Abstract: A fixed display system that can interact with a communication device includes a display system including a fixed display operable to display information. A sensor is operable to provide a first signature upon an occurrence of a predetermined event, and the communication device is also operable to provide a second signature upon the occurrence of the same predetermined event. A processor compares the first and second signatures and determines whether these first and second signatures describe the same predetermined event, whereupon the processor initiates a communication session between the display system and the communication device. In addition, personal information of the user on the communication device may be used locally or partially/fully transferred to the display system to provide a personalized interactive experience for the user.

Abstract: A fixed display system that can interact with a communication device includes a display system including a fixed display operable to display information. A sensor is operable to provide a first signature upon an occurrence of a predetermined event, and the communication device is also operable to provide a second signature upon the occurrence of the same predetermined event. A processor compares the first and second signatures and determines whether these first and second signatures describe the same predetermined event, whereupon the processor initiates a communication session between the display system and the communication device. In addition, personal information of the user on the communication device may be used locally or partially/fully transferred to the display system to provide a personalized interactive experience for the user.

Abstract: A touchless interactive display system includes a display with a display area bounding the display. A reflective surface is located along an edge of the display. One optical sensor opposes and faces the reflective surface so that the optical sensor has a primary, non-reflected field of view and a secondary, reflected field of view that is reflected back from the reflective surface. The primary field of view covers a first portion of the display area that is less than the whole display area, and the reflected field of view covers a second portion of the display area, such that the first and second portions of the display area cover the entire display area. The optical sensor and a processor are operable to detect an object placed within at least one of its first and second fields of view without having the object touch the display.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for interactivity with broadcast media is provided. The method includes capturing (404) a plurality of audio segments from a plurality of broadcasts. The plurality of broadcasts correspond to a plurality of broadcast channels. Further, the method includes receiving (406) an audio clip from an electronic device (200). The method also includes identifying (408) a broadcast channel corresponding to the audio clip based on the plurality of audio segments and the audio clip.

Abstract: A sensor for detecting acoustic energy emitted by a target is disclosed. The sensor comprises a housing including a plurality of transducers for receiving acoustic energy. The transducers are randomly deployed within a predetermined area around the housing, forming an array and a self-survey technique is utilized to determine the positions of the sensors. Beamforming techniques are utilized to analyze the acoustic energy detected by the transducers to provide the azimuth of a target and a class estimate of the target. A plurality of sensors may be utilized to provide target location, course and velocity.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for driving a vehicle from a remote control station achieving tele-operation of the vehicle. A television sensor mounted on the vehicle provides video image information which is reduced in bandwidth by a factor of approximately 1000:1 for transmission by narrow band RF data link to a remote control station. The large bandwidth reduction is accomplished by first sampling the video output of the sensor at a reduced frame rate and then compressing the data further by standard data compression techniques. Vehicle position and attitude data which may be derived from the vehicle's on board inertial reference unit are also transmitted via narrow band data link to the control station.

Abstract: A monolithic integrated circuit is provided in which signals from concurrently operating information sources are each provided to a corresponding signal processing cell in an array thereof. These cells can each communicate directly with surrounding nearest neighbor cells both to and from. Each such signal processing cell is capable of being directed in parallel to perform selected signal processing operations including operations involving data from many cells. Communications between cells can be effected using charge coupled devices, and the signal processing operations in a cell can be performed by a floating gate regenerator.

Abstract: A local area contrast enhancement scheme for a video display includes a two dimensional recursive filter to obtain a moving average of the intensity variations in all areas of the display. This moving average is subtracted from the original signal to produce a signal which contains only local variations and this latter signal is expanded to increase the display contrast. The local area contrast enhancement scheme allows low contrast details to be perceived and permits hands-off operation of the display under varying scene conditions. The recursive filter approach results in a simple implementation of the enhancement scheme with both analog and digital circuitry.