Garment System
An interactive garment system provides a garment with strategically and aesthetically positioned indicia. The indicia display a themed design. The garment also includes a machine-readable code that operatively joins with a network for providing tactile, visual, and auditory education and/or entertainment. The machine-readable code is configured to link to a media that is related to the indicia on the garment, thereby making the themed design more dynamic. In this manner, tactile learning and entertainment is achieved by linking a themed design on the garment with a media on a network, such as a video on the internet. An electronic device, such as a smart phone scans the machine-readable code to access and display a media. The media could be a website that is related to the themed design of the indicia on the garment.
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RELATED CO-PENDING U.S. PATENT APPLICATIONSNot applicable.
FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENTNot applicable.
REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER LISTING APPENDIXNot applicable.
COPYRIGHT NOTICEA portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office, patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONOne or more embodiments of the invention generally relate to interactive garments. More particularly, the invention relates to interactive garments that join with machine readable codes and indicia to provide auditory, tactile and visual education and entertainment.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe following background information may present examples of specific aspects of the prior art (e.g., without limitation, approaches, facts, or common wisdom) that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon.
The following is an example of a specific aspect in the prior art that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon. By way of educational background, another aspect of the prior art generally useful to be aware of is that a printed t-shirt is a t-shirt bearing a design, image or lettering on it. Various types of printed t-shirts exist. A printed t-shirt may contain images having tactile textures.
Often, tactile learning is a learning style in which learning takes place by the student carrying out a physical activity, rather than listening to a lecture or watching a demonstration.
Typically, a barcode is an optical machine-readable representation of data relating to the object to which it is attached. A Quick Response (QR) code is the trademark for a type of matrix barcode. The QR code may be scanned by a scanning device, such as a smart phone to link to a video on the internet.
In many instances, barcodes are scanned by special optical scanners called barcode readers. Additionally, scanners and interpretive software are available on devices including desktop printers and smartphones.
In view of the foregoing, it is clear that these traditional techniques are not perfect and leave room for more optimal approaches.
The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings and in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements and in which:
Unless otherwise indicated illustrations in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SOME EMBODIMENTSThe present invention is best understood by reference to the detailed figures and description set forth herein.
Embodiments of the invention are discussed below with reference to the Figures. However, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the detailed description given herein with respect to these figures is for explanatory purposes as the invention extends beyond these limited embodiments. For example, it should be appreciated that those skilled in the art will, in light of the teachings of the present invention, recognize a multiplicity of alternate and suitable approaches, depending upon the needs of the particular application, to implement the functionality of any given detail described herein, beyond the particular implementation choices in the following embodiments described and shown. That is, there are numerous modifications and variations of the invention that are too numerous to be listed but that all fit within the scope of the invention. Also, singular words should be read as plural and vice versa and masculine as feminine and vice versa, where appropriate, and alternative embodiments do not necessarily imply that the two are mutually exclusive.
It is to be further understood that the present invention is not limited to the particular methodology, compounds, materials, manufacturing techniques, uses, and applications, described herein, as these may vary. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is used for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. It must be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include the plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, a reference to “an element” is a reference to one or more elements and includes equivalents thereof known to those skilled in the art. Similarly, for another example, a reference to “a step” or “a means” is a reference to one or more steps or means and may include sub-steps and subservient means. All conjunctions used are to be understood in the most inclusive sense possible. Thus, the word “or” should be understood as having the definition of a logical “or” rather than that of a logical “exclusive or” unless the context clearly necessitates otherwise. Structures described herein are to be understood also to refer to functional equivalents of such structures. Language that may be construed to express approximation should be so understood unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Preferred methods, techniques, devices, and materials are described, although any methods, techniques, devices, or materials similar or equivalent to those described herein may be used in the practice or testing of the present invention. Structures described herein are to be understood also to refer to functional equivalents of such structures. The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
From reading the present disclosure, other variations and modifications will be apparent to persons skilled in the art. Such variations and modifications may involve equivalent and other features which are already known in the art, and which may be used instead of or in addition to features already described herein.
Although Claims have been formulated in this application to particular combinations of features, it should be understood that the scope of the disclosure of the present invention also includes any novel feature or any novel combination of features disclosed herein either explicitly or implicitly or any generalization thereof, whether or not it relates to the same invention as presently claimed in any Claim and whether or not it mitigates any or all of the same technical problems as does the present invention.
Features which are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any suitable subcombination. The Applicants hereby give notice that new Claims may be formulated to such features and/or combinations of such features during the prosecution of the present application or of any further application derived therefrom.
References to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “example embodiment,” “various embodiments,” etc., may indicate that the embodiment(s) of the invention so described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every embodiment necessarily includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Further, repeated use of the phrase “in one embodiment,” or “in an exemplary embodiment,” do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, although they may.
Headings provided herein are for convenience and are not to be taken as limiting the disclosure in any way.
The enumerated listing of items does not imply that any or all of the items are mutually exclusive, unless expressly specified otherwise.
