text:
|Publication number
|Publication type
|Application number
|Publication date
|Jun 25, 2002
|Filing date
|Jul 5, 2000
|Priority date
|Apr 17, 1998
|Fee status
|Also published as
|Publication number
|Eric M. Foxlin
|Original Assignee
|Massachusetts Institute Of Technology
|Export Citation
|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
|Patent Citations (17), Non-Patent Citations (9), Referenced by (168), Classifications (22), Legal Events (3)
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
Under 35 USC �120, this application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 09/062,442, filed Apr. 17, 1998 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,176,837.
The invention relates to motion tracking.
Motion tracking can use a variety of measurement modes, including inertial and acoustic measurement modes, to determine the location and orientation of a body.
Inertial motion tracking is based on measuring linear acceleration and angular velocity about a set of typically orthogonal axes. In one approach, multiple spinning gyroscopes generate forces proportional to the rates at which their spinning axes rotate in response to rotation of a tracked body to which the gyroscopes are attached. These forces are measured and used to estimate angular velocity of the body. Micro-machined vibrating elements and optical waveguide based devices may be used in place of gyroscopes.
Accelerometers generate signals proportional to forces which result from linear acceleration. In an inertial tracking system, the angular velocity and acceleration signals are integrated to determine linear velocity, linear displacement, and total angles of rotation.
As the signals generated by gyroscopic devices are noisy, the integration process results in accumulation of noise components, which is generally known as "drift". Miniaturized and low cost gyroscopic devices typically exhibit greater error. Drift rates can be as high as several degrees per second for a body at rest, and several degrees for every rotation of the body by 90 degrees. Errors in orientation estimates also affect location estimation as the estimated orientation of the body is used to transform acceleration measurements into the fixed reference frame of the environment prior to their integration. Inaccuracy in this transformation can result in gravity appearing as a bias to resulting horizontal acceleration measurements.
One way to correct drift is to use additional sensors, such as inclinometers and a compass to occasionally or continually correct the drift of the integrated inertial measurements. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,077, issued to Eric M. Foxlin on Jul. 8, 1997, discloses such an approach. This patent in incorporated herein by reference.
Another approach to motion tracking uses acoustic waves to measure distance between one or more points on a body and fixed reference points in the environment. In one arrangement, termed an "outside-in" arrangement, a set of acoustic emitters at the fixed points on the body emit pulses that are received by a set of microphones at the fixed reference points in the environment. The time of flight from an emitter to a microphone is proportional to an estimate of the distance between the emitter and the microphone (i.e., the range). The range estimates from the emitters to the respective microphones are used to triangulate the location of the emitters. The locations of multiple emitters on the body are combined to estimate the orientation of the body.
Other measurement modes, such as optical tracking of light sources on a body, can also be used to track motion of the body.
In one aspect, in general, the invention is a method for tracking a motion of a body which includes obtaining two types of measurements associated with the motion of the body, one of the types comprising acoustic measurement, updating an estimate of either an orientation or a position of the body based on one of the two types of measurement, for example based on inertial measurement, and updating the estimate based on the other of the two types of measurements, for example based on acoustic ranging.
In another aspect, in general, the invention is a method for tracking the motion of a body including selecting one of a set of reference devices, transmitting a control signal to the selected reference device, for example by transmitting a wireless control signal, receiving a range measurement signal from the reference device, accepting a range measurement related to a distance to the selected reference device, and updating a location estimate or an orientation estimate of the body using the accepted range measurement. The method can further include determining a range measurement based on a time of flight of the range measurement signal.
Advantages of the invention include providing a 6-degree-of-freedom tracking capability that can function over an essentially unlimited space in which an expandable constellation of ultrasonic beacons is installed. Inertial measurements provide smooth and responsive sensing of motion while the ultrasonic measurements provide ongoing correction of errors, such as those caused by drift of the inertial tracking component of the system. Small and inexpensive inertial sensors, which often exhibit relatively large drift, can be used while still providing an overall system without unbounded drift. Small, lightweight inertial sensors are well suited for head mounted tracking for virtual or augmented reality display systems. By correcting drift using ultrasonic measurements, drift correction measurements which may be sensitive to external factors such as magnetic field variations, are not needed. The constellation of ultrasonic beacons can be easily expanded as each beacon functions independently and there is no need for wiring among the beacons. The tracking device only relies on use of a small number of ultrasonic beacons at any time, thereby allowing the space in which the tracking device operates to have irregular regions, such as multiple rooms in a building.
Another advantage of the invention is that by using an "inside-out" configuration, there is no latency in acoustic range measurements due to motion of the body after an acoustic wave is emitted.
Yet another advantage of the invention is that tracking continues using inertial measurements even when acoustic measurements cannot be made, for example, due to occlusion of the beacons. Drift in the inertial tracking is then corrected once acoustic measurements can once again be made.
In yet another advantage, the invention provides line-of-sight redundancy whereby one or more paths between emitters and sensors can be blocked while still allowing tracking of a body.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, and from the claims.
FIG. 1 shows a tracking device and a constellation of acoustic beacons used for tracking the device;
FIG. 2 shows components of a tracking device processor;
FIG. 3 illustrates a combined inertial and acoustic tracking approach;
FIG. 4 shows an inertial measurement unit (IMU);
FIG. 5 shows an ultrasonic range measurement unit (URM) and an ultrasonic beacon;
FIG. 6 shows an input/output interface used in a tracking device processor to interface with inertial and ultrasonic measurement units;
FIG. 7a illustrates the navigation and body frames of reference;
FIG. 7b illustrates mutual tracking devices;
FIG. 8 is a signal flow diagram of an inertial tracker;
FIG. 9 is a signal flow diagram of an ultrasonic range measurement subsystem;
FIG. 10 is a signal flow diagram of a tracking device including an inertial tracker and Kalman predictor and updater elements;
FIG. 11 is a signal flow diagram of a Kalman predictor;
FIG. 12 is a signal flow diagram of a Kalman updater;
FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a tracking procedure;
FIG. 14a illustrates tracking of a second body relative to a first tracked body;
FIG. 14b illustrates mutual tracking of multiple devices;
FIG. 15 illustrates head mounted display system;
FIG. 16 illustrates a camera tracking system for television; and
FIG. 17 illustrates tracking of bodies in an automobile.
Referring to FIG. 1, a tracking device 100 which maintains an estimate of its location and orientation is free to move within a large room. For example, tracking device 100 can be fixed to a head-up display (HUD) on an operator's head, and tracking device 100 moves through the room, and changes orientation, as the operator moves and orients his head. Tracking device 100 includes a processor 130 coupled to an inertial measurement unit (IMU) 140 which provides inertial measurements related to linear acceleration and to rates of rotation. Processor 130 uses the inertial measurements to determine motion of tracking device 100 as it moves through the room.
Processor 130 is also coupled to an array of three ultrasonic range measurement units (URM) 110 which are used to receive acoustic signals sent from an ultrasonic beacon array 120, a "constellation" of beacons. Ultrasonic beacon array 120 includes independent ultrasonic beacons 122 in fixed locations in the environment, for example, arranged on the ceiling of the large room in a regular pattern such as on a grid with 2 foot spacing. Processor 130 uses the signals from particular ultrasonic beacons 122, as well as known three-dimensional locations of those beacons, to estimate the range to those beacons and thereby sense motion for tracking device 100. Each ultrasonic beacon 122 sends an ultrasonic pulse 114 in response to infra-red command signal 112 sent from tracking device 100. In particular, each URM 110 on tracking device 100 broadcasts infra-red (IR) signals to all of the ultrasonic beacons 122. These IR signals include address information so that only one beacon, or a small number of beacons, recognize each IR signal as intended for it, and responds to the signal. In response to an IR signal, an addressed beacon immediately broadcasts an ultrasonic pulse that is then received by one or more URM 110. As processor 130 knows that the addressed beacon responded immediately to the IR command, it determines the time of flight by measuring the delay from issuing the IR command to detecting the ultrasonic pulse. The time of flight of the ultrasonic pulse is used to estimate the range to the beacon, which is then used to update the position and orientation of tracking device 100.
Both the inertial measurements and the ultrasonic signal based measurements have limitations. Relying on either mode of measurement individually is not as accurate as combining the measurements. Tracking device 100 combines measurements from both measurement modes and adjusts its estimate of position and orientation (i.e., 6 degrees of freedom, "6-DOF") to reflect measurements from both modes as they are available, or after some delay. To do this, processor 130 hosts an implementation of an extended Kalman filter (EKF) that is used to combine the measurements and maintain ongoing estimates of location and orientation of tracking device 100, as well as to maintain an estimate of the uncertainty in those estimates.
Referring to FIG. 2, processor 130 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 200, such as an Intel 80486 microprocessor, program storage 220, such as read-only memory (ROM), and working storage 230, such as dynamic random-access memory (RAM). CPU 200 is also coupled to an input/output interface 210 which provide an interface to IMU 140 and the URM 110. Input/output interface 210 includes digital logic that provides digital interfaces to IMU 140 and the URM 110.
IMU 140 provides a serial data stream 201 encoding inertial measurements. Input/output interface 210 converts this serial data to a parallel form 212 for transfer to CPU 200. Each URM 110 accepts a serial signal 211 that is used to drive an IR light emitting diode 510 to broadcast the IR control signals to ultrasonic beacons 122 (FIG. 1). Input/output interface 210 accepts address information from CPU 200 identifying one or more ultrasonic beacons and provides the serial signal to each of the URM 110 which then impose the serial signal on an IR transmission (e.g., by amplitude modulation). The same serial signal is provided to all the URMs 110, which concurrently broadcast the same IR signal. Each URM 110 provides in return a logical signal 202 to input/output interface 210 indicating arrivals of ultrasonic pulses. Input/output interface 210 includes timers that determine the time of flight of ultrasonic pulses from the beacons, and thereby determines range estimates to the beacons. These range estimates are provided to CPU 200.
An implementation of a tracking algorithm is stored in program storage 220 and executed by CPU 200 to convert the measurements obtained from input/output interface 210 into position and orientation estimates. CPU 200 is also coupled to fixed data storage 240, which includes information such as a predetermined map of the locations of the ultrasonic beacons, and the locations of the microphones of the URM 110. Processor 130 also includes a communication interface 260 for coupling CPU 200 with other devices, such as a display device 280 that modifies its display based on the position and orientation of tracking device 100.
Operation of the system can be understood by referring to FIG. 3, a two-dimensional view of the room shown in FIG. 1 (from above). The sequence of open circles and arrows 310 a-e represent the actual location and orientation of tracking device 100 at each of a sequence of time steps. Based on prior measurements, and on inertial measurements at the first time step, filled circle and arrow 312 a represent the estimate by tracking device 100 of the location and orientation of the tracking device at the first time step. At the next time step, tracking device 100 moves to position 310 b, and based on a new inertial measurement, tracking device 100 updates its position estimate to 312 b. This is repeated for the next time step with actual position 310 c and estimated position 312 c.
After reaching position 310 b, tracking device 100 sends an IR command addressed to one of the ultrasonic transducers 122, illustrated by dotted line 320. After receiving the IR command (with essentially no delay), ultrasonic transducer 122 transmits an ultrasonic pulse, illustrated by wave 324. Wave 324 reaches tracking device 100 some time later, at actual location 330. Based on the time of arrival, tracking device 100 estimates that it was at position 332 when wave 326 reached it.
At the next time step, tracking device 100 first estimates its position 312 d based on an inertial measurement. Using range information related to the separation of the location of ultrasonic transducer 122 and location 332 and a measured time of flight of the ultrasonic wave, tracking device 100 computes a refined position estimate 312 d. The process repeats using inertial measurements at true position 310 e and estimated position 312 e.
In general, both an inertial measurement and an ultrasonic measurement can be used at each time step, although ultrasonic measurement can be made less frequently. At each time step, both location and orientation (attitude) is updated. The ultrasonic pulses can provide information related to both location and orientation through the use of multiple microphones that are displaced relative to one another.
Referring to FIG. 4, inertial measurement unit (IMU) 140 includes three angular rate sensors (e.g., micro-machined vibrating rotation sensors or small rotating gyroscopes) 420 a-c, and three linear acceleration sensors 410 a-c. The sensors are arranged to lie along three orthogonal axes that remain fixed in the frame of reference of tracking device 100. Each acceleration sensor provides a signal that is generally proportional to the acceleration along the corresponding axis, and each angular rate sensor provides a signal that is generally proportional to the rate of rotation about the corresponding axis.
As the orientation of inertial measurement unit 140 changes, the signals such as the acceleration signals correspond to changing directions in the fixed (navigation) reference frame of the room. Inertial measurement unit 140 also includes a signal interface 430 which accepts the signals 411 from each of the six accelerometers and angular rate sensors, and transmits a serial data stream 413 which multiplexes digital representations of the acceleration and angular rate signals. As is discussed further below, the acceleration and angular rate signals are imperfect, and may exhibit additive bias and scaling inaccuracies. These scaling and bias inaccuracies may depend on the motion of the device.
Referring to FIG. 5, each ultrasonic measurement unit 10 includes an infra-red (IR) light-emitting diode (LED) 510 that is driven by IR signal generator 512. Signal generator 512 accepts serial signal 211 from input/output interface 210 (FIG. 2) and drives IR LED 510 to transmit that signal to one or more ultrasonic beacon 122. The address of an ultrasonic beacon to which a range is desired is encoded in serial signal 211. Each ultrasonic beacon 122 includes an IR sensor 540 which, if there is a sufficiently short unobstructed path between ultrasonic range measurement unit 110 and that ultrasonic beacon, receives the IR signal which is then decoded by IR signal decoder 542. This decoded signal includes the address information transmitted by the ultrasonic range measurement unit. Control circuitry 560 receives the decode IR signal a pulse determines whether that ultrasonic beacon is indeed being addressed, and if so, signals a pulse generator 552 to provide a signal to ultrasonic transducer 550 which generates an ultrasonic pulse. The pulse passes through the air to ultrasonic range measurement unit 110 where a microphone 520 receives the ultrasonic pulse and passes a corresponding electrical signal to a pulse detector 522 which produces a logical signal indicating arrival of the pulse. This pulse detection signal is passed to input/output interface 210 (FIG. 2). As discussed below, the time of flight is not a perfectly accurate measurement of range. Error sources include timing errors in detection of the pulse, acoustic propagation rate variations, for example due to air temperature or air flow, and non-uniform in different directions propagation of the ultrasonic wave from the ultrasonic beacon.
Input/output interface 210 includes circuitry (i.e., a programmable logic array) which implements logical components shown in FIG. 6. An IMU data buffer 630 accepts serially encoded acceleration and angular rate data 413 from IMU 140, and provides the six acceleration and rotation measurements 631 as output to CPU 200. Input/output interface 210 also includes a beacon address buffer 610. CPU 200 (FIG. 2) provides an address of the ultrasonic beacon to which a range should be measured. Beacon address buffer 610 stores the address and provides that address in serial form to each of the URMs 110. At the same time that the address is transmitted by each of the URM 110 (and received by the ultrasonic beacons 122), three counters 620 a-c are reset and begin incrementing from zero at a fixed clocking rate (e.g., 2 MHz). When each URM 110 detects the ultrasonic pulse from the beacon, the corresponding pulse detection signal is passed to the corresponding counter which stops counting. The counts are then available to CPU 200 as the measurements of the time of flight of the ultrasonic pulse from the ultrasonic beacon to each URM 110. Referring to FIGS. 7a-b, tracking device 100 (FIG. 1) determines its location in the navigation reference frame of the room, shown as axes 710, labeled N (north), E (east), and D (down). Location r (n) 730 is a vector with components (rN (n), rE (n), rD (n))T of the displacement from axes 710 in the N, E, and D directions respectively. Tracking device 100 also determines its attitude (orientation).
Referring to FIG. 7b, attitude is represented in terms of the roll, pitch, and yaw (Euler) angles, θ=(ψ,θ,φ)T, needed to align the body attitude, represented by coordinate axes 720, with the navigation attitude represented by coordinate axes 710. The three Euler angles are represented as a 3�3 direction cosine matrix, Cb n(θ), which transforms a vector of coordinates in the body frame of reference by essentially applying in sequence yaw, pitch, and then roll motions around the z, y, and then x axes. The direction cosine matrix can be defined as
The superscript and subscript notation Cb n signifies that the matrix takes a vector in the "b" (body) reference frame and provides a vector in the "n" (navigation) reference frame.
Referring to FIG. 8, inertial sensors 800, including rotation sensors 420 a-c and acceleration sensors 410 a-c, provide inertial measurement signals to an inertial tracker 810. Inertial tracker 810 implements a discrete time approximation of the signal flow shown in the FIG. 8. Inertial tracker 810 includes several stages. First, gyroscope compensation 820 modifies the (vector) angular rate signal {tilde over (ω)} to account for bias in the measurement. In this example, only an additive bias δω is corrected. Other biases such as a multiplicative error (e.g., an incorrect scale factor), and errors due to mounting inaccuracies can be corrected as well. Accelerometer compensation 830 similarly corrects for an additive bias δa (b) on the acceleration signals a (b). As is discussed fully below, several parameters, including the bias terms δω and δa (b), are estimated using ultrasonic measurements.
Attitude integration 840 updates the attitude estimate based on the bias corrected rotation signal. In this example, attitude integration is performed using a direction cosine representation of the attitude. A discrete time implementation of the continuous differential equation Cb n(t)=Cb n(t) S(ω(t)) is used to update the direction cosine matrix at a fixed rate, typically between 100 and 200 per second. Changing notation to a discrete time system (e.g., Ck=Cb n(kΔt)), the discrete time update of the direction cosine matrix is implemented as
is the skew symmetric matrix of δθ. Note that S(δΘ) satisfies
S(δθ)2=δθ2 I−δθ δθ T.
In order to ensure that Ck truly is a direction cosine matrix, its rows are orthonormalized after each iteration to remove any numerical or approximation errors that may have entered into its entries.
Based on the tracked direction cosine matrix Ck, coordinate transformation 850 accepts the bias corrected acceleration signal in the body reference frame and outputs an acceleration signal in the navigation reference frame according to
Double integration 860 then computes the velocity and position according to
Euler angle computation 870 takes the direction cosine matrix and outputs the corresponding Euler angles. The output of inertial tracker 810 is (θ, r (n))T. The state of the inertial tracker includes a 15-dimensional vector composed on five sets of three-dimensional values
As is discussed fully below, inertial tracker 810 receives error update signals δx derived from ultrasonic range measurements that it uses to correct the attitude, velocity, and position values, and to update the parameters of the gyroscope and accelerometer bias correction elements.
Referring to FIG. 9, a beacon sequencer 910 receives location estimates r (n) from inertial tracker 810. Using a beacon map 915 of the locations (and addresses) of the ultrasonic beacons 122 (shown in FIG. 1), beacon sequencer 910 determines which beacon to trigger at each time step in order to generate ultrasonic range measurements. For instance, beacon sequencer 910 determines the closest beacons to the current location, and cycles among these beacons on each time step. As the location estimate changes, the set of closest beacons also, in general, changes. After beacon sequencer 910 triggers each of the beacons in turn, the corresponding ultrasonic pulses arrive and are detected by the tracking device. Each pulse generates one range measurement for each microphone used to detect the pulse. In this embodiment, each pulse generates a set of three range measurements, one from each of the microphones in the three URM 110.
Referring still to FIG. 9, range measurement 920 corresponds to the process of receiving an ultrasonic range estimate. The relevant parameters for a range measurement are the location of the addressed beacon, b (n), the location of the microphone used to detect the pulse, m (b), the range estimate itself, dr, and the time the pulse was detected, tr, which is used to correct for latency in the measurements. Note that if the location estimate had no error, and the range estimate was perfectly accurate, then the range estimate would satisfy
Deviations from this equality are used to correct the parameters and outputs of inertial tracker 810.
A complementary Kalman filter is used by tracking device 100 to improve the tracked location and orientation estimate by incrementally updating the tracked quantities as the range measurements come in. Referring to FIG. 10, the approach involves two related components. As inertial tracker 810 updates its output x, a Kalman predictor 1010 maintains an estimated covariance matrix P of the error in x. For instance, in the absence of any drift compensation in inertial tracker 810, the covariance matrix P would correspond to an ever increasing error.
The second component used in this approach is a Kalman updater 1020 which accepts information from range measurement 920 and using this measurement information determines an estimate of the accumulated error δx which it feeds back to inertial tracker 810 where it is used to update x. Also, after each ultrasonic measurement, Kalman updater 1020 computes a new estimated covariance matrix P(+) of the error in x after the update, which it feeds back to Kalman predictor 1010. Each ultrasonic measurement partially corrects the output of inertial tracker 810. A continuous series of ultrasonic updates ensures that the error remains small.
