System and method for tracking a passive wand and actuating an effect based on a detected wand path
First Claim
1. A system comprising:
- a source of electromagnetic radiation configured to flood an active playing area with electromagnetic radiation;
an article positioned in the active playing area and comprising a retro-reflective material, wherein the retro-reflective material is a solid component of the article or the retro-reflective material is a coating on the article;
a sensing device configured to receive the electromagnetic radiation after being reflected from the retro-reflective material of the article positioned in the active playing area and configured to generate data based on receiving reflected electromagnetic radiation from a series of article positions, wherein the source of electromagnetic radiation and the sensing device are each in respective fixed positions; and
a controller configured to process the data generated by the sensing device to determine whether the series of article positions correlate to a stored gesture and output a control signal to actuate an effect when the series of article positions correlate to the stored gesture, wherein the controller is configured to pre-process the data to remove interference received by the sensing device when the active playing area is in broad daylight.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system in accordance with present embodiments includes a source of electromagnetic radiation that operates to emit electromagnetic radiation into an active playing area. The system also includes a sensing device that operates to receive the electromagnetic radiation after being reflected from a retro-reflective material of an article positioned in the active playing area and operable to generate data based on receiving reflected electromagnetic radiation from a series of article positions. Further, the system includes a controller that operates to process the data generated by the sensing device to determine whether the series of article positions correlate to a stored gesture and output a control signal to actuate an effect when the series of article positions correlate to the stored gesture.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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a source of electromagnetic radiation configured to flood an active playing area with electromagnetic radiation; an article positioned in the active playing area and comprising a retro-reflective material, wherein the retro-reflective material is a solid component of the article or the retro-reflective material is a coating on the article; a sensing device configured to receive the electromagnetic radiation after being reflected from the retro-reflective material of the article positioned in the active playing area and configured to generate data based on receiving reflected electromagnetic radiation from a series of article positions, wherein the source of electromagnetic radiation and the sensing device are each in respective fixed positions; and a controller configured to process the data generated by the sensing device to determine whether the series of article positions correlate to a stored gesture and output a control signal to actuate an effect when the series of article positions correlate to the stored gesture, wherein the controller is configured to pre-process the data to remove interference received by the sensing device when the active playing area is in broad daylight. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 17, 18, 19)
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12. A method comprising:
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emitting electromagnetic radiation into an active playing area such that the active playing area is flooded with the electromagnetic radiation; receiving the electromagnetic radiation at a sensing device after the electromagnetic radiation has been retro-reflected from a retro-reflective material of an article positioned in the active playing area, wherein a source of the electromagnetic radiation and the sensing device are each in respective fixed positions; generating data with the sensing device based on receiving reflected electromagnetic radiation from a series of article positions; pre-processing the data generated by the sensing device with a controller to remove interference received by the sensing device when the active playing area is in broad daylight; and processing the data generated by the sensing device with the controller to determine whether the series of article positions correlate to a stored gesture and outputting a control signal from the controller when the series of article positions correlate to the stored gesture. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. A system, comprising:
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an electromagnetic radiation emitter configured to flood an active playing area with electromagnetic radiation from a fixed position; a plurality of articles positioned in the active playing area, wherein each article of the plurality of articles comprises a retro-reflective material, and wherein the retro-reflective material is a solid component of each article of the plurality of articles, or the retro-reflective material is a coating on each article of the plurality of articles; a sensing device configured to receive the electromagnetic radiation after being reflected from the retro-reflective material of an article of the plurality of articles positioned in the active playing area and configured to generate data based on receiving reflected electromagnetic radiation from a series of positions of the plurality of articles; a controller communicatively coupled to the sensing device; a processing engine of the controller configured to pre-process the data generated by the sensing device to remove interference received by the sensing device when the active playing area is in broad daylight; a feature extraction module of the processing engine configured to extract relevant data from the data generated by the sensing device such that the controller is configured to simultaneously identify and track a respective series of positions of each article of the plurality of articles and to treat each respective series of positions as a potential gesture performed using a respective article of the plurality of articles; and a gesture recognition module of the processing engine configured to analyze the relevant data to determine whether any of the respective series of positions result in a respective gesture that adequately matches a stored gesture associated with an actuatable amusement park effect.
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Specification