Portable Device Overlaying Supplementary Images on TV Reference

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional media viewing systems lack advanced interactivity between a television, a media player, and portable devices, limiting user engagement and interaction beyond simple selection and linear playback.

Innovation Solution

A portable electronic device equipped with a display, video camera, and wireless communication capabilities that captures and overlays supplementary images onto a reference image from a television, enabling new interaction modes such as revealing hidden content, using the device as a virtual magnifying glass or night-vision goggles.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If conventional media viewing systems are used, then the system structure is simple, but user interactivity is limited

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveuser interactivityVSAvoidsystem structure
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements a nested interaction model where the portable device's camera captures the television display, creating layers of image processing. The captured image is then overlaid with supplementary images that provide additional interaction capabilities, effectively nesting multiple functional layers within a single system architecture.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #7Nested doll (Nesting)

Solution Approach 2:

The portable device serves as an intermediary between the television and the user. It captures the TV display through its camera, processes the image data, and presents enhanced output to the user, thereby mediating the interaction between conventional media systems and modern portable devices to enable new interactivity modes.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Loss of information

If the portable device displays captured image only, then the display content is simple, but hidden content cannot be revealed

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvehidden content visibilityVSAvoidimage processing complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges the captured reference image with supplementary image data to create an enhanced composite display. This combining process integrates multiple information sources - the original TV content and additional interactive elements - into a single unified visual output that reveals hidden content while maintaining the base image context.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary image capture and analysis before final display. The portable device's camera captures the reference image, and the system pre-processes this data to identify regions where supplementary images should be overlaid, enabling efficient real-time rendering of hidden content without compromising display performance.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP2359915B1Media viewing
Publication Date: 2017.04.19 SONY COMP ENTERTAINMENT EURO LTD
  • EP2359915B1 patent drawingFigure 1A~1B
  • EP2359915B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP2359915B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A portable electronic device comprises a display facing in a first direction, a video camera facing in a second direction substantially opposite to the first direction, a receiver operable to receive supplementary image data from a remote image source, the supplementary image data comprising an indication of where a supplementary image is positioned with respect to a reference image, and in which the portable electronic device is arranged in operation to display a captured image from the video camera on the display of the portable electronic device, and when the captured image comprises all or part of the reference image as displayed on a separate display, the portable electronic device is arranged in operation to display the supplementary image positioned with respect to the reference image, instead of the corresponding part of the captured image.