EP0697793A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Multimedia service access apparatus and method
Assignee: AT&T Inc
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Filing: 1995-08-02
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2015-08-02
Abstract
Abstract The disclosed apparatus and method enables a user to control the selection of electronic multimedia services to be provided to the user by one or more servers over a communication medium. The apparatus includes a scanner means for reading marks on an object and for communicating a request signal, having an object code representing the read marks, to a user interface. The interface receives the request signal and transmits to the servers a request command including an interface identification code and the object code which is used to select the desired electronic multimedia service. The servers identify the selected electronic multimedia service using the object code. The interface then enables the selected electronic multimedia service transmitted from the servers to be received by the user's receiver.
Inventors
- 👤 Pierre David Wellner
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-29 10:09
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N7/00; H04N7/16; H04N7/173; H04N7/17309; H04N7/17318; H04N7/14; H04N7/15
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim
152 words
Apparatus for use with a multimedia server for enabling a user to control the selection of an electronic multimedia service to be provided to the user by the multimedia server over a communication medium, CHARACTERIZED BY scanner means (11), operable by a user, for reading marks on an object and for communicating to a user interface (15) a request signal including an object code representing the read marks and said interface for interfacing the scanner means and a user display terminal (16) to the communication medium, including receiver means (304) for receiving the request signal from said scanner means, transmitter means (305) for transmitting over the communication medium to the server a request command including an interface identification code and the object code to select a multimedia service available from the server, and means for enabling (308) a received selected multimedia service from the server to be outputted to the display terminal.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
18 words
The apparatus of claim 1 CHARACTERIZED IN THAT said scanner means reads marks off of a paper object.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
26 words
The apparatus of claim 1 FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT said interface provides visual display feedback to a user in response to reception of said request signal.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
31 words
The apparatus of claim 1 FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT said scanner means reads one or more of a group of marks including at least alphanumeric characters, Xerox glyphs, and bar codes.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
36 words
The apparatus of claim 1 FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT said scanner means includes means for storing the read marks and means, operable by a user, for controlling the communication of the object code to said interface.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
25 words
The apparatus of claim 1 FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT said scanner means includes a scanner identification code in the request signal communicated to said interface.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
24 words
The apparatus of claim 14 FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT said interface includes the scanner identification code in the request command transmitted to the servers.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
151 words
A method for providing an electronic multimedia service to a user, CHARACTERIZED BY the steps of establishing (301) a bidirectional communication connection between a user terminal and a multimedia server location, said connection from said multimedia server to said user being capable of carrying a video signal, scanning (302) marks on paper to identify a multimedia service selected by a user, converting (304) the scanned marks into a request command including a first code identifying at least one video preview and a second code identifying a user's terminal, communicating (305) the request command to said multimedia server location over the established connection, said multimedia server location containing a plurality of video previews, selecting (306), at the multimedia server, a multimedia service using the received request command, and transmitting(307) a multimedia signal associated with the selected multimedia service over the connection from the multimedia server location for output at the user's terminal.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
123 words
A method for providing a video-previews-on-demand service to a user, CHARACTERIZED BY the steps of establishing (301) a bidirectional communication connection between a user terminal and a multimedia server, scanning (302) marks identifying a video preview scanned from a catalog at a user's terminal, converting (304) the scanned marks into a request command including a first code identifying at least one video preview and a second code identifying the user's terminal, communicating (305) the request command to said multimedia server over the established connection, selecting (306), at the multimedia server, the video preview using the received request command, and transmitting (307) a video signal associated with the selected video preview over the connection from the multimedia server for output at the user's terminal.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
174 words
A method for providing an instruction-video-program-on-demand service to a user, CHARACTERIZED BY the steps of providing a multimedia server (18) having a plurality of video programs accessible by a user in response to a request command received from the user, establishing (301) a communication connection between a user terminal and a multimedia server location, scanning (302) marks identifying an object at the user's terminal, converting (304) the scanned marks into a request command including a first code identifying the object and a second code identifying the user's location, communicating (305) the request command to said multimedia server location over the established connection, selecting (306), at the multimedia server location, one or more multimedia services, associated with the identified object, selected from a group including at least a prestored instructional multimedia program, a live multimedia connection to a person, and a live multimedia connection to a computer workstation, and transmitting (307) a multimedia signal associated with the selected multimedia service over the established connection from the multimedia server location for output at the user's terminal.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
196 words
Apparatus enabling a user to control the selection of electronic multimedia services to be provided to the user by a multimedia server over a communication medium, CHARACTERIZED BY a multimedia server (18) including a plurality of multimedia services, each multimedia service being selectable, in response to a request command from a user, for transmission over the communication medium to the user, and a user terminal including scanner means (11), operable by a user, for reading marks on an object and for communicating to a user interface (15) a request signal including an object code representing the read marks, a display apparatus (16) for outputting a selected multimedia service received over the communication medium, and said interface for interfacing the scanner means and the display apparatus to the communication medium including receiver means (304) for receiving the request signal from said scanner means, transmitter means (305) for transmitting over the communication medium to the server a request command including an interface identification code and the object code to select a multimedia program available from the server, and means for enabling (308) a received selected multimedia service transmitted from the server to be outputted to the display apparatus.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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