Patent ID: 7684007

Claim:
Apparatus for adaptively and interactively lighting selected portions of a scene, the apparatus comprising: a digital light projector, comprising: a multi-spectral light emitter; means for spatially separating the light emitted by the emitter into a visible portion and an invisible portion; a digital light processor (DLP) optically coupled to the light emitter and operative to: modulate the invisible portion of the light with an information signal; combine the modulated invisible portion of light with the visible portion of light; and, project the combined light onto respective individual fields of view (IFOVs) of a field of regard (FOR) of the projector so as to illuminate the scene in accordance with a control signal applied to the projector; a camera disposed adjacent to the projector and operative to: detect light passively reflected or actively projected from the illuminated scene; demodulate an information signal from the light reflected or projected from scene; and, generate signals corresponding to the light detected; and, a programmable signal processor coupled to the projector and the camera and operative to: receive the signals generated by the camera; process the received signals into an information communication signal and a light projector control signal in accordance with a set of instructions programmed therein; and, apply the projector control signal to the light projector such that the light projected onto respective ones of the TFOVs of the illuminating FOR of the light projector is controlled in accordance with the instructions.