The terms “a”, “an” and “the” mean “one or more”, unless expressly specified otherwise.
Devices or system modules that are in at least general communication with each other need not be in continuous communication with each other, unless expressly specified otherwise. In addition, devices or system modules that are in at least general communication with each other may communicate directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries.
A description of an embodiment with several components in communication with each other does not imply that all such components are required. On the contrary a variety of optional components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of the present invention.
As is well known to those skilled in the art many careful considerations and compromises typically must be made when designing for the optimal manufacture of a commercial implementation any system, and in particular, the embodiments of the present invention. A commercial implementation in accordance with the spirit and teachings of the present invention may configured according to the needs of the particular application, whereby any aspect(s), feature(s), function(s), result(s), component(s), approach(es), or step(s) of the teachings related to any described embodiment of the present invention may be suitably omitted, included, adapted, mixed and matched, or improved and/or optimized by those skilled in the art, using their average skills and known techniques, to achieve the desired implementation that addresses the needs of the particular application.
A “computer” may refer to one or more apparatus and/or one or more systems that are capable of accepting a structured input, processing the structured input according to prescribed rules, and producing results of the processing as output. Examples of a computer may include: a computer; a stationary and/or portable computer; a computer having a single processor, multiple processors, or multi-core processors, which may operate in parallel and/or not in parallel; a general purpose computer; a supercomputer; a mainframe; a super mini-computer; a mini-computer; a workstation; a micro-computer; a server; a client; an interactive television; a web appliance; a telecommunications device with internet access; a hybrid combination of a computer and an interactive television; a portable computer; a tablet personal computer (PC); a personal digital assistant (PDA); a portable telephone; application-specific hardware to emulate a computer and/or software, such as, for example, a digital signal processor (DSP), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an application specific instruction-set processor (ASIP), a chip, chips, a system on a chip, or a chip set; a data acquisition device; an optical computer; a quantum computer; a biological computer; and generally, an apparatus that may accept data, process data according to one or more stored software programs, generate results, and typically include input, output, storage, arithmetic, logic, and control units.
Those of skill in the art will appreciate that where appropriate, some embodiments of the disclosure may be practiced in network computing environments with many types of computer system configurations, including personal computers, hand-held devices, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. Where appropriate, embodiments may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by local and remote processing devices that are linked (either by hardwired links, wireless links, or by a combination thereof) through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.
“Software” may refer to prescribed rules to operate a computer. Examples of software may include: code segments in one or more computer-readable languages; graphical and or/textual instructions; applets; pre-compiled code; interpreted code; compiled code; and computer programs.
The example embodiments described herein can be implemented in an operating environment comprising computer-executable instructions (e.g., software) installed on a computer, in hardware, or in a combination of software and hardware. The computer-executable instructions can be written in a computer programming language or can be embodied in firmware logic. If written in a programming language conforming to a recognized standard, such instructions can be executed on a variety of hardware platforms and for interfaces to a variety of operating systems. Although not limited thereto, computer software program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention can be written in any combination of one or more suitable programming languages, including an object oriented programming languages and/or conventional procedural programming languages, and/or programming languages such as, for example, Hyper text Markup Language (HTML), Dynamic HTML, Extensible Markup Language (XML), Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL), Document Style Semantics and Specification Language (DSSSL), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL), Wireless Markup Language (WML), Java™, Jini™, C, C++, Smalltalk, Perl, UNIX Shell, Visual Basic or Visual Basic Script, Virtual Reality Markup Language (VRML), ColdFusion™ or other compilers, assemblers, interpreters or other computer languages or platforms.
Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
A network is a collection of links and nodes (e.g., multiple computers and/or other devices connected together) arranged so that information may be passed from one part of the network to another over multiple links and through various nodes. Examples of networks include the Internet, the public switched telephone network, the global Telex network, computer networks (e.g., an intranet, an extranet, a local-area network, or a wide-area network), wired networks, and wireless networks.
The Internet is a worldwide network of computers and computer networks arranged to allow the easy and robust exchange of information between computer users. Hundreds of millions of people around the world have access to computers connected to the Internet via Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Content providers (e.g., website owners or operators) place multimedia information (e.g., text, graphics, audio, video, animation, and other forms of data) at specific locations on the Internet referred to as webpages. Websites comprise a collection of connected, or otherwise related, webpages. The combination of all the websites and their corresponding webpages on the Internet is generally known as the World Wide Web (WWW) or simply the Web.
Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
Further, although process steps, method steps, algorithms or the like may be described in a sequential order, such processes, methods and algorithms may be configured to work in alternate orders. In other words, any sequence or order of steps that may be described does not necessarily indicate a requirement that the steps be performed in that order. The steps of processes described herein may be performed in any order practical. Further, some steps may be performed simultaneously.
It will be readily apparent that the various methods and algorithms described herein may be implemented by, e.g., appropriately programmed general purpose computers and computing devices. Typically a processor (e.g., a microprocessor) will receive instructions from a memory or like device, and execute those instructions, thereby performing a process defined by those instructions. Further, programs that implement such methods and algorithms may be stored and transmitted using a variety of known media.
