Method and apparatus for facilitating communication between a user and a toy

• US 20020125996A1
• Filed: 03/09/2001
• Published: 09/12/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/09/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: SONY CORPORATION AND SONY ELECTRONICS, INC.
• Inventors: Feinberg, Paul H.
• Granted Patent: US 6,965,298 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/10.41
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/753 using frequency selective elements, e.g. resonator
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/0008 General problems related to the reading of electronic memory record carriers, independent of its reading method, e.g. power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10039 interrogator driven, i.e. synchronous

Abstract

An apparatus includes a plurality of radio frequency tags operable to produce respective answer electromagnetic waves in response to a query electromagnetic wave; and a toy including a query circuit and an interaction circuit, the query circuit being operable to emit the query electromagnetic wave and receive one or more of the answer electromagnetic waves, and the interaction circuit being operable to select an output perceptible by a user based on which of the one or more answer electromagnetic waves are received.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one mobile item operable to be carried by a user and including a radio frequency tag operable to produce an answer electromagnetic wave in response to a query electromagnetic wave; and

a toy including a query circuit and an interaction circuit, the query circuit being operable to emit the query electromagnetic wave and receive the answer electromagnetic wave, and the interaction circuit being operable to select an output perceptible by the user based on the answer electromagnetic wave.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the interaction circuit includes an output circuit coupled to at least one output transducer operable to produce the output perceptible by the user.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the at least one output transducer includes at least one of an audio transducer, a visual transducer, a tactile transducer, and a mechanical transducer.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the interaction circuit is operable to select at least one phrase from among a plurality of phrases based on the answer electromagnetic wave, the output circuit is operable to produce an output signal corresponding to the selected phrase, and the output transducer includes the audio transducer, which is operable to produce an audible phrase corresponding to the selected phrase.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, comprising at least two of the mobile items each operable to produce a respective answer electromagnetic wave in response to a query electromagnetic wave, wherein the interaction circuit is operable to select the at least one phrase based on which one or more of the answer electromagnetic waves are received.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the interaction circuit is operable to associate a user defined phrase with one or more of the answer electromagnetic waves such that the interaction circuit is operable to select the user defined phrase based on receiving the associated one or more answer electromagnetic waves.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the interaction circuit is operable to receive the user defined phrase from the user and associate the user defined phrase with one or more of the answer electromagnetic waves specified by the user.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the interaction circuit is operable to permit the user to specify the one or more of the answer electromagnetic waves by selecting one or more of the mobile items.

9. An apparatus, comprising:

a plurality of radio frequency tags operable to produce respective answer electromagnetic waves in response to a query electromagnetic wave; and

a toy including a query circuit and an interaction circuit, the query circuit being operable to emit the query electromagnetic wave and receive one or more of the answer electromagnetic waves, and the interaction circuit being operable to select an output perceptible by a user based on which of the one or more answer electromagnetic waves are received.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein one or more of the radio frequency tags are disposed at respective physical locations, and the interaction circuit is operable to select at least one output from among a plurality of outputs based on which one or more answer electromagnetic waves are received.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein at least one of the radio frequency tags is operable to produce an answer electromagnetic wave that is distinguishable from others of the answer electromagnetic waves, and the interaction circuit is operable to select at least one output from among the plurality of outputs by distinguishing which one or more of the answer electromagnetic waves are received.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein at least one of the radio frequency tags is operable to produce an answer electromagnetic wave including at least one of:

(i) frequency content that is different from others of the answer electromagnetic waves, and the interaction circuit is operable to distinguish which one or more of the answer electromagnetic waves are received based on the frequency content thereof; and

(ii) a code that is different from others of the answer electromagnetic waves, and the interaction circuit is operable to distinguish which one or more of the answer electromagnetic waves are received based on the codes thereof.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein interaction circuit is operable to store indications of which one or more of the answer electromagnetic waves are received.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the indications are at least one of assigned, tagged, and created index numbers.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the interaction circuit is operable to select the output based on which of the index numbers were stored.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the plurality of outputs include characteristics that correspond to respective characteristics of the physical locations.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the respective characteristics of the physical locations include a type of room in which a given one of the radio frequency tags is disposed.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the type of room is taken from the group consisting of:

a kitchen, a living room, a dining room, a family room, a bedroom, a bathroom, a basement, a garage, a foyer, an attic, and a hallway.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the interaction circuit includes an output circuit coupled to at least one output transducer operable to produce the output perceptible by the user.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the at least one output transducer includes at least one of an audio transducer, a visual transducer, a tactile transducer, and a mechanical transducer.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the interaction circuit is operable to select at least one phrase from among a plurality of phrases based on the one or more answer electromagnetic waves, the output circuit is operable to produce an output signal corresponding to the selected phrase, and the output transducer includes the audio transducer, which is operable to produce an audible phrase corresponding to the selected phrase.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the selected phrase includes the characteristics that correspond to the respective characteristics of the physical locations at which one or more of the radio frequency tags are disposed and from which one or more answer electromagnetic waves are received.

23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the interaction circuit is operable to associate a user defined phrase with one or more of the answer electromagnetic waves such that the interaction circuit is operable to select the user defined phrase based on receiving the associated one or more answer electromagnetic waves.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the interaction circuit is operable to receive the user defined phrase from the user and associate the user defined phrase with one or more of the answer electromagnetic waves specified by the user.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the interaction circuit is operable to permit the user to specify the one or more of the answer electromagnetic waves by selecting one or more of the radio frequency tags.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the toy includes at least one output transducer operable to produce the output perceptible by the user, and the at least one output transducer includes at least one of an audio transducer, a visual transducer, a tactile transducer, and a mechanical transducer.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

selecting at least one phrase from among a plurality of phrases based on the answer electromagnetic wave; and

causing the audio transducer to produce an audible phrase corresponding to the selected phrase.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

providing at least two mobile items each operable to produce a respective answer electromagnetic wave in response to a query electromagnetic wave; and

selecting the at least one phrase based on which one or more of the answer electromagnetic waves are received.

30. The method of claim 28, further comprising associating a user defined phrase with one or more of the answer electromagnetic waves;

and

selecting the user defined phrase based on receiving the associated one or more answer electromagnetic waves.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising receiving the user defined phrase from the user and associating the user defined phrase with one or more of the answer electromagnetic waves specified by the user.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising permitting the user to specify the one or more of the answer electromagnetic waves by selecting one or more of the mobile items.

33. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

providing a plurality of radio frequency tags operable to produce respective answer electromagnetic waves in response to the query electromagnetic wave; and

selecting the output perceptible by the user based on which of the one or more answer electromagnetic waves are received.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising disposing one or more of the radio frequency tags at respective physical locations;

and selecting at least one output from among a plurality of outputs based on which one or more answer electromagnetic waves are received.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein at least one of the radio frequency tags is operable to produce an answer electromagnetic wave that is distinguishable from others of the answer electromagnetic waves, the method further comprising selecting at least one output from among the plurality of outputs by distinguishing which one or more of the answer electromagnetic waves are received.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein at least one of the radio frequency tags is operable to produce an answer electromagnetic wave including at least one of:

(i) frequency content that is different from others of the answer electromagnetic waves; and

(ii) a code that is different from others of the answer electromagnetic waves, the method further comprising distinguishing which one or more of the answer electromagnetic waves are received based on at least one of the frequency content and the codes thereof.

37. The method of claim 36, further comprising storing indications of which one or more of the answer electromagnetic waves are received.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the indications are at least one of assigned, tagged, and created index numbers.

39. The method of claim 38, further comprising selecting the output based on which of the index numbers were stored.

40. The method of claim 34, wherein the plurality of outputs include characteristics that correspond to respective characteristics of the physical locations.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the respective characteristics of the physical locations include a type of room in which a given one of the radio frequency tags is disposed.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the type of room is taken from the group consisting of:

a kitchen, a living room, a dining room, a family room, a bedroom, a bathroom, a basement, a garage, a foyer, an attic, and a hallway.

43. The method of claim 41, further comprising providing at least one output transducer operable to produce the output perceptible by the user, wherein the at least one output transducer includes at least one of an audio transducer, a visual transducer, a tactile transducer, and a mechanical transducer.

44. The method of claim 43, further comprising:

selecting at least one phrase from among a plurality of phrases based on the one or more answer electromagnetic waves; and

producing an output signal corresponding to the selected phrase.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein the selected phrase includes the characteristics that correspond to the respective characteristics of the physical locations at which one or more of the radio frequency tags are disposed and from which one or more answer electromagnetic waves are received.

46. The method of claim 44, further comprising associating a user defined phrase with one or more of the answer electromagnetic waves;

and selecting the user defined phrase based on receiving the associated one or more answer electromagnetic waves.

47. The method of claim 46, further comprising receiving the user defined phrase from the user;

and associating the user defined phrase with one or more of the answer electromagnetic waves specified by the user.

26. A method, comprising:

providing at least one mobile item operable to be carried by a user and emit an answer electromagnetic wave in response to receiving a query electromagnetic wave;

providing a toy operable to emit the query electromagnetic wave and receive the answer electromagnetic wave; and

selecting an output to issue from the toy that is perceptible by the user based on the answer electromagnetic wave.