Inertial tracker 810 is a nonlinear processor of its inputs, and therefore, a formulation of a Kalman filter for a purely linear filter driven by Gaussian noise is not appropriate. Using what is generally known as an "extended Kalman filter" (EKF), a linearized dynamical system model which characterizes the propagation of error in the output x of inertial tracker 810 is used. The error that the EKF models is
with the components corresponding to the components of the vector output of the inertial tracker. Note that the error term δa (b) is modeled in the body coordinate system rather than in the navigation coordinate system, and that the other elements correspond directly to errors in the output of inertial tracker 810. The parameters of the linearized error propagation model include a state transition matrix, and a covariance matrix of a driving noise which is assumed to drive this error model. Both the state transition matrix and the driving noise covariance depend on the output of inertial tracker. In the absence of any measurements, the mean of the error process remains zero. However, the covariance of the error grows. The linearized model of error propagation is
The entries of Fk=F(x k−1) are derived from a perturbation analysis of the update equations used in inertial tracker 810, and correspond to the following error propagation equations:
The covariance Qk of the process noise wk is assumed to be diagonal. The entries of this covariance matrix are derived from known sources of error in the inertial measurements provided to inertial tracker 810, including additive bias errors, scaling errors, alignment errors of the sensors with the body axes, and signal noise from the sensors themselves. The individual variances depend on the output of the inertial tracker as follows:
where the individual variance terms are parameterized as follows:
where GyroScale, AccelScale, GyroAlign, and AccelAlign correspond to degree of uncertainty in calibration coefficients used for instrument error compensation. In general, a non-diagonal process noise covariance can be used.
Referring to FIG. 11, Kalman predictor 1010 has two stages. An error linearization stage 1110 first computes Fk and Qk as outlined above. Then, a covariance propagation stage 1120 iteratively updates the error covariance by applying a Kalman filter covariance propagation equation
on each time step. When Kalman predictor 1010 receives an updated covariance P(+), which is produced as a result of an ultrasonic range measurement, that updated covariance replaces the current error covariance P.
Referring to FIG. 12, Kalman updater 1020 accepts the output of range measurement 920, as well as the estimate of location and orientation from inertial tracker 810, and the covariance of the error of the estimate of location and orientation from Kalman predictor 1010, and computes an error estimate, and an updated covariance that results from applying the error estimate. A first stage of Kalman updater 1020 is measurement residual computation 1210. The difference between the expected range and the measured range is computed as
Note that in general a range measurement is used some time after it was initially detected. In order to account for this latency, estimates of the location and orientation of the tracking device at the time that the acoustic pulse arrived are used rather than the location and orientation at the time that the measurement is used. The current location, orientation, and linear and angular rate estimates are used to extrapolate back to the measurement time to determine r (n)(tr) and Cb n(tr).
In order to apply the Kalman update equations, this residual is modeled by measurement linearization module 1220 using a linearized observation equation as
The observation matrix Hk=H(x k,b, dr,m) is the linear effect of errors in location and orientation on the error in range measurement. The additive noise ν has a variance R(x k,b,dr,m). Hk has the form
The variance R(x k,b,dr,m) is derived tc model various phenomena associated with ultrasonic range measurement. For example, as the range increases, pulse detection is more difficult, due in part to pulse spreading, and an increased variance is used to model the associated range measurement error. The variance R(x k,b,dr,m) has the form
and is parameterized as
The first two terms of Hk can alternatively be set to zero to allow accelerometric tilt correction (if it is more accurate). It the third term is set to zero, yaw drift correction will occur over a longer time period but to higher accuracy.
Kalman updater 1020 includes a measurement accept/reject stage 1230. Accept/reject stage 1230 takes the measurement residual, δx, and the computed variance, R, of the measurement residual. If the measurement residual is greater in magnitude-than a predetermined multiple of the computed standard deviation of the measurement residual, then the measurement is rejected as being suspect, for example, due to premature or late triggering of an ultrasonic pulse detector. Otherwise the measurement residual is further processed to compute the state error estimate, δx. Using Kalman filter update equations, Kalman gain computation 1240 computes the Kalman gain as
Error estimator 1250 then computes the error estimate δx=K δd, and covariance updater 1260 computes the updated error covariance as
P(+)=(I−K H)P k.
The components of δx are then used to update inertial tracker 810. The computed terms δω and δa (b) are passed to gyroscope bias correction 820 and accelerometer bias correction 830 (FIG. 8), respectively, where they are added to the current stored bias parameters. The computed terms δν (n) and δr (n) are passed to double integration 860 (FIG. 8) where they are added to the current estimates of ν (n) and r (n), respectively. Finally, the direction cosine matrix is updated according to
and re-orthonormalized.
Referring back to FIG. 1, ultrasonic beacon array 120 includes individual ultrasonic beacons 122 arranged in a regular pattern. For example, the beacons may be arranged on a square grid with a spacing of approximately 2 feet, preferably with an accuracy of 3 mm or less. A limited number of addresses are available for the beacons, in this embodiment only eight different addresses are available due to hardware limitations. Therefore, when the tracking device sends an IR command to an address, in general, multiple ultrasonic beacons will receive the signal and respond. Only the closest beacon with any particular address is used for range measurement. However, as multiple beacons may be responding to each IR command, the pulse detection circuit may be triggered prematurely, for example, by a pulse from a beacon triggered in a previous iteration, but that is sufficiently far away that its pulse does not arrive until after a subsequent iteration. In order to avoid this pre-triggering problem, pulse detector 522 (FIG. 5) is only enabled during a time window about the expected time the desired pulse would arrive. This avoids false triggering by pulses from other beacons, or signals resulting from long time constant reverberation of previous pulses.
In the description the tracking and Kalman updating procedures, an initial location and orientation estimate is assumed to be known. This is not necessarily the case and an automatic acquisition algorithm is used by tracking device 100. The limited number of addresses of ultrasonic beacons is used as the bases for an initial acquisition algorithm. Initially, the tracking device triggers beacons with each of the allowable addresses and measures the range to the closest beacon of each address. Then, the addresses of the four closest beacons are determined from the range measurements. The tracking unit includes a beacon map that includes the locations and addresses of all the beacons. The beacons are arranged such that the addresses of the four closest beacons limit the possible locations tc a small portion of the room. If there is ambiguity based on the closest beacons, the actual distances to the beacons are used in a triangulation procedure to resolve the ambiguity. The initial orientation is based on the relative range measurements to each of the microphones.
The overall tracking procedure can be summarized by the flowchart shown in FIG. 13 First, the initial location and orientation is acquired (step 1310) using the approach outlined above. The procedure then enters a loop that is executed once each time step. After waiting for the next time step (step 1320), inertial measurements are received (step 1330) and the tracked variables, x, and the error covariance, P, are updated using the inertial measurements (step 1340). If an ultrasonic range measurement that has not yet been processed is available (step 1350), that range measurement is used to compute an error update δx, and updated error covariance, P(+), (step 1360). The error update and new error covariance are then use to update the inertial tracker and the Kalman predictor (step 1370). The procedure then involves determining whether further range measurements must be commanded at this time step (step 1380). As three range measurements are made for each pulse but only one range measurement is used per time step, there may be a backlog of range measurements that will be applied in the upcoming time steps. Therefore, a new range measurement may not be necessary for several future time steps. Taking into account the expected time of flight of the next ultrasonic pulse (which in general is more than a single time step), the procedure determines if an IR command should be sent to a beacon at this time step (step 1380), the next beacon address is selected (step 1390) and, if so, the IR command to that beacon is sent (step 1395). The procedure then loops again starting at step 1320, waiting for the start of the next time interval.
Several alternative approaches can also be used. In the described embodiment, only one range measurement is used per time step. Alternatively, all available range measurements can be used at each time step if the processor 130 has sufficient computation capacity. This alternative approach is implemented by looping from step 1370 back to step 1350 until all the range measurements are accounted for. Alternatively, rather than applying the Kalman updates for each of the scalar range measurements in turn, all can be applied in a single step using similar update equations for vector observations and correlated observation noise. Also, rather than deferring processing of a range measurement until the next time step, the range measurements can be incorporated as they arrive, and not synchronized with the inertial tracker updates.
The procedure described above can be combined with other measurement modes. For example, inclinometers can be used to provide measurements to the extended Kalman filter that allow correction of attitude drift. Also, rather than using three or more microphones which allow correction of all three degrees of rotation, two microphones can be used for range measurement in combination with a measurement mode such as inclinometers. In this way, some drift correction can be based on inclinometers, but a compass, which is sensitive to magnetic field variations, is not needed for drift correction. Many more than three microphones can also be used to provide greater redundancy and allow more rotation freedom.
As an alternative to mounting beacons in fixed locations in the environment, and microphones on the tracking device, which is often referred to as an "inside-out" arrangement, this could be reversed in an "outside-in" arrangement. The tracking device then provides the ultrasonic pulses and a coordinated array of microphones senses the location of the tracking device. Note that by the time a pulse has reached a microphone, the tracking device will have, in general, moved on to a new location. This latency of measurements must be compensated for in a manner similar to the compensation of latency in use of range measurements described above.
Beacons 122 need not be mounted in a planar array. They could be mounted on walls as well as on the ceiling, or on other supports in the environment. For example, the beacons can be mounted on light fixtures. The number of beacons can be chosen to match the user's requirements, and the locations of the beacons can be chosen based on a variety of criterea, such as availability of suitable mounting points and geometric considerations, and the beacon map can be set to match the chosen number and locations of the beacons. The number of beacons in the constellation can be increased or reduced by the user, so long as the beacon map remains up to date.
The command signals from the tracking device to the beacons can be sent using other modes than IR transmission. For example, RF, visible, or acoustic signals can be used. The tracking device can also be wired to the beacons.
Two or more objects can be tracked in an "inside-outside-in" arrangement. Referring to FIG. 14a, tracking device 100 tracks its location as before. A second tracking device 1400 includes three addressable ultrasonic beacons 1410 arranged in a known relationship to one another. By triggering beacons 1410 to transmit acoustic pulses that are received at the URM 110 on tracking device 100, tracking device can determine the relative location and orientation of the second tracking device. A further extension, which provides increased accuracy in the relative location and orientation estimates involves having a second inertial measurement unit fixed to tracking device 1400, and transmitting its inertial measurements to tracking device 100. If only a single beacon is placed on the second object, the relative location can be sensed using ultrasonic range measurements, without necessarily tracking the relative orientation of the second device.
Referring to FIG. 14b, a "mutual tracking network" made up of multiple tracking devices can be used. These tracking devices track their individual locations with respect to the locations of the other devices in the environment, including fixed beacons and other moving tracked objects. This can be done with an additional communication system coupling the tracking devices, such as an RF local area network.