When a single device or article is described herein, it will be readily apparent that more than one device/article (whether or not they cooperate) may be used in place of a single device/article. Similarly, where more than one device or article is described herein (whether or not they cooperate), it will be readily apparent that a single device/article may be used in place of the more than one device or article.
The functionality and/or the features of a device may be alternatively embodied by one or more other devices which are not explicitly described as having such functionality/features. Thus, other embodiments of the present invention need not include the device itself.
The term “computer-readable medium” as used herein refers to any medium that participates in providing data (e.g., instructions) which may be read by a computer, a processor or a like device. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical or magnetic disks and other persistent memory. Volatile media include dynamic random access memory (DRAM), which typically constitutes the main memory. Transmission media include coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise a system bus coupled to the processor. Transmission media may include or convey acoustic waves, light waves and electromagnetic emissions, such as those generated during radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) data communications. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EEPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave as described hereinafter, or any other medium from which a computer can read.
Various forms of computer readable media may be involved in carrying sequences of instructions to a processor. For example, sequences of instruction (i) may be delivered from RAM to a processor, (ii) may be carried over a wireless transmission medium, and/or (iii) may be formatted according to numerous formats, standards or protocols, such as Bluetooth, TDMA, CDMA, 3G.
Where databases are described, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that (i) alternative database structures to those described may be readily employed, (ii) other memory structures besides databases may be readily employed. Any schematic illustrations and accompanying descriptions of any sample databases presented herein are exemplary arrangements for stored representations of information. Any number of other arrangements may be employed besides those suggested by the tables shown. Similarly, any illustrated entries of the databases represent exemplary information only; those skilled in the art will understand that the number and content of the entries can be different from those illustrated herein. Further, despite any depiction of the databases as tables, an object-based model could be used to store and manipulate the data types of the present invention and likewise, object methods or behaviors can be used to implement the processes of the present invention.
A “computer system” may refer to a system having one or more computers, where each computer may include a computer-readable medium embodying software to operate the computer or one or more of its components. Examples of a computer system may include: a distributed computer system for processing information via computer systems linked by a network; two or more computer systems connected together via a network for transmitting and/or receiving information between the computer systems; a computer system including two or more processors within a single computer; and one or more apparatuses and/or one or more systems that may accept data, may process data in accordance with one or more stored software programs, may generate results, and typically may include input, output, storage, arithmetic, logic, and control units.
A “network” may refer to a number of computers and associated devices that may be connected by communication facilities. A network may involve permanent connections such as cables or temporary connections such as those made through telephone or other communication links. A network may further include hard-wired connections (e.g., coaxial cable, twisted pair, optical fiber, waveguides, etc.) and/or wireless connections (e.g., radio frequency waveforms, free-space optical waveforms, acoustic waveforms, etc.). Examples of a network may include: an internet, such as the Internet; an intranet; a local area network (LAN); a wide area network (WAN); and a combination of networks, such as an internet and an intranet.
As used herein, the “client-side” application should be broadly construed to refer to an application, a page associated with that application, or some other resource or function invoked by a client-side request to the application. A “browser” as used herein is not intended to refer to any specific browser (e.g., Internet Explorer, Safari, FireFox, or the like), but should be broadly construed to refer to any client-side rendering engine that can access and display Internet-accessible resources. A “rich” client typically refers to a non-HTTP based client-side application, such as an SSH or CFIS client. Further, while typically the client-server interactions occur using HTTP, this is not a limitation either. The client server interaction may be formatted to conform to the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) and travel over HTTP (over the public Internet), FTP, or any other reliable transport mechanism (such as IBM® MQSeries® technologies and CORBA, for transport over an enterprise intranet) may be used. Any application or functionality described herein may be implemented as native code, by providing hooks into another application, by facilitating use of the mechanism as a plug-in, by linking to the mechanism, and the like.
Exemplary networks may operate with any of a number of protocols, such as Internet protocol (IP), asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), and/or synchronous optical network (SONET), user datagram protocol (UDP), IEEE 802.x, etc.
Embodiments of the present invention may include apparatuses for performing the operations disclosed herein. An apparatus may be specially constructed for the desired purposes, or it may comprise a general-purpose device selectively activated or reconfigured by a program stored in the device.
Embodiments of the invention may also be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. They may be implemented as instructions stored on a machine-readable medium, which may be read and executed by a computing platform to perform the operations described herein.
More specifically, as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.
In the following description and claims, the terms “computer program medium” and “computer readable medium” may be used to generally refer to media such as, but not limited to, removable storage drives, a hard disk installed in hard disk drive, and the like. These computer program products may provide software to a computer system. Embodiments of the invention may be directed to such computer program products.
An algorithm is here, and generally, considered to be a self-consistent sequence of acts or operations leading to a desired result. These include physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers or the like. It should be understood, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities.
