Controlling casino lighting content and audio content

• US 10,269,207 B2
• Filed: 04/02/2015
• Issued: 04/23/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LNW Gaming Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Bally Gaming Incorporated (Scientific Games Corporation)
• Inventors: Gronkowski, Timothy T., Radek, Paul J., Ugarte, Jr., Martin R., Zoloto, Steven J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Yen, Jason T
• Application Number:
  US14/677,660
• Publication Number:
  US 20160292955A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,482 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3211 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3223 Architectural aspects of a gaming system, e.g. internal configuration, master/slave, wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3225 Data transfer within a gaming system, e.g. data sent between gaming machines and users
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3227 Configuring a gaming machine, e.g. downloading personal settings, selecting working parameters
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/323 wherein the player is informed, e.g. advertisements, odds, instructions
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3269 Timing aspects of game play, e.g. blocking/halting the operation of a gaming machine
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/023 Arrangements for display, data presentation or advertising

Abstract

A wagering game system and its operations are described herein. In some examples, the operations include receiving from a first device, via a first network, data associated with a gaming light effect. The operations can further include determining, from analysis of the data via one or more processors of a second device, that a third device is associated with the gaming light effect. In some instances, the second device is connected to the third device via a second network separate from the first network. The operations can further include generating, via the one or more processors of the second device, instructions about the gaming light effect based on the data. The operations can further include transmitting, via a communications network interface of the second device, the instructions from the second device, via the second network, to the third device.

Claims

1. A method of controlling gaming light effects, said method comprising:

receiving from a first device, via a first network, data associated with a gaming light effect;

determining, from analysis of the data via one or more processors of a second device, that a third device is associated with the gaming light effect, wherein the second device is connected to the third device via a second network separate from the first network;

generating, via the one or more processors of the second device, instructions about the gaming light effect based on the data; and

transmitting, via a communications network interface of the second device, the instructions from the second device, via the second network, to the third device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating the instructions comprises generating instructions to cause the third device to queue content for concurrent presentation with the gaming light effect by the second device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the content comprises sound content that accompanies the gaming light effect.

4. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

determining, based on the analysis of the data, a timing for presentation of the gaming light effect; and

generating the instructions to synchronize, based on the timing, a presentation of the content via the third device with the presentation of the gaming light effect via the second device.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining, based on the analysis of the data, sound content to present for the gaming light effect;

determining that the third device is configured to present the sound content; and

generating the instructions for the third device to present the sound content.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining, based on the analysis of the data, lighting content to present for the gaming light effect; and

generating the instructions to indicate the lighting content.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting the instructions to the third device is before a presentation of the gaming light effect via the second device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first network is a casino lighting network and wherein the second network is a peer-to-peer network.

9. A gaming system comprising:

at least one processor;

a first network communication interface configured to connect to a first network;

a second network communication interface configured to connect to a second network;

an output device; and

at least one memory device configured to store instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the gaming system to

obtain, via the first network communication interface, data associated with a gaming light effect for presentation via the output device, wherein the data is sent from a lighting controller via the first network,

determine, from analysis of the data, that a device, separate from the gaming system, is associated with the gaming light effect, wherein the device is connected to the gaming system via the second network,

generate electronic commands based on the analysis of the data, and

transmit, by the second network communication interface via the second network, the electronic commands to the device for presentation of content associated with the gaming light effect.

10. The gaming system of claim 9, wherein the at least one memory device is configured to store instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the gaming system to generate the electronic commands to cause the device to queue the content for concurrent presentation, by the device, with the gaming light effect by the gaming system.

11. The gaming system of claim 10, wherein the at least one memory device is configured to store instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor, cause the gaming system to:

determine, based on the analysis of the data, a timing for presentation of the gaming light effect; and

generate the electronic commands to synchronize, based on the timing, presentation of the content via the device with presentation of the gaming light effect via the output device.

12. The gaming system of claim 9, wherein the at least one memory device is configured to store instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor, cause the gaming system to:

determine, based on the analysis of the data, sound content to present for the gaming light effect;

determine that the device is configured to present the sound content; and

generate the electronic commands for the device to present the sound content.

13. The gaming system of claim 9, wherein the first network is a casino lighting network and wherein the second network is a peer-to-peer network.

14. The gaming system of claim 9, wherein the first network is a lighting communication network to which a plurality of banks of wagering game machines are connected and wherein the second network is localized to one of the plurality of banks of wagering game machines, and wherein the electronic commands about the gaming light effect are generated to coordinate a timing of presentation of the gaming light effect in the one of the plurality of banks of wagering game machines.

15. The gaming system of claim 9, wherein the at least one memory device is configured to store instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor, cause the gaming system to

determine, from the analysis of the data, that the gaming system is a winning one of a plurality of devices involved in a group wagering game, wherein the gaming light effect is at least a portion of a celebratory gaming effect for winning the group wagering game, and

generate the electronic commands to cause the device to determine that the content accompanies the celebratory gaming effect.

16. The gaming system of claim 9, wherein the at least one memory device is configured to store instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor, cause the gaming system to:

determine, from the analysis of the data, that the device is a winning one of a plurality of devices involved in a group wagering game, wherein the gaming light effect is at least a portion of a celebratory gaming effect for winning the group wagering game;

generate the electronic commands to cause the device to present the celebratory gaming effect; and

queue the content for presentation via the output device to accompany the presentation of the celebratory gaming effect by the device.

17. One or more non-transitory machine readable storage media having first instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a set of processors of a gaming system, cause the set of processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving, by at least one of one or more communications interfaces of the gaming system, data sent via a first network, wherein the data is associated with a gaming light effect configured for presentation via a plurality of devices;

determining, from analysis of the data, that a second device, separate from the gaming system, is configured for presentation of content associated with the gaming light effect, wherein the gaming system is connected to the second device via a second network separate from the first network;

determining second instructions that correspond to the gaming light effect based on the data; and

transmitting the second instructions, by at least one of the one or more communications interfaces of the gaming system, from the gaming system, via the second network, to the second device.

18. The one or more non-transitory machine readable storage media of claim 17, wherein the first network is a lighting communication network to which a plurality of banks of wagering game machines are connected, wherein the second network is localized to one of the plurality of banks of wagering game machines, and wherein the operations for determining the second instructions comprise operations for generating the second instructions to coordinate a timing of presentation of the gaming light effect in the one of the plurality of banks.

19. The one or more non-transitory machine readable storage media of claim 17, said operations further comprising determining, from the analysis of the data, that the gaming system is a winning one of a plurality of gaming devices involved in a group wagering game, wherein the gaming light effect is at least a portion of a celebratory gaming effect for winning the group wagering game, and wherein the determining the second instructions comprises generating the second instructions to cause the second device to determine that content accompanies the celebratory gaming effect.

20. The one or more non-transitory machine readable storage media of claim 17, said operations further comprising:

determining, from the analysis of the data, that the second device is a winning one of a plurality of gaming devices involved in a group wagering game, wherein the gaming light effect is at least a portion of a celebratory gaming effect for winning the group wagering game, and wherein the determining the second instructions comprises generating the second instructions to cause the second device to present the celebratory gaming effect; and

queuing the content on the gaming system to accompany the presentation of the celebratory gaming effect by the second device.