Controlling viewing distance to a television receiver

Abstract From the Canadian patent

A child is encouraged not to sit close to the screen of television receiver. A base unit on the television receiver has a proximity detector that senses whether the child is within a preset range forward of the television receiver. In response to a range violation the base unit transmits a triggering signal on an RF carrier to a slave unit. In response to the triggering signal the slave unit transmits an OFF command on an infrared carrier to a standard infrared sensor built into the television receiver. The command is identical to the OFF command transmitted by a remote control associated with the television receiver. Since the base and slave units communicate via an omnidirectional RF …