Unless specifically stated otherwise, and as may be apparent from the following description and claims, it should be appreciated that throughout the specification descriptions utilizing terms such as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,” or the like, refer to the action and/or processes of a computer or computing system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulate and/or transform data represented as physical, such as electronic, quantities within the computing system's registers and/or memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computing system's memories, registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.
In a similar manner, the term “processor” may refer to any device or portion of a device that processes electronic data from registers and/or memory to transform that electronic data into other electronic data that may be stored in registers and/or memory. A “computing platform” may comprise one or more processors.
Embodiments within the scope of the present disclosure may also include tangible and/or non-transitory computer-readable storage media for carrying or having computer-executable instructions or data structures stored thereon. Such non-transitory computer-readable storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer, including the functional design of any special purpose processor as discussed above. By way of example, and not limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to carry or store desired program code means in the form of computer-executable instructions, data structures, or processor chip design. When information is transferred or provided over a network or another communications connection (either hardwired, wireless, or combination thereof) to a computer, the computer properly views the connection as a computer-readable medium. Thus, any such connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of the computer-readable media.
While a non-transitory computer readable medium includes, but is not limited to, a hard drive, compact disc, flash memory, volatile memory, random access memory, magnetic memory, optical memory, semiconductor based memory, phase change memory, optical memory, periodically refreshed memory, and the like; the non-transitory computer readable medium, however, does not include a pure transitory signal per se; i.e., where the medium itself is transitory.
The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
There are various types of interactive garments that operatively join with a network for entertaining and educating a user that may be provided by preferred embodiments of the present invention. In one embodiment of the present invention, an interactive garment system may provide a garment with strategically and aesthetically positioned indicia. The indicia may display a themed design. The indicia may be permanently attached, or detachable. The garment also includes a machine-readable code that operatively joins with a network for providing tactile, visual, and auditory education and/or entertainment. The machine-readable code is configured to link to a media that is related to the indicia on the garment, thereby making the themed design more dynamic. In this manner, auditory, tactile and visual learning and entertainment is achieved by linking a themed design on the garment with a media on a network, such as a video on the internet. An electronic device, such as a smart phone scans the machine-readable code to access and display a media. The media could be a website that is related to the themed design of the indicia on the garment. Those skilled in the art, in light of the present teachings, will recognize that tactile learning is a learning style in which learning takes place by a student carrying out a physical activity, rather than listening to a lecture or watching a demonstration. With the present invention, learning may be enhanced when coupled to tactile interaction and entertaining videos. The interactive garment may serve to combine both features to help enhance learning and entertainment.
In some embodiments, the indicia may include a permanent print or detachable embellishment having a specific themed design. The themed design may promote an entertaining and/or educational concept. The themed design may include eclectic figures for depicting the entertainment and educational function of the present invention, including, without limitation, animals, automobiles, spacecrafts, astronomy, biology, numbers, letters, shapes, and animated characters. In some embodiments, the indicia may provide both visual and tactile features. A permanent indicia may include print, and form a background image. A detachable indicia may include embellishments that detachably join the permanent indicia, and may be manipulated throughout the garment. For example, without limitation, a tic-tac-toe board may serve as a permanent indicia, while the playing pieces may serve as the detachable indicia.
In some embodiments, a machine-readable code may position in proximity to the indicia to provide added visual and auditory entertainment and educational attributes, such as videos, movies or games. The machine-readable code may be printed within the indicia, around the indicia, or anywhere on the garment. The size and color of the machine readable-code may vary according to the design of the garment. The machine-readable code may be scanned by an electronic device to display media, such as, images, videos, movies, or games on the network. The media may be related to the indicia, whereby the media and the indicia form a synergy for providing entertainment and education. Those skilled in the art, in light of the present teachings, will recognize that an adorned garment provides a convenient and accessible surface for placing indicia and media links through the machine-readable code. Children may especially benefit by having the proximal access to both indicia and media through the machine readable code.
In this manner, tactile learning and entertainment may be achieved by linking a design on the garment with a media on a network, such as a video on the internet. Those skilled in the art, in light of the present teachings, will recognize that tactile learning is a learning style in which learning takes place by a student carrying out a physical activity, rather than listening to a lecture or watching a demonstration. With the present invention, learning may be enhanced when coupled to tactile interaction and added audiovisual interaction through entertaining videos. The interactive garment may combine both features to help enhance learning and entertainment.
The indicia may include a permanent indicia 104 that adheres to a portion of the garment, and a detachable indicia 106, such as embellishments, that may be repositioned on various portions of the garment. Each indicia may be configured and positioned to create a themed design 112. The machine-readable code may be scanned by an electronic device 110. Upon scanning, the machine-readable code may contain data sufficient to link to a media on a network. The media may be related to the indicia on the garment and thereby help further develop the themed design. In this manner, tactile learning and entertainment may be achieved.
In one embodiment, the permanent indicia may include, without limitation, a printed image, text, scene, and a formula that is printed on the garment to form a background image. A detachable indicia may include embellishments that detachably join the permanent indicia, and may be manipulated throughout the garment. The detachable indicia may include, without limitation, a patch, a piece of fabric, a button, and a label. The detachable indicia may securely join with the garment though a fastener, including, without limitation, a hook and loop fastener, a button, a snap, a pin, an adhesive, and a magnet. The detachable indicia may create a three-dimensional effect on the garment. For example, without limitation, a checker board may serve as a permanent indicia, while the chips may serve as the detachable indicia.
In some embodiments, a machine-readable code may position in proximity to the indicia to provide added visual and auditory entertainment and educational attributes, such as videos, movies or games. The machine-readable code may be printed within the indicia, around the indicia, or anywhere on the garment. The machine-readable code may include, without limitation, a quick response (QR) code, a universal product code (UPC), a matrix bar code, a microsoft tag, a scanning tag, nfc touch points, data matrix, data bar, and an aztec code. The size and color of the machine readable-code may vary according to the design of the garment. In some embodiments, the machine-readable code, the scanning code may stand alone or incorporate into the themed design. Additionally, the machine-readable code may include a single code or a plurality of codes integrated into the garment. The machine-readable codes may vary in color and size dependent on the design. In one alternative embodiment, the machine-readable code may not attach directly onto the garment, but rather attaches to a label, sticker, button, cards, paper, stickers, bacelets, and other detachable means. These detachable items may then join with the garment. In this manner, the machine-readable code becomes detachable.
In some embodiments, the machine-readable code may be scanned by an electronic device to display media, such as, images, videos, movies, or games on the network through the electronic device itself, or an auxiliary computer. The network may include, without limitation, an internet, a public web site, a personal web site, and a company intranet. The electronic device may include, without limitation, a smart phone, a scanner, a tablet, and a computer. The media may be related to the indicia, whereby the media and the indicia form a synergy for providing entertainment and education. Those skilled in the art, in light of the present teachings, will recognize that an adorned garment provides a convenient and accessible surface for placing indicia and media links through the machine-readable code. Children may especially benefit by having the proximal access to both indicia and media through the machine readable code. For example, without limitation, a permanent and detachable indicia of an astronomic scene on a t-shirt may be depicted as a voyage through the stars in the media by scanning the machine-readable code. The voyage through the stars may be viewable in a public website, such as YouTube®, or a personal website, such as a company website.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a method for constructing the interactive garment may involve mixing traditional garment printing techniques with technology. In an initial step of the method, the indicia may be developed through a processor configured to utilize graphic software. The graphic software may create a themed design that focuses on an educational topic, including, without limitation, animals, automobiles, astronomy, numbers, shapes, characters.
The permanent indicia may then be printed onto the garment using an inkjet printer on regular paper, and then checked for sizing on the garment and the appropriateness of the permanent indicia. If the permanent indicia is appropriate, another print may be made on a heat transfer paper. Next, the garment may be placed on a heat press machine, and pressed for about five seconds to iron out wrinkles An additional step may include lifting the heat press and placing transfer paper with the permanent indicia on the garment. Heat may be applied to the garment for a duration to transfer the permanent indicia onto the garment. In some embodiments, a next step may include adding on the detachable indicia, including, without limitation, embroidered patch animals, automobiles, shapes, numbers, and characters onto the garment to blend into the themed design. In some embodiments, Velcro, buttons, or snaps may be utilized to secure the detachable indicia on the garment.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a video, movie, or game may be created using computer software such as Photoshop®, Movie Maker®, Fresh Paint®, SeSerfi® draw, and the like, that is directly related to the themed design. For example, without limitation, if the themed design on a shirt includes sea creatures, then the movie, video, or game may depict the sea creatures seen on the shirt. In another step, the video may be downloaded onto a personal website or a public website such as Youtube®. A next step may include obtaining machine-readable code or any code generator that can link your video, movie or game to the website. A next step may comprises cutting and pasting the machine-readable code to Power Point® and adjusting to an appropriate size that will blend with the design of the shirt. In one embodiment, the machine-readable code may be printed onto a heat transfer paper using an inkjet printer. The machine-readable code may then be cut from the paper and applied to the garment through a hot iron. A next step may include pressing the hot iron down onto the heat transfer paper with the machine-readable code onto the garment for 60 to 90 seconds. In this manner, the machine-readable code may print on the garment, and be receptive to scanning by the electronic device.
In one alternative embodiment, the interactive garment may include a two-piece garment, with each piece having a separate, yet compatible link to a video. In yet another alternative embodiment, the electronic device for scanning the machine-readable code joins with the garment, such as a scanner in a pocket. In yet another alternative embodiment, the themed design includes a military feature that allows the user to view military strategies, whereby the camouflage uniform comprises of a disguised machine-readable code. In yet another alternative embodiment, the detachable indicia may be interchangeable between various interactive garments.
