia processor configured to compress and decompress the video and audio data.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable access unit further comprises a microphone configured to capture sound, wherein the transceiver is capable of transmitting an audio data stream of the captured sound to the first media device.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable access unit further comprises a codec configured to:

multiplex encoded video information with an external data stream to generate an outgoing data stream; and

demultiplex encoded video information from an incoming data stream.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein the transceiver comprises:

a transmitter configured to transmit multimedia data over a wireless communication link; and

a receiver configured to receive multimedia data over a wireless communication link.

23. The system of claim 1, wherein the multimedia content comprises video data captured by the first media device subsequent to establishing the data link.

24. The system of claim 1, wherein the multimedia content comprises video data generated prior to establishing the data link.

25. A method comprising:

providing a portable access unit comprising a wearable device, a touchpad and a transceiver, the wearable device comprising a transparent display;

wirelessly connecting, by the transceiver, to a general purpose node for establishing a data link between the portable access unit and one or more media devices connected to the general purpose node;

subsequent to connecting to the general purpose node, displaying, on the transparent display, a list of one or more media devices that are connected to the general purpose node;

receiving, via the touchpad, a first user command for selecting a first media device from the list to establish a data link between the portable access unit and the first media device via the general purpose node; and

subsequent to establishing the data link with the first media device, displaying a multimedia content on the transparent display.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising performing one or more of:

receiving video signals from the first media device for presenting the multimedia content on the transparent display;

transmitting video signals to the first media device for presenting via a display on the first media device;

transmitting audio signals to the first media device for presenting via a speaker on the first media device; and

receiving audio signals captured by the first media device from the first media device for presenting via a speaker.

27. The method of claim 25, further comprising transmitting control commands from the portable access unit to the first media device.

28. The method of claim 25, further comprising receiving data captured by a sensor on the first media device, wherein the sensor comprises a biological sensor or an environmental sensor.

29. The method of claim 25, wherein the general purpose node is one of a plurality of general purpose nodes, the method further comprising performing one or more of:

(i) dynamically associating with one or more of the plurality of general purpose nodes, and (ii) de-associating from one or more of the plurality of general purpose nodes.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising presenting, on the transparent display, a list of a plurality of portable access units that are associated with the general purpose node.

31. The method of claim 25, further comprising presenting biological data for a user of another one of a plurality of portable access units in response to selection of the user'"'"'s name from a list of users of the plurality of portable access units.

32. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

capturing motion images via a camera; and

transmitting a video data stream of the captured motion images to the first media device.

33. The method of claim 32, further comprising receiving, via the touchpad, a second user command for transmitting the video data stream to the media device.

34. The method of claim 25, further comprising updating the list of one or more media devices connected to the general purpose node such that a disconnected device is removed from the list.

35. The method of claim 25, further comprising performing one or more of:

(i) encoding video and audio data included in the multimedia content, and (ii) decoding video and audio data included in the multimedia content.

36. The method of claim 25, further comprising performing one or more of:

(i) compressing video and audio data included in the multimedia content, and (ii) decompressing video and audio data included in the multimedia content.

37. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

capturing sound via a microphone; and

transmitting an audio data stream of the captured sound to the first media device.

38. The method of claim 25, further comprising performing one or more of:

(i) multiplexing encoded video information with an external data stream to generate an outgoing data stream, and (ii) demultiplexing encoded video information from an incoming data stream.

39. The method of claim 25, further comprising performing one or more of:

(i) transmitting multimedia data over a wireless communication link, and (ii) receiving multimedia data over a wireless communication link.

40. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

receiving video data captured, subsequent to establishing the data link, by the first media device; and

displaying the multimedia content on the transparent display based on the received video data.

41. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

receiving, from the first media device, video data generated prior to establishing the data link; and

displaying the multimedia content on the transparent display based on the received video data.