Apparatus And Method of Detecting And Tracking Objects In Amusement Games
First Claim
1. A method of operating an amusement game, the method comprising the steps of:
- positioning an image sensing device in view of a playfield of the amusement game;
defining at least one target area on the playfield;
operating the image sensing device to track the movement of a game object relative to the playfield;
comparing the movement of the game object to the at least one target area on the playfield; and
controlling at least one operating parameter of the amusement game based upon the movement of the game object relative to the target area.
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Abstract
An amusement game and method that tracks the movement of a game object utilizing an image sensing device that communicates with a control unit for the amusement game. The amusement game includes an image sensing device, such as a CCD or CMOS camera, that is positioned to view the playfield of the amusement game and track the movement of a game object along the playfield. The control unit receives a series of sequential image scans from the image sensing device and determines the position of the game object along the playfield. Based upon the detected position of the game object, the control unit modifies the operation of the game or awards player points.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method of operating an amusement game, the method comprising the steps of:
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positioning an image sensing device in view of a playfield of the amusement game; defining at least one target area on the playfield; operating the image sensing device to track the movement of a game object relative to the playfield; comparing the movement of the game object to the at least one target area on the playfield; and controlling at least one operating parameter of the amusement game based upon the movement of the game object relative to the target area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of controlling the operation of an amusement game having a playfield and a game object, where the game object is directed at the playfield by a player as part of the game play, the method comprising the steps of:
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positioning an image sensing device in view of the playfield, the image sensing device being operable to generate an image scan of the playfield; operating the image sensing device to capture a plurality of sequential image scans after the beginning of the game play; defining at least one target area on the playfield; tracking the movement of the game object relative to the playfield over the plurality of sequential image scans; determining the position of the game object relative to the target area; and controlling at least one operating parameter of the game play based upon the position of the game object relative to the target area. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An amusement game comprising:
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a playfield; at least one game object selectively directable onto the playfield by a player during game play; an image sensing device positioned to view the entire playfield and operable to create a plurality of sequential image scans of the playfield during game play; and a control unit in communication with the image sensing device to receive the plurality of sequential image scans, wherein the control unit is operable to define at least one target area on the image scan and determine the position of the game object relative to the target area for each image scan. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification