Claims
- 1. A method for collecting data from a plurality of persons, comprising the steps of:
- providing each of the plurality of persons with a radiation source capable of defining at least two states;
- scanning all the radiation sources with a detector to form an image of all the radiation sources, thereby determining the state of each scanned source; and
- aggregating the determined states into data.
- 2. A method for collecting data from a plurality of persons, comprising the steps of:
- providing each of the plurality of persons with a radiation source capable of defining at least two states;
- scanning all the radiation sources with a detector thereby determining the state of each scanned source; and
- aggregating the determined states into data;
- wherein the step of scanning comprises using a video camera.
- 3. A method for collecting data from a plurality of persons, comprising the steps of:
- providing each of the plurality of persons with a radiation source capable of defining at least two states;
- scanning all the radiation sources with a detector thereby determining the state of each scanned source; and
- aggregating the determined states into data;
- wherein the step of scanning comprises collecting light with a movable mirror.
- 4. A method for collecting data from a plurality of persons, comprising the steps of:
- providing each of the plurality of persons with a radiation source capable of defining at least two states;
- scanning all the radiation sources with a detector thereby determining the state of each scanned source; and
- aggregating the determined states into data;
- wherein each radiation source is a retroreflector for reflecting incident light.
- 5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of providing a source of incident light mounted substantially coaxially with the detector to illuminate the reflectors.
- 6. The method of claim 4, wherein each retroreflector reflects at least two distinguishable colors, each color defining one state of the source.
- 7. A method for collecting data from a plurality of persons, comprising the steps of:
- providing each of the plurality of persons with a radiation source capable of defining at least two states;
- scanning all the radiation sources with a detector thereby determining the state of each scanned source; and
- aggregating the determined states into data;
- wherein each source is a polarized reflector defining at least two states of the source by different rotations of the plane of polarization of reflected incident polarized light.
- 8. A method for collecting data from a plurality of persons, comprising the steps of:
- providing each of the plurality of persons with a radiation source capable of defining at least two states;
- scanning all the radiation sources with a detector thereby determining the state of each scanned source; and
- aggregating the determined states into data;
- wherein each source is a polarized reflector defining at least two states of the source by different orientations of the plane of polarization of reflected incident unpolarized light.
- 9. A method for collecting data from a plurality of persons, comprising the steps of:
- providing each of the plurality of persons with a radiation source capable of defining at least two states;
- scanning all the radiation sources with a detector thereby determining the state of each scanned source; and
- aggregating the determined states into data;
- wherein each source is fluorescent in at least one color.
- 10. A method for collecting data from a plurality of persons, comprising the steps of:
- providing each of the plurality of persons with a radiation source capable of defining at least two states;
- scanning all the radiation sources with a detector thereby determining the state of each scanned source; and
- aggregating the determined states into data;
- wherein the radiation is infra-red.
- 11. A method for collecting data from a plurality of persons, comprising the steps of:
- providing each of the plurality of persons with a radiation source capable of defining at least two states;
- scanning all the radiation sources with a detector thereby determining the state of each scanned source; and
- aggregating the determined states into data;
- wherein the states are defined by movement of each source.
- 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the states are defined by a velocity of the movement.
- 13. A method for collecting data from a plurality of persons, comprising the steps of:
- providing each of the plurality of persons with a radiation source capable of defining at least two states;
- scanning all the radiation sources with a detector thereby determining the state of each scanned source; and
- aggregating the determined states into data;
- wherein the sources are each identified by coded information transmitted by the radiation source.
- 14. A method for collecting data from a plurality of persons, comprising the steps of:
- providing each of the plurality of persons with a radiation source capable of defining at least two states;
- providing a plurality of detectors, each detector scanning a predetermined portion of the radiation sources, thereby determining the state of each scanned source;
- aggregating the determined states into data;
- dividing each predetermined portion into a plurality of cells, each cell including only one of the radiation sources; and
- summing an intensity value of the source in each cell, over all the cells.
- 15. A method for collecting data from at least one person, comprising the steps of:
- providing each person with a retroreflector capable of defining at least two states, each state characterized by a different color reflection;
- providing a source of light substantially coaxially mounted with a video camera;
- scanning the locations occupied by each person with the video camera, thereby determining the state defined by each retroreflector; and
- aggregating the state of each scanned retroreflector into data.
- 16. A system for collecting data from a plurality of persons, each person being provided with a source of illumination capable of defining at least two states, comprising:
- a detector for scanning the plurality of persons to form an image of the scanned sources, thereby determining the state of each scanned source; and
- means for aggregating the states into data.
