CONTROLLING AND PRESENTING ONLINE WAGERING GAMES

• US 20110201414A1
• Filed: 10/23/2009
• Published: 08/18/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/24/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sg Gaming, Inc. (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: WMS Gaming Incorporated (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Inventors: Schwartz, Richard T., Schulhof, Scott H., Barclay, Brian J., Louie, Daniel P.
• Granted Patent: US 8,668,586 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/25
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3206 Player sensing means, e.g. presence detection, biometrics
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3218 wherein at least part of the system is portable
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3223 Architectural aspects of a gaming system, e.g. internal configuration, master/slave, wireless communication

Abstract

A wagering game system and its operations are described herein. In embodiments, the operations can include receiving login information to log in to an online gaming venue and determining a player account associated with the login information. The operations can also include presenting the online gaming venue on a personal computing device associated with the player account. The online gaming venue can include casino related data that indicates ambience of a gambling environment (e.g., a casino, a poker room, etc.), interactive objects to interact with the player account, and communication functions to share recorded activity and other personal information, between the player account and other player accounts within the online gaming venue. In some embodiments, the operations can also include determining indications of player emotions and presenting multi-media files in conjunction with player avatars to represent the indicated emotions within the online gaming venue.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

presenting a virtual representation of a gaming venue, wherein the virtual representation of the gaming venue includes a first avatar associated with a first wagering game player account, wherein the virtual representation of the gaming venue also includes a second avatar utilizing a virtual representation of a wagering game machine within the virtual representation of the gaming venue, wherein the second avatar represents a second wagering game player account associated with the gaming venue;

detecting a selection, by the first avatar, of the virtual representation of the wagering game machine;

detecting an indication of information to communicate from the first avatar to the second avatar in response to detecting the selection of the virtual representation of the wagering game machine; and

communicating the information to the second avatar within the virtual representation of the gaming venue.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining an additional selection of the virtual representation of the wagering game machine;

generating, in response to the additional selection, a virtual waiting list indicating a list of avatars waiting to play a wagering game on the virtual representation of the wagering game machine; and

placing a representation of the first avatar on the waiting list.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein said detecting the selection, by the first avatar, of the representation of the wagering game machine comprises:

determining that the first avatar selects an additional representation of the second avatar on the waiting list.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

detecting wagering game activity performed by the second avatar via the virtual representation of the wagering game machine;

generating a sound of the wagering game activity;

detecting a distance between the virtual representation of the wagering game machine and the first avatar within the virtual representation of the gaming venue;

modifying a volume for the sound according to the distance between the virtual representation of the wagering game machine and the first avatar; and

presenting the sound from the perspective of the first avatar as a background effect.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising:

detecting an additional selection, by the first avatar, of the virtual representation of the wagering game machine; and

presenting to the first avatar, in response to the additional selection, a wagering game played on the virtual representation of the wagering game machine by the second avatar.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the information to communicate from the first avatar to the second avatar comprises a file that includes a recording of gaming activity performed by the first avatar during a gaming session, and wherein communicating the information to the second avatar within the virtual representation of the gaming venue comprises presenting the file to the second avatar to view the gaming activity.

7. An apparatus, comprising:

means for presenting an access object that provides access for avatars to a private location within a virtual representation of a wagering game venue;

means for determining a selection of the access object by a first of the avatars via player input, wherein the first of the avatars is located outside of the private location, wherein the first of the avatars is associated with a wagering game player account logged in to the virtual representation of the wagering game venue, and wherein the wagering game player account lists one or more social contacts that belong to the wagering game player account;

means for determining that a second of the avatars is inside the private location, wherein the second of the avatars belongs to one of the one or more social contacts; and

means for presenting to the first of the avatars activity of the second avatar within the private location in response to the selection of the access object by the first of the avatars via the player input.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising:

means for determining a social status for the wagering game player account;

means for determining that a level of the social status is insufficient to grant the first of the avatars access to the private location;

means for detecting access to an advertisement by the first of the avatars associated with the wagering game player account; and

means for granting the first of the avatars access to the private location based on the access to the advertisement by the first of the avatars.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 further comprising:

means for providing communications between the first of the avatars to the second of the avatars within the private location.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 further comprising:

means for determining that the wagering game player account possesses a level of social status sufficient to gain access to the private location;

means for granting access to the private location to the first of the avatars based on the level of the social status; and

means for granting the first of the avatars an avatar power for accessing the private location based on the level of the social status, wherein the avatar power extends beyond the private location to additional locations in the virtual representation of the wagering game venue.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the means for determining that the wagering game player account possesses the level of social status sufficient to gain access to the private location comprises one or more of means for determining a value of social network points that the wagering game player account owns, and means for determining an award that the wagering game player account has received that indicates an increase to the level of the social status for a momentary amount of time.

12-25. -25. (canceled)

26. One or more machine-readable storage media including instructions that, when executed by one or more machines, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

presenting a virtual representation of a gaming venue, wherein the virtual representation of the gaming venue includes a first avatar associated with a first wagering game player account, wherein the virtual representation of the gaming venue also includes a second avatar utilizing a virtual representation of a wagering game machine within the virtual representation of the gaming venue, wherein the second avatar represents a second wagering game player account associated with the gaming venue;

detecting a selection, by the first avatar, of the virtual representation of the wagering game machine;

detecting an indication of information to communicate from the first avatar to the second avatar in response to detecting the selection of the virtual representation of the wagering game machine; and

communicating the information to the second avatar within the virtual representation of the gaming venue.

27. The one or more machine-readable storage media of claim 26, further comprising:

determining an additional selection of the virtual representation of the wagering game machine;

generating, in response to the additional selection, a virtual waiting list indicating a list of avatars waiting to play a wagering game on the virtual representation of the wagering game machine; and

placing a representation of the first avatar on the waiting list.

28. The one or more machine-readable storage media of claim 27, wherein the detecting the selection, by the first avatar, of the representation of the wagering game machine comprises:

determining that the first avatar selects an additional representation of the second avatar on the waiting list.

29. The one or more machine-readable storage media of claim 26, the operations further comprising:

detecting wagering game activity performed by the second avatar via the virtual representation of the wagering game machine;

generating a sound of the wagering game activity;

detecting a distance between the virtual representation of the wagering game machine and the first avatar within the virtual representation of the gaming venue;

modifying a volume for the sound according to the distance between the virtual representation of the wagering game machine and the first avatar; and

presenting the sound from the perspective of the first avatar as a background effect.

30. The one or more machine-readable storage media of claim 27, the operations further comprising:

detecting an additional selection, by the first avatar, of the virtual representation of the wagering game machine; and

presenting to the first avatar, in response to the additional selection, a wagering game played on the virtual representation of the wagering game machine by the second avatar.

31. The one or more machine-readable storage media of claim 26, wherein the information to communicate from the first avatar to the second avatar comprises a file that includes a recording of gaming activity performed by the first avatar during a gaming session, and wherein communicating the information to the second avatar within the virtual representation of the gaming venue comprises presenting the file to the second avatar to view the gaming activity.