Abstract:
A system is provided which uses a camera to generate an image of an environment to be controlled by the user. The image is displayed on a display monitor of a control device. The control device allows the user to interact with a region of the image on the display monitor. The region corresponds to controllable consumer electronics (CE) equipment displayed within the image of the environment. Interaction with the region causes the CE equipment to be controlled in a pre-programmed manner.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the invention  
           [0002]    The invention relates to, among other things, remote control of consumer electronics (CE) equipment.  
           [0003]    2. Disclosure of the Related Art  
           [0004]    Remote control units are widely known. An example is the Pronto TM manufactured by Royal Philips Electronics. The Pronto™ is a so-called universal programmable remote control unit for control of CE equipment via IR. It enables storing the IR codes of practically any existing consumer electronics (CE) apparatus. The Pronto™ has an LCD with touch screen functionality as a graphical user-interface (GUI). The control functionalities of the Pronto TM can be fully customized by the user him/herself. The individual control functionalities are graphically represented as icons. The Pronto™ allows the user to cluster respective groups of icons in respective pages that can be retrieved and displayed on the touch screen LCD.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    The invention uses a camera to generate an image of an environment to be controlled by the user. The image is displayed on a display monitor of a control device. The control device allows the user to interact with a region of the image on the display monitor. The region corresponds to controllable consumer electronics (CE) equipment displayed within the image of the environment. Interaction with the region causes the CE equipment to be controlled in a pre-programmed manner.  
           [0006]    The invention uses, for example, a web-cam, i.e., a video camera that is coupled to a web-server, to allow the user to remotely watch what the camera is capturing, e.g., live video or a still picture. The image captured by the web-cam can be transferred via the web-server and the Internet or another data network to a set-top box or personal computer having a web browser.  
           [0007]    To associate the two-dimensional coordinates of the image captured from the camera with the CE equipment that can be controlled, a training mode is used. For example, by turning a lamp on and off several times, the system of the present invention learns which pixels in the captured image are associated with the lamp and uses that information to construct an image map.  
           [0008]    As an example, wherein the system of the present invention is being used in a home environment, the user remotely controls the web-cam to capture an image of a portion of his/her controllable home equipment. The home equipment comprises, e.g., lamps, a sprinkler installation, a coffee machine, an in-house climate control apparatus, etc. The captured image is displayed on a display screen of a control device interacted with by the user. The region in the image displaying a specific piece of the equipment represents an active region assigned to controlling this specific piece of equipment. When the user activates this image region on the control device, e.g., via a touch screen or by positioning a cursor within the region and clicking a computer mouse, a command is generated that is sent from the control device to the relevant piece of equipment.  
           [0009]    An embodiment of the invention provides an information processing system that has a handheld computing device, e.g., a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), with a graphical user-interface (GUI) and a wireless modem coupled to the handheld device. The wireless modem enables communication with a server via a data network such as the Internet. A control network is coupled between the server and controllable equipment. The handheld device is capable of functioning as a wireless remote control device for the equipment via the Internet and the server. The system also includes a video camera, e.g., a web-cam, together with hardware and software to create a formatted still image suitable for being displayed on the PDA&#39;s LCD screen.  
           [0010]    The image serves as the graphical user-interface of the handheld device. The displayed web-cam image or regions thereof can be clicked or touched to effect a command to be sent for remotely controlling CE or other electronic devices displayed within the web-cam&#39;s image. For example, the user can touch an image of a lamp on a web-cam image to instruct the server to execute a program to remotely send commands to the lamp to turn it on or off. If the lamp is in the video camera&#39;s range of view, the lamp switching on or off can be visually verified via the real-time web-cam video image.  
           [0011]    Incorporated herein by reference are the following patent documents:  
           [0012]    U.S. application Ser. No. 09/427,821 filed on Oct. 27, 1999 for Joost Kemink and Rik Sagar for PDA HAS WIRELESS MODEM FOR REMOTE CONTROL VIA THE INTERNET. This document relates to a combination of a PDA and a wireless modem to enable remote control of CE equipment via the Internet and a local home server.  
           [0013]    U.S. application Ser. No. 09/544,666 filed on Apr. 6, 2000 for Rik Sagar for HANDHELD RETRIEVES UI FROM SERVER FOR CONTROL OF APPARATUS VIA SERVER. This document relates to a handheld remote that has a wireless modem to send an identifier to a server on the Internet.  
           [0014]    The server has a look-up table to associate the identifier with a URL. The URL specifies a CGI program on another machine on the Internet. The machine controls equipment through execution of the CGI program.  
           [0015]    U.S. application Ser. No. 09/434,155 filed on Nov. 4, 1999 for Martin Freeman and Bonghan Cho for REMOTE INITIATES RETRIEVAL OF CONTROL CONFIGURATION. This document relates to a programmable remote control unit that is capable of initiating retrieval of a control configuration from a storage device external to the unit. The unit includes a memory to store the retrieved control configuration; a display for display of icons representing the configuration; and a touch screen for entering a selection based on the icons displayed. The storage device is a component a CE apparatus. By storing or backing-up the control configuration for a specific apparatus in the apparatus itself the remote is made truly universally programmable.  