- 17. A system for collecting data from a plurality of persons, each person being provided with a source of illumination capable of defining at least two states, comprising:
- a detector for scanning the plurality of persons thereby determining the state of each scanned source;
- means for aggregating the states into data;
- wherein each source comprises a retroreflector which reflects at least two distinguishable colors, each color defining at least one state, and wherein the detector comprises a video camera, and further comprising:
- a source of light mounted substantially co-axially with the video camera;
- means for defining a plurality of cells scanned by the video camera, each cell including only one source; and
- means for summing an intensity value of the source in each cell, over all the cells.
- 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the means for summing includes:
- two video channels, each for receiving a video signal associated with one of the states of the sources;
- an analog to digital converter to digitize the received video signal for each channel;
- a look-up table for correcting the digitized video signal for each channel;
- a latch for storing the corrected digitized video signal for each channel;
- a first memory for storing the latched signal for each channel; and
- a second memory for storing a pixel address associated with the latched signal.
- 19. The system of claim 17, wherein the detector includes:
- means for detecting movement of each scanned source; and
- means for determining a location of each scanned source to subpixel accuracy by finding a pixel brighter than adjacent pixels on a video image of the scanned source.
- 20. A method for collecting data from at least one person, comprising the steps of:
- providing each person with a radiation source capable of defining at least two states;
- scanning all the radiation sources with a detector thereby determining the state of each scanned source; and
- aggregating the determined states into data;
- wherein the step of scanning comprises collecting light with a movable mirror.
- 21. A method for collecting data from at least one person, comprising the steps of:
- providing each person with a radiation source capable of defining at least two states;
- scanning all the radiation sources with a detector thereby determining the state of each scanned source; and
- aggregating the determined states into data;
- wherein each radiation source is a retroreflector for reflecting incident light.
- 22. A method for collecting data from at least one person, comprising the steps of:
- providing each person with a radiation source capable of defining at least two states;
- scanning all the radiation sources with a detector thereby determining the state of each scanned source; and
- aggregating the determined states into data;
- wherein the incident light is polarized, and each source is a polarized reflector defining at least two states of the source by different rotations of the plane of polarization of reflected light.
- 23. A method for collecting data from at least one person, comprising the steps of:
- providing each person with a radiation source capable of defining at least two states;
- scanning all the radiation sources with a detector thereby determining the state of each scanned source; and
- aggregating the determined states into data;
- wherein the incident light is unpolarized and each source is a polarized reflector defining at least two states of the source by different orientations of the plane of polarization of reflected light.
- 24. A method for collecting data from at least one person, comprising the steps of:
- providing each person with a radiation source capable of defining at least two states;
- scanning all the radiation sources with a detector thereby determining the state of each scanned source; and
- aggregating the determined states into data;
- wherein each source is fluorescent in at least one color.
- 25. A method for collecting data from at least one person, comprising the steps of:
- providing each person with a radiation source capable of defining at least two states;
- scanning all the radiation sources with a detector to form an image of all the scanned sources, thereby determining the state of each scanned source; and
- aggregating the determined states into data;
- wherein the sources are each identified by coded information transmitted by the radiation source.
- 26. A method for collecting data from at least one person, comprising the steps of:
- providing each person with a radiation source capable of defining at least two states;
- scanning all the radiation sources with a detector thereby determining the state of each scanned source;
- aggregating the determined states into data;
- providing a plurality of detectors, each detector scanning a predetermined portion of the radiation sources;
- dividing each predetermined portion into a plurality of cells, each cell including only one of the radiation sources; and
- summing an intensity value of the source in each cell, over all the cells.
- 27. A system for collecting data from at least one person, each person being provided with a source of illumination capable of defining at least two states, comprising:
- a detector for scanning the at least one person thereby determining the state of each scanned source; and
- means for aggregating the states into data;
- wherein each source comprises a retroreflector which reflects at least two distinguishable colors, each color defining at least one state, and wherein the detector comprises a video camera, and further comprising:
- a source of light mounted substantially co-axially with the video camera;
- means for defining a plurality of cells scanned by the video camera, each cell including only one source; and
- means for summing an intensity value of the source in each cell, over all the cells.
- 28. A system for collecting data from a plurality of persons, each person being provided with a source of illumination capable of defining at least two states, the system comprising:
- a scanning detector adapted to scan the plurality of people and determine the state of each source from an image of the plurality of sources; and
- a computer operationally connected to the detector and aggregating the determined states into data.
- 29. A method for collecting data from a plurality of persons, comprising the steps of:
- providing each of the plurality of persons with a radiation source capable of defining at least two states;
- scanning all the radiation sources with a detector thereby determining the state of each scanned source; and
- aggregating the determined states into data;
- wherein the states are defined by a location of each source.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/806,051, filed Dec. 10, 1991, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,210,604.
US Referenced Citations (7)
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
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806051 |
Dec 1991 |
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