Tool employing dynamic competition levels for improved performance

• US 9,039,535 B2
• Filed: 10/17/2011
• Issued: 05/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/17/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Boss, Gregory Jensen, Brignull, Michele Palladino, Hamilton, Rick Allen II, O'Connell, Brian Marshall, Sand, Anne R.
• Primary Examiner(s): D'Agostino, Paula A
• Application Number:
  US13/275,303
• Publication Number:
  US 20130095928A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,317 Days
• Field of Search: 463/23, 463/42, 463/43, 705/7.38, 705/7.42
• US Class Current: 463/42
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 9/24 Electric games; Games using electronic circuits not otherwise provided for video games A63F13/00; computerized gaming systems G07F17/32
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06398 Performance of employee with respect to a job function

Abstract

A dynamic competition tool varies the competition level that one or more competing users experience while working to reach a goal or objective. The dynamic competition tool receives performance information from each of a number of activity stations with which respective users may interact to achieve a goal. The dynamic competition tool commands a user interactive device within an activity station to vary the level of difficulty experienced by the user of the interactive device as that user progresses toward the goal.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

providing a plurality of activity stations to a plurality of users, wherein each user interacts with a respective activity station in pursuit of an end goal, wherein each activity station includes a client information handling system (IHS) and a display coupled thereto, thus providing a plurality of client IHSs;

receiving, by a dynamic competition management tool in a server IHS, end goal information that defines the end goal, the server IHS being coupled to the plurality of client IHSs via a communication network therebetween;

sensing, by each activity station, performance information of the respective user of the activity station in pursuit of the end goal, thus providing sensed performance information;

receiving, by the dynamic competition management tool, sensed performance information from each of the activity stations;

sending, by the dynamic competition management tool, a command to a user interactive device in a particular activity station to vary a level of difficulty that the user of the particular activity station experiences as the user of the particular activity station progresses toward the end goal;

receiving, by the dynamic competition management tool, intermediate goal information that defines an intermediate goal between a start point and the end goal, a path being defined between the start point and the intermediate goal;

receiving, by the dynamic competition management tool, sub-path information that defines a first sub-path between the intermediate goal and the end goal, the sub-path information further defining a second sub-path between the intermediate goal and the end goal;

determining, by the dynamic competition management tool, from the sensed performance information a particular user to first reach the intermediate goal on the path;

determining, by the dynamic competition management tool, from the sensed information relative positions of the other users on the path relative to the particular user;

sending, by the dynamic competition management tool, a command to display a position of the particular user reaching the intermediate goal relative to the other users.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the dynamic competition management tool, a selection of the particular user of one of the first sub-path and the second sub-path, thus designated a selected sub-path and an unselected sub-path.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

instructing, by the dynamic competition management tool, the user interactive device to exhibit a different level of difficulty to the particular user over the selected sub-path than the unselected sub-path.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

instructing, by the dynamic competition management tool, the activity stations to display a gate closed indicator at the intermediate goal to indicate for the selected sub-path, thus preventing other users from taking the selected sub-path such that the other users take the unselected sub-path.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

displaying, by the activity station, a course map indicating the relative positions of the users of the activity station as they progress from the start point over the path and sub-paths to the end goal.