In the above described embodiments, the "map" of the beacon array is assumed to be accurate. As the range measurements include redundant information, errors in placement of the beacons can be iteratively estimated and updated, thereby improving accuracy. Specifically, the placement errors of the beacons can be included in the state of the extended Kalman filter, and range measurements from each beacon would then contribute over time to estimating the placement errors. A separate initial automatic "mapping" mode can also be used in which, through range measurement from one or more locations in the room and triangulation calculations, the locations of the beacons can be determined. These automatically determined locations can be used as the known locations, or as initial estimates that are then further updated using the Kalman filter. In this type of approach, the beacons can be irregularly placed within the room without requiring that they be precisely positioned.
The tracking approach described above has several applications. A first application involves coupling the tracking device to a head mounted display. Referring to FIG. 15, a head mounted display 1510, allows a user to directly view a physical object 1520, such as a work piece. Display 1510, using the known location of work piece 1520 in the frame of reference of the room, superimposes information on the user's view of the work piece. For example, applying wiring harnesses to a large device, the superimposed information can include information related to the correct placement of the wiring harnesses. A similar head mounted display can also be used to provide the complete image viewed by a user in a virtual reality system, rather than superimposing an image on the real view seen by the user.
Another application involves tracking a camera location in a television application. Referring to FIG. 16, a common technique in television production is to film a subject 1620 in front of a blank (typically monochrome) background and then to electronically superimpose another image (illustrated as 1630) as a background. A difficulty with such a technique is that as camera 1610 moves, the background image should change to reflect the camera's motion. By attaching tracking device 100 to camera 1610, the location and orientation of the camera are tracked and the background image can be automatically modified by an image processor that receives the changing position and orientation of the camera. This approach allows construction of large "virtual sets" which is stored in the image processor, and thereby multiple and changing camera "angles" can be used.
Another application involves sensing of motion of elements in an automobile, for example, in an automotive crash test. Referring to FIG. 17, the motion of a dummy 1720 within a crashing automobile 1710 can be tracked using tracking device 100. In addition, a second object, such as a point on the firewall can be tracked using an addition beacon 1730 using the inside-outside-in approach described above. This allows both tracking of the dummy in the reference frame of the automobile, and tracking of a point within the vehicle relative to the dummy.
Other applications include robotic navigation, tracking of inventory, assets, or personnel, shipboard virtual or augmented reality for damage control, film camera tracking, entertainment (e.g., theme parks and games), full body tracking for motion capture, and weapon tracking.
Alternative embodiments can also use other approaches to inertial tracking. For example, rather than performing attitude integration using a direction cosine matrix, attitude integration using Euler angles or quaternions can equivalently be used. Note that the linearized error propagation system matrix and driving noise covariance may depend somewhat on the particular tracking algorithm used. Also, the state of the Kalman filter can be changed, for instance, to include other terms. One example of this is to not only track accelerometer additive bias, as in the embodiments described above, but also to track multiplicative bias (e.g., error in scale factor) of the accelerometer signal, misalignment, and the speed of sound.
Other methods of range measurement can also be used, including acoustic phase, RF or optical time of flight, RF or optical phase, and mechanical cable extension.
Other methods of fusing inertial and acoustic measurements can be used instead of Kalman filtering. For example, neural network, rule-based reasoning, or fuzzy logic systems, or optimization methods, can be used to combine the measurements.
In the description above, only eight different ultrasonic beacon addresses are used. Alternatively, each beacon can be individually addressable, or a larger number of shared addresses can be used. If the beacons are individually addressable, initial acquisition can be performed, for example, by having beacons also respond to "group" addresses, or to sequence commands addressed to individual beacons during the acquisition phase in such a way that tracking device can "zero in" to its initial location by first finding one beacon that is in range, and then searching for additional beacons that are closer and closer based on the beacon map known to the tracking device. Such an approach can also be used when the tracking area is made up of several different rooms. Initially, the room that the tracking device is determined and then the location within the room can be found.
It is to be understood that the foregoing description is intended to illustrate and not limit the scope of the invention, which is defined by the scope of the appended claims. Other aspects, advantages, and modifications are within the scope of the following claims.
|Cited Patent
|Filing date
|Publication date
|Mar 27, 1969
|Dec 28, 1971
|Texas Instruments Inc
|Navigation method and apparatus utilizing multiple sensors
|Jul 11, 1975
|Jan 3, 1978
|The United States Of America As Represented By The National Aeronautics And Space Administration
|System and method for tracking a signal source
|Oct 31, 1980
|Feb 9, 1982
|The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Navy
|Inertial measurement underwater tracking system
|Apr 5, 1982
|Oct 11, 1983
|Marshall Samuel W
|Generalized drifting oceanographic sensor
|Feb 10, 1989
|May 22, 1990
|Hermes Electronics Limited
|Hydrophones and similar devices
|Mar 27, 1991
|Feb 4, 1992
|Claussen Claus Frenz
|Device for simultaneous continuous and separate recording and measurement of head and body movements during standing, walking and stepping
|Dec 13, 1990
|Feb 18, 1992
|Nachman Precision Systems, Inc.
|Moored ship motion determination system
|Jan 27, 1992
|Jul 27, 1993
|Visionary Products, Inc.
|Smart tracking system
|Jul 27, 1992
|Jan 18, 1994
|International Business Machines Corporation
|Signaling device and method for monitoring positions in a surgical operation
|Apr 14, 1994
|May 2, 1995
|Bauer; Will
|Three-dimensional displacement of a body with computer interface
|Jun 6, 1995
|Oct 1, 1996
|Parkervision, Inc.
|Remote-controlled tracking system for tracking a remote control unit and positioning and operating a camera and method
|Feb 28, 1995
|Jan 7, 1997
|Virtual Technologies, Inc.
|Accurate, rapid, reliable position sensing using multiple sensing technologies
|Jan 21, 1994
|Mar 25, 1997
|Crossbow Technology, Inc.
|Method and apparatus for determining position and orientation of a moveable object using accelerometers
|Jun 16, 1994
|Jul 8, 1997
|Massachusetts Institute Of Technology
|Inertial orientation tracker apparatus having automatic drift compensation for tracking human head and other similarly sized body
|Apr 3, 1995
|Mar 24, 1998
|General Electric Company
|Imaging of interventional devices in a non-stationary subject
|Jun 25, 1997
|Sep 15, 1998
|Massachusetts Institute Of Technology
|Inertial orientation tracker apparatus method having automatic drift compensation for tracking human head and other similarly sized body
|Apr 17, 1998
|Jan 23, 2001
|Massachusetts Institute Of Technology
|Motion tracking system
|Angularis VR-360 Inertial Tracking System Brochure, Nov. 1995.
|Brittan, "Knowing Where Your Head is at", Technology Review, Feb./Mar. 1995.
|Foxlin, "Inertia Head-Tracker Sensor Fusion...", Proc. VRAIS 1996.
|Hollands, "Sourceless Trackers", Technology Review, 4:23-27, 1995.
|InterSense IS-300 Precision Motion Tracker Brochure, 1996.
|InterSense IS-600 Precision Motion Tracker Brochure, May 1997.
|InterSense IS-900CT Camera Tracker Brochure, Jul. 1997.
|Proposal for tracking system, Oct. 1996.
|Sowizral et al., "Tracking Position and Orientation . . .". IEEE, p. 132-139, 1993.
|Citing Patent
|Filing date
|Publication date
|Mar 11, 2003
|Dec 14, 2004
|Menache, Llc
|Motion tracking system and method
|Sep 26, 2002
|Apr 5, 2005
|Honeywell International Inc.
|Method and system for processing pulse signals within an inertial navigation system
|Dec 21, 2002
|Feb 14, 2006
|Barron Associates, Inc.
|6-DOF subject-monitoring device and method
|Feb 11, 2004
|Mar 7, 2006
|Menache, Llp
|Radio frequency motion tracking system and method
|Jan 31, 2002
|Apr 18, 2006
|Lucent Technologies Inc.
|Real-time method and apparatus for tracking a moving object experiencing a change in direction
|Sep 14, 2004
|Apr 8, 2008
|United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army
|Systems and methods for providing images
|Oct 27, 2005
|Sep 2, 2008
|Honeywell International Inc.
|Systems and methods for reducing vibration-induced errors in inertial sensors
|May 18, 2006
|Sep 2, 2008
|Sony Corporation
|Activity recognition apparatus, method and program
|Feb 10, 2005
|Sep 9, 2008
|Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
|Moving object equipped with ultra-directional speaker
|Dec 22, 2005
|Oct 7, 2008
|Menache Llc
|Radio frequency tags for use in a motion tracking system
|Sep 8, 2005
|Nov 18, 2008
|Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary
|Sensor signal alignment
|Dec 16, 2003
|Feb 17, 2009
|Intel Corporation
|Location aware directed audio
|Apr 27, 2006
|Dec 29, 2009
|Elbit Systems Ltd.
|Hybrid tracker
|Mar 30, 2005
|Feb 16, 2010
|Commissariat A L'energie Atomique
|Method and device for determining a person's motions
|Mar 8, 2007
|May 11, 2010
|Nintendo Co., Ltd.
|Acceleration data processing program, and storage medium, and acceleration data processing apparatus for use with the same
|Jul 29, 2005
|Jun 8, 2010
|Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary
|Mechanical vestibular stimulator
|Jan 29, 2008
|Aug 3, 2010
|Rourk Christopher J
|Weapon detection and elimination system
|Aug 10, 2010
|Nintendo Co., Ltd.
|Accelerometer-based controller
|Aug 31, 2010
|Nintendo Co., Ltd.
|Coordinate calculating apparatus and coordinate calculating program
|Oct 19, 2010
|University Of Northern Iowa Research Foundation
|Virtual blasting system for removal of coating and/or rust from a virtual surface
|Nov 23, 2010
|University Of Northern Iowa Research Foundation
|Virtual coatings application system
|Oct 6, 2006
|Nov 23, 2010
|University Of Northern Iowa Research Foundation
|Virtual coatings application system
|Jun 18, 2007
|Jan 25, 2011
|Nintendo Co, Ltd.
|Inclination calculation apparatus and inclination calculation program, and game apparatus and game program
|May 19, 2008
|Mar 22, 2011
|I.C. + Technologies Ltd.
|Apparatus and methods for hand motion detection and hand motion tracking generally
|Nov 17, 2008
|Mar 22, 2011
|Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary
|Sensor signal alignment
|Apr 19, 2011
|Nintendo Co., Ltd.
|Video game system with wireless modular handheld controller
|Jun 5, 2006
|Apr 26, 2011
|Nintendo Co., Ltd.
|Game operating device
|May 17, 2011
|Nintendo Co., Ltd.
|Game operating device
|Jun 22, 2007
|Oct 4, 2011
|Inertial measurement unit with enhanced acceleration withstand capability
|Jul 25, 2006
|Oct 11, 2011
|Nuance Communications, Inc.
