Overlaid virtual playground and overlaid virtual information delivery platform for restaurants, catering businesses and other businesses using menu cards, pizza boxes, salt and pepper shakers, and other objects

• US 9,928,651 B2
• Filed: 02/20/2013
• Issued: 03/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/21/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mahesh Babu Mariappan
• Original Assignee: Mahesh Babu Mariappan
• Inventors: MARIAPPAN, MAHESH BABU
• Primary Examiner(s): Zare, Scott A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Danzig, Reva R
• Application Number:
  US13/771,229
• Publication Number:
  US 20130222367A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,861 Days
• Field of Search: 705 141, 705 15, 705319, 705346, 725 86, 434350
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/006 Mixed reality object pose determination, tracking or camera calibration for mixed reality G06T7/00

Abstract

The present invention obviates the need for restaurants to install expensive physical hardware such as swings, slides, etc that consume valuable property real-estate, to provide playing entertainment to customers, by constructing a virtual playground out of objects typically found in restaurants such as salt and pepper shakers, napkin dispensers, spoons, forks, plates, glasses, menu cards, pizza-boxes, etc. The present invention virtualizes these real-world objects and uses the virtualized characters to populate a virtual playground that is overlaid on top of real-world objects. This virtual playground allows users to manipulate virtual characters facilitating gameplay and entertainment.

The present invention also transforms conventional printed restaurant menu cards into a platform for rich multimedia information delivery/consumption by superimposing/overlaying real-world printed menu cards with virtual multimedia contents such as video, audio, graphics, graphical characters in 2-dimension or 3-dimension, animation, etc that can be interacted with, providing a rich infotainment experience for customers.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a physical food container or a physical food;

a computing device including a processor and a memory;

at least one camera communicatively coupled to the computing device and configured to capture one or more frames of video of the physical food container, the physical food, or physical objects, or at least one sensor communicatively coupled to the computing device and configured to capture sensory data from the physical food container, the physical food, or the physical objects;

a server, including a processor and a memory, in communication with the computing device, wherein the server is configured to store, transmit, or receive data, information, or virtual multimedia content associated with the physical food container or the physical food; and

a display device communicatively coupled to the computing device and configured to display a video camera feed together with data, information, virtual multimedia content, virtualized objects, or virtualized object toys,

wherein the processor of the computing device or the server is configured to computationally recognize distinguishing characteristics of the physical food container or the physical food based on the video captured by the at least one camera or the sensory data captured by the at least one sensor,

wherein the processor of the computing device or the server is configured to transform the computationally recognized physical food container or the computationally recognized physical food into a virtualized food container toy or a virtualized food toy, respectively, or to transform the computationally recognized physical food container or the computationally recognized physical food into a virtualized food container or a virtualized food, respectively, and

wherein the computing device;

retrieves data, information, or virtual multimedia content from the server or locally based on the computationally recognized physical food container or the computationally recognized physical food;

inserts the retrieved data, information, virtual multimedia content, virtualized objects, or virtualized object toys into the video camera feed as captured by the at least one camera to create a composite scene;

integrates the virtualized food container toy or the virtualized food toy corresponding to the physical food container or the physical food, respectively, into a resulting composite scene; and

causes the display device to display the composite scene.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the system triggers an event or facilitates gameplay based on the computationally recognized physical food container or the computationally recognized physical food.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein a plurality of users can either simultaneously interact or take turns—

as dictated by a gameplay scenario—

to interact with the food container or the food by moving them around, making them touch other physical objects, changing their relative position and/or orientation, or forming a group including the food container, the food, and other physical objects.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the system provides rewards to a user based on the user'"'"'s performance during gameplay.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the system allows the user to:

share information, consume content, play with or against other users, save information relating to the user'"'"'s preferences, the user'"'"'s usage of the system, and the user'"'"'s performance during gameplay on a server or cloud storage to enable seamless pause and restart at a different location or a different time or through a different computing device.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the system:

allows the user to use one unit of the physical food container or the physical food to play only one level of a game, or for a certain duration,

prompts the user to place more orders to progress to the next level of the game, or to extend a duration of gameplay, or