Client 602 may communicate bi-directionally with local network 606 via a communication channel 616. Client 604 may communicate bi-directionally with local network 608 via a communication channel 618. Local network 606 may communicate bi-directionally with global network 610 via a communication channel 620. Local network 608 may communicate bi-directionally with global network 610 via a communication channel 622. Global network 610 may communicate bi-directionally with server 612 and server 614 via a communication channel 624. Server 612 and server 614 may communicate bi-directionally with each other via communication channel 624. Furthermore, clients 602, 604, local networks 606, 608, global network 610 and servers 612, 614 may each communicate bi-directionally with each other.
In one embodiment, global network 610 may operate as the Internet. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that communication system 600 may take many different forms. Non-limiting examples of forms for communication system 600 include local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), wired telephone networks, wireless networks, or any other network supporting data communication between respective entities.
Clients 602 and 604 may take many different forms. Non-limiting examples of clients 602 and 604 include personal computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), cellular phones and smartphones.
Client 602 includes a CPU 626, a pointing device 628, a keyboard 630, a microphone 632, a printer 634, a memory 636, a mass memory storage 638, a GUI 640, a video camera 642, an input/output interface 644 and a network interface 646.
CPU 626, pointing device 628, keyboard 630, microphone 632, printer 634, memory 636, mass memory storage 638, GUI 640, video camera 642, input/output interface 644 and network interface 646 may communicate in a unidirectional manner or a bi-directional manner with each other via a communication channel 648. Communication channel 648 may be configured as a single communication channel or a multiplicity of communication channels.
CPU 626 may be comprised of a single processor or multiple processors. CPU 626 may be of various types including micro-controllers (e.g., with embedded RAM/ROM) and microprocessors such as programmable devices (e.g., RISC or SISC based, or CPLDs and FPGAs) and devices not capable of being programmed such as gate array ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits) or general purpose microprocessors.
As is well known in the art, memory 636 is used typically to transfer data and instructions to CPU 626 in a bi-directional manner. Memory 636, as discussed previously, may include any suitable computer-readable media, intended for data storage, such as those described above excluding any wired or wireless transmissions unless specifically noted. Mass memory storage 638 may also be coupled bi-directionally to CPU 626 and provides additional data storage capacity and may include any of the computer-readable media described above. Mass memory storage 638 may be used to store programs, data and the like and is typically a secondary storage medium such as a hard disk. It will be appreciated that the information retained within mass memory storage 638, may, in appropriate cases, be incorporated in standard fashion as part of memory 636 as virtual memory.
CPU 626 may be coupled to GUI 640. GUI 640 enables a user to view the operation of computer operating system and software. CPU 626 may be coupled to pointing device 628. Non-limiting examples of pointing device 628 include computer mouse, trackball and touchpad. Pointing device 628 enables a user with the capability to maneuver a computer cursor about the viewing area of GUI 640 and select areas or features in the viewing area of GUI 640. CPU 626 may be coupled to keyboard 630. Keyboard 630 enables a user with the capability to input alphanumeric textual information to CPU 626. CPU 626 may be coupled to microphone 632. Microphone 632 enables audio produced by a user to be recorded, processed and communicated by CPU 626. CPU 626 may be connected to printer 634. Printer 634 enables a user with the capability to print information to a sheet of paper. CPU 626 may be connected to video camera 642. Video camera 642 enables video produced or captured by user to be recorded, processed and communicated by CPU 626.
CPU 626 may also be coupled to input/output interface 644 that connects to one or more input/output devices such as such as CD-ROM, video monitors, track balls, mice, keyboards, microphones, touch-sensitive displays, transducer card readers, magnetic or paper tape readers, tablets, styluses, voice or handwriting recognizers, or other well-known input devices such as, of course, other computers.
Finally, CPU 626 optionally may be coupled to network interface 646 which enables communication with an external device such as a database or a computer or telecommunications or internet network using an external connection shown generally as communication channel 616, which may be implemented as a hardwired or wireless communications link using suitable conventional technologies. With such a connection, CPU 626 might receive information from the network, or might output information to a network in the course of performing the method steps described in the teachings of the present invention.
Those skilled in the art will readily recognize, in light of and in accordance with the teachings of the present invention, that any of the foregoing steps and/or system modules may be suitably replaced, reordered, removed and additional steps and/or system modules may be inserted depending upon the needs of the particular application, and that the systems of the foregoing embodiments may be implemented using any of a wide variety of suitable processes and system modules, and is not limited to any particular computer hardware, software, middleware, firmware, microcode and the like. For any method steps described in the present application that can be carried out on a computing machine, a typical computer system can, when appropriately configured or designed, serve as a computer system in which those aspects of the invention may be embodied.