|Vehicle communication system
|Oct 18, 2011
|Nintendo Co., Ltd.
|Inclination calculation apparatus and inclination calculation program, and game apparatus and game program
|Oct 30, 2008
|Jan 3, 2012
|Creative Kingdoms, Llc
|Toy devices and methods for providing an interactive play experience
|Jun 2, 2006
|Apr 17, 2012
|Nintendo Co., Ltd.
|Information processing program
|Apr 24, 2012
|Creative Kingdoms, Llc
|Motion-sensitive game controller with optional display screen
|May 1, 2012
|Creative Kingdoms, Llc
|Motion-sensitive wand controller for a game
|May 22, 2012
|Creative Kingdoms, Llc
|Interactive gaming system and method using motion-sensitive input device
|Jan 13, 2010
|Jul 3, 2012
|Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
|Method and device of measuring location, and moving object
|Mar 4, 2010
|Jul 24, 2012
|Creative Kingdoms, Llc
|Interactive play devices for water play attractions
|Aug 21, 2012
|Creative Kingdoms, Llc
|Wireless gaming system combining both physical and virtual play elements
|Aug 15, 2006
|Sep 18, 2012
|Nintendo Co., Ltd.
|Game controller and game system
|Nov 13, 2012
|Nintendo Co., Ltd.
|Game system and storage medium having game program stored thereon
|Jul 8, 2010
|Nov 13, 2012
|Industrial Technology Research Institute
|System and method for localizing a carrier, estimating a posture of the carrier and establishing a map
|Sep 24, 2010
|Nov 20, 2012
|Nintendo Co., Ltd.
|Video game system with wireless modular handheld controller
|Feb 5, 2013
|Creative Kingdoms, Llc
|Portable interactive toy with radio frequency tracking device
|Apr 30, 2012
|Feb 12, 2013
|Creative Kingdoms, Llc
|Wirelessly-powered toy for gaming
|Aug 17, 2012
|Feb 26, 2013
|Creative Kingdoms, Llc
|Portable gaming device and gaming system combining both physical and virtual play elements
|Apr 2, 2013
|Nintendo Co., Ltd.
|Game controller and game system
|Apr 30, 2013
|Nintendo Co., Ltd.
|Video game system with wireless modular handheld controller
|Jun 9, 2011
|Jun 25, 2013
|Nintendo Co., Ltd.
|Inclination calculation apparatus and inclination calculation program, and game apparatus and game program
|May 11, 2012
|Jul 2, 2013
|Creative Kingdoms, Llc
|Interactive toys and games connecting physical and virtual play environments
|Sep 22, 2011
|Jul 9, 2013
|Nuance Communications, Inc.
|Vehicle communication system
|Feb 28, 2011
|Jul 23, 2013
|Creative Kingdoms, Llc.
|Motion-sensitive input device and interactive gaming system
|Nov 2, 2012
|Sep 10, 2013
|Creative Kingdoms, Llc
|Wirelessly powered gaming device
|Mar 11, 2011
|Sep 10, 2013
|Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary
|Sensor signal alignment
|Jul 18, 2005
|Dec 17, 2013
|Mq Gaming, Llc
|Systems and methods for providing an interactive game
|Feb 4, 2010
|Feb 25, 2014
|Rockwell Collins, Inc.
|Worn display system and method without requiring real time tracking for boresight precision
|Sep 6, 2013
|Apr 1, 2014
|Creative Kingdoms, Llc
|Dual-range wireless controller
|Feb 10, 2011
|Apr 1, 2014
|I.C. + Technologies Ltd.
|Apparatus and method for hand motion detection and hand motion tracking generally
|Apr 5, 2012
|Apr 22, 2014
|Mq Gaming, Llc
|Multi-platform gaming system using RFID-tagged toys
|Dec 13, 2010
|Apr 29, 2014
|Creative Kingdoms, Llc
|Systems and methods for providing interactive game play
|Mar 13, 2012
|Apr 29, 2014
|Nintendo Co., Ltd.
|Information processing program
|Feb 25, 2013
|Apr 29, 2014
|Creative Kingdoms, Llc
|Portable gaming device and gaming system combining both physical and virtual play elements
|Mar 9, 2013
|Jun 10, 2014
|Bao Tran
|Personal emergency response (PER) system
|Jan 16, 2009
|Jun 17, 2014
|Mq Gaming, Llc
|Wireless toy systems and methods for interactive entertainment
|Mar 18, 2013
|Jun 24, 2014
|Mq Gaming, Llc
|Multi-platform gaming systems and methods
|Sep 9, 2008
|Jul 1, 2014
|Apple Inc.
|Methods and apparatus for incremental prediction of input device motion
|Aug 19, 2011
|Jul 8, 2014
|Accenture Global Services Limited
|Interactive virtual care
|Feb 1, 2013
|Jul 29, 2014
|Creative Kingdoms, Llc
|Interactive game and associated wireless toy
|Mar 13, 2013
|Aug 26, 2014
|Creative Kingdoms, Llc
|Customizable toy for playing a wireless interactive game having both physical and virtual elements
|Feb 22, 2011
|Sep 2, 2014
|Itrack, Llc
|Intertial tracking system with provision for position correction
|Aug 12, 2011
|Sep 9, 2014
|Mq Gaming, Llc
|Methods for providing interactive entertainment
|Oct 15, 2008
|Sep 16, 2014
|Nintendo Co., Ltd.
|Game controller and game system
|Apr 17, 2006
|Oct 28, 2014
|Nintendo Co., Ltd.
|Wireless game controllers
|Dec 21, 2012
|Nov 18, 2014
|Mq Gaming, Llc
|Multi-media interactive play system
|Jun 2, 2014
|Nov 18, 2014
|Accenture Global Services Limited
|Interactive virtual care
|Sep 30, 2011
|Dec 2, 2014
|Rockwell Collins, Inc.
|System for and method of extending vertical field of view in head up display utilizing a waveguide combiner
|Mar 11, 2014
|Dec 16, 2014
|Creative Kingdoms, Llc
|Wireless entertainment device, system, and method
|Jul 18, 2014
|Dec 23, 2014
|Creative Kingdoms, Llc
|Interactive entertainment system
|Sep 30, 2011
|Jan 20, 2015
|Rockwell Collins, Inc.
|System for and method of stowing HUD combiners
|Nov 10, 2011
|Feb 17, 2015
|Position Imaging, Inc.
|Position tracking system and method using radio signals and inertial sensing
|Mar 26, 2014
|Feb 24, 2015
|Mq Gaming, Llc
|Toy incorporating RFID tracking device
|Apr 23, 2014
|Feb 24, 2015
|Creative Kingdoms, Llc
|Motion-sensitive controller and associated gaming applications
|Mar 27, 2012
|Mar 17, 2015
|Xsens Holding B.V.
|Compression of IMU data for transmission of AP
|Sep 24, 2013
|Apr 14, 2015
|Stryker Corporation
|Navigation system including optical and non-optical sensors
|Mar 24, 2011
|Apr 21, 2015
|Nintendo Co., Ltd.
|Game operating device
|Mar 25, 2009
|May 5, 2015
|The Invention Science Fund I, Llc
|Postural information system and method
|Aug 20, 2014
|May 26, 2015
|Creative Kingdoms, Llc
|Wireless interactive game having both physical and virtual elements
|Jul 14, 2014
|Jun 2, 2015
|Nintendo Co., Ltd.
|Game controller and game system
|Oct 14, 2014
|Oct 6, 2015
|Accenture Global Services Limited
|Interactive virtual care
|Mar 11, 2014
|Oct 6, 2015
|Mq Gaming, Llc
|Dual-range wireless interactive entertainment device
|Dec 12, 2014
|Oct 20, 2015
|Mq Gaming, Llc
|Wireless entertainment device, system, and method
|Jun 20, 2014
|Nov 17, 2015
|Mq Gaming, Llc
|Multi-platform gaming systems and methods
|Jul 27, 2013
|Dec 8, 2015
|Empire Ip Llc
|Personal emergency response (PER) system
|Dec 30, 2014
|Jan 5, 2016
|Nintendo Co., Ltd.
|Game controller and game system
|Mar 25, 2014
|Jan 26, 2016
|Rockwell Collins, Inc.
|Near eye display system and method for display enhancement or redundancy
|Sep 26, 2013
|Jan 26, 2016
|Rockwell Collins, Inc.
|Display system and method using a detached combiner
|Mar 2, 2015
|Mar 1, 2016
|Stryker Corporation
|Method for tracking objects using optical and non-optical sensors
|Jul 17, 2013
|Mar 1, 2016
|Mq Gaming, Llc
|System and method for playing an interactive game
|Dec 17, 2013
|Mar 1, 2016
|Rockwell Collins, Inc.
|Worn display system and method without requiring real time tracking for boresight precision
|Feb 13, 2015
|Apr 26, 2016
|Mq Gaming, Llc
|Wireless toy systems and methods for interactive entertainment
|Apr 24, 2013
|May 17, 2016
|Rockwell Collins Inc.
|Holographic wide angle display
|Nov 4, 2013
|May 31, 2016
|Koninklijke Philips N.V.
|Personal emergency response (PER) system
|Mar 28, 2012
|Jun 14, 2016
|Rockwell Collins, Inc.
|System for and method of displaying information without need for a combiner alignment detector
|Sep 1, 2015
|Jun 21, 2016
|Accenture Global Services Limited
|Interactive virtual care
|May 7, 2001
|Jul 25, 2002
|Il-Kwon Jeong
|Sensor fusion apparatus and method for optical and magnetic motion capture systems
|Jan 31, 2002
|Jul 31, 2003
|Carlbom Ingrid Birgitta
|Real-time method and apparatus for tracking a moving object experiencing a change in direction
|Oct 30, 2002
|Nov 27, 2003
|Lightspace Corporation
|Interactive modular system
|Sep 26, 2002
|Apr 1, 2004
|Honeywell International Inc.
|Method and system for processing pulse signals within an inertial navigation system
|Feb 11, 2004
|Sep 16, 2004
|Alberto Menache
|Radio Frequency Motion Tracking System and Mehod.
|Dec 16, 2003
|Jun 16, 2005
|Connor Patrick L.
|Location aware directed audio
|Dec 22, 2005
|Jun 15, 2006
|Alberto Menache
|Radio frequency tags for use in a motion tracking system
|Feb 8, 2005
|Nov 2, 2006
|Kouki Nagamune
|Noninvasive dynamic analysis system and method of use thereof
|May 18, 2006
|Dec 21, 2006
|Sony Corporation
|Activity recognition apparatus, method and program
|Jul 29, 2005
|Feb 1, 2007
|Merfeld Daniel M
|Mechanical vestibular stimulator
|Sep 8, 2005
|Mar 8, 2007
|Merfeld Daniel M
|Sensor signal alignment
|Oct 27, 2005
|May 3, 2007
|Honeywell International Inc.
