Smart toys
First Claim
1. A plurality of toys for performing a simulated audible conversation therebetween, each of the toys comprising:
- a) an architecture including a physical layer, a messenger layer and an application layer, said physical layer communicating with said application layer through said messenger layer;
b) said physical layer receiving and transmitting messages from and to compatible toys;
c) said messenger layer receiving and verifying messages from the physical layer and passing verified messages to the application layer, said messenger layer also receiving messages from the application layer and passing the messages from the application layer to the physical layer for transmission;
d) said application layer including;
i. a forest of decision graphs, each of which correspond to a conversation, the messages received from the messenger layer being used by the application layer to select a conversation from the forest of decision graphs;
ii. a participants list that lists the plurality of toys; and
iii. an identification number of one of the plurality of toys that is designated as a conversation manager so that transmissions from the conversation manager relating to the participants list and the conversation are received by each toy that is not the conversation manager.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Talking toys perform simulated conversations with one another. The toys each include a forest of decision graphs. The forest of decision graphs is the same for each toy. Each of the decision graphs corresponds to a conversation and includes a number of nodes, each of which corresponds to a portion of the conversation. The nodes also include one or more contexts which connect the nodes to children nodes. As a result, the selection of the context directs the progression of conversation. The toys select a decision graph/conversation that includes all or most of the toys as participants. The conversation is then performed as the toys traverse the selected decision graph. The toys transfer messages back and forth via a wireless transmission and reception arrangement as they traverse the decision graph. The toys play the portions of the conversation through a speaker. Each of the toys includes an architecture including a physical layer, which includes the transmission and reception circuitry, and an application layer that contains the forest of decision graphs as well as a participant list and identification information for a conversation manager. The conversation manager toy broadcasts updates to the participant list and the current conversation node. The architecture also includes a messenger layer that verifies and passes messages between the application the physical layers.
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Citations
49 Claims
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1. A plurality of toys for performing a simulated audible conversation therebetween, each of the toys comprising:
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a) an architecture including a physical layer, a messenger layer and an application layer, said physical layer communicating with said application layer through said messenger layer;
b) said physical layer receiving and transmitting messages from and to compatible toys;
c) said messenger layer receiving and verifying messages from the physical layer and passing verified messages to the application layer, said messenger layer also receiving messages from the application layer and passing the messages from the application layer to the physical layer for transmission;
d) said application layer including;
i. a forest of decision graphs, each of which correspond to a conversation, the messages received from the messenger layer being used by the application layer to select a conversation from the forest of decision graphs;
ii. a participants list that lists the plurality of toys; and
iii. an identification number of one of the plurality of toys that is designated as a conversation manager so that transmissions from the conversation manager relating to the participants list and the conversation are received by each toy that is not the conversation manager. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
a) a receiver component and a transmitter component so that when a message is received by the receiver component of a receiving toy, the transmitter component passes a message acknowledgement (MSG_ACK) containing a copy of at least a portion of the message to the physical layer for transmission to an originating toy that originally sent the message; and
b) said messenger layer passing the message to the application layer upon receipt of an acknowledgement to the message acknowledgement (ACK_ACK) in response to the transmission of the message acknowledgement (MSG_ACK) indicating that the originating toy has verified proper receipt of the message by the receiving toy.
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5. The plurality of toys of claim 1 wherein the physical medium is infrared and the physical layer includes infrared reception and transmission circuitry.
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6. The plurality of toys of claim 1 wherein each of the decision graphs includes a number of nodes, each of which includes a node identification number, with at least some of the nodes corresponding to a portion of the conversation and said transmissions from the conversation manager relating to the conversation including an identification number for a node.
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7. The plurality of toys of claim 1 wherein the messenger and application layers are implemented by micro-controllers.
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8. The plurality of toys of claim 1 wherein the messenger and application layers are implemented by an application-specific integrated circuit chip.
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9. The plurality of toys of claim 1 wherein the identification number of one of the plurality of toys that is designated as a conversation manager is a Global Identification Number.
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10. A toy for performing a simulated conversation with at least one other compatible toy comprising:
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a) a speaker;
b) a transmission and reception means;
c) a controller in communication with the speaker and the transmission and reception means; and
d) said controller including;
i. at least one decision graph corresponding to a conversation between the toy and the compatible toy, said decision graph including a number of nodes with at least some of said nodes corresponding to portions of the conversation;
ii. a participants list that lists toys participating in the simulated conversation; and
iii. an identification number of a toy that is designated as a conversation manager so that transmissions from the conversation manager relating to the participants list and the simulated conversation are received by the toy whereby said toy receives an information message from the compatible toy through the transmission and reception means, and uses said message to select a node of the decision graph so that a portion is played through the speaker and a message is transmitted to the compatible toy through the transmission and reception means. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
each of the nodes includes a node identification number, and the transmissions from the conversation manager relating to the simulated conversation include an identification number of a node of the decision graph. -
13. The toy of claim 10 where the transmission and reception means includes infrared transmission and reception circuitry.
