Dynamic audience responsive movie system

A movie changeover system (20,200,2004,400) capable of providing a real time decision tree movie presentation having a variable movie display content dependent on the viewing audience response to branching choices which occur during the course of the movie. A pair of movie projection devices (22, 24), each having an associated portion of a substantially continuous overall motion picture presentation therefrom, has stored thereon a projectable portion of the overall motion picture presentation content. A changeover shutter mechanism (26) is operatively associated with the pair of projectors (22, 24) for selectively projecting a movie display choice of one of the projectable portions from one of the pair of projectors (22, 24) in a real time continuous movie display presentation with the previous movie display portion in response to a changeover signal. Means for detecting and sampling the audience responses associated with each choice, such as a microphone (32, 34), is provided with the sampled responses corresponding to preferential signal levels. The sampled signal levels are processed (252, 252a, 254, 256, 258, 260, 262, 320f, 322, 324, 452, 416, 418, 36, 38, 264, 402 ) and subsequently compared (40, 266, 440) to determine which of the two levels is greater, with the resultant signal being provided (268, 274, 276, 478) to an output circuit (42, 278, 442) to which the changeover signal is provided. An audience trend preferential characteristics, depending on the manner in which the movie has been constructed, may be used to automatically generate (158, 270, 406, 408, 160, 162, 272, 276, 410, 412) a changeover signal to provide a preselected ending for the movie based on the previously indicated audience trend, or ending selection logic (424) may be employed to select an audience preferred ending.

TECHNICAL FIELD 
The present invention relates to movie changeover systems and particularly 
to such systems capable of providing a real time decision tree movie 
presentation having a variable movie display content dependent on the 
response of the viewing audience. 
BACKGROUND ART 
Movie changeover systems, that is systems which enable a real-time 
continuous change between reels during projection of a motion picture are 
well known in the art. 
Conceptually, these prior art conventional movie changeover systems enable 
the projectionist to switch from one reel to another during projection of 
a movie which is contained on multiple reels without any such change being 
visably perceptible to the viewing audience. In order to accomplish this, 
the movie media on the reel being projected normally contains a series of 
cues for the projectionist located near the end of the reel with the last 
cue being the changeover point which is normally followed by an end 
leader. The reel to which the projection is being changed preferably 
contains a front leader prior to the last cue on the previous reel which 
leader is then followed by the continuation of the picture. The 
projectionist responds to the cues on the reel being projected to start 
the second projector up to speed so that when the last cue at the end of 
the reel being projected occurs, the projectionist can operate the 
changeover shutter switch to change over the movie presentation from the 
first reel being projected to the second reel which had been previously 
brought up to speed for projection. These prior art movie changeover 
systems, however, require that changeovers take place at a given time 
which is at the extreme end of the movie reels and do not enable a real 
time decision tree continuous movie display presentation to be provided so 
as to provide a variable movie display content dependent on the detected 
response of the viewing audience at various branching points throughout 
the movie. This is so despite it being known in the prior art to detect 
and measure audience responses, such as via a conventional applause meter 
or other conventional prior art polling system. However, none of these 
prior art polling systems is capable of providing a real time decision 
tree movie presentation having a variable movie display content dependant 
on the viewing audience response. 
In addition to the above, the concept of branching in a real time 
environment is generally described in my prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,947,972 
and 4,078,316, and 4,117,605 which also names Lawrence G. Kurland as an 
inventor thereof, and which all relate to a real time conversational toy; 
and in my U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,264,924 and 4,264,925, which also names 
Lawrence G. Kurland as an inventor thereof, and which relate to an 
interactive cable television system. However, none of the aforementioned 
patents is directed to a real time decision tree movie presentation in 
which a movie changeover system is capable of providing a variable movie 
display content dependent on the response of the viewing audience. Such a 
system, however is described in my copending U.S. patent application Ser. 
Nos. 321,478, filed Nov. 16, 1981, entitled "Audience Responsive Movie 
System", now abandoned and 371,415, filed Apr. 23, 1982, entitled 
"Improved Audience Responsive Movie System", now abandoned, with the 
system of the present invention being a further improvement thereon. 
These disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by the present invention. 
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is a movie changeover system capable of providing a 
real time decision tree movie presentation having a variable movie display 
content dependent on the viewing audience response to branching choices 
which occur during the course of the decision tree movie presentation. A 
pair of movie projection devices, each having an associated movie media 
for projecting an associated portion of a substantially continuous overall 
motion picture presentation therefrom may be employed in such a system 
with each of the movie media having stored thereon a projectable portion 
of the overall motion picture presentation content. A real time changeover 
means, such as a changeover shutter mechanism, is operatively associated 
with the pair of projectors for selectively projecting a movie display of 
one of the movie media projectable portions from one of the pair of 
projectors in a real time continuous movie display presentation with the 
previous movie display portion in response to a changeover signal. The 
stored decision tree movie presentation comprises different branching 
choice movie display presentation portions which are stored at various 
common decision tree movie display branching points on the movie media. 
Each one of the pair of branching choice movie display presentation 
portions has a different movie display content which may relate to 
different endings for the movie or different scenes during the movie and 
which is commonly associated with the movie display portion content 
preceeding the common decision tree movie display branching point. The 
pair of branching choices are preferably substantially coextensive in 
movie display time from the common decision tree movie display branching 
point. The preceeding movie display portion content comprises a sampling 
interval prior to the common decision tree movie display branching point 
for sampling audience response of preferential selection of the available 
branching choices. Means for detecting and sampling the audience responses 
associated with each choice, such as a microphone for detecting the audio 
level of the sampled audience response, and/or frequency dicrimination 
circuitry for discriminating between concurently sampled audience 
response, is provided with the sampled responses corresponding to 
preferential signal levels dependent on the associated audience response. 