enables the user to use the rewards accumulated in the game to subsidize the user'"'"'s current orders or subsequent orders.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the virtualized food container toy or the virtualized food toy is animated according to physical properties of the physical food container or the physical food, respectively, or is animated without such constraints.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the virtualized food container toy or the virtualized food toy have an ability to sit on top of physical objects, to stand on top of physical objects, to touch physical objects, to seamlessly interact with physical objects, virtualized objects, or virtualized toys by respecting natural laws of physics governing the interaction, to listen for user commands or to take input from the user, and to respond accordingly by talking, moving, emoting, or providing information.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor of the computing device or the server is further configured to analyze and interpret a user'"'"'s physical interaction with the corresponding physical food container or the corresponding physical food, analyze and interpret the user'"'"'s touching of a touchscreen display of the computing device, analyze and interpret video of hand movements of the user, analyze and interpret voice instructions of the user, analyze and interpret eye gaze of the user, analyze and interpret facial emotions of the user, or analyze and interpret the placement of the physical food container or the physical food in a camera field of view for a certain amount of time or in a certain configuration.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the system stores locally or in a server, data including:

a profile of the user'"'"'s food preferences,

the user'"'"'s current orders,

the user'"'"'s caloric consumption pattern data, or

data pertaining to the user'"'"'s interaction with the system

to suggest to the user healthier food choices and to provide better information whenever the user interacts with the system at a later point in time or when the user subsequently visits another restaurant or when the user subsequently interacts with the system through a different computing device.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the physical food container includes a pizza box, a cardboard food box, a paper food bag, a kids meal box, a food bag, a takeaway bag, a delivery bag, a paper food cup, a paperboard food container, a tinfoil food wrap, a hot bag, a corrugated fiberboard box, a foam food container, a molded fibre container, a plastic food container, a polythene food container, an aluminum food container, a food tray, a food can, a food carton, a food wrapper, a human hand, a containing object, a food pallet, a gunny sack, a drink box, an aseptic food container, a tetra pak, or a wax-paper food package.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the data, information, or virtual multimedia content includes text, hyperlinks, markup language, still images, audio, videos, graphics, graphical characters, 2D animation, 3D animation or games pertaining to information including the information about food, an outlet offering the food, a chef'"'"'s food philosophy, the chef'"'"'s resume, special dishes, pricing, offers, discounts, coupons, catering business promotions, service business promotions, entertainment business promotions, infotainment business promotions, health and nutrition information, cookery and recipe information, allergy related information, consumption regulation related information, diet tips, health tips, gastronomical tips, dining tips and information, user reviews, ratings, discussions, or comments.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing device is a mobile device, a communication device, an entertainment device, a consumer electronics device, a cellphone, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a portable computer, a smart device, a television, a radio, a music player, a video player, a gaming console, a digital camera, a handheld computing device, a standalone computing device, or a wearable computing device.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the computational recognition of distinguishing characteristics of the physical food container or the physical food, the transformation of the physical food container or the physical food into the virtualized food container toy or the virtualized food toy, respectively, the transmission of data, information, or virtual multimedia content based on the computationally recognized physical food container or the computationally recognized physical food, the insertion of the data, information, or virtual multimedia content into the video camera feed as captured by the at least one camera to create a composite scene, the integration of the virtualized food container toy or the virtualized food toy corresponding to the physical food container or the physical food, respectively, into the resulting composite scene, the causing of the display device to display the composite scene, or any combination of these steps is done by the server.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the system regulates user access to modes of the system by enforcing an access lock based on:

the physical food container or the physical food that are computationally recognized,

location coordinates of the user as estimated by a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or a locating mechanism, or

user usage behavior including duration of use.

16. The system of claim 1, further comprising an input device configured to receive input from the user to control one or more processes of the computing device or a server.

17. The system of claim 1, further comprising an audio speaker to play audio.

18. The system of claim 1, further comprising a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver to identify a location where the system is active.