|Systems and methods for reducing vibration-induced errors in inertial sensors
|Dec 20, 2006
|May 3, 2007
|Gamecaster, Inc.
|Apparatus, methods and systems for viewing and manipulating a virtual environment
|Jul 25, 2006
|Jun 14, 2007
|Markus Buck
|Vehicle communication system
|Feb 10, 2005
|Jul 26, 2007
|Kiyofumi Mori
|Moving object equipped with ultra-directional speaker
|Mar 30, 2005
|Aug 16, 2007
|Commissariat A L'energie Atomique
|Method and Device for Determining a Person's Motions
|Mar 10, 2006
|Sep 13, 2007
|Ebensberger Jason M
|Virtual coatings application system
|Oct 6, 2006
|Sep 13, 2007
|Ebensberger Jason M
|Virtual coatings application system
|Apr 18, 2006
|Sep 13, 2007
|Nintendo Co., Ltd.
|Coordinate calculating apparatus and coordinate calculating program
|Nov 28, 2006
|May 29, 2008
|Ebensberger Jason M
|Virtual coatings application system with structured training and remote instructor capabilities
|Feb 11, 2008
|Aug 13, 2009
|Michael Bolick
|Virtual blasting system for removal of coating and/or rust from a virtual surface
|Jun 22, 2007
|Dec 24, 2009
|Inertial measurement unit with enhanced acceleration withstand capability
|Mar 11, 2010
|Apple Inc.
|Methods and apparatus for incremental prediction of input device motion
|Jul 15, 2010
|Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary
|Sensor signal alignment
|Mar 11, 2009
|Sep 9, 2010
|Searete Llc, A Limited Liability Corporation Of The State Of Delaware
|Postural information system and method
|Mar 13, 2009
|Sep 9, 2010
|Searete Llc, A Limited Liability Corporation Of The State Of Delaware
|Postural information system and method
|Sep 9, 2010
|Leuthardt Eric C
|Postural information system and method including central determining of subject advisory information based on subject status information and postural influencer status information
|Sep 9, 2010
|Searete Llc, A Limited Liability Corporation Of The State Of Delaware
|Postural information system and method
|Mar 10, 2009
|Sep 9, 2010
|Searete Llc, A Limited Liability Corporation
|Postural information system and method
|Sep 9, 2010
|Searete Llc, A Limited Liability Corporation Of The State Of Delaware
|Postural information system and method
|Sep 9, 2010
|Searete Llc, A Limited Liability Corporation Of The State Of Delaware
|Postural information system and method including determining response to subject advisory information
|Mar 23, 2009
|Sep 9, 2010
|Searete Llc, A Limited Liability Corporation Of The State Of Delaware
|Postural information system and method including device level determining of subject advisory information based on subject status information and postural influencer status information
|Sep 9, 2010
|Searete Llc, A Limited Liability Corporation Of The State Of Delaware
|Postural information system and method
|Sep 9, 2010
|Searete Llc, A Limited Liability Corporation Of The State Of Delaware
|Postural information system and method
|Mar 6, 2009
|Sep 9, 2010
|Searete Llc, A Limited Liability Corporation Of The State Of Delaware
|Postural information system and method
|Mar 25, 2009
|Sep 9, 2010
|Searete Llc, A Limited Liability Corporation Of The State Of Delaware
|Postural information system and method
|Mar 31, 2009
|Sep 9, 2010
|Searete Llc, A Limited Liability Corporation Of The State Of Delaware
|Postural information system and method
|Sep 9, 2010
|Searete Llc, A Limited Liability Corporation Of State Of Delaware
|Postural information system and method including direction generation based on collection of subject advisory information
|Sep 9, 2010
|Searete Llc, A Limited Liability Corporation Of The State Of Delaware
|Postural information system and method including determining subject advisory information based on prior determined subject advisory information
|Sep 9, 2010
|Searete Llc, A Limited Liability Corporation Of The State Of Delaware
|Postural information system and method including determining subject advisory information based on prior determined subject advisory information
|Mar 30, 2009
|Sep 30, 2010
|Microsoft Corporation
|Control of video game via microphone
|Apr 3, 2009
|Oct 7, 2010
|The Regents Of The University Of Michigan
|Heading Error Removal System for Tracking Devices
|Oct 13, 2009
|Oct 28, 2010
|Searete Llc, A Limited Liability Corporation Of The State Of Delaware
|Postural information system and method including determining response to subject advisory information
|Dec 4, 2008
|Jan 13, 2011
|Oz Gabai
|Acoustic motion capture
|Apr 14, 2011
|University Of Michigan
|Heading Error Removal System for Tracking Devices
|Jul 8, 2010
|Jun 16, 2011
|Industrial Technology Research Institute
|System and Method for Localizing a Carrier, Estimating a Posture of the Carrier and Establishing a Map
|Jul 28, 2011
|Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary
|Sensor signal alignment
|Dec 22, 2011
|Itrack, Llc
|Intertial tracking system with provision for position correction
|Mar 27, 2012
|Sep 6, 2012
|Xsens Holding B.V.
|Compression of imu data for transmission of ap
|Aug 19, 2011
|Feb 21, 2013
|Accenture Global Services Limited
|Interactive virtual care
|Mar 9, 2013
|Aug 15, 2013
|Bao Tran
|Personal emergency response (per) system
|Sep 13, 2012
|Oct 3, 2013
|Postech Academy-Industry Foundation
|Apparatus and method for recognizing user activity
|Nov 27, 2013
|Mar 1, 2016
|Nintendo Co., Ltd.
|Video game system with wireless modular handheld controller
|Feb 13, 2004
|Sep 2, 2004
|Lightspace Corporation
|Interactive system
|Feb 13, 2004
|Apr 14, 2005
|Lightspace Corp
|Interactive system
|Mar 30, 2005
|Oct 13, 2005
|Commissariat A L'energie Atomique
|Method and device for determining a person's motions
|May 13, 2005
|Nov 16, 2006
|Br�el & Kj�r Sound & Vibration Measurement A/S
|Determination of the position of an object
|Aug 24, 2006
|Mar 15, 2007
|Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary
|Sensor signal alignment
|Dec 4, 2008
|Jun 11, 2009
|Senplay Technologies Ltd.
|Acoustic motion capture
|Dec 4, 2008
|Mar 11, 2010
|Senplay Technologies Ltd.
|Acoustic motion capture
|Jul 13, 2009
|Mar 4, 2010
|Jin Woo Kim
|Flight system and control method thereof
|Jul 13, 2009
|Apr 29, 2010
|Jin Woo Kim
|Flight system and control method thereof
|Mar 31, 2010
|Oct 7, 2010
|The Regents Of The University Of Michigan Office Of Technology Transfer
|Heading error removal system for tracking devices
|Mar 31, 2010
|Jan 13, 2011
|The Regents Of The University Of Michigan Office Of Technology Transfer
|Heading error removal system for tracking devices
|U.S. Classification
|600/595, 600/587, 128/898
|International Classification
|Cooperative Classification
|European Classification
|Sep 20, 2005
|Fee payment
Year of fee payment: 4
|Dec 28, 2009
|Fee payment
Year of fee payment: 8
|Dec 25, 2013
|Fee payment
Year of fee payment: 12


text:
Lookout has just released its new Theft Alerts product for iPhone and Android which not only allows you to remotely locate, lock, and wipe your purloined property but will also capture a photo of the thief and email it (as well as its exact GPS coords) back to you. This premium feature, however, comes with a $30/year…
First Drive-By Malware Sites Discovered for Android
As more and more traffic moves from the desktop to mobile devices, malware has closely followed it. Now, an Internet security firm has discovered the first websites designed specifically to infect Android devices that visit the page with malware.
12 Lookout Towers to Protect the Realm
Lookout towers are often more dramatic pieces of architecture than tall buildings because they only have a single floor - the top one. This means that they can be very skeletal and the design is all about a dramatic staircase. Here are some of our favorite examples, accidental architectural gems, like mini Eiffel…
The Worst Places to Lose Your Phone
Losing your phone sucks. Like really, really sucks. Sure there are apps that'll try and find your phone, but still, it sucks. Mobile security firm Lookout analyzed data to find the places where people most often lose their phones.
Sprint Bringing Phishing Protection to Its Smartphones
IT can be easy enough to fall into a cleverly-executed phishing net on a modern desktop browser—nevermind the piddling ones on our smartphones. So Sprint's teaming up with software firm Lookout to make your pocket browsing safer.
Over 1m Android Users' Details Were Compromised Thanks to a Suspicious App
Does "Jackeey Wallpaper" sound familiar to you? If you downloaded one of their Android apps, then there's a good chance your privacy was compromised. According to telecoms security company Lookout, the app was sending users' info to a Chinese website.
Android Smartphone Identifies Small Town Dumbrobber
Hey, criminals: what's the first thing you do after breaking and entering? Take a picture of yourself with the victim's phone, right? Well, not when that phone has Lookout, an app that automatically backs up all photos to a server.
Ninja Thong: Cover Your Crotch With the Ultimate Protection
In case you were wondering what Chen wears to guard his own gear when he shoves gadgets down his pants. [Product Page via Nerd Approved]

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Contact Us
Tel: 0086-592-5337836
E-mail: email@example.com
Mob.&WhatsApp: 0086-13859958030
Address: Unit 25A, Building A, Zhongxin Plaza, North Hubin Road, Xiamen, China
ProductsYou are here: Home > Products > Quartz Stone > Double Color Quartz Stone
Canada Engineered Quartz Stone
Detailed description
Lianyuxing Stone is one of the best China canada engineered quartz stone manufacturers and suppliers, welcome to check price for bulk canada engineered quartz stone with us and get free sample from us, or wholesale best price and high quality popular fashion and hot sale and canada engineered quartz stone fabricator from us.
Quartz Solid Surface is composed of approximately 93% natural quartz surface, together with pigments, polyester resins and other adhesives. These materials are subject to a high-tech system of vibro-compaction under vacuum. This exclusive process results in a non-porous agglomerated stone that has the look and feel of natural stones such as limestone, granite or marble.
Item #: LYX-M992
Product Name
Canada Engineered quartz stone
Tile Size
300*300mm, 600*600mm, 900*900mm, 400*400mm, 600*400mm, 600*300mm.