           [0016]    U.S. application Ser. No. 09/160,490 filed on Sep. 25, 1998 for Adrian Turner, Simon Pearce, David Eves and Allan Timms for CUSTOMIZED UPGRADING OF INTERNET-ENABLED DEVICES BASED ON USER-PROFILE, and U.S. Serial No. 09/189,535 filed on Nov. 10, 1998 for Eugene Shteyn for UPGRADING OF SYNERGETIC ASPECTS OF HOME NETWORKS, both of which relate to a server system that maintains a user profile of a particular end-user of consumer electronics network-enabled equipment and a data base of new technical features for this type of equipment. If there is a match between the profile and a new technical feature, and the user has indicated he/she is willing to receive the information about updates or sales offers, the user gets notified via the network of the option to obtain the feature. Synergy is detected between pieces of equipment of the user in order to notify him/her of further possibilities of using or expanding his/her equipment.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0017]    The invention is explained by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system according to the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0018]    The invention is explained below within the context of two examples. A first example is the use of the remote control via the Internet to turn on and turn off a lamp. The second example relates to retrieving a stored image from a home server.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system  100  of the invention. System  100  includes a hand-held device  102  such as a personal digital assistant (PDA) ,e.g., a PalmIIIx manufactured by 3COM or a Windows CE™-based handheld, that is connected to a data network  106 , e.g., the Internet, via a wireless modem  104 . Modem  104  is, for example, a Minstrel or a Ricochet. The Minstrel marketed by Novatel Wireless is a two-way wireless modem for a PDA that lets the user browse the Web and receive e-mail, among other things.  
         [0020]    In a more general sense, a wireless modem like the Minstrel or Ricochet provides the handheld device  102  with an IP address that can be used by any type of application that uses the Internet for communication (within limitations of throughput, latency and coverage). The Minstrel uses a technology referred to as Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) that is supported by the cellular service providers. Web surfing is limited to a CDPD speed cap of 19.2 kbps.  
         [0021]    The Ricochet from Metricom has a faster connect rate, in the 28.8 kbps range, but it is supported in only three metropolitan centers (the San Francisco Bay area, Seattle and Washington). The remote control functionality in the system of the invention does not require a high data rate. The information communicated is limited in size. The data rate in this example is approximately 9,600 Baud.  
         [0022]    It is contemplated that the hand-held device  102  could be a device other than a PDA. For example, it is envisioned that the hand-held device  102  could be a device capable of emitting RF signals or a personal computer directly connected (i.e., non-wirelessly) to a data network, such as the Internet.  
         [0023]    System  100  further has a server  108 , an X-10 controller  110 , an X-10 switch module  112  and a lamp  114 . X-10 is a communications protocol for control of electrical devices. The protocol is designed for communications between X-10 transmitters and X-10 receivers which communicate on standard household wiring  116 . X-10 is mentioned here as an example. Alternative control mechanisms are feasible that do not use the power supply lines, such as CEBus,  12 C, IR (through an IR blaster), etc. Switch  112  connects lamp  114  to mains power supply  116  under control of controller  110 . Controller  110  in turn gets its control input from server  108 .  
         [0024]    PDA  102  has a display or graphical user-interface (GUI)  118  with a touch screen or graphical tablet functionality, and a client application  120 . Client application  120  controls the creation of soft buttons on display  118 .  
         [0025]    When a user activates an ON button on display  118 , application  120  uses wireless modem  104  to send a command via the Internet  106  to server  108 . Server  108  includes a PC hardware running a web server  122  and software modules  124  that include CGI scripts run by the web server  122 . CGI stands for Common Gateway Interface and is part of the HTTP protocol. CGI is used to transfer information back and forth between the web server  122  and an application, such as client application  120 .  
         [0026]    The web server  122  running on PC  108  interprets the command received from the PDA  102  over the Internet  106 . The interpretation mechanism uses, e.g., a database on PC  108 , wherein each specific command received is linked to a specific action. The database can be fully customized by the user. The command in this example is interpreted as an action to turn lamp  114  on.  
         [0027]    To this end, PC  108  communicates with controller  110 , e.g., via an RS232 cable, and instructs the latter to issue a command to switch  112  to turn lamp  114  on. Switch  112  receives the command and connects lamp  114  with power lines  116 . Similarly, when the user thereafter presses an OFF-button on display  118 , client application  120  sends a corresponding command via modem  104  to PC  108  via the Internet  106 . The web server  122  interprets the command and instructs controller  110  to let switch  112  turn off lamp  114 .  
         [0028]    System  100  further includes a server  126 , herein referred to as the Reliable Home Server (RHS), and a video camera  128 , such as a web-cam. RHS  126  may be a component within server  122  or a separate low-cost server, as in this example. Alternatively, web server  122  and scripts  124  can be components of server  126 .  
         [0029]    The video camera  128  allows the user to remotely watch what the video camera  128  is capturing, e.g., live video or a still picture which can be automatically refreshed.  
