Gaming system leveraging physical polyhedron with M faces rotationally linked to ordered data set of N elements

• US 9,846,521 B1
• Filed: 07/02/2015
• Issued: 12/19/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Brian K. Buchheit
• Original Assignee: Brian K. Buchheit
• Inventors: Buchheit, Brian K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Martello, Edward
• Application Number:
  US14/790,349
• Time in Patent Office: 901 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/241 Touch screen
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/2447 Motion detector
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/2457 Display screens, e.g. monitors, video displays
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/2458 LCD's
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/2486 the computer being an accessory to a board game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 9/0468 Electronic dice; electronic dice simulators
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1637 Sensing arrangement for detection of housing movement or orientation, e.g. for controlling scrolling or cursor movement on the display of an handheld computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04802 3D-info-object: information is displayed on the internal or external surface of a three dimensional manipulable object, e.g. on the faces of a cube that can be rotated by the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning

Abstract

A communications pathway between a data handling system and a physical input device can be established. The system can include one or more processors, memories, and program instructions. The device can be a physical object having N faces along an axis of rotation. The N faces can include a display. A content item from an ordered dataset of content items can be presented within a field of a graphical user interface of the display. A number of discrete items in the ordered dataset of content items is M, where M is greater than N. Rotations of the object can be detected along the axis of rotation. Each rotation of one of the N faces can results in navigation through the dataset of content items. Responsive to each navigation through the dataset of items can result in a corresponding presentation of the navigated to one of the items within the field.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

establishing a communications pathway between a data handling system and a physical input device, wherein the data handling system comprises one or more processors, one or more memories, and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more memories, wherein at least one of the one or more processors execute the program instructions, wherein said physical input device is a physical object having N faces along an axis of rotation, wherein at least one of the N faces comprises of a display;

presenting within a field of a graphical user interface of the display a content item from an ordered dataset of content items of the data handling system, wherein a number of discrete items in the ordered dataset of content items is M, where M is greater than N;

detecting rotations of the physical object along the axis of rotation, wherein each rotation of one of the N faces results in a navigation through the ordered dataset of content items; and

responsive to each navigation through the ordered dataset of content items results in a corresponding presentation of the navigated to one of the content items within the field.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting the rotationally-dependent dataset further comprises:

presenting probability dependent content within the display based on the detecting, wherein the display is a user facing display.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the physical object is a free moving object that is not physically coupled to the data handling system, wherein the physical object comprises at least one sensor to determine which of the faces of the N sided object is a user facing face, wherein the physical object wirelessly communicates with the data handling system, wherein the wireless communications comprise at least one of conveying an indication from the at least one sensor to the data handling system and receiving an element from the ordered dataset.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the physical object is an object with two opposing displays that is a free moving object, wherein each of the N faces corresponds to one side of the two or more sided object, wherein the physical object comprises at least one sensor to determine which of the faces of the two or more sided object is upwardly facing, wherein at least two sides of the physical object comprises a display area upon which data from a rotationally-dependent dataset is displayed, wherein a datum of the data displayed in the display area represents a navigated one of the content items of the ordered dataset.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the data within the ordered dataset is randomized responsive to at least one of a programmatic action and a user initiated action.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the data within the ordered dataset comprises at least one of a playing card graphic, wherein the graphic comprises of at least one of a pip, a face card graphic, and a motif.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the ordered dataset represents a collection of cards, wherein the collection of cards is at least one of a playing card pack and a trading card game card pack, wherein the pack is at least one of a starter deck, a booster pack, a user organized deck, and a plurality of user owned digital assets associated with the trading card game.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the ordered dataset is a multi-dimensional data structure wherein each dimension of the data structure is associated with at least one of a rotational axis, a content item data type, and a content item metadata.

