Mixed Media Reality System for Bridging Printed and Digital Content
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a gap between printed media and electronic media, as users lack tools to link physical printed documents with digital content, and there is no mechanism to easily migrate printed content into an electronic form with augmented information, preventing publishers from providing access to electronic versions using printed content.
Innovation Solution
A Mixed Media Reality (MMR) system that captures symbolic information from documents upon printing, using a network of mobile devices, an MMR gateway, an MMR matching unit, and an MMR publisher, which processes image queries and provides access to associated digital content, enabling the registration of images and data in a mixed media environment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a document is printed on paper, then it can be physically distributed and read without electronic devices, but it cannot be easily linked to digital content or accessed online
Solution Approach 1:
The system embeds invisible fiducial marks and symbolic information into the printed document during the printing process itself, before the document is distributed. This preliminary encoding allows the document to carry digital identification data that can be later scanned and linked to online content, resolving the contradiction by preparing the document in advance for digital connectivity without requiring complex processing at the point of use.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary scanning device (such as a mobile phone camera or dedicated scanner) that captures images of the printed document and extracts the embedded fiducial marks. This intermediary translates the physical document into digital form, enabling the link between printed and digital media without requiring the document itself to be electronically native, thus maintaining simplicity while enabling digital access.
2Adaptability or versatility
If symbolic information is embedded in printed documents, then digital content can be accessed through printed media, but the printing process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges the printing of visible document content with the embedding of invisible fiducial marks and symbolic information into a single printing operation. By combining these functions, the system achieves mixed media capability without requiring separate printing steps or complex post-processing, thus resolving the contradiction between versatility and manufacturing simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The printing system is designed to perform multiple functions simultaneously: printing the visible document content, embedding invisible fiducial marks for identification, and incorporating symbolic information for digital linking. This multi-functionality allows a single printing process to achieve adaptability across both physical and digital media without proportionally increasing complexity.
3Loss of information
If image scanning and processing is performed to link printed documents with digital content, then electronic access is enabled, but time and computational resources are consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the essential fiducial marks and symbolic information from the scanned image, rather than processing the entire document image. This selective extraction significantly reduces computational resources and processing time while still enabling accurate identification and linking to digital content, thus resolving the contradiction between information retrieval efficiency and time consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The fiducial marks and symbolic information are pre-positioned at specific locations in the document layout, allowing the scanning system to quickly locate and extract them without needing to analyze the entire document. This preliminary placement optimizes the information retrieval process, reducing both computational load and processing time while maintaining accurate linking capability.
Data Source
AI summary
An MMR system for publishing comprises a plurality of mobile devices, an MMR gateway, an MMR matching unit, and an MMR publisher. A computer includes a document authoring application, plug-in, and printer driver. The MMR matching unit receives an image query from the MMR gateway and sends it to one or more of the recognition units to identify a result including a document, the page and the location on the page. The list of results and links are sent back to the MMR gateway for presentation on the mobile device. The present invention also includes a number of novel methods including a method for capturing symbolic information from documents and for capturing printer dll functions.