Text-to-Video: We Are In For A Treat
Most recent news about Bill Gates deals with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the newest invention that carries his name would fit right in with that. Text-to-speech technology has been around for a long time, and is a boon to the visually disabled, as well as those who prefer to dictate their work, rather than type. The text-to-video technology recently patented by Bill Gates and other highly-talented and trained people, promises to be something different.
Here is one example of how it works, or could work, that was included in the patent application:
“According to one contemplated scenario, a student is assigned a reading assignment. To make the assignment more interesting, the student may use his or her mobile phone to take a picture of a page of the textbook. The systems and methods described herein may then generate a synthesized image sequence of the action occurring in the text. Thus, rather than simply reading names and dates, the student may see soldiers running across a battlefield. The systems and methods may further gather auxiliary information (e.g., the color of the soldiers’ uniforms, the topographical layout of the battlefield, what the generals looked like, time of year, weather conditions, etc.), which may be incorporated into the synthesized image sequences.”
This, if it works as presented, could certainly make reading more interesting for the young and the old, and give visual learners the boost they need to absorb material. In fact, it could make reading actually fun for non-readers, getting them involved in the action being described (and, with the software, viewed,) instead of simply becoming bogged down in details.
Patent attorneys tend to love well-written patent applications, and will sometimes study those of Apple and other major, innovative companies with an eye toward giving their clients good examples. This text-to-video patent application is interesting, first, because it is Bill Gates, but also because it generates curiosity—if nothing else, to see if the reality of the invention is even half as vivid as its description.
