SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATION TO PERMIT AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION

• US 20130203036A1
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Published: 08/08/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IP Investment Holdings LLC
• Original Assignee: E3, LLC
• Inventors: Jabara, Gary B., Linder, Lloyd Frederick, Simon, David Brett
• Granted Patent: US 9,510,148 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 434/350
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/27 characterised by a large display in a public venue, e.g. in a movie theatre, stadium or game arena
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/32 using local area network [LAN] connections
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/35 Details of game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/46 Computing the game score
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/79 involving player-related data, e.g. identities, accounts, preferences or play histories
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/822 Strategy games; Role-playing games A63F13/825, A63F13/828 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/406 Transmission via wireless network, e.g. pager or GSM
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/51 Server architecture
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8023 the game being played by multiple players at a common site, e.g. in an arena, theatre, shopping mall using a large public display
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8064 Quiz
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10861 sensing of data fields affixed to objects or articles, e.g. coded labels postal sorting B07C3/14, conveying articles B65G47/48
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0635 Processing of requisition or of purchase orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/12 Hotels or restaurants
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 13/00 Voting apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 : Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 : adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

User equipment (UE) includes a short-range transceiver configured for communication with a plurality of wireless access points (APs) distributed throughout a venue. The individual UEs can communicate with the venue via the APs. The UEs can be configured to play interactive games with the venue, some of which may be displayed on the large screen in the venue and others that are displayed on the display of the UE. Data may be sent to the UEs individually or in groups. The data may be in the form of advertising, text messaging, images, video, multimedia, or the like. An array of UEs can receive portions of an overall image and function as individual pixels in a large display.

Claims

1. A method for audience participation using user equipment (UE) wireless communication devices in a venue configured with a plurality of wireless access points (APs) comprising:

transmitting data requiring a response from the plurality of APs to the UEs within the venue;

receiving the response from individual ones of the UEs at the plurality of APs;

providing the responses to a server for processing; and

displaying response results.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein displaying response results comprises providing the response results from the server to plurality of APs, transmitting the response results from the plurality of APs to the UEs within the venue, and displaying the response results on a display of the UE.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the venue includes a large display viewable by the audience and displaying response results comprises providing the response results for display on the large display in the venue.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the transmitted data requiring a response comprises a trivia question, the response from individual ones of the UEs comprises a response to the trivia question, providing the responses to the server for processing comprises verifying if each of the responses is correct, and displaying response results comprises displaying a summary of correct and incorrect responses.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

providing a player account associated with each of the UEs;

awarding a point to the player account associated with each of the UEs that provided a correct response, the points having a redemption value.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein transmitting the trivia question, receiving responses from the UEs, verifying the responses and displaying the response results is repeated for a plurality of trivia questions, and a point is awarded to the player account associated with the UEs for each correct response provided by that UE.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising awarding additional points to the player account associated with one of the UEs that provided the most correct responses to the plurality of trivia questions.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein successive ones of the plurality of trivia questions have an increased difficulty associated therewith and awarding points comprises awarding additional points to the player account associated with the UEs for each correct response provided by that UE based on the difficulty of the trivia question.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the venue includes a large display viewable by the audience and the transmitted data relates to an interactive game, the response from individual ones of the UEs comprises data for control of the interactive game and displaying response results comprises displaying game activity on the large display wherein individual ones of the UEs play an interactive game with game action being displayed on the large display.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein each of the individual ones of the UEs are engaged in the interactive game play against others of the individual ones of the UEs.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein a first selected group of the individual ones of the UEs are engaged in the interactive game play against a second selected group of the individual ones of the UEs.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein transmitting data requiring a response comprises initially transmitting data to a first one of the plurality of APs and displaying an image on respective displays of the UEs connected to the first AP, the received response comprising data received from the individuals ones of the UEs connected to the first AP, and displaying response results comprises transmitting data to a second one of the plurality of APs and displaying the image on respective displays of the UEs connected to the second AP, wherein the image is initially displayed on the respective displays of the UEs connected to the first AP and the image moves to the respective displays of the UEs connected to the second AP.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the second AP is randomly selected.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the second AP is selected based on the data received from the individuals ones of the UEs connected to the first AP.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein the image displayed on the respective displays of the UEs connected to the first AP is a beach ball and the beach ball is initially displayed on the respective displays of the UEs connected to the first AP and the beach ball moves to the respective displays of the UEs connected to the second AP

16. The method of claim 12 wherein the first AP has a radio coverage area in the venue and the second AP is selected based on its location having a coverage area adjacent to the coverage area of the first AP in the venue wherein the image is initially displayed in a first region of the venue corresponding to the coverage area of the first AP and the image moves to a second region of the venue adjacent to the first region of the venue corresponding to the coverage area of the second AP.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the image displayed on the respective displays of the UEs in the first region of the venue and the graphic design moves to the respective displays of the UEs in the second region of the venue.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the response from individual ones of the UEs at the plurality of APs is image data captured by the individual ones of the UEs and processing by the server comprises assembling the image data captured by the individual ones of the UEs into a photo montage.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein displaying response results comprises displaying the photomontage on the display of the respective ones of the individual UEs.

20. The method of claim 18 for use in a venue with a large display wherein displaying response results comprises displaying the photomontage on the large display of the venue.

22. The method of claim 2 wherein the selected portion of UEs have been authenticated in a manner that the identity of the user has been verified for each UE in the selected portion of UEs and the authenticated UEs transmit location data to the APs.

21. A method for audience participation using user equipment (UE) wireless communication devices in a venue configured with a plurality of wireless access points (APs) comprising:

determining a location of a selected portion of the UEs within the venue;

subdividing an image into smaller image portions;

transmitting individual ones of the image portions to individual ones of the selected portion of the UEs based on the location of the to individual ones of the selected portion of the UEs; and

displaying the individual ones of the image portions on displays of the respective individual ones of the selected portion of the UEs wherein the displays of the respective individual ones of the selected portion of the UEs display the individual ones of the image portions and collectively display the image.

23. The method of claim 21 wherein determining the location of a selected portion of the UEs comprises identifying a seat location in the venue for each of the selected portion of the UEs.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein determining the seat location comprises each of the selected portion of the UEs scanning a graphical code corresponding to the seat location in the venue and transmitting the graphical code to a server for processing to thereby determine the location in the venue for each of the selected portion of the UEs.

25. The method of claim 21, further comprising altering the image wherein subdividing the image comprises subdividing the altered image, wherein displaying the individual ones of the image portions comprises displaying the individual ones of the altered image portions on displays of the respective individual ones of the selected portion of the UEs wherein the displays of the respective individual ones of the selected portion of the UEs display the individual ones of the altered image portions and collectively display the altered image.

26. The method of claim 21 wherein the image is a series of video frames and subdividing the image into smaller image portions comprises sequentially subdividing the individual frames in the series of video frames into smaller image portions for each respective one of the individual frames in the series of video frames, transmitting individual ones of the image portions for each respective one of the individual frames in the series of video frames to individual ones of the selected portion of the UEs based on the location of the to individual ones of the selected portion of the UEs, and displaying the individual ones of the image portions for each respective one of the individual frames in the series of video frames on displays of the respective individual ones of the selected portion of the UEs wherein the displays of the respective individual ones of the selected portion of the UEs display the individual ones of the image portions in the series of video frames and collectively display the series of video frames.

27. A method for audience participation using user equipment (UE) wireless communication devices in a venue configured with a plurality of wireless access points (APs) comprising:

providing information for transmission by a selected one of the APs to a participant UE, the information providing an initial clue to a participant to lead the participant to a new location that is within communication range of a second one of the APs;

providing additional information for transmission by the second one of the APs to the participant UE, the additional information providing an additional clue to the participant to thereby lead the participant to a final location wherein the first participant to reach the final location is a contest winner.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein leading the participant to a new location and providing additional information is repeated for a plurality of APs wherein the participant must follow the clues to reach the final destination.

29. The method of claim 27 wherein the initial clue provides information to respond to a query, the method further comprising:

transmitting the query by the second one of the APs;

receiving a response to the query from the participant UE; and

verifying that the response to the query is correct, wherein providing additional information for transmission by the second one of the APs to the participant UE only occurs if the response to the query is correct.

30. A method for audience participation using a plurality of user equipment (UE) wireless communication devices in a venue configured with a plurality of wireless access points (APs) comprising:

establishing a communication link between a first of the plurality of APs and a first of the plurality of the UEs within the venue;

downloading data from the first AP and the first UE;

establishing a direct communication link between the first UE and a second of the plurality of the UEs within the venue; and

transferring the downloaded data from the first UE directly to the second UE using the direct communication link wherein the transferring of the downloaded data from the first UE to the second UE does not utilize any of the plurality of APs.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising configuring the first UE as a wireless hotspot to thereby enable the establishment of the direct communication link between the first UE and the second UE.

32. A system to permit audience participation in a venue using user equipment (UE) wireless communication devices in the venue comprising:

a plurality of wireless access points (APs) each having an area of radio coverage, each of the plurality of APs being configured to communicate with any of the plurality of UEs within the area of coverage of the respective APs;

a server communicatively coupled to the plurality of APs and configured to provide data to the plurality of APs and to receive data from the plurality of APs;

wherein the plurality of APs initially transmit data requiring a response from the plurality of APs to the UEs within the venue and to receive the responses from individual ones of the UEs;

the server being configured to receive the responses and to process the responses to thereby provide processed results to a display.

33. The system of claim 32, further comprising a large venue display viewable by multiple members of the audience wherein the server is configured to provide the processed results to the large venue display.

34. The system of claim 32 wherein the UEs each include a display and the server is configured to provide the processed results to the plurality of APs for transmission to thereby display the processed results on the display of the UEs

35. The system of claim 32 wherein the

the responses from individual ones of the UEs comprise image data captured by the individual ones of the UEs and the server is further configured to process the received image data to thereby generate a photo montage for display.

36. The system of claim 35, further comprising a large venue display viewable by multiple members of the audience wherein the server is configured to provide the photo montage to the large venue display.

37. The system of claim 35 wherein the UEs each include a display and the server is configured to provide the photo montage to the plurality of APs for transmission to thereby display the photo montage on the display of the UEs

38. The system of claim 32 wherein the responses from individual ones of the UEs comprise location data indicating a location of the individual UEs within the venue, the server being further configured to process the location data and to subdivide an image into a plurality of smaller image portions and assign each of the image portions to a particular one of the UEs based on the location data, the APs being further configured to transmit the image data portions to the respective ones of the UEs based on the location data for display on a display of the UEs wherein the displays of the respective individual ones of the UEs are configured to display the individual ones of the image portions and collectively display the image.

39. The system of claim 38 wherein the image is a frame in a series of video frames and the server is further configured to process each of the series of video frames by subdividing the individual frames in the series of video frames into smaller image portions for transmission to the respective ones of the UEs based on the location data wherein the displays of the respective individual ones of the UEs are configured to display the individual ones of the video frame portions and collectively display the video frames.