Method and apparatus for facilitating communication between a user and a toy

• US 6,965,298 B2
• Filed: 03/09/2001
• Issued: 11/15/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/09/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Feinberg, Paul H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zimmerman, Brian
• Assistant Examiner(s): BROWN, VERNAL U
• Application Number:
  US09/803,250
• Publication Number:
  US 20020125996A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,712 Days
• Field of Search: 340/10.41, 340/573.1, 340/539.1, 340/5.3, 446/456, 446/175, 446/268, 446/297
• US Class Current: 340/10.41
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/753 using frequency selective elements, e.g. resonator
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/0008 General problems related to the reading of electronic memory record carriers, independent of its reading method, e.g. power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10039 interrogator driven, i.e. synchronous

Abstract

An apparatus includes a plurality of radio frequency tags operable to produce respective answer electromagnetic waves in response to a query electromagnetic wave; and a toy including a query circuit and an interaction circuit, the query circuit being operable to emit the query electromagnetic wave and receive one or more of the answer electromagnetic waves, and the interaction circuit being operable to select an output perceptible by a user based on which of the one or more answer electromagnetic waves are received.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a) a first item and a second item physically separate from the first item, the first and second items selected from one or more mobile items operable to be carried by a user and one or more items operable to be placed at one or more respective locations, the first item including a radio frequency tag operable to produce a first answer electromagnetic wave in response to a query electromagnetic wave and the second item including a radio frequency tag operable to produce a second answer electromagnetic wave in response to the query electromagnetic wave; and

b) a toy including a query circuit and an interaction circuit, the query circuit being operable to emit the query electromagnetic wave and receive the first answer electromagnetic wave from the first item and the second answer electromagnetic wave from the second item the interaction circuit being operable to i) associate a user-defined output including one or more first words with one or more of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves;

ii) select the user-defined output based on receiving the associated one or more answer electromagnetic waves;

iii) simultaneously select a second output including one or more second words from among a plurality of outputs based on receiving a particular one or more of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves; and

iv) output, in user-perceptible manner, the selected user-defined output combined with the simultaneously selected second output to form an intelligible phrase.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the interaction circuit includes an output circuit coupled to at least one output transducer operable to output the user-defined output combined with the second output.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the at least one output transducer includes at least one of an audio transducer, a visual transducer, a tactile transducer, and a mechanical transducer.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the output circuit includes said audio transducer and the audio transducer is operable to audibly output the user-defined output and the second output.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, comprising the first and second items, wherein the interaction circuit is operable to select at least one of the user-defined output and the second output based on which of the one or more of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves is received.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the interaction circuit is operable to receive the one or more first words of the user-defined output from the user and to store the one or more first words, wherein the interaction circuit is operable to select the stored one or more first words for output.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the interaction circuit is operable to associate the user-defined output with the one or more electromagnetic waves by the user selecting one or more of the mobile items.

38. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the interaction circuit is operable to select the second output based on receiving the particular one or more of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves that is associated with the user-defined output.

39. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the second output is selected, based on receipt of a particular answer electromagnetic wave which is different from the answer electromagnetic wave associated with the user-defined output.

8. An apparatus, comprising:

a plurality of radio frequency tags including a first radio frequency tag operable to produce a first answer electromagnetic wave in response to a query electromagnetic wave and a second radio frequency tag housed physically separate from the first item operable to produce a second answer electromagnetic wave in response to the query electromagnetic wave; and

a toy including a query circuit and an interaction circuit, the query circuit being operable to emit the query electromagnetic wave and receive the first and second answer electromagnetic waves, and the interaction circuit being operable to i) associate a user-defined output including one or more first words with one or more of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves;

ii) select the user-defined output based on receiving the associated one or more of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves;

iii) simultaneously select a second output including one or more second words from among a plurality of outputs based on receiving a particular one or more of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves; and

iv) to output, in user-perceptible manner, the selected user-defined output combined with the simultaneously selected second output to form an intelligible phrase.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the first and second radio frequency tags are disposed at respective physical locations, and the interaction circuit is operable to select at least one of the user-defined output and the second output from among a plurality of outputs based on which one or more of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves is received.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein each of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves includes at least one of:

(i) frequency content that is different from another one of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves, and the interaction circuit is operable to distinguish which one or more of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves are received based on the frequency content thereof; and

(ii) a code that is different from others of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves, and the interaction circuit is operable to distinguish which one of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves are received based on the codes thereof.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the interaction circuit is operable to store indications of which one or more of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves are received.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the indications are at least one of assigned, tagged, and created index numbers.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the interaction circuit is operable to select at least one of the user-defined output and the second output based on which of the index numbers were stored.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the plurality of outputs include characteristics that correspond to respective characteristics of the physical locations.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the respective characteristics of the physical locations include a type of room in which a given one of the radio frequency tags is disposed.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the type of room is taken from the group consisting of:

a kitchen, a living room, a dining room, a family room, a bedroom, a bathroom, a basement, a garage, a foyer, an attic, and a hallway.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the interaction circuit includes an output circuit coupled to at least one output transducer operable to output the user-defined output combined with the second output.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the at least one output transducer includes at least one of an audio transducer, a visual transducer, a tactile transducer, and a mechanical transducer.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said output circuit includes said audio transducer and is operable to audibly output the user-defined output combined with the second output.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein at least one of the selected user-defined output and the selected second output includes the characteristics that correspond to the respective characteristics of the physical locations at which one or more of the radio frequency tags are disposed and from which one or more of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves are received.

21. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the interaction circuit is operable to receive the one or more first words of the user-defined output from the user, to store the user-defined output, and to select the stored user-defined output.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the interaction circuit is operable to associate the user-defined output with the the first answer electromagnetic wave by the user selecting one or more of the radio frequency tags.

23. A method, comprising:

providing at least a first item and a second item selected from at least one mobile item operable to be carried by a user and at least one other item operable to be associated with a location, the first item operable to emit a first answer electromagnetic wave in response to receiving a query electromagnetic wave and the second item operable to emit a second answer electromagnetic wave in response to receiving a query electromagnetic wave;

providing a toy operable to emit the query electromagnetic wave and receive the first and second answer electromagnetic waves;

associating a user-defined output including one or more first words with the first answer electromagnetic wave;

selecting the user-defined output based on receiving the first answer electromagnetic wave;

simultaneously selecting a second output including one or more second words from among a plurality of outputs based on receiving a particular one or more of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves;

outputting, in user perceptible manner from the toy, the selected user-defined output combined with the simultaneously selected second output to form an intelligible phrase.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the toy includes at least one output transducer operable to output the user-defined output and the second output, and the at least one output transducer includes at least one of an audio transducer, a visual transducer, a tactile transducer, and a mechanical transducer.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

providing at least the first and second items; and

selecting at least one of the user-defined output and the second output based on which one or more of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves are received.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising receiving the one or more first words of the user-defined output from the user and storing the user-defined output, wherein said selecting selects the stored user-defined output.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein said associating includes specifying one of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves by selecting one of the first and second items by the user.

28. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

providing a plurality of the other items including radio frequency tags operable to produce respective answer electromagnetic waves in response to the query electromagnetic wave, wherein the user-defined output and the second output are selected based on which one or more of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves are received from the at least one mobile item and the plurality of other items.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the second output is selected from among a plurality of outputs corresponding to respective characteristics of the physical locations, based on which one or more of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves is received.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein at least one of the radio frequency tags is operable to produce one of the first and second answer electromagnetic wave that is distinguishable from another of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves, the method further comprising selecting at least one output from among a plurality of outputs including the user-defined output and the second output by distinguishing which of the one or more of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves is received.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein at least one of the radio frequency tags is operable to produce one of the first and second answer electromagnetic wave including at least one of:

(i) frequency content that is different from another of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves; and

(ii) a code that is different from another of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves, the method further comprising distinguishing which of the one or more of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves is received based on at least one of the frequency content and the codes thereof.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising storing indications of which of the one or more of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves is received.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the indications are at least one of assigned, tagged, and created index numbers.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising selecting at least one of the user-defined output and the second output based on which of the index numbers are stored as indications of receiving the one or more of the first and second answer electromagnetic waves.

35. The method of claim 29, wherein the respective characteristics of the physical locations include a type of room in which a given one of the radio frequency tags is disposed.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the type of room is taken from the group consisting of:

a kitchen, a living room, a dining room, a family room, a bedroom, a bathroom, a basement, a garage, a foyer, an attic, and a hallway.

37. The method of claim 29, wherein the second output corresponds to the respective characteristics of the physical locations at which one or more of the radio frequency tags are disposed and from which one or more of the answer electromagnetic waves is received.

40. A method, comprising:

utilizing a toy to detect the presence or lack of presence of a first wireless electromagnetic signal from a first item of a plurality of physically separate items and to detect the presence or lack of presence of a second wireless electromagnetic signal from a second item of the plurality of physically separate items;

associating a user-defined output including one or more first words with said first wireless electromagnetic signal;

selecting said user-defined output based on receiving said first wireless electromagnetic signal;

selecting a second output including one or more second predefined words based on receiving said second wireless electromagnetic signal; and

outputting, in user-perceptible manner, said user-defined output combined together with said second output to form an intelligible phrase.

41. A method, comprising:

utilizing a toy to detect the presence or lack of presence of at least a first wireless electromagnetic signal from a first one of a plurality of physically separate items and a second wireless electromagnetic signal from a second one of a plurality of physically separate items; and

outputting, in user-perceptible manner, upon detecting said first and second wireless electromagnetic signals, a first set of predefined words associated with said first wireless electromagnetic signal and a second set of predefined words associated with said second wireless electromagnetic signal, said first and second sets of predefined words being combined together to form an intelligible phrase.

42. The method as claimed in claim 41, wherein said first set of predefined words includes one or more words, said one or more words being defined by a user of the toy.

43. The method as claimed in claim 41, further comprising outputting, in user-perceptible manner, upon detecting only said first wireless electromagnetic signal, said first set of predefined words but not outputting said second set of predefined words.

44. The method as claimed in claim 43, further comprising outputting, in user-perceptible manner, upon detecting only said second wireless electromagnetic signal, said second set of predefined words but not outputting said first set of predefined words.