19. A method comprising:

capturing, by at least one camera communicatively coupled to a computing device, one or more frames of video of a physical food container, a physical food, or physical objects, or capturing, by at least one sensor communicatively coupled to the computing device, sensory data from a physical food container, a physical food, or the physical objects;

providing a server, including a processor and a memory, in communication with the computing device, wherein the server is configured to store, transmit, or receive data, information, or virtual multimedia content associated with the physical food container or the physical food;

providing a display device communicatively coupled to the computing device and configured to display a video camera feed together with data, information, virtual multimedia content, virtualized objects, or virtualized object toys;

computationally recognizing, by the computing device, distinguishing characteristics of the physical food container or the physical food based on the video captured by the at least one camera or the sensory data captured by the at least one sensor;

transforming, by the computing device, the computationally recognized physical food container or the computationally recognized physical food into a virtualized food container toy or a virtualized food toy, respectively, or transforming, by the computing device, the computationally recognized physical food container or the computationally recognized physical food into a virtualized food container or a virtualized food, respectively;

retrieving, by the computing device, data, information, or virtual multimedia content locally or from the server based on the computationally recognized physical food container or the computationally recognized physical food;

inserting, by the computing device, the retrieved data, information, or virtual multimedia content into the video camera feed as captured by the at least one camera to create a composite scene;

integrating, by the computing device, the virtualized food container toy or the virtualized food toy corresponding to the physical food container or the physical food, respectively, into a resulting composite scene; and

causing, by the computing device, the display device to display the composite scene.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the computational recognition of distinguishing characteristics of the physical food container or the physical food, the transformation of the physical food container or the physical food into the virtualized food container toy or the virtualized food toy, respectively, the transmission of data, information, or virtual multimedia content based on the computationally recognized physical food container or the computationally recognized physical food, the insertion of the data, information, or virtual multimedia content into the video camera feed as captured by the at least one camera to create a composite scene, the integration of the virtualized food container toy or the virtualized food toy corresponding to the physical food container or the physical food, respectively, into the resulting composite scene, the causing of the display device to display the composite scene, or any combination of these steps is done by the server.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising triggering an event or facilitating gameplay based on the computationally recognized physical food container or the computationally recognized physical food.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising providing rewards to a user based on the user'"'"'s performance during the gameplay.

23. A system comprising:

a physical restaurant menu card;

a computing device including a processor and a memory;

at least one camera communicatively coupled to the computing device and configured to capture one or more frames of video of a physical restaurant menu card or a physical object, or at least one sensor communicatively coupled to the computing device and configured to capture sensory data from the physical restaurant menu card or the physical object;

a server, including a processor and a memory, in communication with the computing device, wherein the server is configured to store, transmit, or receive data, information, or virtual multimedia content associated with the physical restaurant menu card and the content of the physical restaurant menu card; and

a display device communicatively coupled to the computing device and configured to display a video camera feed together with data, information, virtual multimedia content, virtualized objects, or virtualized object toys,

wherein the computing device is configured to computationally recognize distinguishing characteristics of the physical restaurant menu card and understand the content of the physical restaurant menu card based on the video captured by the at least one camera or the sensory data captured by the at least one sensor,

wherein the computing device is configured to transform the computationally recognized physical restaurant menu card and the content of the computationally recognized physical restaurant menu card into a virtualized interactive restaurant menu card, and

wherein the computing device;

retrieves data, information, or virtual multimedia content from the server or locally based on the computationally recognized physical restaurant menu card and content of the computationally recognized physical restaurant menu card;

inserts the retrieved data, information, or virtual multimedia content into the video camera feed as captured by the at least one camera to create a composite scene;

integrates the virtualized interactive restaurant menu card corresponding to the physical restaurant menu card into a resulting composite scene; and

causes the display device to display the composite scene.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the system triggers an event or facilitates gameplay based on the virtualized interactive restaurant menu card corresponding to the computationally recognized physical restaurant menu card and content of the computationally recognized physical restaurant menu card.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein a plurality of users can either simultaneously interact or take turns—

as dictated by a gameplay scenario—

to interact with the virtualized interactive restaurant menu card or the physical restaurant menu card by moving it around, making it touch other physical objects, changing its relative position and/or orientation, or forming a group including the virtualized interactive restaurant menu card or the physical menu card and other physical objects.

26. The system of claim 24, wherein the system provides rewards to a user based on the user'"'"'s performance during gameplay.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the system allows the user to:

share information, consume content, play with or against other users, save information relating to the user'"'"'s preferences, the user'"'"'s usage of the system, and the user'"'"'s performance during gameplay on a server or cloud storage to enable seamless pause and restart at a different location or a different time or through a different computing device.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein the system:

allows the user to use one unit of a physical play object to play only one level of a game, or for a certain duration,

prompts the user to place more orders to progress to the next level of the game, or to extend a duration of gameplay, or

enables the user to use the rewards accumulated in the game to subsidize the user'"'"'s current orders or subsequent orders.

29. The system of claim 23, wherein the virtualized interactive restaurant menu card is animated according to physical properties of the physical restaurant menu card and content of the physical restaurant menu card, or are animated without such constraints.

30. The system of claim 23, wherein the virtualized interactive restaurant menu card has an ability to sit on top of physical objects, to stand on top of physical objects, to touch physical objects, to seamlessly interact with physical objects, virtualized objects, or virtualized object toys by respecting natural laws of physics governing the interaction, to listen for user commands or to take input from the user, and to respond accordingly by talking, moving, emoting, or providing information.

31. The system of claim 23, wherein the computing device is further configured to analyze and interpret a user'"'"'s physical interaction with the corresponding physical restaurant menu card and content of the corresponding physical restaurant menu card, analyze and interpret the user'"'"'s touching of a touchscreen display of the computing device, analyze and interpret video of hand movements of the user, analyze and interpret voice instructions of the user, analyze and interpret eye gaze of the user, analyze and interpret facial emotions of the user, or analyze and interpret the placement of the physical restaurant menu card and content of the physical restaurant menu card in a camera field of view for a certain amount of time or in a certain configuration.

32. The system of claim 23, wherein the system stores locally or in a server, data including:

a profile of the user'"'"'s food preferences,

the user'"'"'s current orders,

the user'"'"'s caloric consumption pattern data, or

data pertaining to the user'"'"'s interaction with the system,

to suggest to the user healthier food choices and to provide better information whenever the user interacts with the system at a later point in time or when the user subsequently visits another restaurant or when the user subsequently interacts with the system through a different computing device.

33. The system of claim 23, wherein the physical menu card includes a restaurant menu card, a cafeteria menu card, a pizza outlet menu card, a dessert menu card, a wine list menu card, a liquor and mixed drinks menu card, a beer list menu card, an appetizer menu card, an ice cream parlor menu card, a coffee shop menu card, a spa service outlet menu card, a catering business menu, a service business menu, an entertainment business menu, an infotainment business menu, a wall-mounted menu board, a chalkboard menu, a write-on wipe-off illuminated menu card, a lit-up sign board menu, a catalog, or a poster menu.

34. The system of claim 23, wherein the data, information, or virtual multimedia content includes text, hyperlinks, markup language, still images, audio, videos, graphics, graphical characters, 2D animation, 3D animation or games pertaining to information including the information about food, an outlet offering the food, a chef'"'"'s food philosophy, the chef'"'"'s resume, special dishes, pricing, offers, discounts, coupons, catering business promotions, service business promotions, entertainment business promotions, infotainment business promotions, health and nutrition information, cookery and recipe information, allergy related information, consumption regulation related information, diet tips, health tips, gastronomical tips, dining tips and information, user reviews, ratings, discussions, or comments.

35. The system of claim 23, wherein the computing device is a mobile device, a communication device, an entertainment device, a consumer electronics device, a cellphone, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a portable computer, a smart device, a television, a radio, a music player, a video player, a gaming console, a digital camera, a handheld computing device, a standalone computing device, or a wearable computing device.

36. The system of claim 23, wherein the computational recognition of distinguishing characteristics of the physical restaurant menu card and content of the physical restaurant menu card, the transformation of the physical restaurant menu card into the virtualized interactive restaurant menu card and content of the physical restaurant menu card, the transmission of data, information, or virtual multimedia content based on the computationally recognized physical restaurant menu card and content of the physical restaurant menu card, the insertion of the data, information, or virtual multimedia content into the video camera feed as captured by the at least one camera to create a composite scene, the integration of the virtualized interactive restaurant menu card corresponding to the physical restaurant menu card and content of the physical restaurant menu card into the resulting composite scene, the causing of the display device to display the composite scene, or any other combination of these steps is done by the server.

37. The system of claim 23, wherein the system regulates user access to modes of the system by enforcing an access lock based on:

the physical restaurant menu card and content of the physical restaurant menu card that are computationally recognized,

location coordinates of the user as estimated by a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or a locating mechanism, or

user usage behavior including duration of use.

38. The system of claim 23, further comprising an input device to receive input from the user to control one or more processes of the computing device or a server.

39. The system of claim 23, further comprising an audio speaker to play audio.

40. The system of claim 23, further comprising a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver to identify a location where the system is active.

41. A method comprising:

capturing, by at least one camera communicatively coupled to a computing device, one or more frames of video of a physical restaurant menu card or a physical object, or capturing, by at least one sensor communicatively coupled to the computing device, sensory data from a physical restaurant menu card or the physical object;

providing a server, including a processor and a memory, in communication with the computing device, wherein the server is configured to store, transmit, or receive data, information, or virtual multimedia content associated with the physical restaurant menu card and the content of the physical restaurant menu card;

providing a display device communicatively coupled to the computing device and configured to display a video camera feed together with data, information, virtual multimedia content, virtualized objects, or virtualized object toys;

computationally recognizing, by the computing device, distinguishing characteristics of the physical restaurant menu card and understanding the content of the physical restaurant menu card based on the video captured by the at least one camera or the sensory data captured by the at least one sensor;

transforming, by the computing device, the computationally recognized physical restaurant menu card into a virtualized interactive restaurant menu card;

retrieving, by the computing device, data, information, or virtual multimedia content locally or from the server based on the computationally recognized physical restaurant menu card and the content of the computationally recognized physical restaurant menu card;

inserting, by the computing device, the retrieved data, information, or virtual multimedia content into the video camera feed as captured by the at least one camera to create a composite scene;

integrating, by the computing device, the virtualized interactive restaurant menu card corresponding to the physical restaurant menu card and the content of the physical restaurant menu card, respectively, into a resulting composite scene; and

causing, by the computing device, the display device to display the composite scene.

42. The method of claim 41, further comprising triggering an event or facilitating gameplay based on the computationally recognized physical restaurant menu card.

43. The method of claim 42, further comprising providing rewards to a user based on the user'"'"'s performance during the gameplay.

44. The method of claim 41, wherein the computational recognition of distinguishing characteristics of the physical restaurant menu card and understanding of the content of the physical restaurant menu card, the transformation of the physical restaurant menu card into the virtualized interactive restaurant menu card, the transmission of data, information, or virtual multimedia content based on the computationally recognized physical restaurant menu card and the content of the physical restaurant menu card, the insertion of the data, information, or virtual multimedia content into the video camera feed as captured by the at least one camera to create a composite scene, the integration of the virtualized interactive restaurant menu card corresponding to the physical restaurant menu card and the content of the physical restaurant menu card into the resulting composite scene, the causing of the display device to display the composite scene, or any combination of these steps is done by the server.

45. A playground system comprising:

at least one physical play-object;

a computing device including a processor and a memory;

at least one imaging system communicatively connected to the computing device and configured to capture one or more frames of the at least one physical play-object, or at least one sensor system communicatively connected to the computing device and configured to capture sensory data from the at least one physical play-object;

at least another computing system, including a processor and a memory, in communication with the computing device, wherein the at least another computing system is configured to store, transmit, or receive data, information, or virtual multimedia content associated with the at least one physical play-object; and

a display device communicatively connected to the computing device and configured to display a video camera feed together with data, information, virtual multimedia content, virtualized objects, or virtualized object toys,

