Prompting a player of a dance game

• US 8,444,464 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2011
• Issued: 05/21/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Harmonix Music Systems Incorporated (Epic Games, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Harmonix Music Systems Incorporated (Epic Games, Inc.)
• Inventors: Boch, Matthew C., Crooker, Kasson D., Tate, Dean N., Carriuolo, Adam, Adams, Isaac, Glinert, Eitan
• Primary Examiner(s): Elisca, Pierre E
• Application Number:
  US13/250,322
• Publication Number:
  US 20120021833A1
• Time in Patent Office: 599 Days
• Field of Search: 463/7
• US Class Current: 463/7
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/211 using inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers or gyroscopes
• 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 13/428 involving motion or position input signals, e.g. signals representing the rotation of an input controller or a player's arm motions sensed by accelerometers or gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/44 involving timing of operations, e.g. performing an action within a time slot
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/46 Computing the game score
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/52 involving aspects of the displayed game scene
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/5375 for graphically or textually suggesting an action, e.g. by displaying an arrow indicating a turn in a driving game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/54 involving acoustic signals, e.g. for simulating revolutions per minute [RPM] dependent engine sounds in a driving game or reverberation against a virtual wall
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/67 adaptively or by learning from player actions, e.g. skill level adjustment or by storing successful combat sequences for re-use
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/814 Musical performances, e.g. by evaluating the player's ability to follow a notation
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1093 using visible light
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/305 for providing a graphical or textual hint to the player
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6009 for importing or creating game content, e.g. authoring tools during game development, adapting content to different platforms, use of a scripting language to create content
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/61 Score computation
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/638 according to the timing of operation or a time limit
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6607 for animating game characters, e.g. skeleton kinematics
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/69 Involving elements of the real world in the game world, e.g. measurement in live races, real video
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8047 Music games
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883

Abstract

Presented herein are methods, apparatuses, programs, and systems for prompting a player to perform a series of dance moves. A player is prompted to perform a series of dance moves by providing a timeline comprising at least a first time interval associated with a first dance move, and a second time interval associated with a second dance move; displaying an icon representing the first dance move at a first location on the display for the duration of the first time interval; and displaying an icon representing the second dance move at the first location on the display for the duration of the second time interval, wherein the icon representing the first dance move includes one or more representations of a body and indicates on the one or more representations of the body at least one body part whose position is important during the performance of the first dance move.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the steps comprising:

providing dance video game information including a game play screen to a display, wherein the game play screen includes an avatar that dances during a song and a first icon that displays a representation of a body in at least one pose representing an associated first dance move;

triggering a display of the first icon representing the first dance move in the dance video game for a first time interval during the song;

triggering a display of a second icon representing a second dance move in the dance video game for a second time interval during the song; and

arranging the display of the first icon and the second icon in relation to one another such that the first icon is arranged in the display at a first fixed location representing a current dance move in the song and the second icon is arranged in the display at a second fixed location representing a next dance move in the song.

2. The computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising receiving from a camera an input performance for the first dance move.

3. The computer readable medium of claim 2, further comprising comparing the input performance with a corresponding target performance to produce a score, wherein full body tracking of the input performance is used to produce a score.

4. The computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising normalizing a skeleton representation of an input performance for the first dance move and comparing this input performance skeleton representation with a target performance for the first dance move.

5. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the first icon indicates on the at least one pose at least one body part that is highlighted to perform the first dance move and the second icon indicates a second body part that is highlighted to perform the second dance move.

6. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the first icon includes at least an indicia of motion for at least one body part.

7. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the first icon includes an indicia of repetition of motion for at least one body part.

8. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the first icon includes an indicia of motion for the body in at least one pose.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the representation of the body in at least one pose representing an associated first dance move includes an outline of the body.

10. A method executed on a game console comprising:

providing to a display from the game console a game play screen in a dance video game comprising a first region, a second region, and a third region;

displaying in the first region of the game play screen provided from the game console a first icon representing a first dance move for a first time period associated with the first dance move;

translating into the first region from the second region of the game play screen provided from the game console, at the end of the first time period, a second icon depicting a second dance move;

displaying in the third region of the game play screen provided from the game console at the end of the first time period the first icon; and

displaying in the second region of the game play screen provided from the game console at the end of the first time period a third icon representing a third dance move.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

determining a score for an input performance of the first dance move during the first time period; and

changing an attribute of the first icon based on the score.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the attribute is one of a color, a brightness, a background, or a size.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving from a camera an input performance for the first dance move; and

comparing the input performance with a corresponding target performance to produce a score, wherein full body tracking of the input performance is used to produce a score.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the first icon is arranged in the display at a first fixed location representing the current dance move and the second icon is arranged in the display at a second fixed location representing the next dance move.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the game play screen includes an avatar that dances a plurality of dance moves during a song, and wherein the first icon includes a representation of a body in at least one pose representing an associated first dance move of the plurality of dance moves.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the first icon includes at least an indicia of motion for at least one body part and the second icon remains in a fixed location on the game play screen before translating into the first region.

17. A method executed on a game console comprising:

providing dance video game information including a game play screen to a display from the game console, wherein the game play screen includes an avatar that dances during a song and a first icon that displays a representation of a body in at least one pose representing an associated first dance move;

providing in the game play screen a first fixed region representing a current dance move and a second fixed region representing a next dance move; and

placing in the first fixed region the first icon and in the second fixed region a second icon representing a second dance move.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving from a camera an input performance for the first dance move; and

comparing the input performance with a corresponding target performance to produce a score, wherein full body tracking of the input performance is used to produce a score.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising translating the first icon out of the first region when transitioning the next dance move to become the current dance move.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with instructions and when executed by a game console performing the steps comprising:

providing dance video game information including a game play screen to a display, wherein the game play screen includes an avatar that dances during a song and a first icon that displays a representation of a body in at least one pose representing an associated first dance move;

triggering a display of the first icon representing the first dance move in the dance video game for a first time interval during the song;

triggering a display of a second icon representing a second dance move in the dance video game for a second time interval during the song;

arranging the display of the first icon and the second icon in relation to one another such that the first icon represents a current dance move in the song and the second icon represents a next dance move in the song; and

translating the first icon and the second icon such that the second icon represents the current dance move in the song and a third icon represents the next dance move in the song.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein the first icon includes at least an indicia of motion for at least one body part and the second icon remains in a fixed location on the game play screen before translating into the first region.

22. The computer readable medium of claim 20, further comprising:

receiving from a camera an input performance for the first dance move; and

comparing the input performance with a corresponding target performance to produce a score, wherein full body tracking of the input performance is used to produce a score.