Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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AUDIO - VIDEO GLOBE
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
Field of the invention.
The present invention is concerned with interactive educational tools, and
particularly
with an audio-video globe for displaying relevant informatifln stored as pre-
recorded data
associated with a country of choice.
Description of the prior art
It is known to use for educational purposes a model of the earth, supported on
a hexagonal
base. On the six sides of the base, there are as many sectors containing cards
with geographical
information, grouped by continents. This system has the disadvantage of a
cumbersome and impractical management of the data, and requires a lengthy time
to obtain the
desired information. The "Talking Globe", manufactured by Educational Insight
(USA),
uses a sophisticated technology, including a void synthesizer. The globe
addresses a large
number of questions with a choice of three answers, which can be checked using
keys located on
the support of the globe. The drawbacks of this device are related to the fact
that it
only checks on the user's geographical knowledge without offering any
information. The "Talking
Globe" uses a synthesized voice, and the questions are randomly arranged
without being
ei~iciently organized. Finally, the information provided is audio, and not
associated with an
image.
There is a need for an interactive educational globe, providing information
and data
related to the geography, history and economics of all countries.
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S>CrMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an audio-video globe,
which alleviates
totally or in part the drawbacks of the prior art.
An other object of the present invention is to provide a wide spectrum of
relevant
geographical and political information for educational purposes. This
invention provides a globe
with sensors corresponding to all the countries of the world, which can
reproduce a large amount
of audio-video information relative to a specific country by simply touching
the corresponding
sensor.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of teaching
geography, history, zoology, botanic, and economics, which associates
significant information
related to a country with the location of the country on the globe.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an easy to use
educational tool,
which combines the benefits of the visual and auditory data.
In one embodiment of the present invention, an audio-video globe comprising a
plurality of sensors located underneath the geo-political map, each associated
with a country, each
sensor for generating a code signal whenever is actuated, is provided. A
decoding matrix receives
the code signal and generates an identification signal. Searching means are
also provided for
receiving the identification signal and generating a control signal. The
control signal is
transmitted to a reader for accessing audio-video information pre-recorded
on a storage medium.
Advantageously, the present invention sets the foundation for an interactive
individual
study based on a friendly and attractive method, helps the educational process
by providing an
easy system for building up a structured knowledge, with direct links between
the real thing and
the specific information. The data presentation is simultaneously provided
visually and by a
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pleasant human voice, might have a broad application in several other fields
of general interest -
anatomy, solar system, atomic models, regional maps, etc-by providing the
connection between
the real model and the associated reference data. Moreover, the globe of the
present invention can
be sold at an affordable price because it does not utilize a costly
personal computer.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will be further understood from the following
description with
reference to the drawings, where:
Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the audio-video globe of the present
invention;
Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the pedestal combined with a
vertical sectional
view of the globe of the Figure 1 showing the functional blocks and the
electrical connections
inside the globe and the pedestal;
Figure 3 is an electrical block diagram of audio-video globe of the present
invention.
Same reference numerals will be used to denote same parts throughout the
description.
DETEILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 illustrates a front elevational view of the audio-video globe device
10 according
to the invention. Device 10 comprises an audio-video globe 20 supported on a
pedestal 16.
Pedestal 16 is preferably a rectangular box exposing on its upper surface a
front
panel including a fast forward/fast backwards button 12, a play button 13, a
battery box cover 28,
a speaker 30 and microphone 38, and openings 29.
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An intermediate barrel shaped member 26 is fixed in an upright position on the
upper
surface of the pedestal 16 at an end remote from buttons 12 or 13, for
supporting globe 20 on
pedestal 16, in the known manner, namely by use of a semicircular support 11
fixed on the
intermediate member 26 at point 36. Globe 20 is mounted on support 11 on two
diametrically
opposed points 23 and 24 (the poles) for ratably positioning globe 20 at the
correct inclination.
Globe 20 includes two hollow hemispheres 21 and 22 preferably corresponding to
the North and
the South hemispheres. Hemispheres 21 and 22 are separated by an assembly
board 18 along the
Equator. It is to be understood that this specification discloses hemispheres
corresponding to the
geographical ones. However, the hemispheres may be of
unequal surface and separated along another parallel or a meridian, or any
other, crossection in
the globe 20.
The geo-political map of the world is displayed on the exterior of globe 20.
