Electronic device for enhancing an interactive experience with a tangible medium of expression

• US 8,038,538 B2
• Filed: 06/06/2005
• Issued: 10/18/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mattel Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Mattel Incorporated
• Inventors: Clark, Bradley, Salmon, Robert W., Stucke, Donald W. Jr., McIlvain, Scott H., Aiken, Brian
• Primary Examiner(s): Laneau; Ronald
• Application Number:
  US11/569,215
• Publication Number:
  US 20080300062A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,325 Days
• Field of Search: 463/43, 463/44, 434/81, 434/85, 434/155, 446/175, 446/484
• US Class Current: 463/43
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/95 Storage media specially adapted for storing game information, e.g. video game cartridges
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/206 Game information storage, e.g. cartridges, CD ROM's, DVD's, smart cards
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 7/30 Compression speech analysis-synthesis for redundancy reduction G10L19/00; for image communication H04N; Expansion; Suppression of unnecessary data, e.g. redundancy reduction

Abstract

An electronic device for enhancing an interactive experience with a tangible medium of expression is disclosed. The device is operable with a any of a plurality of preprogrammed, removable memory modules, at least one memory module having content relating to the tangible medium. The electronic device has a processor coupled to each of a user input device, a user output device, and a memory address space comprising a preprogrammed, non-removable electronic memory. A memory interface is configured to increase the memory address space accessible to the processor when any combination of the memory modules is coupled to the interface. The processor is configured to cause the output device to produce an output signal relating to the tangible medium based on the content of the memory address space when any combination of the plurality of removable memory modules including the at least one memory module is coupled to the interface.

Claims

1. An electronic device for enhancing an interactive experience with a tangible medium of expression, the electronic device being operable with any of a plurality of preprogrammed, removable memory modules, at least one removable memory module having content relating to the tangible medium of expression, the electronic device comprising:

a processor coupled to each of a memory address space having memory address space content, a user input device, and a user output device, the memory address space comprising a preprogrammed, non-removable electronic memory and;

a memory interface coupled to the processor, the memory interface configured to increase the memory address space accessible to the processor when any combination of the removable memory modules is coupled to the memory interface,

wherein the processor is configured to cause the user output device to produce an output signal relating to the tangible medium of expression based on the memory address space content when any combination of the plurality of removable memory modules including the at least one removable memory module is coupled to the memory interface.

2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the memory interface has a plurality of memory module connectors, each configured and exposable sufficiently to removably receive any of the plurality of memory modules.

3. The electronic device according to claim 2, further comprising a housing having an accessible enclosure, the processor, the non-removable memory, the output device, and the memory interface in the housing, the plurality of memory module connectors in the accessible enclosure.

4. The electronic device according to claim 3, further comprising a platform, a coupling, and a base, the platform configured to support the tangible medium, the coupling configured to rotatably and slidably couple the platform to the base, the housing removably couplable to the base.

5. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the tangible medium has a surface with an identification code, the at least one removable memory has stored therein content relating to the identification code, the user input device comprises an identification code detector, the user output device comprises an audio signal generator, and the processor is configured to cause the audio signal generator to produce an audio signal relating to the tangible medium in response to detection of the identification code by the identification code detector.

6. The electronic device according to claim 5, wherein the identification code is a substantially invisible optically detectable code and the identification code detector is an electro-optic device configured to detect the substantially invisible optically detectable code.

7. The electronic device according to claim 6 in combination with the tangible medium, wherein the substantially invisible optically detectable code is an index based code.

8. The electronic device according to claim 7, wherein the index based code is frame based.

9. The electronic device according to claim 7, wherein the index based code is object based.

10. The electronic device according to claim 6 in combination with the tangible medium, wherein the substantially invisible optically detectable code is an location based code.

11. The electronic device according to claim 1 in combination with the tangible medium, wherein the tangible medium is consumable.

12. The electronic device according to claim 1 in combination with the tangible medium, wherein the tangible medium is reusable.

13. The electronic device according to claim 1 in combination with the tangible medium, wherein the tangible medium comprises a template.

