Patent · US Expired

Cell phones with optical capabilities, and related applications

US6947571B1 · kind B1 · utility

765Cited by
20References
4Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 15, 2000
Grant dateSep 20, 2005
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 15, 2020

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N1/00307
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A cell phone is equipped with a 2D optical sensor, enabling a variety of applications. For example, such a phone may also be provided with a digital watermark decoder, permitting decoding of steganographic data on imaged objects. Movement of a phone may be inferred by sensing movement of an imaged pattern across the optical sensor's field of view, allowing use of the phone as a gestural input device through which a user can signal instructions to a computer-based process. A variety of other arrangements by which electronic devices can interact with the physical world are also detailed, e.g., involving sensing and responding to digital watermarks, bar codes, RFIDs, etc.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.