Hand-Held Sensor Devices for Use with Printed Material

Abstract

Interactive printed material and sensor apparatus for use therewith is described. The sensor responds to characteristics of printing on the printed material, for example the degree of infrared reflectance or absorption. The printed material has intelligible components and non-intelligible components. By configuring the printed material and/or the internal programming in the sensor device appropriately, the sensor device can be calibrated to the printed material automatically as the sensor device is applied to the printed material as part of a structured intellectually mediated interaction between the two. In one example, the sensor device is run across a sequence of pre-printed areas specifically designed to enable the values of the property to be presented in a specific order enabling sophisticated calibration and programming functions to be implemented.

1 - 8 . (canceled) 
   
   
       9 . Interactive information apparatus comprising printed material and a sensor device adapted to respond to characteristics of printing on the printed material, and wherein the printing on the printed material has intelligible components and non-intelligible components, the non-intelligible components being sensed by the sensor device, and wherein the sensor device senses differing values of a property of the non-intelligible components, and wherein the printed material and/or internal programming in the sensor device is arranged to ensure that calibration of the sensor device to the printed material is carried out automatically as the sensor device is applied to the printed material as part of a structured, intellectually mediated, interaction between the sensor device and the printed material. 
   
   
       10 . The apparatus according to  claim 9 , wherein the sensor device and the printed material are configured as an interactive game which requires a user to place the sensor device on a given number of differently reactive areas of the printed material. 
   
   
       11 . The apparatus according to  claim 10 , wherein the printed material includes a printed track or maze which must be navigated by the user passing the sensor device successively over different printed areas having differing values of the property sensed. 
   
   
       12 . The apparatus according to  claim 9 , wherein the printed material has a form of a quiz book or revision test exercise and the sensor device is programmed so that the sensor device records different values of the property sensed of the printed material and then processes a record of the different values to extract from the different values information as to the different values themselves. 
   
   
       13 . The apparatus according to  claim 9 , wherein the sensor device includes a processing unit adapted to recognize maxima and minima of the different values of the property sensed following sequential continuous application of the sensor device to a sufficiently large number of the unintelligible components of the different printed areas of the printed material. 
   
   
       14 . The apparatus according to  claim 13 , wherein the sensor device is programmed to set values of the property which are maxima or minima as specific values the sensor device is thereafter programmed to recognize, and wherein the sensor device will recognize printing as possessing a property at one of the specific values if the property sensed is at or within a preset tolerance band of the values of the maxima and minima. 
   
   
       15 . The apparatus according to  claim 14 , wherein the printed material presents different maxima and minima in a definite fixed sequence, whereby the sensor device may both calibrate itself to specific printed material and change operational mode of the sensor device from a default mode or an earlier operating mode to a new operating mode. 
   
   
       16 . The apparatus according to  claim 15 , wherein the printed material and the sensor device constitute a quiz or early learning book and wherein rules for interaction between the sensor device and the printed material change from page to page or from one printed book or worksheet to a next printed book or worksheet.