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14. The toy of claim 10 wherein the controller is a micro-controller.
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15. The toy of claim 10 wherein the controller is an application-specific integrated circuit chip.
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16. The toy of claim 10 wherein the identification number of a toy that is designated as a conversation manager is a Global Identification Number.
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17. A method for managing a simulated conversation between multiple toys, where the multiple toys include transmission and reception means, unique identification numbers and identical decision graphs with multiple nodes where the decision graphs correspond to conversations between the multiple toys and the multiple nodes correspond to portions of the conversations, said method comprising the steps of:
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a) designating one of said toys, based on an identification number, as the conversation manager;
b) causing the conversation manager to select and broadcast a node of a decision graph to the multiple toys; and
c) causing the conversation manager to broadcast a participants list including toys involved in the conversation to the multiple toys;
whereby all of the multiple toys are synchronized with regard to the selected node and participants list.
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18. A plurality of toys for performing a simulated conversation there between comprising:
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a) a first toy and a second toy, each including;
i. a transmission means;
ii. a reception means;
iii. a controller in communication with the speaker, transmission means and reception means and including at least one decision graph corresponding to the simulated conversation, said decision graph including a plurality of nodes with said plurality of nodes corresponding to portions of the simulated conversation; and
b) said first toy selecting one of said plurality of nodes via its controller without manual intervention by a user and transmitting the selected node via its transmission means without manual intervention by a user to the reception means of the second toy, whereupon receipt, said second toy playing a portion of the simulated conversation corresponding to the selected node. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A toy for performing a simulated conversation with at least one other toy comprising:
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a) a transmission means;
b) a controller in communication with the transmission means and including at least one decision graph corresponding to the simulated conversation between the toy and the other toy, said decision graph including a plurality of nodes corresponding to portions of the simulated conversation where each of the nodes has a probability assigned thereto and each of the nodes includes one or more contexts with a probability assigned to each context and said controller also including a participants list; and
c) said controller selecting one of said plurality of nodes based upon the context, the participants list, the probabilities of the contexts and the probabilities of the nodes and transmitting it to the other toy via the transmission means. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 45)
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40. A toy for performing a simulated conversation with at least one other toy comprising:
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a) a transmission means;
b) a controller in communication with the transmission means and including a participants list and at least one decision graph corresponding to the simulated conversation between the toy and the other toy, said decision graph including a plurality of nodes corresponding to portions of the simulated conversation where each of said nodes includes one or more contexts with each of the contexts corresponding to an edge leading to a child node so that a selection of a context directs progression of the simulated conversation; and
c) said controller selecting one of said plurality of nodes using the participants list so that a node corresponding to a toy present in the participants list is selected and said controller also selecting a context of the selected node and transmitting the selected node and selected context to the other toy via the transmission means. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44)
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46. A method for simulating a conversation between a first toy and a second toy comprising the steps of:
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a) providing first and second toys, each including at least one decision graph corresponding to the simulated conversation between the first toy and the second toy, the decision graph including a plurality of nodes corresponding to portions of the simulated conversation;
b) the first toy selecting a node from the decision graph of the first toy without manual intervention by a user;
c) the first toy transmitting the selected node from the first toy to the second toy without manual intervention by a user;
d) the second toy receiving the selected node; and
e) the second toy playing a portion of the simulated conversation corresponding to the selected node. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48)
f) providing each node of the decision graph with at least one context;
g) providing each of the toys with a participants list;
h) providing each of the contexts with a probability;
i) providing each of the nodes with a probability;
and wherein step b) is based upon the participants list, the contexts and their associated probabilities and the nodes and their associated probabilities.
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48. The method of claim 47 further comprising the step of selecting a default context at the beginning of the simulated conversation.
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49. A method of managing a simulated conversation between a plurality of toys comprising the steps of:
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a) providing each of the plurality of toys with a participants list, said participants list including a currently active toys list and a doubtfuls list;
b) including toys that are present in the simulated conversation in the currently active toys list;
c) placing toys that are removed from the simulated conversation on the doubtfuls list; and
d) placing toys that are added to the simulated conversation on the currently active toys list.
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Specification