The sampled signal levels are provided to a common sample and hold circuit 
from which they are subsequently compared, such as in a voltage 
comparator, to determine which of the two levels is greater, with the 
signal corresponding to this information being provided to an output 
circuit to which the changeover signal is provided. The output circuit 
provides a changeover signal if the result of the comparison operation 
indicates a branching choice contained on the other reel which is not then 
providing the previous movie display presentation. If the branching choice 
indicates the same reel which is then providing the movie display 
presentation, no changeover signal is necessary and the movie display 
continues from that reel until another branching point is reached at which 
the same type of operation again occurs. The changeover signal is 
preferably provided to a relay, or a solenoid, to operate the changeover 
shutter mechanism and associated sound relay of a conventional type of 
movie changeover system to changeover the projection from one reel or 
projector to another. The system also provides the ability to vote against 
a standard which has been encoded on to the movie media or prestored in a 
storage register so that a changeover signal would occur, where 
appropriate, only when the standard is exceeded by the audience response. 
In addition, a storage register may be provided for incrementally storing a 
count each time a vote occurs which count may then be compared with a 
stored number. This count may be indicative of an audience trend 
preferential characteristic depending on the manner in which the movie has 
been constructed and may be used to automatically generate a changeover 
signal to provide a preselected ending for the movie based on the 
previously indicated audience trend. Thus, in such an instance, the 
predetermined stored number against which the incremental count is 
compared would be indicative of audience trend if a predetermined number 
of changeovers of selections were made by viewing audience for that 
particular movie display presentation. This could also be accomplished 
based on a sensed majority vote of the viewing audience or some other 
manner of obtaining a preweighted value. Ending selection logic may be 
provided for controlling selection of one of a plurality of movie ending 
choices, based on audience response, through a two stage process in which 
the audience votes for its preferential choice of ending and then the 
logic looks for the ending chosen, the location of the selected ending is 
accomplished through counter circuitry in which the counter is first 
incremented during the voting phase and then decremented during the 
location phase. If desired, the various possible endings can be stored on 
one reel with the other reel containing a common ending scene with which 
the selected choice can be readily merged in real time. 
The sampling of the viewing audience at the various branching points can be 
automatically initiated in response to spaced frequency tones along the 
movie media which are decoded to activate the appropriate sampling 
circuitry at the proper time or could be manually initiated by activation 
of a switch at each of the sampling times. For example, the spaced command 
signals, which preferably consist of a plurality of different recognizable 
command functions and a command enable signal, can comprise a plurality of 
spaced apart digital pulses or tones, which can be discriminated between 
by pulse count, which enable the command circuitry. Of course, any other 
conventional coding technique capable of providing distinguishable command 
signals could be utilized. These command signals cou1d be stored on the 
optical or magnetic sound track of the film, or on the film itself via 
visual cues or metallic tape adhesive strips, for example. Moreover, the 
command signals could also be separately timed within the circuit itself 
as opposed to being stored on the film. In either event a real time 
decision tree movie presentation having a variable movie display content 
dependent on the

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION 
For purposes of clarity, before describing the presently preferred mode of 
FIG. 14, which is believed to be an improved version of the movie 
changeover systems described in my copending U.S. patent applications Ser. 
No. 321,478, filed Nov. 16, 1981, and entitled "Audience Responsive Movie 
System", and 371,415, filed Apr. 23, 1982, and entitled "Improved Audience 
Responsive Movie System", now abandoned, I shall first review the function 
and operation of those systems with references to FIGS. 1-8, and FIGS. 
9-13, respectively. Referring now to the drawings in detail and initially 
to FIG. 1 thereof, an overall system block diagram of the embodiment of my 
movie changeover system described in my aforementioned U.S. patent 
application Ser. No. 321,478, now abandoned, generally referred to by the 
reference numeral 20, is shown. The system 20 preferably includes a pair 
of conventional movie projectors 22 and 24, such as conventional 35 
millimeter movie projectors, and a conventional changeover shutter system 
26 which is normally employed with a pair of movie projectors 22 and 24 to 
provide a conventional movie changeover system of the type in which 
changeover from one movie reel to the next during projection of a 
multireel movie may be provided at the end of the reel then being 
projected. As shown and preferred in FIG. 1, this conventional movie 
changeover system comprising projectors 22 and 24 and changeover shutter 
system 26 is preferably operatively connected to an audience response 
analyzer system 28 which, as will be described in greater detail 
hereinafter, provides a changeover signal to the changeover shutter system 
26 via path 30 in order to enable changeover between the movie projectors 
22 and 24 to occur during the course of a decision tree movie presentation 
in response to decisions made by the viewing audience at various branching 
points during the course of the movie. 
The audience response analyzer system 28, preferably includes a 
conventional or wireless microphone input 32 and audio amplifier 34 for 
conventionally detecting audio level and converting the detected audio 
level into a corresponding voltage value signal. Of course, as will be 
apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, any other conventional means 
of detecting viewing audience response and converting it into a 
corresponding electrical signal may be employed in place of the microphone 
and audio amplifier arrangement 32-34 illustrated in FIG. 1. The voltage 
value signal output of the audio amplifier 34 is preferably selectively 
provided to a conventional sample and hold circuit, such as the type shown 
in greater detail in FIG. 5, for each of two sampled audience responses, 
assuming that the decision to be detected at the branching point is one of 
two possible branches corresponding to the movie display portion stored on 
one of the two movie media or reels associated with the movie projectors 
22 and 24. Two such conventional sample and hold circuits 36 and 38, as 
opposed to the single one required in the presently preferred system 400 
of FIG. 14, are illustrated in FIG. 1 with sample and hold circuit 36 
corresponding to one sampled response and sample and hold circuit 38 
corresponding to the other sampled response associated with a given 
branching point. The respective outputs of the sample and hold circuits 36 
and 38 are preferably provided to a conventional voltage comparator 40 
which compares the relative voltage values of the sampled viewing audience 
responses associated with a given branching point and provides an 
indication of the greater of the sampled values to the output circuit 42 
which, in turn, provides a changeover signal via path 30.degree. the 
changeover shutter system 26 preferably if the voltage comparison by 
comparator 40 indicates a higher signal value for the projector 22 or 24 
other than the one which is then presenting the movie presentation. 
As shown and preferred in FIG. 1, the sampling by the sample and hold 
circuits 36 and 38 and the provision of the changeover signal via path 30 
by output circuit 42 is all preferably controlled by a control unit 44 to 
be described in greater detail hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 2 
through 4. FIGS. 2 and 3 correspond to a manual version of the control 
unit 44 in which the projectionist controls the sampling times and 
changeover times in response to cues and FIG. 4 corresponds to an 
automatic version of the control unit 44 in which the sampling times and 
provision of the changeover signal are automatically provided in response 
to the detection of stored tones on the movie media being projected. For 
purposes of clarity, the manual version of the control unit 44 shall be 
referred to by reference numeral 44a and the automatic version of the 
control unit 44 shall be referred to by reference numeral 44b. 
As is shown and preferred in FIGS. 2 and 3, the manual version 44a of the 
control unit 44, preferably comprises a pair of conventional debounced 
switches 46 and 48, which are shown in greater detail in FIG. 3, and a 
pair of conventional normally open momentary contact switches 50 and 52. 
As referred to above, and as will be described in greater detail 
hereinafter, in connection with manual control unit 44a, the various 
phases of operation of the viewing audience response analyzer 28 are 
determined by the projectionist preferably in response to visual or 
audible cues located on the movie media. Thus, debounced switch 46 enables 
sample and hold circuit 36 and debounced switch 48 enables sample and hold 
circuit 38 when the respective switch is activated. Similarly, momentary 
contact switch 52 enables operation of the output circuit 42 when 
activated and monmentary contact switch 50 enables reset of the sample and 
hold circuits 36 or 38 when activated. As shown and preferred in FIG. 3, 
the conventional debounced switches 46 and 48 comprise a conventional NAND 
gating circuit 54 such as a 7400 quad NAND, with half of the quad NAND 
being shown in FIG. 3, a single-pole-double-throw switch 56, and a pair of 
resistors such as the illustrated 4.7 Kilohm resistors 58 and 60. By way 
of example debounced switch 46 is illustrated in FIG. 3 although the same 
circuit also corresponds to debounced switch 48. 
With respect to each of the conventional sample and hold circuits 36 and 
38, a typical one of the sample and hold circuits 36 is illustrated in 
FIG. 5. Thus, the sample and hold circuit 36, by way of example, 
preferably includes a conventional high impedance operational amplifier 
64, a conventional bilateral switching arrangement 66, such as one 
comprising half of a 4066 quad bilateral switch for sample and hold 
circuit 36, with one-quarter of the quad bilateral switch 66, switch 66a, 
being associated with the input to the sample and hold circuit 36 and with 
another quarter of the quad bilateral switch 66, namely switch 66b, being 
associated with the reset input to the sample and hold circuit 36. As 
shown and preferred in FIG. 5, a conventional diode 68, such as a 1N914 
diode, is disposed between switch 66a and the input to operational 
amplifier 64 and a storage capacitor 70 is conventionally connected in 
parallel with switch 66b. As further shown and preferred in FIG. 5, the 
select input to the sample and hold circuit 36 is associated with switch 
66a. 
As will be described in greater detail hereinafter, with respect to the 
manual version control unit 44a illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the 
projectionist preferably has four buttons, namely switches 46, 48, 50 and 
52, for deciding which operation to enable at any given time. Switches 46 
and 48 are preferably held down for as long as it is desired to have the 
respective sample and hold circuit 36 or 38 scanning the input. The output 
switch 52 enables a conventional relay or solenoid (not shown) located in 
the output circuit 42 depending on the magnitudes of the two stored 
voltages which are being compared by comparator 40 with the relay being 
enabled so as to provide a changeover signal when the sample voltage 
corresponding to the projector 22 or 24 then not projecting the movie 
exceeds that of the projector then projecting the movie presentation 
occuring previous to the branching point. The reset switch 50 preferably 
clears the stored voltages from the sample and hold circuits 36 and 38 so 
that both circuits 36 and 38 may return to zero and be ready for the 
sampling of another viewing audience decision. 
Referring now to FIG. 4, the automatic version 44b of the control unit 44 
is illustrated in greater detail. As shown and preferred in FIG. 4 the 
aforementioned switches 46, 48, 50 and 52 of the manual version 44a are 
replaced by conventional tone decoders 80, 82, 84 and 86, such as 
conventional LM567 tone decoders, whose outputs are each provided via 
conventional inverters 88, 90, 92 and 94, such as one-sixth of a 
conventional SN 7404 TTL hex inverter. The associated balance of the 
circuitry for tuning the decoders 80, 82, 84 and 86 is conventional and is 
omitted for purposes of clarity. Thus, as will be described in greater 
detail hereinafter with respect to the automatic version 44b of the 
control unit 44, the various sampling and output commands are preferably 
decoded from inaudible tones placed on the sound track (or, if desired, be 
audible tones on an independent "2nd" sound track, of the movie media such 
as diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 7, with each command preferably 
being assigned a different inaudible frequency. Thus, while the movie 
presentation is being displayed, the frequencies of the various inaudible 
tones are decoded causing the appropriate tone decoder 80, 82, 84 or 86 to 
go low, with the respective inverter 88, 90, 92 or 94 thereafter going 
high, so as to provide a control signal to the appropriate input of the 
sample and hold circuit 36 or 38 or the output circuit 42 of the analyzer 
28. 
Now referring to FIG. 6 the operation of the manual version 44a of the 
viewing audience responsive movie changeover system 20 shall be 
conceptually described. Thus, as shown in FIG. 6, this figure illustrates 
conceptually how a viewing audience decision may be achieved with the 
movie changeover system 20. For purposes of FIG. 6, it is assumed that the 
changeover from projector 22 to 24, by way of example, or associated movie 
media 22a to associated movie media 24a mounted on the projector 22 and 
24, respectively, occurs four minutes before the end of the first reel or 
movie 22a, although, of course, this can vary according to the needs of 
each decision to be made in each movie. Generally these branching points 
are preferably spaced throughout the length of the respective movie reels 
so that multiple branching points and decisions can be seen by FIG. 6, the 
provision of a changeover signal and the resulting changeover from reel 
22a to reel 24a, that is from projector 22 to projector 24, is 
conditional. Thus, if the sampling of the viewing audience prior to the 
branching decision point 100 in the above example indicates that the 
viewing audience prefers version 1 which is stored on reel 22a, then no 
changeover signal is provided and no changeover takes place at the 
branching point 100. Instead, the version on reel 22a is shown for a 
predetermined duration, such as four minutes, and a normal changeover 
would then take place at the normal changeover point 102 at the end of the 
reel 22a in conventional fashion. At this changeover point 102, reel 22a 
could be removed, rewound, and, as usual, a new reel could be threaded 
onto projector 22 in place of reel 22a. Alternatively, if the sampling had 
indicated that the viewing audience preferred version 2 which was stored 
on reel 24a, then the changeover signal would be provided and a changeover 
would take place, in a conventional manner, at the branching point 100 
thereby providing a presentation of the version 2 portion stored on reel 
24a for the aforementioned duration of 4 minutes. However, in this 
instance, there would be no need for a normal changeover at changeover 
point 102 since the changeover from reel 22a to reel 24a has already 
occurred. In such an instance, after the changeover at branching point 
100, reel 22a would be removed, rewound, and as usual, a new reel would be 
mounted on projector 22. Thus, summarizing the principal of operation of 
the system 20 of the present invention as generally illustrated in FIG. 6, 
the viewing audience is faced with a decision, being informed to audibly 
indicate their preference in response to a given cue and this audible 
level is sampled or detected at each of two points and the higher 
corresponding signal value used to enable the selection of version 1 or 2, 
with the actual version selected being shown to the audience. This process 
preferably repeats itself a number of times during the showing of the 
movie and several decision branching points, such as branching point 100, 
may be located before the end of a given reel so that the movie display 
presentation may shift from reel 22a to reel 24a and back to reel 22a 
without either of the reels being removed if such branching occurs 
substantially before the end of the respective reel 22a or 24a. Thus, it 
is possible to have many changeovers within a predetermined interval with 
both projectors 22, 24 running simultaneously, for example, such as to 
changeover ten times within this period. 
With respect to FIG. 7, this corresponds to the automatic version 44b of 
the system 20 in which audible tones are placed on the respective movie 
sound tracks of reels 22a and 24a to enable the analyzer 28 when viewing 
audience responses are to be sampled, to inform the projectionist to start 
the other projector up to speed or, if desired, to automatically change 
over from one projector 22 or 24 to the other automatically based on the 
audience response being sampled, and to automatically reset the analyzer 
circuitry 28 so as to be ready for the next branching point decision. This 
arrangement makes it unnecessary for the projectionist to listen for end 
of reel alarms or watch for cue marks since all of these instructions are 
preferably stored on the sound track and are automatically implemented by 
the analyzer circuit 28 for the projectionist. If desired, conventional 
filter circuitry could be provided during the mode of operation referred 
to in FIG. 7 to filter out audience whistles or screams when audible of 
response is being sampled. The diagrammatic illustration of FIG. 7 
illustrates how the cue tones appear on the movie sound track to 
accomplish automatic sampling and changeovers in my prior discribed 
systems. Thus, for example, tone A could cause automatic sampling of the 
first audience response, tone B could cause automatic sampling of the 
second audience response, tone C, located at the branching point 100, 
could automatically activate the changeover shutter 26, if required, and 
tone D could automatically reset the analyzer circuitry 28. If desired, an 
additional tone could also be included to inform the projectionist when to 
bring the other projector up to speed although the actual changeover would 
occur automatically. Each of these tones A, B, C and D would, preferably, 
be respectively associated with the tone decoders 80, 82, 84 and 86 and 
would be at a different frequency. Of course, this can be accomplished by 
any other means such as digitally. 
Thus, the movie changeover system 20 enables specially developed decision 
tree full length movies to contain various branches or story paths. 
Various scenes, plots, endings or events could actually change on the 
screen based upon the desires and inputs of a given theater viewing 
audience sampled at various preselected branching points 100 throughout 
the movie. Thus, for example, if a character on the screen were teetering 
between falling into a pool of alligators and a pit of quicksand, the 
audience could be provided with a decision as to which does he fall into 
by voting for the outcome that the viewing audience desired, such as by 
cheering first for version 1 and then cheering for choice or version 2. 
For example, if choice or version 1 resulted in a higher signal value 
response then the movie would continue with the character falling into the 
alligator pool whereas if choice or version 2 resulted in a higher signal 
value response then the movie would continue with the character battling 
out of quicksand. The actual changeover, if required, would occur directly 
at a scene or camera angle change, to make the change undetectible to the 
viewing audience. Another possibility, for example, would be for the 
audience to act as a jury with the outcome of the movie depending on how 
the audience voted as a jury. Moreover, as will be described in greater 
detail hereinafter, the system 20 may be used to enable the ending of the 
movie to be automatically selected based upon the previous decisions of 
the audience which would indicate an audience preferential trend. 
Moreover, if desired, the audience decisions can be shown immediately or 
stored in memory for later viewing in the movie. Since the system 20 is 
responsive to a given viewing audience preference, a particular movie may 
result in many different overall movie presentations depending on the 
particular preferences of the viewing audience at a regard, however, the 
creation of the movie itself is more complex than for conventional movies 
since different scene versions or movie portions must be filmed consistent 
with decisions that are available to the movie audience and each version 
or portion must be timed against its parallel choice on the other reel, 
with these choices being coextensive in time from the branching point. In 
the decision tree movie presentation of the present invention, after the 
selected version or portion has been presented, the movie would return to 
its basic trunk or story line until the next branching point is reached. 
With respect to the aforementioned ability of the system 20 to 
automatically choose an ending based on previously indicated audience 
preference determined from the previous sampled audience responses, a 
possible circuit for accomplishing this automatic ending selection is 
illustrated in FIG. 8. Thus, this ending selection or audience trend 
circuit, generally referred to by the reference numeral 150, preferably 
includes conventional tone decoders 152, 154 and 156 which are equivalent 
to decoder 82, by way of example, a conventional digital counter 158, a 
conventional digital comparator 160, and an output unit 162 which 
corresponds to output unit 42. Thus, in connection with the circuit 150 of 
FIG. 8, when the greater of the two sampled audio signal levels is 
determined and the solenoid or relay or electronic switch wired, for 
example, directly into the changeover mechanism, selects the proper reel 
22a or 24a, the trend circuit 150, listens for a pulse signal preferably 
located on the movie sound track which is a tone on the sound track which 
causes the digital counter 158 to increment every time this pulse tone is 
detected. When it is detected, the memory register of the digital counter 
158 increments by 1 for example. This occurs each time a changeover or 
selection takes place. It may be desirable to increment the counter by 
more than 1 in order to give weighted values to the trend, or to so code 
the audience selections in order to determine the particular decisions 
each audience made by the accumulated number in the memory register. The 
trend circuit 150 also "1istens" for two other tones. One of them being 
the memory reset tone which tells circuit 150 to clear its digital counter 
158 to 0. This tone is not the aforementioned reset tone associated with 
the response analyzer 28. Preferably, the memory reset tone for the 
counter 158 is provided to the trend circuit 150 before any pulse signals 
are sent so as to insure that the counter 158 is clear at start-up. The 
remaining tone, associated with tone decoder 156, is the compare signal 
which causes the trend circuit 150 to compare the number stored in its 
register or digital counter 158 with a hard wired number stored in the 
digital comparator 160 to determine if there is a match, or, for example 
it could take the majority of the two versions or choices. If the number 
present in the digital counter 158 or memory register is greater than the 
stored hard wired number in digital comparator 160, then the output unit 
162 preferably operates a solenoid or relay to insure that the reel 22a or 
24a which contains the movie ending associated with the audience trend is 
displayed. The hard wired number is preferably correllated to the content 
of the movie so that if a predetermined number of changes occurs based on 
the script of the movie, it is indicative that the viewing audience has a 
certain trend or preferential characteristic, such as by associating that 
number with violence, for example. If that number is not reached, that is 
if a sufficient number of audience selectible changeovers do not occur, 
then the movie would be scripted to indicate that the preferential 
characteristic of the audience is of a different type, such as non-violent 
in the above example. Thus, in accordance with the system 20 of the 
present invention, a real time decision tree movie presentation having a 
variable movie display content throughout the movie dependent on sample 
viewing audience response may be provided. 
Referring now to FIGS. 9-13, the improved version 200 of the movie 
changeover system 20 of the invention described in said U.S. patent 
application Ser. No. 371,415 now abandoned, shall now be described. As 
will be described in greater detail hereinafter, the tones referred to 
above with reference to FIG. 7 are, in reality, command signals which are 
associated with the command functions to be performed by the movie 
changeover system 20 of FIG. 1. These command signals may preferably be, 
by way of example, four tones of different frequency coded to indicate six 
different command functions, or burst signals where a unique number of 
bursts corresponds to a particular command function. In either approach, a 
command enable signal is preferably provided for enabling the system 200 
to accept the coded information. For example, when four tones are 
employed, three of the four tones can be used to define the various 
command functions while the fourth tone can be the command enable signal, 
whereas in the instance when burst signals are employed, the last burst in 
the burst train can preferably be of a different frequency and serve as 
the command enable signal. Of course, other types of signals or indicators 
can be employed to define the command functions without departing from the 
spirit and scope of the present invention, such as employing one frequency 
coded in binary bursts or digital pulses, audible or inaudible, or using 
metallic adhesive strips on the film to close contact points which could 
be installed on the projectors. Moreover, the coding of these command 
signals can be disposed anywhere on the film if desired, such as on the 
film itself or the optical sound track of the film, or, as previously 
mentioned, can be timed, instead, into the circuit by hard wiring as 
opposed to being stored on the film. As was described above with respect 
to the system 20 of FIGS. 1-8, and as is also true with respect to system 
200 of FIGS. 9-13, the command signals are preferably decoded by the 
system 200 which then performs the designated command function ultimately 
resulting in changeover, where indicated between the film media associated 
with projectors 22, 24, referred to as PA and PB respectively, dependent 
on the sampled viewing audience response at predetermined sampling times 
so as to provide a real time decision tree movie presentation having a 
variable movie display content throughout the movie. By way of example, 
the following Table 1 illustrates a preferred command coding arrangement 
for both a tone or coded frequency system and a burst signal or burst 
system. 
TABLE 1 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
BURST 
SYSTEM 
CODED FREQUENCY 
Number 
SYSTEM of COMMAND 
MEASURING/FUNCTION 
F4 F3 F2 F1 Bursts 
NUMBER Command 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
On Off 
Off Off 
0 0 Not used. 
On Off 
Off On 1 1 Measure audience/noise 
level during interval A. 
On Off 
On Off 
2 2 Measure audience/noise 
level during interval B. 
Compare A to B to deter- 
mine which level was 
higher and remember which 
of the two was larger. 
On Off 
On On 3 3 Switch to projector PA 
if A level was larger or 
equal to B level. If B 
level was larger than A 
level, switch to PB. 
On On Off Off 
4 4 Switch to projector PA 
if there were more or 
the same number of A 
levels larger than B 
levels. Switch to PB 
if the reverse was true. 
On On Off On 5 5 Sound the film end alarm. 
On On On Off 
6 6 Reset all memories and 
start again with the PA 
selected. 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
FIG. 9 illustrates a typical command or logic flow diagram for the system 
200 based, by way of example on the Preferred command coding arrangement 
illustrated above in TABLE 1. As illustrated in FIG. 9, area 202 and 
blocks 204, 206, 208, 210, represent the various command functions which 
repetitively occur during the presentation of the movie associated with 
the various branching points provided throughout the movie presentation, 
whereas area 212 and blocks 214, 216, 218, 220, 222, represent the various 
command functions associated with the aforementioned automatic selection 
of an ending to the movie based upon the previous decisions of the 
audience which would indicate a preferential trend, represented by blocks 
214, 216, 218, 220 in FIG. 9, or the provision of a film end alarm, 
represented by blocks 214, 222, 220 in FIG. 9. The various command numbers 
in FIG. 9 correspond to the various coding and bursts are chosen to be 
near or within the natural passband of the recording and reproducing 
equipment utilized and at a frequency level that reduces the likelihood of 
being heard or perceived by theatre audience. 
Referring now to FIGS. 10 and 11, these figures relate to the 
aforementioned tone or frequency coded movie changeover system 200, with 
FIG. 10 illustrating a method and system for recording the coded tones or 
command signals referred to above in Table 1 on the film media 22a or 24a, 
and with FIG. 11 illustrating the movie changeover system 200 which is 
capable of providing the preferred variable movie display presentation 
using the prerecorded film media 22a and 24a. The recording system or 
method illustrated in FIG. 10, by way of example assumes that only four 
tones are employed with tones F1, F2, F3 being used to define the various 
command functions, such as illustrated in Table 1, and with tone F4 being 
used to provide the command enable signal. The varous tones F1, F2, F3, F4 
may be provided from conventional sine wave oscillators 230, 232, 234, 
236, each at a different frequency, which are switch selectable via 
conventional switches 238, 240, 242, 244 at the option of the operator 
during preparation of the film media 22a, 24a, to provide a command signal 
to be recorded on the film media 22a or 24a via a conventional mixer 246 
and recorder 248. The command enable or mark frequency F4 is preferably 
activated by the push button 244 after the various command signal 
frequencies F1, F2, F3 are set. As shown and preferred in FIG. 11, the 
frequency coded film media 22a and 24a may then be employed in the movie 
changeover system 200 to provide the aformentioned real time decision tree 
movie presentation. Except for the apparent differences illustrated in 
FIG. 11, system 200 is preferably similar to system 20. Thus, the basic 
function of the system 200 is to measure audience/noise level, make a 
decision based on these levels and operate the pair of projectors 22 or PA 
and 24 or PB on command and as a function of these measured levels. The 
audience levels are preferably picked up by a conventional or wireless 
microphone 32 preferably located inside the theatre room. The coded 
frequency tones recorded on the various film media 22a or 24a are 
preferably received by a conventional monitor speaker 250 preferably 
located in the projection room. The command signals, which may preferably 
be recorded on the film media 22a, 24a sound tracks, are preferably picked 
up at the monitor speaker 250 and conventionally amplified and filtered in 
a conventional type of predetermined processing circuit 252. Preferably, 
signals above approximately 60 Hz are rejected to reduce interference from 
program material. The actual coded frequency tones are detected by 
conventional tone decoders 254, 256, 258, 260, one for each frequency 
F1-F4, respectively. The output of the tone decoders 254-260, inclusive, 
are then preferably fed to decode logic 262, such as a conventional 
BCD-to-decimal decoder, whose output is the command number, such as 
illustrated above in Table 1. The command numbers are preferably acted 
upon after the command enable frequency F4 is detected. Using the above 
example of Table 1, at the beginning of Command # 1, a conventional 
sample-and-hold switch 264 is closed and held closed for a predetermined 
period, such as seven seconds. At the end of this time, the switch 264 is 
opened and the associated capacitor is when charged to a value 
proportional to the audience noise level as processed by the conventional 
predetection processing circuits 252, 252a. The next command would then 
preferably be Command #2 which is to enable measurement of audience level 
B. A predetermined period, such as seven seconds after Command #2 is 
detected, the output of a conventional comparator 266 is sampled and the 
results of the comparison (A level vs. B level) is then preferably stored 
in a conventional temporary storage 26b as well as in a pair of 
conventional A and B counters 270 which preferably continuously output a 
signal to indicate whether the total number of A levels are greater than 
or equal to the total number of B levels. Logically, if the total number 
of A levels are not greater than or equal to the total number of B levels, 
then that indicates that there were more B levels greater than A levels. A 
gating circuit 272, 274, 276 is preferably located between the output 
storage 278 and the counters 270 and temporary storage 268. Command #3 is 
preferably used via gates 274, 276 to gate the logic decision resulting 
from the comparision of levels A and B to the output storage 278. 
Preferably, the command to operate projector 22 or PA or projector 24 or 
PB is given when command #3 is detected. Similarly, command #4, is 
preferably used, via gates 272, 276, to gate the logic results of 
comparing all level A's greater than or equal to all level B's to the 
output storage 278, with this comparison resulting in the appropriate 
command function to the projectors 22 or PA and 24 or PB to select the 
ending movie presentation based on the audience preferential trend. 
Command #5, as indicated above in Table 1, preferably activates a tone via 
tone generator 280, to indicate the end of the film. Lastly, command #6, 
as also indicated above in Table 1 , is preferably used to reset, via 
paths 282, all storage and sets the output storage 278 to operate 
projector 22 or PA. 
