Patent Publication Number: US-2011063464-A1

Title: Video playing system and method

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present disclosure relates to a video playing system and a video playing method. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Conventional video players cannot customize the display of video in response to different visual angles. Many commonly used video players are non-interactive, thereby reducing the level of user satisfaction. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a video playing system including a storage system and a display unit. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic block diagram of the storage system of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIGS. 3A-3C  are schematic diagrams of the display unit displaying in three using states. 
         FIG. 4  is a flowchart of an exemplary embodiment of a video playing method. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a first embodiment of a video playing system  1  includes a camera  10 , a storage system  12 , a processing unit  15 , and a display unit  16 . The video playing system  1  is operable to play different videos according to different positions of a viewer. 
     The camera  10  is mounted on the display unit  16  and captures sequential images of the viewer. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the storage system  12  includes a video storing module  120 , a detecting module  122 , a position calculating module  125 , a controlling module  126 , and a relation storing module  128 . The detecting module  122 , the position calculating module  125 , and the controlling module  126  may include one or more computerized instructions and are executed by the processing unit  15 . 
     The video storing module  120  stores an animation which includes a controllable element. The element in the animation can be controlled by instructions. It can be understood that the animation can be made by Adobe Flash software. For example, a player can control a car to move in a flash game. 
     The detecting module  122  detects an image from the camera  10 , to identify an object in the image, and to obtain information about the object. In the embodiment, the detecting module  122  is a face detecting module. The object is a face of the viewer. The detecting module  122  looks for the face in the image, and obtains information about the face. It can be understood that the face detecting module uses well known facial recognition technology to identify the face in the image. The information about the face may include coordinates of the found face in the image. 
     The position calculating module  125  receives the coordinates of the face in the image from the detecting module  122 , to obtain a position of the viewer relative to the display unit  16 . It can be understood that the position of the viewer is obtained via an angle between a line from a center of the face to a center of the display unit  16  and a reference line, such as a gravity line. 
     The relation storing module  128  stores a plurality of relations between a plurality of positions and a plurality of control instructions. Each position of the viewer corresponds to a control instruction. The plurality of control instructions is configured to control movement of the element in the animation. 
     The controlling module  126  outputs one of the plurality of control instructions according to the position of the viewer from the position calculating module  125  and the relation storing module  128 . The control instruction is to control the element in the animation. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 3A-3C , in this embodiment, the element in the animation are two eyeballs of a human figure. The two eyeballs can be controlled to move by the control instructions. 
     In  FIG. 3A , the camera  10  captures a first sequential image  100 . The detecting module  122  detects the first image  100  to identify a face  101 , and to obtain information about the face  101 . Supposing that a coordinate of a center of the display unit  16  is (0, 0), a coordinate of a center of the face  101  is (0, 0). As a result, the position calculating module  125  obtains the position of the viewer as a first position. The controlling module  126  outputs a first control instruction according to the relations stored in the relation storing module  128 . The first control instruction controls the two eyeballs of the human in the animation to stand at the middle of eyes of the human on the display unit  16 . 
     In  FIG. 3B , the camera  10  captures a second sequential image  110 . The detecting module  122  scans the second image  110  to identify a face  102 , and to obtain information about the face  102 . Supposing that a coordinate of the center of the display unit  16  is (0, 0), a coordinate of the center of the face  101  is (−1, 0). As a result, the position calculating module  125  obtains the position of the viewer is a second position. The controlling module  126  outputs a second control instruction according to the relations stored in the relation storing module  128 . The second control instruction controls the two eyeballs of the human in the animation to move left. 
     In  FIG. 3C , the camera  10  captures a third sequential image  120 . The detecting module  122  scans the third image  120  to identify a face  103 , and to obtain information about the face  103 . Supposing that a coordinate of a center of the display unit  16  is (0, 0), a coordinate of a center of the face  101  is (1, 0). As a result, the position calculating module  125  obtains the position of the viewer is a third position. The controlling module  126  outputs a third control instruction according to the relations stored in the relation storing module  128 . The third control instruction controls the two eyeballs of the human in the animation to move right. 
     As a result, the video playing system  1  can play different videos according to different positions of the viewer. In other embodiment, the element can be other portions, such as gestures. The video playing system  1  can control the human in the animation to perform different gestures according to different positions. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , an exemplary embodiment of a video playing method includes the following steps. 
     In step S 1 , an animation which includes a controllable element is stored in the video storing module  120 . The element in the animation can be controlled by control instructions. It can be understood that the animation can be made by Adobe Flash software. 
     In step S 2 , a plurality of relations between a plurality of positions and a plurality of control instructions to control movement of the element in the animation are stored in the relation storing module  128 . Each position of the viewer corresponds to a control instruction. 
     In step S 3 , the camera  10  captures an image. 
     In step S 4 , the detecting module  122  detects the image from the camera  10 , to identify a face in the image, and to obtain information about the face. In the embodiment, the detecting module  120  is a face detecting module. It can be understood that the detecting module  120  uses well known facial recognition technology to identify the face in the image. The information about the face may include coordinates of the face in the image. 
     In step S 5 , the position calculating module  125  receives and determines the coordinates of the face in the image from the detecting module  122  to obtain a position of the viewer related to the display unit  16 . It can be understood that it may obtain the position of the viewer via an angle between a line from a center of the face to a center of the display unit  16  and a reference line, such as a gravity line. 
     In step S 6 , the controlling module  126  outputs one of the plurality of control instructions according to the position of the viewer from the position calculating module  125  and the relation storing module  128  to control movement of the element in the animation. 
     The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the disclosure has been presented only for the purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above everything. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the disclosure and their practical application so as to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the disclosure and various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to those of ordinary skills in the art to which the present disclosure pertains without departing from its spirit and scope. Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description and the exemplary embodiments described therein.