GAMING MACHINE HAVING MULTI-TOUCH SENSING DEVICE

• US 20090325691A1
• Filed: 05/05/2009
• Published: 12/31/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sg Gaming, Inc. (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: WMS Gaming Incorporated (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Inventors: Loose, Timothy C.
• Granted Patent: US 8,241,912 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/30
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3202 Hardware aspects of a gaming system, e.g. components, construction, architecture thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3209 Input means, e.g. buttons, touch screen
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/34 depending on the stopping of moving members in a mechanical slot machine, e.g. "fruit" machines

Abstract

A gaming system and method for conducting a wagering game includes a primary display that displays a randomly selected outcome. The gaming system includes a multi-touch input system having a multi-touch sensing device, a memory, and a local controller. The multi-touch sensing device includes an array of input sensors that detect a multi-point gesture. Each sensor detects a touch input made by a player of the wagering game. The memory includes gesture classification codes each representing a distinct combination of characteristics relating to the gesture. The local controller receives data indicative of at least two of the characteristics related to the multi-point gesture and determines whether the data corresponds to any of the gesture classification codes. A main controller is coupled to the local controller to receive the gesture classification code responsive to the local controller determining that the data corresponds to a gesture classification code.

Claims

1. A gaming system, comprising:

a primary display that displays a randomly selected outcome of a wagering game;

a multi-touch input system that includes a multi-touch sensing device, a memory, and a local controller coupled to the multi-touch sensing device and to the memory, the multi-touch sensing device including an array of input sensors that detect a multi-point gesture, each sensor detecting at least one touch input made by a player of the wagering game, the memory including a plurality of gesture classification codes each representing a distinct combination of characteristics relating to the gesture, and wherein the local controller is programmed to receive data indicative of at least two of the characteristics related to the multi-point gesture and to determine whether the data corresponds to any one of the gesture classification codes; and

a main controller coupled to the local controller to receive the one gesture classification code responsive to the local controller determining that the data corresponds to the one gesture classification code, the main controller receiving an indication of a wager to play the wagering game.

2. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the main controller receives any one of the gesture classification codes only when the local controller determines that the data associated with the multi-touch gesture corresponds to any one of the gesture classification codes.

3. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the at least two characteristics include any combination comprising at least two of a location of a contact point relative to the multi-point sensing device, a gesture direction, or a gesture speed.

4. The gaming system of claim 3, wherein the at least two of the characteristics are the gesture direction and the gesture speed.

5. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the main controller is programmed to cause a graphic relating to the wagering game to be displayed on the primary display such that the graphic appears to move in a manner corresponding to the at least two characteristics.

6. The gaming system of claim 5, wherein the graphic is involved in the depiction of the randomly selected outcome of the wagering game.

7. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the multi-point gesture approximates a dice throw gesture such that a speed of the multi-point gesture is related to a speed of dice being thrown and a direction of the multi-point gesture is related to a spin direction of the dice, wherein the at least two of the characteristics correspond to the speed and to the direction.

8. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the array of input sensors include an array of conductive pads arranged on a printed circuit board.

9. The gaming system of claim 8, wherein each of the conductive pads detect the at least one input via capacitive sensing of one or more of the player'"'"'s fingers.

10. The gaming system of claim 8, wherein the multi-touch input system further includes a substrate overlaying the array of input sensors, wherein the at least one touch input is made relative to the substrate.

11. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the array of input sensors forms a grid of touchpad cells, each of the touchpad cells being capable of detecting at least one contact point.

12. The gaming system of claim 1, further comprising a cabinet that houses a gaming terminal, and wherein the multi-touch sensing device is located on a button panel of the gaming terminal relative to the cabinet and is positioned in a non-overlapping relationship with the primary display.

13. A method of conducting a wagering game on a gaming machine, the method comprising:

accepting a player input at a player input device of the gaming machine and transforming the player input to an indication of a wager to play the wagering game;

receiving, via a main controller, the indication of the wager;

sensing a multi-point gesture from a player via a multi-touch sensing device, the multi-touch sensing device comprising an array of input sensors, each sensor detecting at least one touch input made by the player;

producing, from an output of the multi-touch sensing device, data indicative of at least two characteristics related to the multi-point gesture via a local controller coupled to the multi-touch sensing device;

determining whether the data corresponds to one of a plurality of gesture classification codes, each a distinct combination of characteristics relating to the multi-point gesture; and

responsive to the data corresponding to the one gesture classification code, communicating the one gesture classification code to the main controller; and

using the main controller to cause the display to display an outcome of the wagering game.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising displaying an animation of a graphic related to an outcome of the wagering game, wherein the graphic appears to move in accordance with the sensed gesture characteristics indicated by the code.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the characteristics of the multi-point gesture include a location, a direction and a speed of the at least two distinct contact points.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the multi-point gesture approximates a dice throw gesture, and wherein the animated graphic that is displayed depicts at least two dice being thrown such that the speed of the multi-point gesture is related to a speed of the dice being thrown and the direction of the multi-point gesture is related to a spin direction of the dice.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the communicating is carried out only when the local controller determines that the data corresponds to any of the plurality of gesture classification codes.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the multi-touch sensing device is located on a button panel of the gaming machine and is positioned in a non-overlapping relationship with the display.

19. A computer readable storage medium encoded with instructions for directing a gaming system to perform the method of claim 13.

20. A method of detecting gestures sensed by a multi-touch sensing device in a gaming machine, the method comprising:

accepting a player input at a player input device of the gaming machine and transforming the player input to an indication of a wager to play a wagering game on the gaming machine;

receiving, from an array of input sensors of the multi-point sensing device, data indicative of at least two characteristics related to a multi-point gesture sensed by the array of input sensors, the multi-point gesture being made by a player of the wagering game relative to the array of input sensors;

determining, via a local controller coupled to the multi-point sensing device, whether the data corresponds to any one of a plurality of gesture classification codes, each code representing a distinct combination of characteristics relating to the multi-point gesture;

responsive to the data corresponding to one of the gesture classification codes, communicating the one gesture classification code to a main controller, which causes a graphic to be displayed via the main controller on a display of the gaming machine, the graphic appearing to move in accordance with the at least two characteristics indicated by the code, the graphic being related to the wagering game; and

using the main controller to cause the display to display an outcome of the wagering game.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the at least two characteristics include any combination comprising at least two of a location of a contact point relative to the multi-point sensing device, a gesture direction, or a gesture speed.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the at least two characteristics include the gesture direction and the gesture speed, wherein the graphic includes simulated dice, and wherein the multipoint gesture approximates a dice throw gesture such that the gesture speed of the multi-point gesture is related to a speed of the simulated dice and the gesture direction of the multi-point gesture is related to a spin direction of the simulated dice.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the simulated dice are involved in the depiction of a randomly selected outcome of the wagering game.