9. A device comprising:

a solid polyhedral shell having N faces along an axis of rotation, wherein N is two or more;

motion detection components configured to detect motion along predetermined directional axes of the polyhedral shell having N faces; and

a data handler within the shell configured to capture movement data from the motion detection components, wherein the data handler comprises one or more processors, one or more memories, and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more memories, wherein at least one of the one or more processors execute the program instructions, wherein the data handler navigates through an ordered dataset of content items such that one ordered data item of the ordered dataset is active at any one time, wherein a number of discrete items in the ordered dataset of content items is M, wherein M is greater than N, wherein the captured movement data indicates the solid polyhedral shell being rotated along the axis of rotation so that X number of faces are cycled as the object is rotated from the initial face to a post-rotation face of the N faces, wherein in response to the solid polyhedral shell being rotated, the data handler sequentially advances the data set by X.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein the solid polyhedral shell further comprises:

a display area embedded within at least one face upon which data from a dataset is displayed, wherein the data is a digital content associated with at least one of a board game, trading card game, and a tabletop game.

11. The device of claim 9, further comprising:

a speaker; and

an audio player providing electronic signals to the speaker, said audio player working in conjunction with the speaker being configured to play sounds in response to the rotational motion of the solid polyhedral shell.

12. The device of claim 9, further comprising:

a wireless transceiver configured to wirelessly transmit the captured movement data to a remotely located data handling system not physically coupled to the solid polyhedral shell, wherein the data handling system is communicatively linked to an educational learning system.

13. The device of claim 9, wherein the solid polyhedral shell further comprises:

two or more opposing displays, each of the two or more displays corresponds to the N faces, wherein each of the two or more displays comprises of a graphical user interface, wherein at least one of the graphical user interfaces presents at least one content item within at least one of the display when the display is visible to a user interacting with the solid polyhedral shell, wherein the content item is at least one of a question from the ordered data set and an answer from the ordered dataset responsive to rotation of the solid polyhedral shell.

14. The device of claim 9, further comprising:

a base module configured to allow near field communication with the solid polyhedral shell, wherein when the solid polyhedral shell is placed within proximity to trigger near field communication with the module, the base module conveying at least one content item from the data handling system to the solid polyhedral shell.

15. The device of claim 9, wherein the ordered dataset is a multi-dimensional data structure wherein each dimension of the data structure is associated with at least one of a rotational axis, a content item data type, and a content item metadata.

16. The device of claim 9, wherein at least one selection mechanism is contained within at least one side of the solid polyhedral shell.

17. A system comprising:

a physical object having at least N faces along an axis of rotation and having an interior space, wherein N is two or more, wherein the entire physical object is rotated in space to visually expose different ones of the N faces to a visual vantage point of a human observer;

motion detection components, which are physical components contained within the interior space, configured to detect motion along at least the axis of rotation of the physical object; and

a data handler configured to capture movement data from the motion detection components, wherein the data handler comprises one or more processors, one or more memories, and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more memories, wherein at least one of the one or more processors execute the program instructions, wherein the data handler navigates through an ordered dataset of content items such that one ordered data item of the ordered dataset is active at any one time, wherein a number of discrete items in the ordered dataset of content items is M, wherein M is greater than N, wherein the captured movement data indicates the physical object being rotated along the axis of rotation so that X number of faces are cycled as the object is rotated from the initial face to a post-rotation face of the N faces, wherein in response to the solid polyhedral shell being rotated, the data handler sequentially advances the data set by X.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the physical object further comprises:

N face-specific display areas, one of the N face-specific display areas corresponding to each of the N faces, wherein one of the N face-specific display areas corresponding to a visually exposed one of the different ones of the N faces to a vantage point of a human observer visually displays a currently active data item of the ordered data set as determined by the data handler.

19. The system of claim 17, further comprising:

a speaker; and

an audio player providing electronic signals to the speaker, said audio player working in conjunction with the speaker being configured to play sounds in response to rotational motion of the physical object.

20. The system of claim 17, further comprising:

a wireless transceiver configured to wirelessly transmit the captured movement data to a remotely located data handling system not physically coupled to the physical object.