Patent ID: 7227611

Claim:
Apparatus for adaptively and interactively lighting selected portions of a scene, the apparatus comprising: a digital light projector, comprising: a light emitter; a digital light processor optically coupled to the light emitter such that light from the emitter is selectively projected onto respective individual fields of view of a field of regard of the projector illuminating the scene in accordance with a control signal applied to the projector; and, means for modulating the light projected by the projector with an information signal; a camera disposed adjacent to the projector and operative to: detect light reflected from a portion of the illuminated scene or actively projected by an object located in the illuminated scene; and, demodulate an information signal from any light actively projected by an object located in the illuminated scene and thereby establish full duplex telecommunication with the object; and, generate a signal corresponding to the light detected; and, a signal processor coupled to the projector and the camera and operative to: receive the signal generated by the camera; process the received signal into a light projector control signal in accordance with a set of instructions; and, apply the control signal to the light projector such that the light projected onto respective ones of the individual fields of view of the field of regard of the projector is controlled in accordance with the instructions.