Slab Size
3000*1400mm; 3200*1600mm


text:
Digestive Disorders Health Center
News and Features Related to Digestive Disorders
8 Social-Life Tips for IBS-D
Just when she should've been enjoying life the most, Amber Vesey reached her lowest point. By the time she was in college, the irritable bowel syndrome she'd been diagnosed with at 15 was sending her to the hospital over and over again. It morphed into the type of the disease that comes with diarrheRead Full Article
IBS-D Travel Tips
Whether you're planning a business trip to Boston or a fun family getaway to the beach, travel always involves a little anxiety. What if my flight's delayed and I miss the connection? Will there be any good restaurants within walking distance of my hotel? But if you have irritable bowel syndrome witRead Full Article
7 Tips for Exercise Success With a GI Disorder
She's always been active, but when Megan Starshak began having gastrointestinal issues as a teenager, it put a serious cramp in her exercise routine. "I was running in Florida on spring break in high school, and all of a sudden, I had to go to the bathroom -- badly," says Starshak, who's now in herRead Full Article
New IBS Drug Eases Stomach Pain, Diarrhea for Some
By Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter WEDNESDAY, Jan. 20, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- A new drug for irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea seems to reduce symptoms for some patients for at least six months, two clinical trials found. Based on these findings, the drug Viberzi (eluxadoline) was approvedRead Full Article
Eagles Co-Founder Glenn Frey Dies at Age 67
Jan. 19, 2016 -- Eagles co-founder Glenn Frey died Monday in New York City at age 67. The singer, guitarist and songwriter died from complications of rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis and pneumonia, according to an announcement on the band's website, The New York Times reported. He is surviveRead Full Article
Frozen as Good as Fresh for Fecal Transplant
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter TUESDAY, Jan. 12, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers say they have verified the effectiveness of a quicker way to rid people of recurring C. difficile bacterial infection. A new clinical trial has shown that frozen stool samples work just as well as freshly doRead Full Article
Heartburn Meds Linked to Chronic Kidney Disease
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter MONDAY, Jan. 11, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- A type of heartburn medication called proton pump inhibitors may be linked to long-term kidney damage, a new study suggests. Prilosec, Nexium and Prevacid belong to this class of drugs, which treat heartburn and acid refRead Full Article
Psych Therapy May Benefit Irritable Bowel Patients
By Mary Elizabeth Dallas HealthDay Reporter WEDNESDAY, Jan. 6, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- Doctors have long known that psychological therapies such as relaxation and hypnosis can temporarily ease the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). But, new research suggests they could also offer long-termRead Full Article
Drinking Water Pipes Full of 'Good' Bacteria
By Robert Preidt HealthDay Reporter WEDNESDAY, Dec. 30, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Drinking water pipes and water treatment plants host an ecosystem of "good bacteria" that help purify the water, Swedish researchers say. Thousands of species of beneficial bacteria form a thin coating called a biofilmRead Full Article
Chronic Plus Binge Drinking Spurs Liver Damage
By Robert Preidt HealthDay Reporter WEDNESDAY, Dec. 30, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Chronic drinking combined with binge drinking quickly damages the liver, and is more destructive than previously thought, a new study with mice suggests. "Heavy binge drinking by those who habitually consume alcohol isRead Full Article
Today on WebMD
Please wait...
This feature is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.
Now check your email account on your mobile phone to download your new app.


text:
You are a fan of beginnings networking ? Come to discover the best forums beginnings networking on the internet and share your experience with a community fan of beginnings networking . You can also build a forum beginnings networking and create your online discussion.
Free forum : The world is new and life is growing, become the greatest ninja to ever live!
FBO #1 Official Free Online Omniverse website/Wikipedia that includes Comics, Anime, Manga, and Video Games, with battle profiles listed.
fictional, battle, omniverse, free, online, forum, comics, anime, video, games, manga, debating, social, #networking, animanga, videomic, comanga, versus, forums, omniversal, multiverse, debate


text:
- Ensemble:
- Format:
Do You Want to Know a Secret?: 1st B-flat Clarinet
1st B-flat Clarinet
By The Beatles
Concert Band
1st B-flat Clarinet. By The Beatles. By John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Arranged by Victor López. Instructional. Part. 1 pages. Published by Alfred Music - Digital Sheet Music (AX.00-PC-0014911_C1).
Item Number: AX.00-PC-0014911_C1
The Beatles, the band that "changed everything," continue to influence the music industry today. Easily forgotten as the monster hit that it was, the song was a delicate and melodic ingredient that had a definite place in making up the Beatlemania of 1964. Originally included on their Please Please Me album, now arranged for beginning band, this Victor López rendition of "Do You Want to Know a Secret" will be a sure hit with both your audience and students alike.
About Digital Downloads
Digital Downloads are downloadable sheet music files that can be viewed directly on your computer, tablet or mobile device. Once you download your digital sheet music, you can view and print it at home, school, or anywhere you want to make music, and you don't have to be connected to the internet. Just purchase, download and play!
PLEASE NOTE: Your Digital Download will have a watermark at the bottom of each page that will include your name, purchase date and number of copies purchased. You are only authorized to print the number of copies that you have purchased. You may not digitally distribute or print more copies than purchased for use (i.e., you may not print or digitally distribute individual copies to friends or students).


text:
stolenborrowed from Counting Cats in Zanzibar)
The Panama Papers are an unprecedented leak of 11.5m files from the database of the world's fourth biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca. The records were obtained from an anonymous source by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, which shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The ICIJ then shared them with a large network of international partners, including the Guardian and the BBC.
What do they reveal?
The documents show the myriad ways in which the rich can exploit secretive offshore tax regimes. Twelve national leaders are among 143 politicians, their families and close associates from around the world known to have been using offshore tax havens.
A $2bn trail leads all the way to Vladimir Putin. The Russian president's best friend – a cellist called Sergei Roldugin – is at the centre of a scheme in which money from Russian state banks is hidden offshore. Some of it ends up in a ski resort where in 2013 Putin's daughter Katerina got married.
Among national leaders with offshore wealth are Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan's prime minister; Ayad Allawi, ex-interim prime minister and former vice-president of Iraq; Petro Poroshenko, president of Ukraine; Alaa Mubarak, son of Egypt's former president; and the prime minister of Iceland, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson.
An offshore investment fund run by the father of British prime minister David Cameron avoided ever having to pay tax in Britain by hiring a small army of Bahamas residents to sign its paperwork. The fund has been registered with HM Revenue and Customs since its inception and has filed detailed tax returns every year.
As a libertarian and someone who believes that all tax is theft, I have some measure of sympathy and indeed support for those who go to extraordinary lengths to avoid taxation and government meddling in the private affairs of citizens, for example Facebook's Eduardo Saverin who paid a 15% exit tax on his US assets to expatriate to Singapore in 2011.
Those who are unworthy of such libertarian acclaim are those who use illegal means to hide wealth arising from bribery and corruption or who enforce taxation on the little people, but evade it themselves. (Agree – Guffaw)
Traditionally, this has been 3rd world dictators or the governors of oil rich provinces in Nigeria and such places who essentially steal the wealth of their own populace / electorate. So it was not surprising to find these "usual suspects" in the Panama papers.
Even Vladimir Putin is not someone that I am particularly surprised at given that he has ruled Russia as President and proxy for nearly 20 years.
The sorts of names that you don't expect are the legislators of modern Western countries such as Iceland's PM (but not I suspect for long), Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson. Bastards like this who illustrate Leona Helmsley's view that "We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes"* should face the full force of the law.
[EDIT: and as predicted, less than a day later he's quit]
For UK politicians and business leaders, it is not just tax evasion that the Panama papers might reveal, but also crimes committed under the Bribery Act 2010 and earlier criminal statutes. For example, those cosy little 3rd world arms deals so recently brought to life in the BBC's adaptation of John Le Carre's "The Night Manager".
I suspect that quite a few of the worlds elite will be having sleepless nights over the revelations and since the papers go back 40-years, I expect we will be pissing on the graves of quite a few ex politicians and members of the elite as well. GOOD!
* – Leona Helmsley disputes that she ever said this.
Why should we as Americans care?
Bilton, Richard (April 4, 2016). "Panama Papers: How a British man, 90, covered for a US millionaire". BBC News. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
Hall, Kevin G.; Taylor, Marisa (April 4, 2016). "Americans, including a Bellevue man, show up in Panama Papers". Seattle Times. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
Is this just the tip of the iceberg? Or has malfeasance at the highest level of someone other than Americans made the papers for a change?
Interesting that in the list of those nations investigating this matter the United States is absent*…
(via my dear friend Rev. Paul)
With all the bad press aimed at police departments around the country – and sometimes bad things do happen – we don't hear enough about the good things they do.
Here's one.
The Officer and Harley: A Lesson in Kindness
It's a parent's worst nightmare. Your child is off somewhere in the world without you and something goes wrong. With children who have developmental disabilities or mental illness, something is bound to go wrong at some point. So you craft action plans. You practice what to do. You get their care providers on the same page. You hope your action plan will work if and when needed. Many times it will. But there's always the possibility that one time, in some ordinary place doing some ordinary thing, something will go awry. Then what?
The Anchorage Police Department has a volunteer training program to help its officers make the best possible decisions when encountering people with autism, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, brain injuries, depression or any other condition that can affect a person's behavior and how well he or she might respond to police.
For parents, the worst nightmare isn't the meltdown. It's how other people will react, and then how your child will react to them. Will the others — store clerks, passersby, waiters, managers — be well-meaning helpers who unknowingly muck things up even more? Or maybe they will be disrupters and increase stress and tension as they try to firmly get matters under control. What then? What if the police show up and rattle off a bunch of questions or issue orders at your child, who can't handle being addressed in that way? Will your child run off? Lash out? What if an officer tries to put their hands on your child, who cannot tolerate touch?
The worst nightmare is that someone will get hurt.
Loren Holmes / ADN
Hamilton asked a friend, Angie Fraize, an Anchorage police officer who serves with her on the Governor's Council for Disabilities and Special Education, what to do. Fraize helped coordinate a coffee date for Harley with her husband, Matt, who is also an Anchorage police officer. The goal? Get Harley to understand police as helpers, as safe people she can trust.
"The face of law enforcement is changing with the times. But we have to. We have to show people that we are human. That we are dads and moms," Angie Fraize said over coffee last week. She grew up with an uncle who had Down syndrome, and one of her two daughters has the condition.
Matt Fraize, a large man who once played football for the University of Washington, showed up in uniform to the coffee date with Harley. He asked if he could sit with Harley and her mother, who suggested, "Harley would love for a handsome man in uniform to sit across from her."
