Title of Invention

"A REAL TIME PERCEPTION RECORDING SYSTEM"

Abstract

A system is provided for contirnous recjording and displaying the analysis of audience's response to an event. The system comprises a programmable computing device (5), digital audiovideo recording device, and a predetermined number of hndheld audience response units (2). The invention simultaneously records the digital audio/video of the event and digitel audience response signals on the memory of the said computer, replays the recorded digital audio/video signal and displays the digital audience response signal synchronously either individually or collectively or in any other predetermined mode. Fig. 1

Full Text

A real time perception-recording system Field of invention This invention belongs to the field of audience response measurement system, In particular the invention relates to a real time perception recording system for continuous recording of the audience response (as and when the event occurs), and subsequently displaying the analysis of the response. Background of the invention With the rapid growth of the media based industry and its deep penetration into our daily life as well as our growing reliance on it to base our decisions, it has become crucial to judge the reaction/response of those witnessing the event (advertisement, shows, serial etc.) so as to improve upon its effectiveness. This is true even for life shows and happenings. The reactions and opinion of the audience of the event give a reasonable amount of measurement of the success of the event and is hence much desirable. The common techniques used to capture the opinion of people about an event are questionnaires and interviews. These techniques arc used cither after or before the occurrence of the event. The event could be a speech, role-play, advertisement, movie, presentation and the like. Since the event measurement takes place either pre or post event, it is nearly impossible to capture the perceptions of people to every instant of the event in question, especially when the event is in progress i.e. real time (as and when the audience is subjected to the event) measurement of the audience response to the instances in the event is not possible. Another shortcoming specifically that of questionnaire is their discreteness. .A. typical questionnaire has a discrete scale of five or may be ten but no more. The real-life, shades of-gray decisions are, therefore, very difficult to make. Furthermore, the existing methods for capturing audience feedback lack the ability to record (a portion of) the event itself that had evoked a certain response. This is critical in case if a continuous live event (speech, advertisement and the like) is being evaluated. The existing systems do not record the audio or video of the event simultaneously with the audience response. Hence, it is extremely difficult to conelate the response with the original stimulus while replaying. In absence of synchronized stimulus response recording, it becomes a problem to come to any conclusion as to which instance during the event evoked a specific response. Referring to Patent No. US 6,011,578 disclosing "a system and apparatus for collecting response data". A response unit is providejd having a dial, a keypad and a biconditional response mechanism. The response unit operates in two modes, a dial mode and a keypad mode. Mode is determined by the power supplied to the response unit. If the power supply supplies a first voltage, the response unit will be in one mode and if the power supply supplies a second voltage, thp response unit will be in second mode. In dial mode, the keypad is inactive. The response unit sources a voltage along a continuum based on the positioning of the dial. The biconditional response mechanism may also be active and when activated causes the response unit to source an analog voltage outside the dial's continuum. In keypad mode, the dial is inactive, and each key of the keypad is associated with a unique voltage within a voltage range sqch that pressing a key causes the associated voltage to be sourced by the response unit. Regardless of the mode, the response unit sources an analog voltage reflecting user response. That voltage is converted to a digital voltage by an analog to digital (A/D) converter. A response collection driver operating on a host computer controls the A/D converter. The driver directs the A/D to sample the data from the response unit, receives the digital value and manipulates the data to provide meaningful market research information. The drawback of this system is that it cannbt record the voice of audience rather it works on the responses fed by users in the response unit. Also, as the number of users increase, the complexity of circuit increases. Another drawback of this system is that separate equipment is needed to play the audio/visual material on which audience are to give llieir feedback. Objects & Summary of the invention: The object of this invention is to obviate the above drawbacks by providing a real lime perception-recording system for continuous recording and displaying the analysis of the audience response. Another object of the invention is to perform record the response on a very high-resolution time scale. Another object of the invention is to provide audience with means to provide feedback continuously while the event is in progress] Yet another object of the invention is to record the audio and video of the event (speech, presentation, discussion, advertisement, role- play and the like) digitally and synchronously with the audience / evaluators response. Another object of the invention to synchronously play the pre-recorded audio/visual portion of the event with the recorded audience response to facilitate analysis and interpretation. Further object of the invention is to provide the above facility in one single .system. To achieve the object of this invention, this invention provides a computer based real time perception recording system for continuous recording and displaying the analysis of audience's response comprising: - a programmable computing device. - the computing device connected tp digital audio/video recording device, and a pre-determined number of handheld audience response units through addressing and data conversion (ADDC) uniti for converting the analog audience response signal to a digital signal, ~ means to simultaneously record the digital audio/video of the event and digital audience response signals on the mepmory of the said computer, and - means to replay the recorded digital audio/video signal and display the digital audience response signal synchronously either individually or collectively or in any other pre-determined mode. The hand held units consists of response input device by the audience which is connected to input device interface and adldress recognition circuitry which in turn arc connected to address and data conversion unit through communication channel interface. The communication channel interface is wired or wireless including Bluetooth, radio, cable or infrared channels. The address and data conversion unit consists of addressing unit and analog to digital converter unit connected to communication channel interface on one side and computing device interface on the other side for converting the analog audience response signal to digital response signal for recording in the memory of the computing device. The response input device is a potentiometer dial, slider or a set of push buttons. The computing device has record, pause, stop and exit control buttons in the recording mode. The computing device has play, pause, Stop, overview and exit control buttons in the replay mode. Brief Description of the Accompanying Drawings: The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 shows the schematic representation ol computing device based perception recording system for continuous recording and displaying the analysis of audio according to this invention. Figure 2 shows the block diagram of addressing and data conversion unit (ADDC). Figure 2A shows another embodiment of addressing and data conversion unit (ADDC). Figure 3 shows the block diagram of the hapd held unit. Figure 3A shows another embodiment of hand-held unit which works with embodiment of ADDC shown in Figure 2 A. Figure 4 shows the internal structure of the general computing device on which the invention might be practiced. Figure 5 shows the interface through which a pre-recorded session is selected. Figure 6 shows how the audience response is played back along with the event. Figure 7 is illustrative of the scenario wherein the session response are played back along with the recorded event. Figure 8 shows the perception recording with group average of four hand-held units. Figure 9 shows the process of selecting the handheld units before recording the audience response. Figure 10 shows the replay of perception recording by the computer in bar graph form. Figure 1 1 shows the means and standard deviation over the entire recording session. Figure 12 shows the replay from a specific point in the session. Figure 13 describes an application of the instant invention. Detailed description of the drawings: Figure 1 refers to a computing device based perception recording system consisting of a addressing and data conversion (ADDC) unil (1) and pre-determincd number of handheld units (2). The said hand held units (2) are connected to ADDC (1) by wired or wireless links such as Bluetooth/radio/infrared/ cable link (3). the ADDC unil (1) is connected to one of the ports (4) of a computing device through means (6) for simultaneously recording the digital audio signal and digital audience response signal on the memory of the said computing device (5). Digital audio recording/replaying means (7) is connected to the computing device (5) through the said means (6). The said digital audio recording/replaying means (7) is further connected to a microphone (8) and sound reproducing means (9) for recording and reproducing the audio signal respectively, from the memory of the computing device through digital audio recording and replaying means (7). Means (10) replays the recorded digital audio/video signal and displays the digital response signal synchronously either individually or collecliveiy or in any other pic-detennined mode. Each hand-held unit (2) has a response input potentiometer device (a dial or a slider) or a set of push-button device. The two extreme positions of this device correspond to two extreme opinions i.e. fully agree and totally disagree. The positions in between the extremes give the degree of opinion. To mike the handheld units user friendly, the figure of smiling face has been used to indicate ajpositive opinion, a sour face has been used to indicate a negative opinion and indifferentj face to indicate a neutral opinion. Any other suitable symbols, colours or icons can also, be put on the hand-held unit in place of these figures. The computing device (5) collates and displays the data on the display screen. This computing device is also recording the audio related with speech, role-play or the presentation simultaneously through the Imeans (6). The audience response and this audio can then be replayed in synchronism to facilitate the analysis and interpretalion through digital audio recording / replay means (7) and means (10) to display the digital response signal. Figure 2 shows the hand-held units (2) connected to ADDC unit (1 of figure 1) by radio/infra-redycable/Bluetooth link (3). 'the ADDC unit (1 of figure 1) consists of a analog to digital converter (17) and addressing unit (18) which are interfaced with computing device (5) on one side and the other side is connected to the communication channel interface (3). The ADDC unit co|nmunicates with handheld units by means of communication channel (19). Another embodiment of ADDC unit is shown in Figure 2A. in this case, the hand-held units (2) directly send the audience 'response in a digital format through the communication channel (19). This digital response is received by communication channel interface (3) which can be wired or wireless such as a radio signal, infrared, Bluetooth or cable. This response is then conveyed to the computing device by means of a computer interface (16), which can be RS232 serial, parallel. Universal Serial Bus or wireless interface. Addressing unit (18) sequentially generates the addresses of handheld units to be scanned. This address is sent to handheld unit via Communication Channel Interface (3). Only the addressed handheld unit responds back with it current reading. Figure 3 shows a hand-held unit (2) that consists of input potentiometer or push button device (13) connected to input device interface (14) and address recognition circuitry (15). The said input device interface (14) and address recognition circuitry (15) are connected to the communication channel interface (3), which transmits data over the communication channel. Figure 3A shows another embodiment of a hand-held unit (2) which works with the embodiment of the handheld unit shown in Figure 2A.This embodiment consists of an input potentiometer or a push button device (13) connected to an Analog-to-Digital converter (17). This Analog-to-Digital converter (17) provides its output to input interface device (14), typically, a microcontroller. This input device interface (14) is connected to the communication channel interface (3), which is connected to the communication channel and the address recognition circuitry (15). The address recognition circuitry (15) ensures that this handheld unit responds only when its unique address is announced on the communication channel. The said input device interface (14) connects to the communication channel (3) through communication channel interface (3). This communication channel interface can be Bluetooth, cables or radio/infrared interlace. Figure 4 shows the internal structure of the general computing device as described above. The computer system (111) consists of various subsystems interconnected with the help of a system bus (112). The microprocessor (1 13) communicates and controls the functioning of other subsystems. Memory (114) helps the microprocessor in its functioning by storing instructions and data during its execution. Permanent Storage (115) is used to hold the data and instructions permanent in nature like the operating system and other programs. Display adapter (116) is used as an interface between the system bus and the display device (117) which is generally a monitor. The nelwork interface (118) is used to connect the computer with other computers on a nelwork through wired or wireless means. It is also used to connect the computing device to various hand-held units through wired or; wireless means. The wired channels include various types of cable connectivity such as parallel, serial port, RS232 etc. The wireless channels include Bluetooth, infrared etc The computer system might also contain a sound card (not shown). The system is connected to various input devices like keyboard (119) and mouse (120) and output devices like printer (121). Various configurations of these subsystems are possible. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various means are instructions running on the system. The means are capable of existing in an embedded form within the hardware of the node or may be embodied on various computer readable media, the computer readable media may take the form of coded formats that are decoded for actual use in a particular information processing system. Computer program means or a computer program in the present context mean any expression, in any language, code, or notation, of a set of instructions intenlded to cause a system having information processing capability to perform the particular function either directly or after performing either or both of the following: a) conversion to another language, code or notation b) reproduction in a different material fonn. Furthermore, the means may interface with a database to store and retrieve the results of the sui"vey etc. The said database may reside on the same system on which the means are stored and executed or it maybe located on a different system connected to the network. The depicted example in Figure 4 is not meant to imply architectural limitations and the configuration of the incorporating device of the said means may vary depending on the implementation. Any kind of computer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the means described herein can be employed for practicing the invention. A typical combination of hardware and software could be a general purpose computer system with a computer program that when loaded and executed, controls the computer system such that it carries out the means described herein. Other examples of the incorporating device that may be used can are notebook computers or hand held computers in addition to taking the form of a PDA, web kiosks or even Web appliances. The audience must be informed about the correct uses of the device before the session. They must be asked to return the knobs to the center position once the reason for positive or negative response no longer exists. In a typical scenario there might be one or more training sessions conducted prior to the event. We now explain the recording of audio and audience response. The speech and audience response recording process is initiated from the computing device by (a) Selecting the required handheld units, (b) Turning the microphone on and (c) Pressing the record button. In case some of the selected handheld units are not physically present, the computing device has means to give a warning, as shown in Fig.6. The audiences are asked to turn the dial towards smiling face if they like What is being spoken or shown or to turn the said dial towards sad face if they do not like what is being spoken or showed. In case, they are indifferent to the situation then they are asked to keep the dial in the middle. In case the response input is by means of push buttons, the audiences are asked to press the higher numbered buttons in case of a positive response and vice-versa. The system as per the instant invention is capable of running in two modes. In the First mode the computer that records the audience rcsponse also play the audio/visual material to which the audience need to respond. The mode is used when prerecorded a/v material is available in one of the computer compatible digital format such as video CD (VCD). In this embodiment the video may be played on the computing device itself or may be projected on a larger screen or may even be transmitted to different areas. In another embodiment for this scenario, along with the audience response the instance (as units of time) wherein the audience response is received is also captured. In a second mode, the computer that records the audience response also records the audio and/or video associated with the event. This mode is useful in following circumstances: a) When the event is a live event such as speech, role-play, drama etc. b) When the audio/visual material is available only on a media, which cannot he played back using a computer, such as an audio or videotape. During the playback the response and the audio associated with the event are played back synchronously. Digitally and synchronously recording and subsequent replaying of the audio/video of the event along with the audience response helps in analyzing the audience response during the playback session. The session coordinator has the control to pause the recording temporarily, as required. Once the event is complete, the coordinator can stop the recording process. The audience response input is converted to a 0 to +100 scale, where 0 indicates most negative response and 100 represents the most favorable response and is recorded on the memory of the computer. Before the analysis, the analyst needs to -a select a previously recorded session using a menu driven software as shown in figure 5. Figures 6 and 7 show the two modes wherein the analysis of the user response is played along with the recorded event. In the first mode as shown in figure 6, individual audiienee responses are shown as bar graph. In the mode shown in figure 7, the overview of the entire session is shown along with the recorded event. In figure 8, the recording from two hand-held units is shown along with the group average. Only two hand-held units are taken into account for the sake of clarity. Theoretically and in practice it is possible to have any number of hand-held units. This infonnation can be viewed in one of the three modes in the form of bar graphs as shown in figures 8 to 10. Pressing PLAY control button starts replaly of response. The responses are seen on the display monitor. The digital audio, recorded simultaneously with the responses, is converted to analog fonn and played back using a loudspeaker. It is therefore; very easy to see which portion of speech/audio evoked what kind of audience response. Figure 10 shows the replay of the perception recording as it happened in terms of speech and audience response. The analyst can pause at the point where the interaction at the group is required. The replay can be resumed by pressing the pause control means. During the paused mode both the recordings can be rewound instantaneously. Figure 1 1 shows both the average and the standard deviation as these parameters keep varying over the entire session (eight minutes, 33 seconds in this case). The average is shown by continuous line (red in colour) across the screen. The standard deviation is shown by vertical line across the average line blue in colour. Figure 12 shows, the replay from a specific point in the entire session. A high standard deviation at any point indicates the difference of opinion among the audience. It is definitely worthwhile to initiate the discussion lo find out the reason of this difference. Figure 12 also shows a few points with different combinations of attributes (i.e. mean and deviation). In the context of PRS (Peiception recording system), the word deviation and difference of opinion can be treated as synonymous. A sudden rise or a dip in the group average is relatively easy to interpret. The analyst at this point can prompt the audience to verbalize, why they felt the way they did. A station showing an isolated peak or dip should definitely be asked to explain his/her opinion. A station whieh stays at 50% level for a substantial period ( Another application of the instant invention can be illustrated as an class assessment device. It can be used by the teachers to monitor the progress of their pupils on a day to day basis. The teacher introduces a new concept by means of various examples. In case she desires to know if her point has been grasped by the students, the instant inventive concept may be used. A backend database or question bank of multiple choice questions is maintained. Each of the answer options can have a picture too, explaining the answers more lucidly. After posing the question on the computer and the question is displayed, she can wait for few minutes to get answer by each student by means of their handheld devices. Thus pressing response button gives the result summary to the teacher. Also she can save the answer of each student. This is explained in figure 13. The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, and is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. For example the computing means can randomly choose to record the response of only certain hand-held units so as to compensate for any biased opinion of one or more person. Accordingly, this invention is not to be I considered limited to the specific examples chosen for purposes of disclosure, but rather to cover all changes and modifications, which do not constitute departures from the permssible scope of the present invention. The invention is therefore not limited by the description contained herein or by the drawings, but only by the claims. We claim: 1. A real time perception recording system for continuous recording and displaying the analysis of audience's response to an event, said system comprising: - a programmable computing device (5), - said computing device connected to digital audio/video recording device, and a pre-determined number of handheld audience response units (2) through addressing and data conversion (ADDC) units (1) for converting the analog audience response signal to a digital signal, - means (6) to simultaneously record the digital audio/video of the event and digital audience response signals on the memory of the said computer, and - means (7) to replay the recorded digital audio/video signal and display the digital audience response signal synchronously either individually or collectively or in any other pre-determined mode. 2. The real time perception recording system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the event includes live events, pre-recorded events and transmitted events. 3. The real time perception recording system as claimed in claim 1, including means (10) to play the pre-recorded audio/visual material on said computing device synchronously with digital audience response signal recorded earlier. 4. The real time perception recording system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said handheld units (2) consists of response input device for the audience connected to input device interface and address recognition circuitry which in turn are connected to address and data conversion unit through communication channel interface (3). 5. The real time perception recording system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the communication channel interface is wired or wireless, including Bluetooth, radio, cable or infrared channels. 6. The real time perception recording system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said address and data conversion unit consists of addressing unit and analog to digital converter unit with channel interface on one side and computer connected to communication interface on the other side, for converting the analog audience response signal to digital response signal for recording in the memory of the computing device. 7. The real time perception recording system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said response input device includes potentiometer dial, slider or a set of push buttons (13). 8. The real time perception recording system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said computing device has record, pause, stop and exit control buttons in the recording mode. 9. The real time perception recording system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said computer has play, pause, stop, overview, record and overview control buttons in the replay mode. 10. A real time based perception-recording system for continuous recording and displaying the analysis of audience's response to an event, substantially as herein described and illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Documents:

843-del-2004-abstract.pdf

843-del-2004-Claims-(04-08-2011).pdf

843-DEL-2004-Claims-(18-07-2011).pdf

843-del-2004-claims.pdf

843-del-2004-complete specification(as filed).pdf

843-del-2004-complete specification(granted).pdf

843-del-2004-Correspondence Others-(04-08-2011).pdf

843-DEL-2004-Correspondence Others-(05-08-2011).pdf

843-DEL-2004-Correspondence Others-(18-07-2011).pdf

843-del-2004-Correspondence-Others-(20-04-2011).pdf

843-del-2004-correspondence-others.pdf

843-del-2004-correspondence-po.pdf

843-del-2004-description (complete).pdf

843-del-2004-drawings.pdf

843-DEL-2004-Form-1-(18-07-2011).pdf

843-del-2004-form-1.pdf

843-del-2004-form-13.pdf

843-del-2004-form-19.pdf

843-DEL-2004-Form-2-(18-07-2011).pdf

843-del-2004-form-2.pdf

843-del-2004-form-3.pdf

843-DEL-2004-GPA-(05-08-2011).pdf

843-del-2004-gpa.pdf

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