Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
--2--
The present invention rela-tes to training appara-tus
and in particular, but not exclusively, -to such apparatus Eor
-training vehicle drivers.
Teaching people to drive a vehicle may be an expensive
exercise in terms of fuel for the vehicle, an instructor's time
and, in some cases, in damage to the vehicle and to property
of o-ther people.
Some attempts have been made to teach driving by use
of simulators using a display screen on which a motion picture
of a road is shown. However, such systems are not entirely satis-
factory since the driver under training has his route restricted
by the sequence of filming.
For example in filming a typical route the camera oper-
ator would be unlikely to meander within the confines of a road.
However, this is the kind of steering error which a trainee driver
may make.
It is an object of the present invention to provide
training apparatus capable of providing a logical visual response
to actions of a user of -the apparatus.
Training apparatus of the kind in which a moving pic-
ture (e.g. a television-type display) is used to depict apparent
motion to users of the apparatus is hereinafter referred to as
training apparatusof the kind specified~
According to one aspect of the present invention there
is provided training apparatus for depicting apparent motion
to users of the apparatus, comprising a moving picture display
means, at least one video-disc reading head arranged to scan
'.~
~ -3-
a pre-recorded video track and providing a background video out-
put signal representing a series oE frames depicting apparent
motion and processing means which receive said background signal
from said vi.deo-disc reading head and process said background
signal using a chroma-keying or luminance keying -technique to
provide a modified video output signal which is received by said
moving picture display means to provide a display of said series
of frames which may have variable visual effects superimposed
thereon.
According to a second aspect of the present invention
there is provided training apparatus for depicting apparent motion
to users of the apparatus, comprising a moving picture display
means, a plurality of video-disc reading heads each arranged
to scan a respective pre-recorded video track in synchronism
with each other to provide respective video output signals, each
of the respective video output signals representing a respective
series of frames depicting apparent motion in respective parallel
lines spaced transversely of the direction of the apparent motion,
and selection means responsive to control means which are in
turn responsive to user action so as to select one or other of
said video signals -to be passed to said moving picture display
means so that each frame displayed is that most closely depicting
a view in the direction chosen by said con-trol means.
The training apparatus may have one or more video-disc
readers each having a plurality of reading heads which constitute
said reading heads. Alternatively and preferably each of said
g~
-3a-
reading heads may be of a differen-t one of a plurality of vldeo
disc readers.
~ second plurality oE video disc readers may be pro-
vided each having a respective readlng head and each being used
to read a respec-tive one of a further set of video discs, each
of the video discs of said fur-ther set providing a video output
signal to depict apparent motion in respective parallel lines
transverse o:E the direction of apparent motion at turning points
of an available route.
Said second plurality of video disc readers may run
in synchronism with each other and may be responsive to said
selection means to read a track associated with the commencement
of the next possible turning point whilst the first plura]ity
of video disc readers are in use to depict apparent motion along
the basic route.
The selection means may be responslve to fur-ther con-
trol means to vary the rate of display of a
series of frames so as to give an apparent acceleration
or deceleration in the speed of the apparent motion.
Said first contro] means may be manually
operable steering means and said further control means
rnay be manually operable speed selection means.
The selection rneans rnay also be responsive to
a third manually operable control means in cornbination
with the further control means to increase or decrease
the rate of apparent acceleration or deceleration.
Training apparatus in accordance with the
invention will now be described by way of example only
with reference to the accompanying drawings of which:-
Figure l is a block schernatic diagram of the
apparatus,
Figure 2 is a schen,atic diagram of the
information tracks of video discs used in the apparatus
of Figure l,
Figures 3 and 4 are diagrams used to show a
rnethod of selection of a video disc reader to supply a
video signal, and
Figure 5 is a street plan used to show typical
recording and selection sequences.
Referring to Figure 1 the apparatus comprises
nine video disc readers 1 to 9 (only five of which are
shown) a processor 10, which controls the synchronism
and frame selection of the video disc readers and a
video-switch 11 which, also under control of the
processor lO, selects which of the 'NTSC', 'SECAM' or
'PAL' coded colour signals from the video disc readers
1 to 9 is to be used to determine the picture displayed
by a projection television 12.
The output signal from the video switch ll is
passed by way of a single connection to a suitable 'PAL',
'SECAM' or 'NTSC' decoder 14 which provides colour
control signals for 'red', 'green' and 'blue' outputs
by way of connections 17, 18 and 19 respectively to a high
speed video switch 21 which may be used to modify the colour
1 3L ~ ~? ~ ~9
output siG~nals to the projection television 12 using
the tfchnicue ~no~;n as "chro~.a keying"O The deeoder 14
i.s also arran~ed to p.rovic'e television synch?~onis2-tion
.~iglla].s by ~:a-"~ o.f CGn'leCtiOll 20.
?f~c~ cfn, blue a3~d sy~?chl-o??isation si~~~als
are trans~-7~red fro~ the c'rl~oma. key;.n~ itch 2]. to the
projt-c-tion -tel.evi,c,ion by ~ -?.y OI connect,?ons ~2 t;o 25.
T'n.e cnIc3l~.a key:inL- sl~;.t.ch ~1 i.s cc,ntrolled by the
rrocessor 10 ~hich prc,v;.cles on/o..'f s;. nals ~nc' colour
detection si~rJa~s by ~ay of .?. ~iata '-us 30 and !'e~ ~ ~r`eeI
b~lie and sy-nchrollisatic!n ci^n~C îor '.i..-! ;'^es to be cver-
~2~f~d by ~.ay of co~r!f~-~ctions ~6 to 29.
ln u~e, each of the -vi.d.eo ciisc l~e.-clers 1 to 9
u.es a res-^,e-ctive p3e-3~ecorc'ied vic',eo di.sc to prG~icle
Ol~t.~Ut s.-i-???l_ ;.n ?e.srpect of a seri.es of l^ra.,--es sho-~ing
a laJ?~csc3~e ?~lon~r oedicated routes. The video c;ise
.,G~;e-rs 2 to 8 have pre-recorded discs the frarrles for
~;hic:h are recorcied on par~al.lel trac'r-s of the routes.
'~?hese a~e referred to hertin as ~.ctrai-ht~ sections althou.ch,
as ~ill beco.me ap arent, "s~tra.i.l-ht" .~ec~ions of the rOlJ.tes
rrcy include cur~res or corners~
l!he v-ideo disc re,-.ders 1 ,r,d 9 h,~7e discs the
fra~es for -,~h.ich are re,coraed a-t junctions of the routes,
the video c'~isc re3der 1 bein~, dedic,-~te-d to left hand turns
lrom the strai_ht se~clions and the vi~eo disc re-ader 9
bein_ dedicated to ri~ht hand turns.
~ ?he lrame to be selected for cli.c,p',a.y is
c.etfe.r.rined by the r~rGcessor 10 in resporlse vo si--n21s
recr-,-ve~ bv ~ay of a ~ mber of i.r~-ut.s ~'0 to 4,~ ich ~a,~r
be co~l-nect~.d ~,o si~ r2~C~i~c~ s (~lot s.~.o~;n) df~ivi.!g
sirnals from a steering co:ntIol~ 2.n acceleration cor!trol,
bra~ing conrrols ând the like~ ~laving thus determined
the frame to be dis~layed the processor 10 causes the
aplpropriate frar~e to be selected by eaeh of the video
di.sc reader 2 to ~ a.nd/or the video disc reacer 1 or 2
39
by way of respective data buses 31 to 39~ Synchronisation
si~nals to ensure that all of the video dise readers
1 to 9 are runrlintg at the same speed and in the sa~,e
hase may also be trc-~nsferred from the processor 10 by
way the d?~ta buses ~?1 to ~?9.
Reft-rri}l~ also to 't~ xes 2 in ;:hi.ch eech
fr?.me recor('.ed on a video dise i.s sho.-n as a .s~luare,
seven vicleo diccs 102 to 108 for the video dise re~ders
2 to 8 are recorded in p5.rallel c~.lon~ strair-ht seG~ions
of selecte~ routes which are desi~rlc7ted Sl -to S7.
Gorrespondirlv video discs 101 and lC9 for the vi.c'ieo c;ise
rc-aaers 1 e.nd , at ~esr--c-tively left h.~.nd qn~ rir.~t hand
vunct; 0~15 O. ~ ;ir~ St~ .irlt s~-CtiOn.Q ,.
~h s r^-felr;.n- -^.l.~o '-o -t.he stre et ~1~ r- of
~ ire 5 ..he ~--.?~llel rtcc;.-t'lis.~ of a. rou-te i~rom r to E is
earried out in a eon-tic~?.ous r,2r:ner from A to ~ thrt)ugh
sectlons Sl to S7. For sim~?licitg only one direetion of
travel is sho~n in respect of each section but it ~-ill be
appIeciated that for eompleteness recordin3 mllst be
carried out in each direction. `.~neIe referenee is ~3.de
herein to seetions reeolded in the o?posed direction
the sections are desi-;llated ~:7ith a pri~e ('). mhus a
route fro~ 3 to ~ ould be reccrded in a conti~ous
series of sections 5'7' to ,~1'.
In opeIe-ti-on~ if he proces~or 10 is pro-
.gIc~med to start nrom A it causes eaeh of the readers 2
to 8 to select the first frq~e of Sl~ the re-~der 1 is
ca~ll.ced to s~lest '.,he -i~st l`rq~r.lq of Il a~nd he ,e,qS~)er 9
is eal~ed to selest the i.rst :r,--!e of Rl, I,l and Rl being
respeetively the next left h~nd and rirht hand tul~ns
direetly aeeessible from the rollte involvinr~, Sl. The
video s~.7itch 11 is caused to select the signal from one
of the readers 2 to 8 in accordance ~7ith the notional
position of the viewer at the start point A.
-7-
On receipt of an a.ppropriate control signal
on one or rore of the leads 40 to 43 the proce.ssor 10
causes each of -the video ~lisc readers 2 to 9 to advance
one frO..rQe at a t;.me along the section Sl and ;n
response to steeringg si~nals on one of the leads 40 to
~L3 c~mces the video s~.itch 11 to select en a~propriate
si.-~nPl for display in depender!ce upon the noti,onal
~osi.tion of the vie~Jer.
If l~hen the intersection of sections Sl, S2
and S26 is reached ro stee-ring signals are received by
the l?rocessor 10, after displa~v of the last fra~3e of Sl,
the first frame of S2 t~1ill be selected. Ho~Jever, if
on appro3chir~, the junction t~e vie~.;er co~mences a
right '.,u-:n the proces~C3r 10 causes the video switch 11
to se1.ect Fi nals from the re~c'er 9. '~,'ne reader 9 is
then c~n2sed to step t'rlrou~h the frhT)es of ~1~
Concurrently ~ith the displ~y of the fraIGrs of
Rl, the ~,rocessor 1.0 cal~5ec the ~Ji.deo disc readers 2 to
8 to select their respective first frames of section
S26. Thus, ~s soon as the steering si~,n~l.s indicate
notional straight travel in the section S26 the appro-
?riate frame from one of the readers 2 to 8 may be
displayed~
Once t'ne notional position of the viewer is
in the section S26 the disc reader 1 is reset to the
first fr~r.le of ~11 whilst the disc reader 9 is reset to
the first fra23e of Rl40 Once the di.sc readers 2 to $
cor.nme33ce the first frO.TIe of section S27 (as~sumin-~g that a
ir,ht -turn into section S2~ has no-c bee~n ~ede~, the
disc reader 9 is set -to the first ~ra?le of R15.
~ hus, regardless of the route chosen by the
vie~ier, a continuou~C, rol.ion picture is ?rovided to tne
television projector 12 reflecting the notional position
and movement (if any) of the vie~er~ If a stop is
selected then the same frame is continuously displayed
1~8~
--8--
hilst the rate of change of the fr&me displayed may be
varied.
,Referr;.ng now to FiguIes 1 and 3 variations in the
notional track ta~en by a vehicle, are catered for by se-
'.ectin the fraA~e for ~iis~lay from one of the disc readers
2 to ~ in accoTdarlce ~ith variations in the notional ~stee:ring.T};us if the steering of a vehicle v~ ies i~ ore o.f the
sections, s~y Sl~ as shown by the line 50-50' t,hen o~er a
?eriod of ti~e to tO t33 (L~here each of t`rJe r,eriods tn .~,ay
v~Ary) the frar~es for d~splay 2re sr=l.ected by t7-,e ~,-roces.-or
10 by use of ihe vi~eo s~.iLch 11 in accordence wi-th -the
followi.n~ t?ble:
~ra,.'e .o~ Vi.deo ~ra.~e I~io, Video ~ra~e No. Video
l',i.sc ~~~-~ D;.. sc - ~sc
~tea~r T,~ ? er Re~e~
tO O ~1 6 tl2 C S1 6 L,23 ~3 ~1 5
15 tl 1 Sl 6 tl3 13 Sl 5 t~4 24 Sl 5
t2 2 Sl 6 tl4 14 Sl 4 t~5 ~5 Sl 6
t3 3 Sl 7 tl5 15 Sl 4 t26 ~6 S1 6
t4 4 Sl 7 tl6 15 Sl 3 t2? 27 Sl 7
t5 5 Sl 8 tl7 17 Sl 3 t28 28 Sl 7
~C t6 6 Sl 8 tl& 1~, Sl 3 t29 29 Sl 7
t7 7 Sl 8 tl9 lG~ ,Sl 3 t30 30 Sl 7
t8 8 Sl 8 t2C 20 Sl 3 t31 31 Sl 7
t9 9 Sl ~ L,?l 21 Sl 3 t32 32 Sl 7
tlO 10 Sl 8 L,22 ~2 S~ 4 t33 3~ Sl 7
25 tll 11 Sl. 7
__ _. __ _ _ _ .__ ___ _
ConsiQering the Tra~e and ~id-o d~sc rea~er selectiGn
for a tvrn say frolri Sll' to S2'~ of ~ re 5 usinG~ the ri.rht
h.and turn R9 and referrin~ also to ~i~ure 4 the notional
~a.ih 51-51' the selection by 'he ~rocessor 10 and ~sin_ the
video s~Jitch 11 is as follows:
_9_
Time Frame No. Video Time ~rame No. Video
_ ~ - ~ Disc
Reader Reader
tOO Sll' 2 tlO 2 Rl 9
tl1 Sll' 2 tll 3 Rl 9
t22 Sll' 2 tl2 4 Rl 9
t3 3 Sll' 3 tl3 5 Rl 9
t4 4 Sll' 4 tl4 0 S24 7
t5 5 Sll' 5 tl5 1 S24 7
t6 6 Sll' 6 tl6 2 S2~ 6
t7 7 Sll' 7 tl7 3 S24 5
t8 0 Rl 9 t~8 4 S24 4
t-91 Rl 9
It l!ill be xe~lised that ~hilst as herein
described only Gne video disc reader 1 or 9 has been
allocat~d ,o the respec-tive left h~nd and right hand
turn ~unctions a number of readers could also be used
for this function to provide a greater variation in
the notional turning route.
It will be realised that, as thus far described,
a certain amolmt of ~itter -~ill occur in the displayed
picture ,:hen the displayed frame charlges from that
provided by one of ciisc readels 1 to 9 to another of
the disc ~eadersa Such jitter may be compensated for
by interpolation of the signals from the two video
disc read-rs as the point of changeover is approached.
~hus a line of fIame store (not shovn) may be used to
which si~nals froJn two of tne ~ideo disc readers 1 to
9 may be p-ssed,the line or frame sto-e intermi!lgling
the -two sets ol si na~s for passin~ to the chro~akey
switch 21.
~0 Alternatively slight optical distortio~ of the
ima~e produced by the ~ro~ec~ion television may be
employed as the point of chan~eover is approached~
~ hus far only a basic trainin~ aid has been
81!~3~
--10--
cGnsidered which whilst permitting notional travel
along any route within the confines of the area recor.1ed
has not per~itted any variations in the conditions
so m~t. For exa~lple, referring again to Figure 5 there
may be traffic lights at the junction of the sections
S5 and Sl2~ If on a~proachi.ng sllch a jwtction the user
i.s a-are that the lights will a]~ays be set to 'go'
the tra;nirlg value is lcs~e.~ed.
~ ilarly other ve?ticles ~ay be par'~.ed at the
].0 :ro~dsi~e, or l'OVi~ alo!lg a ro~d sectior-. AEain
refeIring -to F;..-~ire l to si~,ulate ~uch features the
pro~essor lO is a~u-~rged to generate eolol1r i~ares
which are used b~T-t'rJe chr~ ey ~witch 21 to superim-
pose the fe~t;ures a~d ch~saes i~i them in -the scertario~
If, for e~ ;?le, -traffi.c lir;h-ts are recorded
with all col OUI'S sho-.i..-3~,, say, ed, a~,ber and green
tl-en t;he ch.~or,a~rey switch 21 ~Jay b-^- caused to black
out any one or two of these s~ecific colours in the data
passed to the projec-tion television 12. Accordi.ngly on
one noti.oral approach to traffic lights the 'red'
~nd 'amber' r,ay be blacked out, whilst or a~o-th r
approach the 'red' and 'green' may be blacked out or the
'amber' and 'gIeen'` or solely the 'green'. Thus the
traffic lights displayed are capable of showing any
phase wnich may be enco~tered in practice.
In a similar manner by selection of a colour
or colours o-v-er which superimposition of an image may
occur other road hazardsS vehicles and the like may be
introdut;ed,
Such leatuIes as vehicles, pedestria~s &nd the
like may be produced by use of a further video disc
reader (not shown). Thus the particular feat~res
will be recorded against a fixed colour backgrou~
and the video disc used to provide signals to the chrom-
a~ey switch 21~ The chroma~ey switch 21 then mixes
the signals fro~ the video disc readers l - 9 with the
8~
signal from the additional video disc reader before
supplying the signals to the projection te:Levision 12.
The ability to introduce such features as that
provided by the chromakey switch 21 also permits the
apparatus to be used in the training of railway loco-
motive drivers. It will be apparent that the 'steering"
aspects of Figure 1 are not required in respect of railway
vehicles since a fixed path is followed. Thus only two
of the video disc readers 1 to 9 will be required, one
for notiona] straight motion on a track and one for
transfer by points to allother track.
The chromakey switch ?l under control of the pro-
cessor is arranged to show changes in colour ]ight
s;gnal relevant to the track being displayed.
Whilst herein described the picture is produced
by the projection television 12 it will be appreciated
that other mealls responsive to signals derived from the
data held by the video disc readers 1 to 9 rr.ay be ernployed.
In an alternative raode of operation the chromakey
switch 21 is replaced by a luminance key switch (not
shown) which operates on the lurninance signal e]ernent of
the selected video-signal output. The luminance key switch
may be arranged to switch at a presettable lurninance
ievel. Bo,h lurninance key switch and chromakey switching
rnay be used in tandem for superimposition of dif~erilig effects.
Gther applications of the apparatus will also
become apparent. For e~ample by sending a small team
to fi]m, say, a forest or jungle in a grid pattern, a
larger number of people may be familiarised with the
forest or jungle by use of the apparatus described.
The chromakey switch 21 may be used to superimpose
visual effects within such scenarios.
Thus the apparatus rnay also find use in tactical
briefing roorns and/or for military training purposes
for example. The apparatus rnay also find use in the
display of mimic diagrams in a moving or static
layout with superimpositiori of symbols and other features.