14. The electronic device according to claim 13, wherein the template comprises a scene.

15. The electronic device according to claim 13, wherein the template comprises at least one selectable object having a selectable object identification code, the output device comprises an audio signal generator, and the processor is configured to cause the audio signal generator to produce an audio signal relating to the selectable object in response to detection of the selectable object identification code by the identification code detector.

16. The electronic device according to claim 1 in combination with the tangible medium, wherein the tangible medium comprises a plurality of elements, each element of the plurality of elements having an element identification code, the user output device comprises an audio signal generator, and the processor is configured to cause the audio signal generator to produce an audio signal relating to one element of the plurality of elements in response to detection of the element identification code of the one element by the identification code detector.

17. The electronic device according to claim 16, wherein each element is magnetic.

18. The electronic device according to claim 16, wherein at least two elements of the plurality of elements are arrangeable to comprise a work of art.

19. The electronic device according to claim 16, wherein each element of the plurality of elements represents a word and at least two elements of the plurality of elements are arrangeable to form a sentence.

20. The electronic device according to claim 1, in combination with the tangible medium, wherein the tangible medium comprises a sheet having a plurality of separable elements, each separable element having an element identification code, the user output device comprises an audio signal generator, and the processor is configured to cause the audio signal generator to produce an audio signal relating to one separable element of the plurality of separable elements in response to detection of the unique identification code of the one separable element by the identification code detector.

21. The electronic device according to claim 1, further comprising a housing having a viewer and a generally cylindrical shaped grip with an accessible enclosure, the processor, the memory address space, the user input device, and the user output device in the housing, the memory interface in the enclosure.

22. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the device further comprises a wand, and a housing having an accessible enclosure, the user input device in the wand, the processor, the memory address space, and the user output device in the housing, the memory interface in the enclosure.

23. The electronic device according to claim 22 wherein the wand has a generally stylus-like shape and further comprises a marking element.

24. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the device further comprises a housing having an accessible enclosure, a platform, a coupling, and a base, the processor, the memory address space, and the user output device in the housing, the memory interface in the enclosure, the housing removably couplable to the base, the coupling configured to rotatably and slidably couple the platform to the base.

25. The electronic device according to claim 24, wherein the coupling is configured to releasably retain the platform in a plurality of positions including a generally horizontal position, an angled position relative to a vertical, and the angled position at a plurality of vertical heights.

26. The device according to claim 24, wherein the platform has a tangible medium retainer configured to releasably retain the tangible medium adjacent the platform.

27. The electronic device according to claim 24, wherein the platform has a substantially flat planar surface configured to support the tangible medium.

28. The electronic device according to claim 27, wherein the substantially flat planar surface is ferromagnetic.

29. The device according to claim 28, wherein the substantially flat planar surface is reusable.

30. An interactive electronic device operable with any of a plurality of preprogrammed, removable read only memory modules to increase read only memory of the device, the interactive electronic device comprising:

a processor operatively coupled to each of a memory address space comprising a preprogrammed non-removable read only memory, a user input device, and a user output device; and

a memory interface coupled to the processor, the memory interface comprising;

a plurality of memory module connectors, each configured and exposed sufficiently to removably receive any of the plurality of read only memory modules; and

a bus configured to physically and electrically simultaneously couple all of the memory module connectors with the processor and to physically and electrically simultaneously couple the processor with any combination of the plurality of removable memory modules arranged in any order in any of the plurality of memory connectors so as to increase the memory address space accessible by the processor whereby all removable memory modules received in the memory module connectors are addressed simultaneously by the processor through the bus and the plurality of memory module connectors.

31. The interactive electronic device of claim 30, wherein the bus is configured to couple all of the memory module connectors directly with the processor and to couple the processor directly with any combination of the plurality of removable memory modules whereby all removable memory modules received in the memory module connectors are addressed directly by the processor through the bus and the plurality of memory module connectors.

32. The interactive electronic device of claim 30, wherein the device is for enhancing an interactive experience with a tangible medium of expression, at least one removable read only memory module of the plurality of preprogrammed, removable read only memory modules has content relating to the tangible medium of expression, and the processor is configured to cause the user output device to produce an output signal relating to the tangible medium of expression based on the content of the at least one removable read only memory module when any combination of the plurality of removable read only memory modules including the at least one removable read-only memory module is coupled to the memory interface.