CONTEXT-BASED INTERACTIVE PLUSH TOY

• US 20110223827A1
• Filed: 05/26/2011
• Published: 09/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hallmark Cards Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Hallmark Cards Incorporated
• Inventors: Friedmann, Peter B., Bodendistel, Timothy G., Garbos, Jennifer R.
• Granted Patent: US 8,911,277 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 446/175
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 2200/00 Computerized interactive toys, e.g. dolls
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 3/28 Arrangements of sound-producing means in dolls; Means in dolls for producing sounds
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 33/38 Picture books with additional toy effects, e.g. pop-up or slide displays picture books B42D1/00

Abstract

An interactive toy for interacting with a user while a story is being read aloud from a book or played from a movie/video. The toy includes a speech recognition unit that receives and detects certain triggering phrases as they are read aloud or played from a companion literary work. The triggering phrase read aloud from the book or played in the movie/video may have independent significance or may only have significance when combined with other phrases read aloud from the book or played in the movie/video.

Claims

1. An interactive toy comprising:

a body having an interior cavity;

a speech recognition unit at least partially positioned within the interior cavity, the speech recognition unit configured to receive audible sounds corresponding to a literary work and, upon receiving audible sounds corresponding to the literary work, identify at least one triggering phrase, wherein the literary work comprises;

a plurality of non-triggering phrases that form part of a story told in the literary work; and

at least one triggering phrase that also forms part of the story told in the literary work, wherein the at least one triggering phrase is selectively placed among the plurality of non-triggering phrases such that the speech recognition unit can differentiate a triggering phrase from one or more non-triggering phrases;

a sound module at least partially positioned within the interior cavity, the sound module having a controller with a plurality of audio messages stored therein for selective playback via a speaker, wherein the sound module activates one or more messages if the at least one triggering phrase is received and identified by the sound recognition unit; and

a user engagable switch for powering on the interactive toy.

2. The interactive toy of claim 1, wherein the literary work is a movie or a live broadcast.

3. The interactive toy of claim 1, wherein the literary work is a book.

4. The interactive toy of claim 3, wherein the at least one triggering phrase is selectively placed at an end of a sentence within the story told in the book.

5. The interactive toy of claim 3, wherein the at least one triggering phrase is selectively placed at the beginning of a sentence within the story told in the book.

6. The interactive toy of claim 3, wherein the at least one triggering phrase is selectively placed at an end of a sentence at an end of a page of the book.

7. The interactive toy of claim 3, wherein the at least one triggering phrase is selectively placed in a clause within a sentence within the story told in the book.

8. A literary work comprising:

a first plurality of non-triggering phrases that form part of a story told in the literary work; and

at least one triggering phrase that supplements the story told in the literary work, wherein the at least one triggering phrase is selectively placed among a second plurality of non-triggering phrases;

wherein the first plurality of non-triggering phrases and the at least one triggering phrase are received and analyzed as audible sounds by an interactive toy when read aloud by a user, the interactive toy comprising;

a body having an interior cavity;

a speech recognition unit at least partially positioned within the interior cavity and configured to receive the audible sounds and determine if the at least one triggering phrase was received; and

a sound module at least partially positioned within the interior cavity, the sound module having a speaker and a controller with a plurality of audio messages stored therein for selective activation via the speaker, wherein one or more messages are activated if the at least one triggering phrase was received.

9. The literary work of claim 8, wherein the literary work is a movie, a book, or a live broadcast.

10. The literary work of claim 9, wherein the literary work is a book and wherein the at least one triggering phrase is selectively placed at an end of a sentence within the story told in the book.

11. The literary work of claim 9, wherein the literary work is a book and wherein the at least one triggering phrase is selectively placed at the beginning of a sentence within the story told in the book.

12. The literary work of claim 9, wherein the literary work is a book and wherein the at least one triggering phrase is selectively placed at an end of a sentence at an end of a page of the book.

13. The literary work of claim 9, wherein the literary work is a book and wherein the at least one triggering phrase is selectively placed in a clause within a sentence within the story told in the book.

14. The literary work of claim 8, wherein the literary work is a book and wherein the book includes at least one additional triggering phrase and one additional non-triggering phrase to continue the story in the book.

15. The literary work of claim 14, wherein the additional triggering phrase is analyzed by the interactive toy and initiates activation of another message by the toy upon detection.

16. A method of interacting with a user performed by an interactive toy, the method comprising:

receiving a first plurality of audible sounds from the user, wherein the first plurality of audible sounds correspond to text read aloud from a book that contains at least one triggering phrase and at least one non-triggering phrase, the at least one triggering phrase and the at least one non-triggering phrase combine to form part of a narrative in the book that describes a sequence of fictional or non-fictional events;

analyzing the first plurality of audible sounds to detect the at least one triggering phrase and the at least one non-triggering phrase; and

upon detecting the at least one triggering phrase and the at least one non-triggering phrase, activating a first responsive program that supplements the narrative in the book, wherein the first responsive program is activated only after detection of the at least one non-triggering phrase.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

receiving a second plurality of audible sounds from the user, wherein the second plurality of audible sounds correspond to text read aloud from the book that contains at least one additional triggering phrase and at least one additional non-triggering phrase, wherein the at least one additional triggering phrase and the at least one additional non-triggering phrase combine to supplement the narrative in the book formed at least in part by the at least one triggering phrase and the at least one non-triggering phrase;

analyzing the second plurality of audible sounds to detect the at least one additional triggering phrase and the at least one additional non-triggering phrase; and

upon detecting the at least one additional triggering phrase and the at least one additional non-triggering phrase, activating a second responsive program that supplements the narrative in the book, wherein the second responsive program is activated only after detection of the at least one additional non-triggering phrase.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

receiving a second plurality of audible sounds from the user, wherein the second plurality of audible sounds correspond to text read aloud from the book that contains the at least one triggering phrase and at least one additional non-triggering phrase;

analyzing the second plurality of audible sounds to detect the at least one triggering phrase and the at least one additional non-triggering phrase; and

upon detecting the at least one triggering phrase and the at least one additional non-triggering phrase, activating a second responsive program that supplements the narrative in the book, wherein the second responsive program is activated only after detection of the at least one non-triggering phrase for a second time.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein analyzing the first plurality of audible sounds to detect the at least one triggering phrase and the at least one non-triggering phrase includes:

parsing at least a portion of the first plurality of audible sounds into one or more constituent phonemes; and

comparing the one or more constituent phonemes of the at least a portion of the first plurality of audible sounds against one or more constituent phonemes of the at least one triggering phrase and the at least one non-triggering phrase.