Mobile Ad Hoc Image Display via Device Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing technologies fail to effectively facilitate large-scale cooperative crowd behavior at public venues like sports stadiums, where synchronization of spectator activities is challenging to appreciate individually but requires collective participation to be impactful.
Innovation Solution
A method and system utilizing mobile computing devices to generate and display ad hoc images by synchronizing pixels across multiple devices, allowing users to contribute to a larger image or animation by providing location and timing-based display instructions through a mobile ad hoc imaging application.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If large-scale display screens are provided at venues to show the net effect of cooperative crowd behavior, then the audience can appreciate the collective activity, but the device complexity and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the large display into many individual mobile devices, each displaying a small portion of the overall image. Each mobile device acts as an independent pixel or pixel group, collectively forming the complete image when viewed from a distance. This eliminates the need for a single complex large-scale display screen while achieving the same visual effect.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses copies of mobile devices distributed throughout the venue to create the display. Instead of one large original display screen, thousands of identical mobile devices are used as copies that collectively reproduce the image. Each device displays a portion of the image data, and the aggregation of these copies forms the complete visual output.
2Adaptability or versatility
If mobile computing devices are used to display ad hoc images, then the collective crowd behavior can be appreciated from various perspectives, but synchronization of display across multiple devices becomes challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs feedback mechanisms where the system receives location information from mobile devices and uses this feedback to synchronize display timing. The system adjusts the display timing based on the actual position and status of each device, ensuring coherent synchronization across the distributed display network while maintaining flexibility in viewing perspectives.
3Measurement precision
If location information is collected from users to coordinate display, then the ad hoc image can be accurately positioned, but user privacy concerns and data handling complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary location information from the mobile devices without requiring comprehensive user data collection. The system uses location data solely for determining display positioning and synchronization, separating this functional requirement from broader data handling operations. This minimizes data handling complexity while maintaining the precision needed for accurate display coordination.
Data Source
AI summary
An ad hoc imaging capability allows a plurality of mobile devices to render an ad hoc image at a venue, such as a sports arena. A mobile ad hoc image (“MAHI”) application can be downloaded to the spectators' mobile devices prior to the event. Seat location of a user is used by the MAHI application to select and display an image, which is a pixel of the ad hoc image. The ad hoc image can be animated or static. An authoring tool allows creation of an ad hoc image data structure whereby a previously created image or animation is mapped to the venue seating configuration. The ad hoc image data can be downloaded to, and cached by, the mobile device along with downloading the application, or the ad hoc image data can be streamed to the mobile device when the ad hoc image is to be displayed.