Systems and methods for using images to generate gameplay content

• US 8,419,534 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2009
• Issued: 04/16/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Disney Enterprises Incorporated (The Walt Disney Company)
• Original Assignee: Disney Enterprises Incorporated (The Walt Disney Company)
• Inventors: Koo, Chang Hoh, Dispenza, Dana J., Dutilly, Derek T., Kalson, Amy B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pandya, Sunit
• Assistant Examiner(s): DITORO, NICHOLAS
• Application Number:
  US12/570,171
• Publication Number:
  US 20110077076A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,294 Days
• Field of Search: 463/30, 463/43
• US Class Current: 463/30
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/213 comprising photodetecting means, e.g. cameras, photodiodes or infrared cells A63F13/219, A63F13/655 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/42 by mapping the input signals into game commands, e.g. mapping the displacement of a stylus on a touch screen to the steering angle of a virtual vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/58 by computing conditions of game characters, e.g. stamina, strength, motivation or energy level
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/655 by importing photos, e.g. of the player
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6018 where the game content is authored by the player, e.g. level editor or by game device at runtime, e.g. level is created from music data on CD
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/65 for computing the condition of a game character
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6623 for animating a group of characters
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/695 Imported photos, e.g. of the player

Abstract

Systems and methods for using images to generate gameplay content are disclosed herein. Specifically, for example, one aspect of the present disclosure involves a method for altering a virtual world generated by a video game system. The method includes obtaining one or more images from sources external to the video game system and processing the one or more images to obtain one or more inputs. The one or more inputs are provided to a gameplay engine to alter an output of the gameplay engine.

Claims

1. A method for altering a virtual world generated by a video game system comprising:

obtaining one or more images from a source initially external to a video game system;

processing the one or more images to obtain one or more inputs;

identifying a human face in the one or more images, the one or more inputs being obtained at least in part by recognizing facial structure in the face;

and providing the one or more inputs to a gameplay engine to alter an output of the gameplay engine, wherein the gameplay engine comprises a terrain generator and the output of the gameplay engine comprises a level geometry based at least in part upon the one or more inputs provided to the gameplay engine.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the obtained one or more images comprise pixels having red, green and blue (RGB) components, wherein further the processing of one or more images to obtain one or more inputs comprises:

sampling one or more pixels of the images; and

extracting the RGB values associated with the sampled pixels.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

providing the RGB values to the terrain generator; and

using the RGB values to generate the level geometry.

4. The method of claim 3 comprising:

generating gameplay content to be used in conjunction with the generated level geometry; and

outputting the content to a display.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the recognized facial structure is used in determining one or more of:

a facial symmetry, eye shape, eye slope, a ratio between nose width to height, cheek prominence, or angle of chin.

6. The method of claim 5 comprising using one or more of:

a facial symmetry, eye shape, eye slope, a ratio between nose width to height, cheek prominence, or angle of chin to modify at least one character attribute of a character object within the virtual world, wherein the at least one character attribute is one other than a facial structure.

7. The method of claim 1 comprising:

determining edges within the one or more images;

generating an enemy attack pattern based on the edge data; and

executing the enemy attack pattern during gameplay.

8. The method of claim 1 comprising:

determining a color content of the one or more images;

modifying characteristics of a weather object with an associated weather attribute based on the color content of the one or more images, wherein the color content of the image is associated with a particular weather pattern and the color content is provided to the weather attribute; and

executing gameplay content in accordance with the generated weather conditions.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining the one or more images comprises accessing images from a storage device or media from a media reader coupled to the video gaming system.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining the one or more images comprises accessing images stored at a network location using a URL address.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining the one or more images comprises capturing one or more images using an image capture device coupled to the video gaming system.

12. A video game system for operating a video game, the system comprising:

at least one processor;

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory configured to store a digital image obtained by the video game system;

a video game content source in communication with the processor, the video game content source comprising a video game application, the processor being configured to execute the video game application to generate gameplay content based on data extracted from the digital image, wherein extracting the data comprises at least in part a identifying a human face in the one or more images, ii) recognizing facial structure in the face, and iii) extracting data from the identified face, and wherein the data extracted from the digital image is used as seed input for a terrain generator which generates the gameplay content in the form of a level geometry;

and an output device coupled to the processor and configured to present the gameplay content to a player.

13. The video game system of claim 12 comprising a network adapter and being configured to obtain digital images located at a network location, the digital images being stored in the memory.

14. The video game system of claim 12 comprising an image capture device for capturing digital images, the digital images being stored in the memory.

15. The video game system of claim 12 comprising a media reader, the video gaming system being configured to read in digital images from media via the media reader and store the images in the memory.

16. The video game system of claim 14 comprising one or more controller inputs, the controller inputs being configured to receive user input, wherein the image capture device is configured to capture an image upon receiving input from a user via the controller input.