Referring now to FIGS. 12 and 13, these figures relate to the 
aforementioned burst coded movie changeover system, generally referred to 
by the reference numeral 200a, with FIG. 12 illustrating a method and 
system for recording the coded tone bursts or command signals referred to 
above in Table 1 on the film media 22a or 24a, and with FIG. 13 
illustrating the movie changeover system 200a which is capable of 
providing the preferred variable movie display presentation using the 
prerecorded film media 22a and 24a. The recording system illustrated by 
way of example in FIG. 12 assumes that only two different frequencies F1 
and F2 are employed. Both these frequencies F1 and F2 may be 
conventionally provided by conventional signal generators 300 and 302, 
selected via conventional encoding logic 304 which conventionally controls 
a conventional electronic switch 306. In recording the coded burst train, 
frequency F1 is gated to provide the desired command signal to be recorded 
on the film media 22a or 24a via a conventional amplifier 308 and a 
conventional recorder 310 followed by selection of frequency F2 by switch 
306 after the coded burst train to provide the command enable signal which 
is then recorded on the film media 22a or 24a. With respect to FIG. 13, 
the circuitry of movie changeover system 200a is preferably identical to 
that illustrated in FIG. 11 for system 200 with the exception that only 
two frequencies F1 and F2 are employed as opposed to four and that the 
desired command function is detected by counting the Fl bursts to provide 
a total count representative of the command function as opposed to the 
detection method employed in connection with the system 200 of FIGS. 10 
and 11. Thus, the conventional decode logic 262 of FIG. 11 is replaced in 
FIG. 13 by a conventional decimal counter and decode logic circuit 320 and 
the four conventional decoders 254, 256, 258, 260 in FIG. 11 are replaced 
by two conventional decoders 322 and 324. Otherwise, preferably the 
processing and detection of audience response level and the provision of 
the appropriate command functions is identical in both systems 200 and 
200a and identical reference numerals are employed. Thus as previously 
stated, the system 200 of FIGS. 10 and 11 uses four tones which are coded 
to indicate the six commands #1-#6 identified above in Table 1, whereas 
the system 200a of FIGS. 12 and 13 uses a burst technique in which the 
number of bursts indicates the six commands #1-#6 identified above in 
Table 1. In either instance, the various prerecorded command signals are 
used to control the sampling times of audience level response and other 
command functions to enable the provision of the real-time variable movie 
display presentation dependent on the audience response at preselected 
decision times in the movie. 
Referring now to FIG. 14, the presently preferred improved system of the 
present invention, generally referred to by the reference numeral 400, 
shall now be described. The presently preferred system 400 differs from 
the systems 20 and 200 previously described above in several important 
areas; namely, the ability under appropriate circumstances to concurrently 
sample audience responses, using a single sample and hold and storage 
register in lieu of the two sample and hold and separate sampling 
requirements of the aforementioned system 20; the improved ability to vote 
against a standard which has been stored either in a storage register or 
encoded on to the film or derived from a previous vote of the audience so 
that the standards can be tailored to a particular audience; and the 
improved ability to select an ending based on audience response. There are 
also other differences which will become readily apparent to one of 
ordinary skill in the art. As shown and preferred in FIG. 14, the system 
400 still employs microphone input 32 for sampling the audience response. 
However, as will be described in greater detail hereinafter, a single 
sample and hold circuit 402 is employed. The system 400 also employs an 
electronic switching network 404 which steers and selects the input to the 
voltage comparator 440 in response to control signals from the control 
unit 444 which develops the signals to steer the comparator inputs from 
tones on the film track essentially in the manner previously described 
with respect to systems 20 and 200. In its most basic form, the presently 
preferred audience response system 400 compares levels between two 
consecutive audience response periods. Each time period is approximately, 
by way of example, seven seconds. Tones on the film, as was previously 
described, are decoded in the control unit 444 and force the sample and 
hold circuit 402 to track the audience response level as picked up by the 
microphone 32 and processed by the signal processing network 452 in the 
manner previously described. After seven seconds in the above example, the 
sample and hold circuit 402 preferably holds the average value of the 
previous seven seconds of audience response. When the second voting period 
is initiated, another timer is started and, after the aforementioned 
exemplary seven seconds, the comparator 440 output is transferred to 
temporary storage 478, with the register 478 state indicating which of the 
average vote levels was greater. When a changeover is desired, another 
sequence of tone pulses is decoded and the data in the temporary register 
478 is transferred to the output 442 causing the changeover, assuming that 
the previous comparison requires that a change of projector be made. 
Except for the differences described above, the presently preferred system 
400 is essentially the same as that previously described with reference to 
systems 20 and 200. However, as also shown and preferred in FIG. 14, the 
two votes are preferably also separately stored in counters 406 and 408 
respectively at the same time that they are stored in the temporary 
storage register 478. As will be described in greater detail hereinafter, 
a film ending can then be selected by comparing the total votes for the 
first choice accumulated, by way of example, in counter 406, with the 
total votes accumulated for the second choice, by way of example, in 
counter 408, in a comparator 410, and thereafter transferring the results 
of this comparison to the output 442 via gate 412 when an appropriate 
command is decoded from the tones on the film track. 
As was previously mentioned, the presently preferred system 400 differs 
from systems 20 and 200 in its ability to select a script path based on a 
concurrent level and frequency analysis of an audience response. In this 
regard, in this mode, switch 404 is moved to position 2 indicated by the 
dotted lines in FIG. 14 when the appropriate tones encoded on the film 
track are decoded by the control circuit 444 to provide the control signal 
to switch 404 which accomplishes this change of position. In this position 
of switch 404, the inputs to the comparator 440 are the outputs of two 
conventional frequency discriminator circuits 416 and 418 which 
simultaneously or concurrently accomplish signal processing of the 
detected audience response from microphone 32 on the basis of frequency 
separation. Thus, signal processing circuit 416 preferably comprises a 
conventional low pass filter in what may be termed the "boo" path and 
signal processing circuit 418 comprises a conventional high pass filter in 
what may be termed the "yea" or whistle path. Filtering and averaging of 
the detected audience response via microphone 32 is preferably 
accomplished in real time during the same voting period for both responses 
with the largest output of the two processing paths 415 and 418 driving 
the changeover mechanism as a result of provision to the comparator 440 
which detects the largest output and provision of this information to the 
temporary storage register 478 and therefrom to the output circuit 442. 