It will be further apparent to those skilled in the art that at least a portion of the novel method steps and/or system components of the present invention may be practiced and/or located in location(s) possibly outside the jurisdiction of the United States of America (USA), whereby it will be accordingly readily recognized that at least a subset of the novel method steps and/or system components in the foregoing embodiments must be practiced within the jurisdiction of the USA for the benefit of an entity therein or to achieve an object of the present invention. Thus, some alternate embodiments of the present invention may be configured to comprise a smaller subset of the foregoing means for and/or steps described that the applications designer will selectively decide, depending upon the practical considerations of the particular implementation, to carry out and/or locate within the jurisdiction of the USA. For example, any of the foregoing described method steps and/or system components which may be performed remotely over a network (e.g., without limitation, a remotely located server) may be performed and/or located outside of the jurisdiction of the USA while the remaining method steps and/or system components (e.g., without limitation, a locally located client) of the forgoing embodiments are typically required to be located/performed in the USA for practical considerations. In client-server architectures, a remotely located server typically generates and transmits required information to a US based client, for use according to the teachings of the present invention. Depending upon the needs of the particular application, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, in light of the teachings of the present invention, which aspects of the present invention can or should be located locally and which can or should be located remotely. Thus, for any claims construction of the following claim limitations that are construed under 35 USC §112 (6) it is intended that the corresponding means for and/or steps for carrying out the claimed function are the ones that are locally implemented within the jurisdiction of the USA, while the remaining aspect(s) performed or located remotely outside the USA are not intended to be construed under 35 USC §112 (6).
It is noted that according to USA law, all claims must be set forth as a coherent, cooperating set of limitations that work in functional combination to achieve a useful result as a whole. Accordingly, for any claim having functional limitations interpreted under 35 USC §112 (6) where the embodiment in question is implemented as a client-server system with a remote server located outside of the USA, each such recited function is intended to mean the function of combining, in a logical manner, the information of that claim limitation with at least one other limitation of the claim. For example, in client-server systems where certain information claimed under 35 USC §112 (6) is/(are) dependent on one or more remote servers located outside the USA, it is intended that each such recited function under 35 USC §112 (6) is to be interpreted as the function of the local system receiving the remotely generated information required by a locally implemented claim limitation, wherein the structures and or steps which enable, and breath life into the expression of such functions claimed under 35 USC §112 (6) are the corresponding steps and/or means located within the jurisdiction of the USA that receive and deliver that information to the client (e.g., without limitation, client-side processing and transmission networks in the USA). When this application is prosecuted or patented under a jurisdiction other than the USA, then “USA” in the foregoing should be replaced with the pertinent country or countries or legal organization(s) having enforceable patent infringement jurisdiction over the present application, and “35 USC §112 (6)” should be replaced with the closest corresponding statute in the patent laws of such pertinent country or countries or legal organization(s).
All the features disclosed in this specification, including any accompanying abstract and drawings, may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.
It is noted that according to USA law 35 USC §112 (1), all claims must be supported by sufficient disclosure in the present patent specification, and any material known to those skilled in the art need not be explicitly disclosed. However, 35 USC §112 (6) requires that structures corresponding to functional limitations interpreted under 35 USC §112 (6) must be explicitly disclosed in the patent specification. Moreover, the USPTO's Examination policy of initially treating and searching prior art under the broadest interpretation of a “mean for” claim limitation implies that the broadest initial search on 112(6) functional limitation would have to be conducted to support a legally valid Examination on that USPTO policy for broadest interpretation of “mean for” claims. Accordingly, the USPTO will have discovered a multiplicity of prior art documents including disclosure of specific structures and elements which are suitable to act as corresponding structures to satisfy all functional limitations in the below claims that are interpreted under 35 USC §112 (6) when such corresponding structures are not explicitly disclosed in the foregoing patent specification. Therefore, for any invention element(s)/structure(s) corresponding to functional claim limitation(s), in the below claims interpreted under 35 USC §112 (6), which is/are not explicitly disclosed in the foregoing patent specification, yet do exist in the patent and/or non-patent documents found during the course of USPTO searching, Applicant(s) incorporate all such functionally corresponding structures and related enabling material herein by reference for the purpose of providing explicit structures that implement the functional means claimed. Applicant(s) request(s) that fact finders during any claims construction proceedings and/or examination of patent allowability properly identify and incorporate only the portions of each of these documents discovered during the broadest interpretation search of 35 USC §112 (6) limitation, which exist in at least one of the patent and/or non-patent documents found during the course of normal USPTO searching and or supplied to the USPTO during prosecution. Applicant(s) also incorporate by reference the bibliographic citation information to identify all such documents comprising functionally corresponding structures and related enabling material as listed in any PTO Form-892 or likewise any information disclosure statements (IDS) entered into the present patent application by the USPTO or Applicant(s) or any 3rd parties. Applicant(s) also reserve its right to later amend the present application to explicitly include citations to such documents and/or explicitly include the functionally corresponding structures which were incorporate by reference above.
