Interactive TV system for mass media distribution

摘要

A TV viewer is presented various offers for products and services displayed on his TV screen. Pre-obtained unique product and service codes are generated by the TV program during the offers. The viewer has a remote control device for indicating his acceptance of an offer. An audio beep corresponding to the unique code is transmitted by the program along with the offer. This beep is picked up by a microphone and is transmitted, along with the remote control acceptance indication, by a transmitter located at the viewer's location to a nearby repeater station. The transmitted signal is data including an identification of the viewer's location as well as the accepted offer code. This data is relayed to a nearby repeater station and then to a central data collection station where the acceptance is processed. A universal IR remote control device is employed that can communicate a viewer's selections from TV offer's, or can alternately read bar codes from printed media offers at the viewer's location for transmission through the system to the central data collection station.