Method and apparatus enabling archery practice

A method providing archery practice simulating a dynamic target scene as in an animal hunt, comprising the steps of;

• projecting target scenes in sequence on a screen for viewing as a dynamic target by an archer,
• detecting an arrow hit at a hit location on said screen upon the occurrence of an arrow launched by said archer at a given scene,
• freezing said given scene on said screen for viewing by said archer upon detection of said arrow hit at said hit location on said screen, and
• projecting said hit location on said screen for viewing by said archer along with said frozen scene, with said arrow hit location visually indicated to said archer on said given scene as an indication of the accuracy of said arrow hit relative to said given scene.

Apparatus for simulating a moving hunt scene for an arrow shot by an archer comprising

• a screen having a vertical imaging plane,
• means projecting a sequence of visual frames comprising said moving hunt scene onto said vertical imaging plane for presenting at least one hunt object visible to the archer,
• means responsive to arrival of an arrow shot by an archer at said vertical imaging plane for sensing the coordinate location of said arrow on said plane,
• means responsive to said sensing means for comparing said arrow coordinate position with said hunt object within one of said visual frames that was present on said vertical imaging plane when said arrow arrived thereat,
• means for determining the accuracy of the arrival of said arrow relative to said hunt object presented by said one visual frame,
• means responsive to said sensing means for freezing said one visual frame on said screen for viewing by the archer, and
• means projecting said arrow coordinate position on said screen for viewing by the archer along with said one visual frame.

A method for providing archery practice by an archer, comprising the steps of;

• providing a video disk containing a plurality of visual scenes,
• providing a reflection screen whose size simulates an area normally viewed by an archer,
• providing a video projector spaced from one side of said screen,
• coupling said projector to said video disk and using said projector to project at least one of said scenes onto said one side of said screen,
• providing a full screen sensing field in proximity to said one side of said screen,
• providing an arrow that is capable of being sensed as said arrow penetrates said sensing field, and
• providing a detector that is sensitive to an arrow penetrating said sensing field, said detector being operable to generate a signal corresponding to a zone of said screen corresponding to said arrow penetrating said sensing field.

Apparatus for visually providing a moving hunt scene toward which an arrow shot by an archer is directed, comprising:

• a screen having an imaging plane,
• means projecting a sequence of visual scenes onto said imaging plane, said sequence of visual scenes presenting at least one moving arrow target,
• means responsive to arrival of an arrow shot by an archer at said imaging plane for sensing the arrival location of said arrow on said plane,
• means responsive to said sensing means for comparing said arrow arrival location with the position of said arrow target within one visual scene that was present on said imaging plane at the time of arrival of said arrow on said plane,
• means for determining the accuracy of said arrow arrival location relative to said arrow target position that was provided by said one visual scene,
• means responsive to said sensing means for freezing said one visual scene onto said imaging plane for viewing by an archer, and
• means projecting said arrow arrival location on said imaging plane along with said one visual frame.