Also attached
to the semicircular support 11 is a LCD display 14.
Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the globe 20 combined with a
sectional
horizontal section of the pedestal 16, showing the functional blocks and the
electrical connections
inside the device 10. A plurality of sensors S1, 52,.......,Sn are located in
the thickness of the
walls of the two hemispheres 21 and 22, underneath the geo-political map of
the world. Assembly
board 18 comprises a decoding matrix 15 for receiving a code from a sensor Sj,
when the sensor
is actuated. To this end, electrical connections 31 are provided
between sensors 51,...,Sn, and the decoding matrix 15. It is to be understood
that wires 31 may be
directly soldered with an end to a sensor Sj and with the other end to the
board 15, or that the
wires 31 may have connectors on both ends for contacting a sensor Sj and a
multiple pin
connector provided on board 18.
Decoding matrix 15 determines which sensor Sj was activated and provides an
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identification signal for sensor Sj to a scanner 25, as shown at 32.
A reader 35 is provided inside the pedestal 16 for reading information stored
on a
magnetic media, optic media, or combinations thereof, as intuitively shown at
39. Any kind of
storing means like magnetic tapes, CD-Interactive (CD-I), CD-Audio (CD-A),
voice synthesizer,
can be used for recording data associated with all the countries in the world.
In a
preferred embodiment, a Digital VideoDisc (DVD) which can store up to nine
hours of studio
quality video data and multi-channel surround sound, or 30 hours of CD audio
may be used. Each
DVD can store up to 250,000 frames, which can be hold, still images or full
motion video at 30
frames per second.
Upon receipt of the identification signal from matrix 15, scanner 25 starts
searching
the address of the requested information on the storage medium. The
correspondence between the
address on the storage medium and the location of the sensor is predetermined
according to the
type of media used.
Scanner 25 is connected to reader 35 by a cable 33 which exits globe 20 at
point 24 and
guided inside semicircular support 11 and intermediate support 3b to reader 35
mounted
in pedestal 16.
LCD monitor 14 receives the selected image information from reader 35, over
cable 34,
which is guided from reader 35 along and inside intermediate support 36.
Preferably, electrical
connections 31 are fiber optics.
A speaker 30 is located inside the pedestal 16 close to openings 29. Power
supply is
provided by batteries located under the removable cover 28, or alternatively
through a standard 12
volts AC power pack, 120 or 220 volts input.
The mode of operation of the device 10 is next described in connection, which
Figure 3
shows a block diagram of the device 10 of the invention. To request
information on a country of
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interest, the corresponding sensor Sj is activated on the surface of the globe
20. A sharpened
object (pen; stick) may be used to press and activate sensor Sj. Sensor Sj
generates a code signal
which is identified by the decoding matrix 15 and a country identification
signal is generated at
the output of matrix 15. The identification signal is input to the
searching system or scanner 25. Scanner 25 detects the beginning of any audio-
video recording
on the magnetic/optic media 39 corresponding to the identification signal,
i.e. to the designated
country, and instructs reader 35 to play audio-video information previously
stored on 39. The
information is reproduced on display 14 and/or by speaker 30. Once display 14
and/or speaker 30
indicate that the reader 35 accessed to the address of interest on
storage media 39, the user presses play button 13 for retrieving the
information. Button 12 is used
in the known manner for scrolling back and forth the image and/or sound
information.
Optionally, countries name may be stored in memory 17 and can be listed
alphabetically
and displayed on LCD monitor 14, by using fast forward/fast backwards button
12. This feature is
provided for obtaining information on countries difficult to show
on the globe 20, such as small countries like Andorra, San Marino, and Monaco.
Thus, a country
may be manually selected by pressing button 12 for advancing or going backward
one digit at the
time. The display of the country name stored in memory 17 is done
simultaneously by the access
of the CD tracks, via skip forward/ reverse button.
A control unit 40 monitors the operation and synchronization of all units.
The reader 25 can be also activated through a voice-recognized unit 19. By
using
microphone 38, the user can verbally instruct the reader 35 to display the
required information.
Buttons 12 and 13 may also be used to control reader 35 by directly selecting
a country of
interest, using display 14 and Jor speaker 30. Numerous modifications,
variations, and adaptations
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may be made to the particular embodiments of the invention described above,
without departing
from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
