System for playing pre-recorded audio encoded in infra-red ink on a card

摘要

A device is disclosed for playing prerecorded audio encoded in a fault tolerant manner as a series of infra-red ink dots printed on a card, in substantially the same area as an image printed on the card, using a page-width ink-jet printhead, the device comprising an infra-red scanner for scanning the infra-red (IR) form of the prerecorded audio; a decoder interconnected to the IR scanner for decoding the scanned audio encoding to produce a corresponding audio signal; and an audio emitter interconnected to the processor for emitting or playing the corresponding audio signal on demand. The encoding can include Reed-Solomon encoding of the prerecorded audio and can comprise an array of infrared ink dots which are high frequency modulated to aid scanning. The device can include a wand-like arm having a slot through which the card may be inserted.