         [0030]    RHS  126  includes hardware and software to receive images from at least one video source, in this example, a video image from the video camera  128 , and transfer the images to the PDA  102  or another computer with a web browser. Client application  120  provides a soft button, e.g., VIEW, that, when pressed, lets application  120  send a command via the modem  104  and the Internet  106  to the server  108 . The web server  122  running on PC  108  receives the command, interprets it and instructs RHS  126  to transmit the video image to the web server  122 . The latter converts the format of the video image suitable for display on GUI  118  of PDA  102  and then stores the formatted image in a database within a memory of PC  108 .  
         [0031]    The user presses another soft button, e.g., IMAGE, created by client application  120 . The associated command gets sent via the modem  104  and the Internet  106  to the PC  108 . The web server  122  receives the command, interprets it, and accordingly retrieves the stored image from the database and returns it to PDA  102  via common Internet protocols. PDA  102  then displays the image on GUI  118  under control of client application  120 .  
         [0032]    The image displayed by the GUI  118  can be clicked or touched to effect a clickable user-interface (image-map) to remotely control the lamp  114  and other electronic devices. For example, the user can touch an image of the lamp  114  on the image to instruct the web server  122  to execute a program to remotely send on/off commands to the lamp  114 . If the lamp  114  is network-enabled (e.g., Internet-enabled), the lamp  114  can be controlled directly via its own Internet address and web server  122 . If the lamp  114  is not network-enabled, the lamp  114  can be coupled to RHS  126  through which it is indirectly controllable.  
         [0033]    It is contemplated for RHS  126  to give conditional access, e.g., through a password, for security purposes. It is further contemplated to also control the lamp  114  by touching a real-time web-cam video image which is periodically refreshed and displayed by the GUI  118 . Accordingly, if the lamp  114  is in the video camera&#39;s range of view, the lamp  114  switching on or off can be visually verified via the real-time web-cam video image, i.e., the lamp  114  being turned on or off affects the colors or brightness of the image. In other examples, the presence or absence of a water jet confirms whether a sprinkler is turned on or off. An “on” light at the coffee machine or the heater confirms an power-on mode.  
         [0034]    Alternatively, a user-interface, such as a slider control panel, could pop up if an image of a device on the web-cam video image is clicked or touched. For example, the user can touch an image of a radio on a web-cam video image to pop up a slider control panel having various control options, such as turning the radio on, adjusting the volume, playing a cassette, etc. Upon touching one or more of the various control options, the web server  122  is instructed to execute a program to remotely control the radio accordingly. Thus, the image of the apparatus to be controlled, as captured by the video camera  128 , serves as part of an intuitive user-interface.  
         [0035]    To associate the two-dimensional coordinates of the video image captured from the video camera  128  with the CE and appliances that can be controlled, a training mode is used. For example, by turning the lamp  114  on and off several times, the system learns which pixels in the captured video image are associated with the lamp  114  and uses that information to construct an image map.  
         [0036]    It is also envisioned to train the system of the present invention to associate certain tasks, e.g., individual control commands, with images or regions thereof. The image or a region thereof thus serves to represent a command at the user-interface. The images can be captured during the training session(s) and saved for future use. During use, the user is presented with images or other pre-defined representations (e.g., icons) that reflect different states of the equipment to be controlled. The user chooses or effects the equipment&#39;s state reflected by the chosen image by means of, e.g., clicking on the chosen image or performing another confirming action.  
         [0037]    Further, the system of the present invention enables the user to create a representation of the desired state of the equipment to be controlled by highlighting icons or by using a drag-and-drop icon interface, where each icon represents an effect, e.g., light on/off. An image of a real environment (room, theater stage, etc.) can be used as the background to make the system easier to use. The system is trained to associate the state of an apparatus to be controlled with the particular element or icon being highlighted or dragged-and dropped.  
         [0038]    Alternatively, drag-and-drop icons can have attributes associated with their effects, so they can be placed into spaces that satisfy those attributes. For example, an icon of a light or lamp can be associated with the particular coordinates of the area that a lamp illuminates. If the icon of the light or lamp is placed in the particular coordinates of the drag-and-drop interface, then the lamp is turned on. When the icon is removed from the particular coordinates, then the lamp is turned off.  
         [0039]    The remote control system of the present invention has been explained with reference to some conceptually simple examples. It is clear that other and more sophisticated scenarios can be implemented using the invention. For example, a recording device such as a VCR or TiVo can be programmed from anywhere in the world when the user realizes that he/she has forgotten or was unable to set the device to record a favorite TV program. Within this context, also see U.S. Serial No. 09/283,545 (attorney docket PHA 23,633) filed Apr. 1, 1999 for Eugene Shteyn for TIME-AND LOCATION-DRIVEN PERSONALIZED TV, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. As another example, the user may turn on the central heating and turn on the lights at home and in the garden while returning home by car late at night. As another example, the user may program or activate the sprinkler installation in the garden at home while at work or while traveling.  
         [0040]    The system of the present invention is also envisioned to serve as a security system that enables a remote user to monitor his/her home, or as a fall-back baby-sit system that enables a parent to monitor a child in a different location.  
         [0041]    Accordingly, what has been described herein is merely illustrative of the application of the principles of the present invention. Hence, other arrangements and methods may be implemented by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention.