CASINO ELECTRONIC GAMING MACHINE CABINET WITH MOBILE DEVICE DOCK AND RELATED TECHNIQUES

• US 20170169657A1
• Filed: 12/11/2015
• Published: 06/15/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Igt Canada Solutions Ulc (GTECH SpA)
• Original Assignee: Igt Canada Solutions Ulc (GTECH SpA)
• Inventors: Keilwert, Stefan, Morrow, James William
• Granted Patent: US 9,805,545 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3206 Player sensing means, e.g. presence detection, biometrics
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3209 Input means, e.g. buttons, touch screen
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3211 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3216 Construction aspects of a gaming system, e.g. housing, seats, ergonomic aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3218 wherein at least part of the system is portable
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3225 Data transfer within a gaming system, e.g. data sent between gaming machines and users
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3246 involving coins and/or banknotes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3251 involving media of variable value, e.g. programmable cards, programmable tokens

Abstract

A casino electronic gaming machine cabinet is provided, comprising at least one display screen, a plurality of input controls, a dock configured to receive a player'"'"'s mobile device, and at least one communication interface capable of electronic communication with the player'"'"'s mobile device via the dock while the mobile device executes wagering game software providing wagering game play to the player. The cabinet further comprises control circuitry configured to transmit to the docked mobile device control signals corresponding to input commands entered by the player via the input controls of the cabinet, and display on the display screen(s) of the cabinet graphics output from the wagering game software received from the player'"'"'s docked mobile device, providing visual components of the wagering game play.

Claims

1. A casino electronic gaming machine cabinet comprising:

at least one display screen;

a plurality of input controls;

a dock configured to receive a player'"'"'s mobile device;

at least one communication interface capable of electronic communication with the player'"'"'s mobile device via the dock while the mobile device executes wagering game software providing wagering game play to the player; and

control circuitry configured to;

receive wagering game input commands entered by the player via the input controls of the casino electronic gaming machine cabinet;

transmit, to the player'"'"'s mobile device via the at least one communication interface while the player'"'"'s mobile device is docked at the casino electronic gaming machine cabinet, control signals corresponding to the received wagering game input commands, the control signals being configured to provide control input to the wagering game software executing on the player'"'"'s docked mobile device;

receive from the player'"'"'s docked mobile device, via the at least one communication interface, graphics output from the wagering game software providing visual components of the wagering game play; and

display, on the at least one display screen of the casino electronic gaming machine cabinet, the graphics output from the wagering game software executing on the player'"'"'s docked mobile device.

2. The casino electronic gaming machine cabinet of claim 1, wherein the mobile device executing wagering game software providing wagering game play to the player comprises the mobile device performing at least one random number generation function in providing the wagering game play to the player.

3. The casino electronic gaming machine cabinet of claim 1, further comprising at least one audio speaker, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

receive from the player'"'"'s docked mobile device, via the at least one communication interface, audio output from the wagering game software providing audio components of the wagering game play; and

play, via the at least one audio speaker of the casino electronic gaming machine cabinet, the audio output from the wagering game software executing on the player'"'"'s docked mobile device.

4. The casino electronic gaming machine cabinet of claim 1, wherein no component of the casino electronic gaming machine cabinet is configured to provide wagering game play when no mobile device is docked at the casino electronic gaming machine cabinet.

5. The casino electronic gaming machine cabinet of claim 4, further comprising a proximity sensor configured to detect proximity of a person to the casino electronic gaming machine cabinet, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to display on the at least one display screen an attract sequence in response to detection of proximity of a person to the casino electronic gaming machine cabinet when no mobile device is docked at the casino electronic gaming machine cabinet.

6. The casino electronic gaming machine cabinet of claim 1, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

receive data from a proximity sensor of the player'"'"'s docked mobile device via the at least one communication interface; and

detect proximity of one or more persons other than the player to the casino electronic gaming machine cabinet based at least in part on the data received from the proximity sensor of the player'"'"'s docked mobile device.

7. The casino electronic gaming machine cabinet of claim 1, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

receive data from a light sensor of the player'"'"'s docked mobile device via the at least one communication interface; and

adjust, based at least in part on the data received from the light sensor of the player'"'"'s docked mobile device, at least one display quality parameter of the at least one display screen of the casino electronic gaming machine cabinet.

8. The casino electronic gaming machine cabinet of claim 1, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

receive data from an accelerometer of the player'"'"'s docked mobile device via the at least one communication interface; and

detect, from the accelerometer data received from the player'"'"'s docked mobile device, when the casino electronic gaming machine cabinet is being moved in an unauthorized manner.

9. A method of providing wagering game play to a player having a mobile device in a casino venue, the method comprising:

providing in the casino venue a casino electronic gaming machine cabinet comprising at least one display screen, a plurality of input controls, a dock configured to receive the player'"'"'s mobile device, and at least one communication interface capable of electronic communication with the player'"'"'s mobile device via the dock while the mobile device executes wagering game software providing wagering game play to the player;

receiving, at the casino electronic gaming machine cabinet, wagering game input commands entered by the player via the input controls of the casino electronic gaming machine cabinet;

transmitting, from the casino electronic gaming machine cabinet to the player'"'"'s mobile device via the at least one communication interface while the player'"'"'s mobile device is docked at the casino electronic gaming machine cabinet, control signals corresponding to the received wagering game input commands, the control signals being configured to provide control input to the wagering game software executing on the player'"'"'s docked mobile device;

receiving, at the casino electronic gaming machine cabinet from the player'"'"'s docked mobile device via the at least one communication interface, graphics output from the wagering game software providing visual components of the wagering game play; and

displaying, on the at least one display screen of the casino electronic gaming machine cabinet, the graphics output from the wagering game software executing on the player'"'"'s docked mobile device.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

in response to determining that the mobile device has moved from outside a boundary of the casino venue to inside the casino venue boundary, changing at least one parameter of the wagering game software, including changing at least one aspect of the wagering game play other than wagering allowability.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein changing at least one parameter of the wagering game software comprises changing at least one parameter selected from the group consisting of a return-to-player (RTP) parameter, a payout size parameter, an operator percentage parameter, and a bonus trigger parameter of the wagering game in response to determining that the mobile device has moved from outside the casino venue boundary to inside the casino venue boundary.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

accessing data from a global positioning system (GPS) unit of the player'"'"'s mobile device, the data indicating a history of geographical locations visited by the player carrying the mobile device;

generating a wagering game offering personalized to the player based on the history of geographical locations visited by the player; and

transmitting the personalized wagering game offering to the player'"'"'s mobile device from a server system of the casino venue.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

accessing personal information of the player via the player'"'"'s mobile device;

selecting wagering game software for the player based at least in part on the personal information of the player accessed via the player'"'"'s mobile device; and

transmitting the selected wagering game software to the player'"'"'s mobile device from a server system of the casino venue.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising uploading from the player'"'"'s mobile device to a server system of the casino venue a photograph, captured by a camera of the mobile device, of the player playing the wagering game via the docked mobile device.

15. At least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a player'"'"'s mobile device, perform a method of providing wagering game play to the player while the mobile device is docked at a casino electronic gaming machine cabinet, the method comprising:

receiving, from the casino electronic gaming machine cabinet, control signals corresponding to wagering game input commands entered by the player via input controls of the casino electronic gaming machine cabinet, the control signals being configured to provide control input to wagering game software executing on the docked mobile device;

executing the wagering game software at the mobile device using the control input from the control signals received from the casino electronic gaming machine cabinet, wherein executing the wagering game software comprises performing at least one random number generation function in providing the wagering game play to the player; and

transmitting, to the casino electronic gaming machine cabinet, graphics output from the wagering game software providing visual components of the wagering game play for display on a display of the casino electronic gaming machine cabinet.

16. The at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises:

detecting, using a camera of the mobile device, at least one gesture made by the player; and

using the at least one gesture detected by the mobile device'"'"'s camera as a control input for the wagering game software executing on the docked mobile device.

17. The at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving touch input from the player on a touchscreen of the docked mobile device; and

translating the received touch input into touchpad input to the wagering game software.