wherein the computing device is configured to computationally recognize distinguishing characteristics of the at least one physical play-object based on the frames captured by the at least one imaging system or the sensory data captured by the at least one sensor system,

wherein the computing device is configured to transform the computationally recognized at least one physical play-object into a virtualized game character toy, and

wherein the computing device;

retrieves data, information, or virtual multimedia content from the at least another computing system or locally based on the computationally recognized at least one physical play-object;

inserts the retrieved data, information, or virtual multimedia content into the video camera feed as captured by the at least one imaging system to create a composite scene;

integrates the virtualized game character toy corresponding to the at least one physical play-object into a resulting composite scene; and

causes the display device to display the composite scene.

46. The playground system of claim 45, wherein the playground system starts a process or facilitates gameplay based on the computationally recognized at least one physical play-object.

47. The playground system of claim 46, wherein a plurality of users can either simultaneously interact or take turns—

as dictated by a gameplay scenario—

to interact with the at least one play-object or the at least one virtualized game character toy by moving the at least one play-object or the at least one virtualized game character toy around, making the at least one play-object or the at least one virtualized game character toy touch at least another play-object, changing their relative position and/or orientation, or forming a group of the at least one play-object or the at least one virtualized game character toy and the at least another play-object.

48. The playground system of claim 46, wherein the playground system provides incentives to a user based on the user'"'"'s performance during gameplay.

49. The playground system of claim 45, wherein the playground system stores locally or in at least another computing system, data including:

a profile of the user'"'"'s preferences,

the user'"'"'s current transactions,

the user'"'"'s consumption pattern data, or

data pertaining to the user'"'"'s interaction with the system

to suggest to the user better gameplay choices and to provide better information whenever the user interacts with the playground system at a later point in time or when the user subsequently visits another place or when the user subsequently interacts with the playground system through a different computing device.

50. The playground system of claim 48, wherein the playground system allows the user to:

share information, consume content, play with or against other users, save information relating to the user'"'"'s preferences, the user'"'"'s usage of the playground system, and the user'"'"'s performance on the games on at least another computing system or cloud storage to enable seamless pause and restart at a different location or a different time or through a different computing device.

51. The playground system of claim 48, wherein the playground system:

allows the user to use one unit of the at least one physical play-object to play only one level of a game, or for a certain duration,

prompts the user to conduct more transactions to progress to the next level of the game, or to extend a duration of gameplay, or

enables the user to use the incentives accumulated in the game to benefit the user'"'"'s current transactions or subsequent transactions.

52. The playground system of claim 45, wherein the at least one virtualized game character toy is animated according to physical properties of the at least one physical play-object, or are animated without such constraints.

53. The playground system of claim 45, wherein the at least one virtualized game character toy has an ability to sit on top of physical objects, to stand on top of physical objects, to touch physical objects, to seamlessly interact with physical objects and virtualized objects by respecting natural laws of physics governing the interaction, to listen for user commands or to take input from the user, and to respond accordingly by talking, moving, emoting, or providing information.

54. The playground system of claim 45, wherein the at least one virtualized game character toy is manipulated by a user interacting with it through one or more of the following:

physically interacting with the corresponding physical play-object, touching a touchscreen display of the computing device, analyzing and interpreting video of hand movements of the user, analyzing and interpreting voice instructions of the user, analyzing and interpreting eye gaze of the user, analyzing and interpreting facial emotions of the user, or placing the physical play-object in a camera field of view of the imaging system for a certain amount of time or in a certain configuration.

55. The playground system of claim 45, wherein the at least one physical play-object includes tables, plates, glasses, tumblers, bottles, food, food containers, containing objects, spoons, forks, cutlery, glassware, tableware, drinkware, serving dishes, eating and kitchen utensils, bowls, cups, napkin dispensers, napkins, brochures, mugs, jugs, corkscrews, knives, beakers, sporks, chopsticks, picks, straws, salt shakers, pepper shakers, menu cards, pizza boxes, catering business objects, service business objects, entertainment business objects, infotainment business objects, objects containing printed, handwritten, embedded, inanimate text, photographs, images, pictures, drawings, abstract patterns, alphanumeric codes, catalogs, flyers, newspapers, magazines, books, documents, event invitation cards, receipts, tickets, calendars, photo albums, or wall-hangings.

56. The playground system of claim 45, wherein the data, information, or virtual multimedia content includes text, hyperlinks, markup language, still images, audio, videos, graphics, graphical characters, 2D animation, 3D animation or games pertaining to subject matter including current events and happenings, news bulletin, editorials, stories, documentaries, press coverages, subject details, lectures, speeches, seminars, discussions, debates, information snippets, updates, games, sports, movies, health, entertainment, personal information, personal messages, or greetings.

57. The playground system of claim 45, wherein the computing device is a mobile device, a communication device, an entertainment device, a consumer electronics device, a cellphone, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a portable computer, a smart device, a television, a radio, a music player, a video player, a gaming console, a digital camera, a handheld computing device, a standalone computing device, or a wearable computing device.

58. The playground system of claim 45, wherein the computational recognition of distinguishing characteristics of the at least one physical play-object, the transformation of the at least one physical play-object into the virtualized game character toy, the transmission of data, information, or virtual multimedia content based on the computationally recognized at least one physical play-object, the insertion of the data, information, or virtual multimedia content into the video camera feed as captured by the at least one imaging system to create a composite scene, the integration of the virtualized game character toy corresponding to the at least one physical play-object into the resulting composite scene, the causing of the display device to display the composite scene, or any combination of these steps is done by the at least another computing system.

59. The playground system of claim 45, wherein the playground system regulates user access to modes of the playground system by enforcing an access lock based on:

the at least one physical play-object that is computationally recognized,

location coordinates of the user as estimated by a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or a locating mechanism, or

user usage behavior including duration of use.

60. The playground system of claim 45, further comprising an input device configured to receive input from the user to control one or more processes of the computing device or at least another computing system.

61. The playground system of claim 45, further comprising an audio speaker to play audio.

62. The playground system of claim 45, further comprising a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver to identify a location where the playground system is active.

63. A method comprising:

capturing, by at least one imaging system communicatively connected to a computing device, one or more frames of at least one physical play-object, or capturing, by at least one sensor system communicatively connected to the computing device, sensory data from the at least one physical play-object;

providing at least another computing system, including a processor and a memory, in communication with the computing device, wherein the at least another computing system is configured to store, transmit, or receive data, information, or virtual multimedia content associated with the at least one physical play-object;

providing a display device communicatively connected to the computing device and configured to display a video camera feed together with data, information, virtual multimedia content, virtualized objects, or virtualized object toys;

computationally recognizing, by the computing device, distinguishing characteristics of the at least one physical play-object based on the frames captured by the at least one imaging system or the sensory data captured by the at least one sensor system;

transforming, by the computing device, the computationally recognized at least one physical play-object into a virtualized game character toy;

retrieving, by the computing device, data, information, or virtual multimedia content locally or from the at least another computing system based on the computationally recognized at least one physical play-object;

inserting, by the computing device, the retrieved data, information, or virtual multimedia content into the video camera feed as captured by the at least one imaging system to create a composite scene;

integrating, by the computing device, the virtualized game character toy corresponding to the at least one physical play-object into a resulting composite scene; and

causing, by the computing device, the display device to display the composite scene.

64. The method of claim 63, further comprising starting a process or facilitating gameplay based on the computationally recognized at least one physical play-object.

65. The method of claim 64, further comprising providing incentives to a user based on the user'"'"'s performance during the gameplay.

66. The method of claim 63, wherein the computational recognition of distinguishing characteristics of the at least one physical play-object, the transformation of the at least one physical play-object into the virtualized game character toy, the transmission of data, information, or virtual multimedia content based on the computationally recognized at least one physical play-object, the insertion of the data, information, or virtual multimedia content into the video camera feed as captured by the at least one imaging system to create a composite scene, the integration of the virtualized game character toy corresponding to the at least one physical play-object into the resulting composite scene, the causing of the display device to display the composite scene, or any combination of these steps is done by the at least another computing system.