Cross-cut: `sensor-camera-thermal`

Axis: sensors

6 corpus entries disclose this tag.

Earliest disclosure: 1986-08-06

Listed in chronological order. Each entry’s prior_art_notes and disclosure_citation constitute the citeable prior art material.

Metroid — Samus Aran’s Power Suit (powered armor with multi-mode scan visor and health/environment systems) (1986-08-06)

id: metroid-power-suit
corpus: fictional
form factor: exoskeleton
creator: Nintendo R&D1 / Retro Studios
disclosure: Metroid (Nintendo, released 6 August 1986; multi-mode visor system in Metroid Prime, 2002); a fully enclosing powered armored suit with a head-up display, switchable visor modes (combat, scan/analysis, thermal, X-ray), an integrated arm-mounted tool, energy reserves indicating health, and environmental adaptation modules (heat resistance, pressure sealing).
ip status: fictional
sensors: sensor-camera-thermal, sensor-camera-ir
prior art notes: Discloses a powered enclosing suit with a HUD, user-selectable visor modes (combat, scanning/analysis of objects in view, thermal, see-through), an integrated tool, an energy/health reserve indicator, and swappable environmental-protection modules. Relevant to powered-suit claims combining ‘a HUD with multiple selectable imaging/analysis modes’, ‘an integrated status reserve indicator’, and ‘environmental-adaptation modules’. § 103 motivation as of 1986 (multi-mode scan visor as of 2002). Cf. [[heinlein-starship-troopers-powered-armor]], [[halo-mjolnir-armor]], [[splinter-cell-trifocal-goggles]].

id: predator-bio-mask
corpus: fictional
form factor: helmet
creator: John McTiernan / 20th Century Fox
disclosure: Predator (20th Century Fox), released June 12, 1987; the creature’s helmet/mask providing thermal vision, spectral mode-switching, optical zoom, recording/playback, and audio language capture/synthesis.
ip status: fictional
sensors: sensor-camera-thermal, sensor-camera-ir, sensor-microphone-air
prior art notes: Discloses a head-worn enclosure integrating switchable multi-spectral imaging (thermal/IR/visible), digital zoom, on-board recording and playback, and captured-audio processing/synthesis, with a HUD presenting mode and status. Relevant to helmet/eyewear claims combining ‘a thermal imager’, ‘a mode selector among imaging spectra’, ‘a near-eye display’, and ‘audio capture and synthesis’. § 103 motivation that the multi-spectral recording head-display was an articulated objective by 1987.

id: star-trek-tng-visor
corpus: fictional
form factor: glasses
creator: Gene Roddenberry / Paramount Television
disclosure: Star Trek: The Next Generation, ‘Encounter at Farpoint’ (premiered September 28, 1987); the VISOR — eyewear that senses across the electromagnetic spectrum and couples the signal to the wearer’s optic nerves.
ip status: fictional
sensors: sensor-camera-ir, sensor-camera-thermal
prior art notes: Discloses sensory-substitution eyewear: a head-worn multi-spectral sensor (IR/thermal and beyond) whose output is rendered to the wearer as perception, via direct neural coupling at the temples. Relevant to (a) sensory-substitution / vision-aid eyewear claims and (b) eyewear claims that visualize non-visible-spectrum data (thermal/IR/UV overlay glasses). § 103 motivation that head-worn EM-spectrum-extending eyewear was an articulated objective by 1987. Non-enabling on the neural interface.

id: shadowrun-cyberware
corpus: fictional
form factor: implantable
creator: Bob Charrette / Paul Hume / Tom Dowd / FASA
disclosure: Shadowrun, 1st edition, FASA Corporation, 1989; implanted ‘cybereyes’ (low-light/thermal/magnification/recording, HUD overlay), ‘cyberears’ (amplification, spatial recognition, recording), a head-mounted ‘datajack’ (neural data port), and a ‘smartlink’ wiring a weapon’s targeting reticle into the eye.
ip status: fictional
sensors: sensor-camera-ir, sensor-camera-thermal, sensor-microphone-air
prior art notes: Discloses implanted vision and hearing prostheses with selectable enhancement modes and recording, a cranial neural data port, and a HUD targeting overlay wired to the eye. Relevant to implantable-sensory-prosthesis and implanted-data-port claims; an independent 1989 disclosure parallel to [[cyberpunk-2020-cyberoptics-and-interface-plugs]] and [[ghost-in-the-shell-cyberbrain]]. § 103 motivation as of 1989.

id: metal-gear-solid-sneaking-suit-and-solid-eye
corpus: fictional
form factor: garment
creator: Hideo Kojima / Konami
disclosure: Metal Gear Solid (Konami, released 3 September 1998; ‘Solid Eye’ and adaptive ‘OctoCamo’ suit in Metal Gear Solid 4, 2008); a form-fitting ‘Sneaking Suit’ with body-monitoring (a ‘life’/stamina/’PSYCHE’ readout), a ‘Codec’ communication link, and the ‘Solid Eye’ — a monocular head-worn device with selectable modes (night vision, binocular zoom, threat/contact detection) and an AR overlay — plus an adaptive-camouflage outer layer.
ip status: fictional
sensors: sensor-camera-ir, sensor-camera-thermal
algorithms: algo-stress-index
prior art notes: Discloses (a) a form-fitting suit with continuous body monitoring (stamina, stress/’psyche’, vitals) and comms, (b) a monocular head-worn device with user-selectable imaging modes (night vision, zoom, threat detection) and an AR overlay, and (c) an adaptive-camouflage outer layer responsive to surroundings. Relevant to instrumented-bodysuit and monocular-AR-HUD claims. § 103 motivation as of 1998 (Solid Eye / OctoCamo as of 2008). Cf. [[dragon-ball-z-scouter]], [[splinter-cell-trifocal-goggles]], [[crysis-nanosuit]].

id: splinter-cell-trifocal-goggles
corpus: fictional
form factor: goggles
creator: Ubisoft Montreal
disclosure: Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell (Ubisoft, released 17 November 2002); head-worn ‘trifocal’ goggles with three selectable vision modes — image-intensified night vision, thermal imaging, and an electromagnetic/EMF-sensing mode.
ip status: fictional
sensors: sensor-camera-ir, sensor-camera-thermal
prior art notes: Discloses head-worn goggles with a user-selectable choice among multiple imaging spectra (intensified visible/NIR, thermal IR, EMF), all in a single device. Relevant to multi-spectral-eyewear claims combining ‘a head-worn display’ and ‘a selector among two or more imaging modalities/spectra’. § 103 motivation as of 2002. Cf. [[predator-bio-mask]], [[metroid-power-suit]], [[shadowrun-cyberware]].