Interactive play sets
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system comprising:
- a play set comprising a plurality of physical play pieces, the plurality of physical play pieces comprising;
an active physical play piece, andtwo or more additional physical play pieces, the two or more additional play pieces comprising;
a first semi-active physical play piece, wherein a semi-active physical play piece comprises a transmitter operative to transmit signals to an active physical play piece, but does not include a distance module operative to generate proximity data describing distances between the semi-active physical play piece and the other of the plurality of physical play pieces, andat least one additional physical play piece that is either;
a second semi-active physical play piece, ora passive physical play piece that does not transmit signals,wherein the active physical play piece comprises;
a receiver operative to receive signals from one or more of the additional physical play pieces;
a distance module operative to generate proximity data into three or more discrete and non-overlapping levels of proximity using signals received by the receiver, the proximity data describing;
distances between the active physical play piece and the one or more of the additional physical play pieces, andat least one distance between the two or more additional physical play pieces; and
a transmitter operative to transmit the proximity data to a computing device arranged to run an interactive entertainment experience associated with the play set, wherein the interactive entertainment experience comprises computing-device-executable instructions which when executed cause the computing device to;
receive the proximity data from the active physical play piece, andreflect in the interactive entertainment experience one or more changes in proximity levels between two or more of the plurality of physical play pieces.
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Abstract
An interactive play set is described which comprises one or more active physical play pieces. In an embodiment, each active physical play piece receives data from one or more other play pieces in the play set and uses this data to generate proximity data. The proximity data describes distances between two or more play pieces from which it receives data to three or more proximity levels. The proximity data is then transmitted to an interactive entertainment experience (such as a game) which reflects changes in proximity level. For example, the changes may be visible in a graphical user interface or another play piece or audible to a user.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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a play set comprising a plurality of physical play pieces, the plurality of physical play pieces comprising; an active physical play piece, and two or more additional physical play pieces, the two or more additional play pieces comprising; a first semi-active physical play piece, wherein a semi-active physical play piece comprises a transmitter operative to transmit signals to an active physical play piece, but does not include a distance module operative to generate proximity data describing distances between the semi-active physical play piece and the other of the plurality of physical play pieces, and at least one additional physical play piece that is either; a second semi-active physical play piece, or a passive physical play piece that does not transmit signals, wherein the active physical play piece comprises; a receiver operative to receive signals from one or more of the additional physical play pieces; a distance module operative to generate proximity data into three or more discrete and non-overlapping levels of proximity using signals received by the receiver, the proximity data describing; distances between the active physical play piece and the one or more of the additional physical play pieces, and at least one distance between the two or more additional physical play pieces; and a transmitter operative to transmit the proximity data to a computing device arranged to run an interactive entertainment experience associated with the play set, wherein the interactive entertainment experience comprises computing-device-executable instructions which when executed cause the computing device to; receive the proximity data from the active physical play piece, and reflect in the interactive entertainment experience one or more changes in proximity levels between two or more of the plurality of physical play pieces. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method comprising:
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receiving signals at an active physical play piece from two or more other physical play pieces, the two or more other physical play pieces comprising; a first semi-active physical play piece, wherein a semi-active physical play piece comprises a transmitter operative to transmit signals to an active physical play piece, but does not include a distance module operative to generate proximity data describing distances between the semi-active physical play piece and the other of the plurality of physical play pieces, and at least one additional physical play piece that is either; a second semi-active physical play piece, or a passive physical play piece that does not transmit signals; generating proximity data in the active physical play piece based at least in part on signals received, the proximity data describing distances between the active physical play piece and the two or more other physical play pieces, as well as one or more distances between the first semi-active physical play piece and the at least one additional physical play piece, into three or more discrete and non-overlapping levels of proximity; and transmitting the proximity data from the active physical play piece to an interactive entertainment experience running on a computing device, wherein the interactive entertainment experience comprises computing-device executable instructions which when executed cause the computing device to receive the proximity data from the active physical play piece and reflect changes in proximity levels between two or more of the physical play pieces in the interactive entertainment experience. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method comprising:
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receiving proximity data from an active physical play piece at an interactive entertainment experience, the proximity data describing distances between the active physical play piece and two or more other physical play pieces comprising one or more semi-active physical play pieces and one or more passive physical play pieces that do not transmit signals, as well as one or more distances between at least one of the one or more semi-active play pieces and at least one of the one or more passive play pieces, into three or more discrete and non-overlapping levels of proximity, wherein a semi-active physical play piece comprises a transmitter operative to transmit signals to an active physical play piece, but does not include a distance module operative to generate proximity data describing distances between the semi-active physical play piece and the other of the plurality of physical play pieces; and reflecting the proximity data in the interactive entertainment experience, wherein the interactive entertainment experience comprises computing-device executable instructions which when executed cause the computing device to receive the proximity data from the active physical play piece and reflect changes in proximity levels between two or more of the physical play pieces in the interactive entertainment experience. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification