System and method for tracking a passive wand and actuating an effect based on a detected wand path

• US 10,380,884 B2
• Filed: 11/07/2018
• Issued: 08/13/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Universal City Studios LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Universal City Studios LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Inventors: Kawash, Sameer, Schwartz, Justin Michael, Blum, Steven C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Yacob, Sisay
• Application Number:
  US16/183,554
• Publication Number:
  US 20190073897A1
• Time in Patent Office: 279 Days
• Field of Search: 340 125
• CPC Class Codes: A63G 31/00 Amusement arrangements hoop exercising apparatus driven by the user A63B19/00
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 30/04 using wireless transmission
• CPC Class Codes: A63J 21/00 Conjuring appliances; Auxiliary apparatus for conjurers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0304 Detection arrangements using opto-electronic means constructional details of pointing devices not related to the detection arrangement using opto-electronic means G06F3/033; optical digitisers G06F3/042
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0308 comprising a plurality of distinctive and separately oriented light emitters or reflectors associated to the pointing device, e.g. remote cursor controller with distinct and separately oriented LEDs at the tip whose radiations are captured by a photo-detector associated to the screen
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 17/02 using a radio link

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.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a source of electromagnetic radiation configured to continuously emit electromagnetic radiation into an active playing area;

a sensing device configured to receive the electromagnetic radiation after being reflected from a retro-reflective material of an article positioned in the active playing area and configured to generate data based on receiving reflected electromagnetic radiation from a series of article 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.

2. The system of claim 1, comprising the article including the 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.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the retro-reflective material is designed to reflect radiation back to its source.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the article comprises a wand.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to interpolate between the series of article positions to facilitate determining whether the series of article positions correlate to the stored gesture.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the source of electromagnetic radiation is configured to continuously flood the active playing area with the electromagnetic radiation.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the source of electromagnetic radiation and the sensing device are located apart from one another.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the active playing area includes a portion of a path for a ride vehicle and the sensing device is configured to detect activity occurring in a passenger compartment of the ride vehicle when positioned on the portion of the path.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensing device is within a ride vehicle.

10. The system of claim 1, comprising an effect device configured to perform the effect.

11. The system of claim 1, comprising a ride vehicle within the active playing area and an effect device configured to perform the effect positioned outside of the active playing area.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensing device and the controller are configured to communicate via one or more cables.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller comprises a gesture recognition module including a plurality of pre-programmed gesture characteristics.

14. A system, comprising:

an electromagnetic radiation emitter configured to continuously emit electromagnetic radiation into an active playing area;

a sensing device configured to receive the electromagnetic radiation after being reflected from a retro-reflective material of an article positioned in the active playing area and configured to generate data based on receiving reflected electromagnetic radiation from a series of article positions;

a controller;

a processing engine of the controller;

a feature extraction module of the processing engine configured to extract relevant data from the data generated by the sensing device; and

a gesture recognition module of the processing engine configured to analyze the relevant data to determine whether the series of article positions correspond to a known gesture.

15. The system of claim 14, comprising a pre-processing module of the processing engine configured to modify operation of the sensing device based on light conditions in the active playing area.

16. A system for an attraction within an amusement park for entertaining and immersing one or more guests with a magically themed experience, the system comprising:

a source of electromagnetic radiation configured to flood an active playing area with electromagnetic radiation;

an interactive article positioned in the active playing area and comprising a retro-reflective material, wherein the interactive article is consistent with the magically themed experience;

a sensing device configured to receive the electromagnetic radiation after being reflected from the retro-reflective material of the interactive article positioned in the active playing area and configured to generate data based on receiving reflected electromagnetic radiation from a series of article 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 effect provides a sense of wonderment to the one or more guests by creating an illusion of magic to enhance an enjoyment of the one or more guests.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the sensing device and the source of electromagnetic radiation are hidden from view of the one or more guests to further enhance the illusion of magic created by the effect.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the sensing device and the source of electromagnetic radiation are disposed behind a window and hidden from the view of the one or more guests via a camouflaging material.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the source of electromagnetic radiation is configured to emit electromagnetic radiation at a frequency that is invisible to the one or more guests to provide the one or more guests with a sense of mystery about operation of the system.

20. The system of claim 16, 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.