Thus, the primary difference between this portion of the system 400 and 
system 20 and 200 resides in the simultaneous sampling of audience 
responses which can be separated out by frequency so that separate 
sampling times are not required. A third position, position three, of 
switch 404 is also illustrated in FIG. 14 in dotted lines. In this third 
position of switch 404, the output of the signal processing circuit 452, 
which merely measures signal level, is compared to a voltage level 
reference which can either be a stored value in a reference storage or 
reference voltage device 420 and selected via tone commands, or can be 
stored on the film itself and loaded into the reference storage device 420 
under control of the control circuit 444 when needed. The comparison with 
the reference voltage is then accomplished via comparator 440 in the same 
manner as was previously described with respect to a comparison between 
two audience responses. In addition, if desired, the responses from each 
film showing in the theatre can be stored as can the total responses 
recorded by a given audience in a permanent record maintained, such as in 
a permanent storage register 422. If desired, a changeover to projector A 
from projector B or to projector B from projector A can be forced by the 
proper tone command on the film, with the change command placed on the 
sound track when it is recorded and, therefore, permitting the script 
writer to force a scene independent of previous audience responses. 
As was previously mentioned, another important distinction in the presently 
preferred system 400 of the present invention is its ability to select one 
of a series of endings where the audience response is used to select the 
ending. As will be described hereinafter, this ending selection process is 
accomplished in two stages; the first stage consisting of audience voting 
for endings and with the second stage consisting of the ending selection 
logic 424 looking for the ending chosen. During the first stage, and for 
the first ending vote, tones on the sound track cause the sample and hold 
circuit 402 to track an audience response. After the sample period, such 
as approximately seven seconds by way of example, another command stored 
on the film, causes the held sample to be compared to the current audience 
response. If the second audience response is greater than the first 
sampled audience response, then the second audience response is stored in 
the sample and hold 402. The logic and comparison circuits in the ending 
selection logic 424 select the larger response with this process 
continuing until all ending possibilities have been presented to the 
audience for sampling of their respective responses. A pair of counters, 
also preferably located in the ending selection logic 424, are preferably 
used to keep track of the number of ending votes and the ending with the 
largest response. In the second stage, the ending selection logic 424 
looks for the ending selected. Assuming that the audience response for the 
different ending possibilities were on projector A and the different 
endings were on projector B, and further assuming that a "look for ending" 
command was placed on the reel in projector A just prior to the time when 
the actual ending appears on reel B, if the ending about to pass on reel B 
is the ending selected, then the ending selection logic 424 will force a 
change to projector B. If the ending about to pass is not the ending 
selected, a changeover will not be made. This process will continue until 
the ending desired is about to pass through projector B at which time a 
changeover will be made. 
The location of the selected ending is accomplished in the following 
fashion. Each time a vote for a particular ending is detected, a counter 
is incremented. If this vote is the largest of the previous votes, the 
count number will be stored in a second counter. During the second stage 
in which the ending chosen is being looked for, this second counter is 
decremented each time a "look for ending" command appears on the reel on 
projector A. When this counter hits zero the changeover to the desired 
ending is made. In this regard, multiple endings may be stored on reel B 
for example with reel A comprising a common channel of normal action 
taking place before or after the action of the various endings stored on 
reel B, with these scenes being timed so as to be capable of being merged 
with each other. For example, if the choices at the end of a movie are to 
let a criminal go free, go to jail, or hang, this can be merged with a 
common walking type of scene perhaps showing a close up of his feet 
walking which could commonly be employed to show him walking away free, or 
to show him walking in a jail cell or, in the instance of a hanging, to 
omit this walking scene altogether. Of course, an ending can be provided 
based on no audience response at all. In this regard, assume that there 
are five votes programmed and that the second, third and fourth votes are 
compared against the previous vote of the audience and assume that the 
fifth vote is compared to a reference, such as a stored ending reference 
430, which is selected so that it is greater than ambient noise. In this 
instance, if all of the audience responses are less than the reference 
430, the fifth ending would be selected, whereas if one of the responses 
is greater than the reference 430, the system 400 would changeover to show 
the ending selected by the audience. This feature can be accommodated by 
switching the input to the sample and hold 402 between audience responses 
and the reference 430 via electronic switch 414. 
In addition, the preferred system 400 also has the ability to take a vote 
based on a mix of different audience response characteristics. This can be 
accomplished with the previously described system 400 with the exception 
that switch 404 is preferably arranged to steer the proper inputs to be 
compared such as level versus frequency content or frequency content 
versus a reference. Apart from the above described differences, the system 
400 is essentially identical with that previously described with reference 
to FIGS. 1-13, and particularly with reference to FIGS. 9-13, and need not 
be described in any greater detail hereinafter. 
Thus in accordance with the system of the present invention, a real time 
decision tree movie presentation having a variable movie display content 
throughout the movie dependent on sampled viewing audience response may be 
provided. 
It is to be understood that the above described embodiments of the 
invention are merely illustrative of the principles thereof and that 
numerous modifications and embodiments of the invention may be derived 
within the spirit and scope thereof. Moreover as used throughout the 
specification and claims movie media is meant to include videotape and 
other conventional storage media capable of providing continuous movie 
type of pictorial presentations and, as such, the terms recording or 
filming are meant to generically refer to the storage of information on 
such media. Further, projectors are meant to generically refer to 
equipment that displays the information stored on the media and for film 
includes conventional, platter, and semi-automatic media handling 
equipment.