Harley hugged officer Fraize, beaming during the half-hour visit that ended with a ride home, without Mom, in the police car. During a second meeting, Harley tried to tickle officer Fraize, nuzzled his side, gave a friendly head-butt and a quick kiss to his right shoulder before they walked over to his patrol car, holding hands.
"A lot of us are parents of kids with special needs. And so we get it. We have the same fears for our children," Matt Fraize said.
Heroes like Officer Fraize need all the good publicity they can get. This is a wonderful program.
I commented on Rev. Paul's posting of the above story that news of a positive nature is not considered news. The dictum 'if it bleeds, it leads' came to mind.
I hope that most of the men and women in blue are of Officer Fraize's mindset, rather than the stormtrooper/Gestapo/'us against them' mindset. Too often, it's only police misconduct that makes the news.
As the good Reverend said, this story needs to go viral! So I'm doing my .02 worth.
Back-in-the-day (the 60's), if news happened during the day, we had to wait until the 5:30 Huntley/Brinkley Report to hear about it.
Unless it was of a catastrophic nature, like the JFK assassination. Then, someone who had been listening to a transistor radio passed the news along word-of mouth. (The school janitor?) And people with TVs ran to them for the latest reports. Because, not everyone had a TV!
Otherwise, if the evening news had been missed, it was the next morning's Arizona Republic that brought the news. Usually bad – because news of a good nature is rarely news.
Fast-forward (another antiquated term from VHS tape days) to this post-Internet era. I've a smartphone which I am rarely without. She lives in my right, front pocket (having a fused hip means my back pocket isn't a good idea for access) with my keys, .38 speed strip and my Blur lockblade knife. (The .38 S&W snub is in my LEFT front pocket, in a pocket holster, me being sinestral, and all!)
I keep my smartphone on, because, why not? She bleeps and chirps with receipt of texts, emails and the latest headlines. (I do put her on vibrate or mute as appropriate!) And sometimes she even rings announcing a telephone call! :-) Or a specific ringtone advising me of particular callers, like my roomie or close friends. Roomie's ringtone is Moonlight Sonata, and Biff's is the Peanuts theme!
Which brings me to my point (finally!)
Biff has a smartphone, but he doesn't keep it on. Doesn't use it for spur-of-the-moment research, or shopping or to-do lists. He doesn't use it for email or texts, either. Or receipt of the latest news!
He uses it as a telephone, when he chooses to have it turned-on.
And, I razz him mercilessly about this. The term Luddite has been bandied about.
Why have a smartphone, if one isn't going to use it as such?
He says he doesn't want to be that connected. And usually leaves it in his car, anyway!
We met for coffee the Saturday evening last, and were having our usual conversations, and I brought up the death earlier in the day of Justice Scalia.
And, he didn't know about it – he hadn't heard! And he's a radio news guy!
(I'd received a notification minutes after it had been reported, from three news sources!)
To be fair, he hadn't worked that day.
So, which is better? – to be voluntarily ignorant of the day's events, to choose to call only when one makes that choice, or to be tethered to the electronic instantaneous (or nearly so) news cycle? And at the mercy of people who choose to call, whenever?
Being already a volunteer for the tethering, my opinion in the matter is skewed one direction. Much like having a P.C. at home with a router, I don't think I could revert to dial-up.
Or no Internet access at all…
So, which is better?
(Not mentioning potential for brain cancer and/or government surveillance/tracking, because so doing would further muddy the issue!)
(Well, not mine, exactly…
BUT, I do agree!)
From Brock Townsend
Via WRSA
I will not give up my guns. You will have to try to take them.
One of us will die.
I will not give up combat-capable rifles, their standard-capacity, 30-round magazines, nor any kind of ammunition that I see fit to run through these guns. I will not give up my combat-capable shotgun, designed to kill a human being the first time, every time with one well-aimed blast of plated buckshot. I will not give up my high-capacity semi-automatic pistols that I can hide under almost any kind of clothing without a hint that I'm armed at all, nor will I give up the hollowpoint ammunition that fills them. You will not take my long-range precision rifle, with which I control anything within a half-mile of my position.
I am one of 100 million armed American citizens, trained in the use of small arms by military and police trainers who want citizens to be armed against an increasingly tyrannical government.
We are free, and we will not submit to you.
My only additional comment is this was posted in response to a front-page editorial published Saturday by the NYT, the second in 95 years. (The first criticizing the nomination of Harding for President). The editorial was about us needing to renounce our right to be armed.
I don't think the original editorial changed any of the minds of the current NYT readership – all 6 of them.
THIS is CNN (Again)
Images of the mixed-race, hater of White people who killed nine people (after asking them if they were Christians!) at the junior college.
(And who shall NOT be named here…)
I'm certain there was no intent to deceive anyone here.
Per my loyal readership, this image has been debunked as not from CNN! Mea Culpa.
Of course, this doesn't mean the mixed race shooter didn't shoot people based on their religion…
h/t The Last Refuge, The Feral Irishman
(This came my way through Theo Spark.)
And I think it's shameful and disgusting!
NYT – September 11. 2015
Old NFO (via JP) brings us geekery of the first order, coupled with first-rate humor!
In part…
The heaviest element known to science was recently discovered by investigators at a major U.S. research university. The new element has been named Hillarium. The chemical symbol of Hillarium is Bs.Hillarium has no protons or electrons and thus has an atomic number of 0. However, it does have one neutron, 125 assistant neutrons, 75 vice neutrons and 111 assistant vice neutrons, which gives it an atomic mass of 312. These 312 particles are held together by a force that involves the continuous exchange of meson-like particles called morons.Hillarium's mass actually increases over time, as morons randomly interact with various elements in the atmosphere and become assistant deputy neutrons within the Hillarium molecule, leading to the formation of isodopes. This characteristic of moron-promotion leads some scientists to believe that Hillarium is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as a Critical Morass. When catalyzed with money, Hillarium activates CNNadnausium and MSNBCobnoxium, elements that radiates orders of magnitude more energy, albeit as incoherent noise, since each has half as many peons but twice as many morons as Hillarium. Hillarium has also been reported in some war torn countries to inexplicably draw sniper fire out of thin air where no snipers are present, and to cause shoes to catapult across the room as a result of intense attraction to Hillarium.
I love Bill Cosby. The public persona of him. Funny, kind, charitable, good to children. He took a segregated world of us and them and made us we. He understood that people are people, have children, they act like kids and parents act like parents. No matter what color you are.
He made a lot of money doing this, and got a doctorate along the way. And, was a good friend of his co-star in I Spy, Robert Culp. They spoke every day after they met initially to do the show. And for the rest of Culp's life. Culp taught Cosby about acting and how Hollywood works.
I disagree with Bill Cosby about guns. His son was murdered. That could color your view. I agree with him regarding self-respect and education.
I love his comedy.
As to these allegations that have surfaced. At first, I was shocked, surprised. I didn't want to believe. I mean, this is BILL COSBY, not Al Sharpton!?
But then I remembered Michael Jackson. And Bill Clinton. People in famous and monied positions are easy targets for predators.
And sometimes ARE predators.
Jackson paid some folks off. Whether it was easier than a trial or simply efficient, I do not know. Cosby paid some folks off. Clinton used his power and influence to intimidate folks into silence.
And there was more physical evidence regarding Clinton than Cosby!
Bill Cosby has yet to have his day in court. And THAT'S what we're supposed to be about. Justice. The women who have come forward (
16 17 by this morning's count) have no physical evidence and have nothing to gain. Those who allege payment were already paid. And concerts have been cancelled and reruns excised from TVLand. The testimonial evidence appears damning, but…
Innocent until proven guilty
I read that somewhere.
Being tried in and by the media is the price of fame. Mel Gibson and Lindsay Lohan know this. So do Bill Clinton and President Obama.
It helps to have them on your side.
I'm tracking the so-called major media, looking for the major story about the Million Vet March…
To be fair, CNN, Fox, and NPR did cover the story, mentioning (mumble-mumble) thousand veterans showed up as promised, brought down the barricades, and occupied the memorials. Apparently, some politicians spoke, and The President barricaded The White House against rioters. (Actually, some protesters moved some barricades to in front of the Executive mansion!)
At least it was the lead on Drudge for a while…
No rioters were spotted.
There was no reported violence, or damaging of the historic sites, save the removal of the barricades. One protester was arrested for having handguns in his backpack in D.C.
And no report as to accurate numbers of attendees, either. It's as though the MSM had an editorial agenda (?)
I was reminded of a Summer protest in front of the Arizona State Capitol. I think it was the weekend after Independence Day, so you know it was hot. The peaceful protesters were speaking out against yet another attempted action by the State and Federal governments, regarding guns and gun control. This was during the time of the Clinton so-called Assault Weapons Ban. Something like 250+ protesters were there, with appropriate signs and speakers. Seems to me Sheriff Mack was there. We drank a lot of bottled water.
And media vans drove around us, but, none stopped or filmed. We didn't fit the agenda.
For comparison, earlier that year, six (6) people met a couple State legislators on the steps of the capitol to discuss something to do with abortion. THIS made state and national news.
Who are the most powerful persons in any newsroom? The assignment desk and the editors.
It's all about the agenda.
You know, the ones who murdered another teen in Oklahoma, just for fun?
Or, this just in…WWII Veteran Dies After Parking Lot Beating
No, wait. I'm not bringing THOSE REAL WORLD items up.
I'm talking about history repeating itself. Well, sort of.
Not exactly history, but a theme.
The theme of the Michael Caine film Harry Brown.
You know! The movie where Michael plays an old man (typecasting) who sees London failing around him – graffiti, gang activity, drug abuse. London looks more like Detroit in this movie! Then his best friend gets killed by
a gang misguided yutes. And Harry is alone.
And he decides to revisit HIS youth. Not as a misguided yute, but as a Royal Marine. (!)
You can guess much of the rest of the film. Call it Death Wish On The Thames.
An old man taking back his life by taking direct action against the unintended consequences of the ever-encroaching societal fixes imposed by a socialist regime. (like gun control and a broken judicial system)
Safe to say, it's powerful stuff. My only complaint is with the heavy accents, subtitles would help us to understand the English.
Of course, the movie got scant play here in the Colonies. I wonder why?


text:
It only takes a minute to get started. Fill out our uncomplicated sign up form and login to the website.
This step is up to you but will dramatically increase your chances of your profile getting noticed by other daters. Write about yourself, your interests and upload some good photographs of yourself.
Use our website's sophisticated search to spot members who match your requirements. Or just flip through listings and spot members that seem interesting.
Found someone who appeals to you? Drop them a line or just a wink and see how you get along. With a little luck you'll be on your way to an amazing adventure.
You won't regret it