Thus, for any invention element(s)/structure(s) corresponding to functional claim limitation(s), in the below claims, that are interpreted under 35 USC §112 (6), which is/are not explicitly disclosed in the foregoing patent specification, Applicant(s) have explicitly prescribed which documents and material to include the otherwise missing disclosure, and have prescribed exactly which portions of such patent and/or non-patent documents should be incorporated by such reference for the purpose of satisfying the disclosure requirements of 35 USC §112 (6). Applicant(s) note that all the identified documents above which are incorporated by reference to satisfy 35 USC §112 (6) necessarily have a filing and/or publication date prior to that of the instant application, and thus are valid prior documents to incorporated by reference in the instant application.
Having fully described at least one embodiment of the present invention, other equivalent or alternative methods of implementing an interactive garment that teaches through tactile and visual methods according to the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Various aspects of the invention have been described above by way of illustration, and the specific embodiments disclosed are not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed. The particular implementation of the an interactive garment that teaches through tactile and visual methods may vary depending upon the particular context or application. By way of example, and not limitation, the an interactive garment that teaches through tactile and visual methods described in the foregoing were principally directed to indicia and a QR code on a garment that form a themed design, and link to media on the internet for education and entertainment implementations; however, similar techniques may instead be applied to blackboards in classrooms, where the machine-readable code is located on the blackboard, and a previous day's lesson may be watched again by scanning the code, which implementations of the present invention are contemplated as within the scope of the present invention. The invention is thus to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the following claims. It is to be further understood that not all of the disclosed embodiments in the foregoing specification will necessarily satisfy or achieve each of the objects, advantages, or improvements described in the foregoing specification.
Claim elements and steps herein may have been numbered and/or lettered solely as an aid in readability and understanding. Any such numbering and lettering in itself is not intended to and should not be taken to indicate the ordering of elements and/or steps in the claims.
The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed.
The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. Section 1.72(b) requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to ascertain the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to limit or interpret the scope or meaning of the claims. The following claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.
Claims
1. A system comprising:
- a garment, said garment being configured to be adorned by a user, said garment being configured to operatively join with a network;
- an indicia, said indicia being disposed to join with said garment, said indicia being configured to at least partially embellish said garment;
- a machine-readable code, said machine readable code being disposed to join with said garment, said machine-readable code being configured to access a media on said network; and
- an electronic device, said electronic device being configured to read said machine-readable code, said electronic device further being configured to access said media.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein said system provides education and/or entertainment through visual interaction, and/or auditory interaction, and/or tactile interaction with said user.
3. The system of claim 2, in which said garment comprises a shirt.
4. The system of claim 3, wherein said garment is configured to operatively join said network for entertaining and/or educating said user.
5. The system of claim 4, in which said network comprises an internet.
6. The system of claim 5, in which said indicia comprises a permanent indicia.
7. The system of claim 6, wherein said permanent indicia joins with said garment through an ink jet printing process.
8. The system of claim 7, in which said indicia comprises a detachable indicia.
9. The system of claim 8, in which said indicia comprises a printed image.
10. The system of claim 9, wherein said printed image depicts a themed design.
11. The system of claim 10, in which said themed design comprises an educational and/or an entertainment theme.
12. The system of claim 11, in which said educational and/or entertainment theme comprises animals, or automobiles, or spacecrafts, or astronomy, or biology, or numbers, or letters, or shapes, or animated characters.
13. The system of claim 12, in which said machine-readable code comprises a Quick Response code.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein said Quick Response code comprises a plurality of designs configured to correlate with said network.
15. The system of claim 14, in which said electronic device comprises a smart phone.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein said electronic device is operable to scan said machine-readable code.
17. The system of claim 16, wherein said electronic device displays a video related to said themed design after scanning said machine-readable code.
18. The system of claim 17, wherein scanning said machine-readable code is operable to display a specific website related to said themed design.
19. A system comprising:
- means for adorning a garment;
- means for displaying an indicia on said garment, said indicia comprising a themed design;
- means for displaying a machine-readable code on said garment;
- means for scanning said machine-readable code with an electronic device;
- means for operatively joining a network; and
- means for displaying a media on said electronic device.
20. A system consisting of:
- a garment, said garment comprising a shirt, said garment being configured to be adorned by a user, said garment being configured to operatively join with a network, said network comprising an internet;
- an indicia, said indicia being disposed to join with said garment, said indicia comprising a permanently attached indicia, said indicia being configured to at least partially embellish said garment, said indicia comprising a themed design, said themed design comprising an educational and/or an entertainment theme, said educational and/or entertainment theme comprising animals, or automobiles, or spacecrafts, or astronomy, or biology, or numbers, or letters, or shapes, or animated characters;
- a machine-readable code, said machine-readable code comprising a Quick Response code, said machine readable code being disposed to join with said garment, said machine-readable code being configured to access a media on said network, said media comprising a website; and
- an electronic device, said electronic device comprising a smart phone, said electronic device being configured to read said machine-readable code by scanning, said electronic device further being configured to access said media, said electronic device further being configured to display said media.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 8, 2013
Publication Date: Apr 9, 2015
Inventor: Ernesto Almeda, JR. (Bothell, WA)
Application Number: 14/049,018
