Interactive video method and apparatus

A method for producing a composite video signal containing pre-recorded video program material and control data for the display of the signal by a television for viewing thereon the program material and for the detection of the control data by external equipment for ancillary use, comprising:

• identifying at least one sequence of consecutive fields of the program material wherein each field contains at least one included video subfield that is capable of being subliminally and detectably modulated with at least one bit of binary data;
• formatting at least one binary data sequence containing the control data in such manner that the data sequence can be fitted within the field sequence;
• generating synchronization signals defining a window that circumscribes the video subfields;
• and
• mixing the program material and the data within the field sequence, and within the window in response to the signals, by modulating the material by the data in such manner that the modulating is substantially invisible to a viewer of the television and is detectable for the ancillary use.

A method for remotely controlling interactive devices by broadcasting composite video information to a television, comprising:

• producing a composite video signal containing program material and control data by modulating selected viewing areas of the program material with the control data, thereby creating a video subcarrier component of the signal, the component containing the data;
• broadcasting the signal to at least one television;
• receiving the signal at at least one television;
• detecting, adjacent at least one television, the component to reproduce the data;
• and
• transmitting the data to enable interactive devices within range of the transmission to act, responsive to the program material, in a predetermined manner.

Apparatus for the remote control of interactive devices by the broadcast of composite video information to televisions, comprising:

• means for generating a program signal containing a video program;
• means for generating a data signal containing control data;
• means for subliminally modulating the program signal by the data signal in timed relation thereto, thereby producing a control data-modulated video subcarrier detectable as digital modulation in at least one predefined viewing area of at least one television;
• means adjacent at least one television for detecting the modulation in at least one viewing area to produce a control data sequence;
• and
• means for controlling, in predetermined response to the data sequence, the actions of at least one of the interactive devices

A method for remotely controlling interactive devices by broadcasting composite video information to a television, comprising:

• producing a composite video signal containing program material and control data by modulating selected viewing areas of the program material with the control data, the modulating being of alternate horizontal scan lines within selected video fields of the program material, thereby creating a component of the signal which indicates the presence and sense of the data;
• broadcasting the signal to at least one television;
• detecting, adjacent at least one television, the component to reproduce the data;
• and
• transmitting the data to enable interactive devices within range of the transmission to act, responsive to the program material, in a predetermined manner.

Apparatus for the remote control of interactive devices by the broadcast of composite video information to televisions, comprising:

• means for generating a program signal containing a video program;
• means for generating a data signal containing control data;
• means for subliminally modulating the program signal by the data signal in timed relation thereto, the modulating being of alternate horizontal scan lines within a video field and within the viewing areas of at least one television, thereby producing a data-modulated video component detectable as digital modulation within the viewing area;
• means adjacent at least one television for detecting the modulation within the viewing area to produce a control data sequence;
• and
• means for controlling, in predetermined response to the data sequence, the actions of at least one of the interactive devices.

For use in conjunction with a system which includes a video display that is luminance modulated to contain encoded data related to display activity, and a data-encoded luminance modulation-responsive translator capable of locally projecting, into a projection field, encoded light-borne information derived from such control data,

• a system-responsive interactive device including
• a receiver adapted to receive such projected information when within such field,
• a controller operatively connected to the receiver and specifically adapted to decode such information, thus to produce related control signals, and
• activity-producing means operatively coupled to the controller and responsive to the control signals to generate in the device activity which is related to the data contents of such luminance modulated video display, thus to coordinate device activity with display activity.

For use in conjunction with a system which includes a video display that is luminance modulated to contain encoded data related to display activity, and a data-encoded luminance modulation-responsive receiver/transmitter capable of transmitting over a predefined range a modulated light carrier, the light being within a predefined spectrum, the carrier being of a predefined frequency, and the light carrier being modulated by such data,

• a display activity-imitative interactive device including
• light responsive means adapted to respond to light within such predefined spectrum when within range of such transmission,
• carrier detecting means operatively connected to the light responsive means and tuned to such predefined carrier frequency, thus to produce a demodulated digital signal representative of the encoded data,
• a controller operatively connected to the carrier detecting means and specifically adapted to decode the data, thus to produce related control signals, and
• activity-producing means operatively coupled to the controller and responsive to the control signals to produce display activity-imitative device activity.