Sony patents interactive film idea
Throw tomatoes at Hollywood greats.
Sony America has patented a bizarre idea that would allow you to hurl virtual rotten tomatoes at actors while watching films on your television, a bit like Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Accompanying example illustrations show viewers kicking characters' bottoms and squashing spiders climbing up characters' backs, earning points depending on their success.
"For example, avatars displayed to a user, in response to user gestures in the real world - e.g. in response to manipulation of a game controller or other such expedient - may toss tomatoes that stick to the actor’s face or bounce off the actor's face and roll along a table that appears in the movie or television show," reads another example in the patent, dug-up by Siliconera.
Simply, Sony overlays the original film image so effects can be applied without interfering with what's on the Blu-ray disc or hard-drive.
Sony's PS3 video-on-demand service launches here this month, offering the likes of Harry Potter, Terminator and Batman for download.
