Interactive systems and methods with feedback devices

• US 10,818,152 B2
• Filed: 01/29/2018
• Issued: 10/27/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 01/15/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Universal City Studios LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Universal City Studios LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Inventors: Yeh, Wei Cheng, Cossairt, Travis Jon
• Primary Examiner(s): Phan, Hai
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tang, Son M
• Application Number:
  US15/882,721
• Publication Number:
  US 20190221088A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,002 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A63G 31/00 Amusement arrangements hoop exercising apparatus driven by the user A63B19/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0724 the arrangement being a circuit for communicating at a plurality of frequencies, e.g. for managing time multiplexed communication over at least two antennas of different types
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07701 the record carrier comprising an interface suitable for human interaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10475 arrangements to facilitate interaction with further interrogation devices, e.g. such that at least two interrogation devices may function and cooperate in a network of such devices
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 11/00 Arrangements, systems or apparatus for checking, e.g. the occurrence of a condition, not provided for elsewhere
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2011/02 related to amusement parks
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3206 Player sensing means, e.g. presence detection, biometrics
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3223 Architectural aspects of a gaming system, e.g. internal configuration, master/slave, wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/323 wherein the player is informed, e.g. advertisements, odds, instructions
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3239 Tracking of individual players
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3297 Fairground games, e.g. Tivoli, coin pusher machines, cranes
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 7/06 using electric transmission , e.g. involving audible and visible signalling through the use of sound and light sources

Abstract

A wearable device includes a first radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag, a second RFID tag, one or more feedback devices configured to provide feedback to a guest, and a microcontroller. The microcontroller is configured to generate a first control signal that causes a first type of feedback via the one or more feedback devices in response to interaction between electromagnetic radiation having a first frequency and the first RFID tag and to generate a second control signal that causes a second type of feedback via the one or more feedback devices in response to interaction between electromagnetic radiation having a second frequency and the second RFID tag.

Claims

1. A wearable device comprising:

a first radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag;

a second RFID tag;

one or more feedback devices configured to provide feedback to a user; and

a microcontroller configured to;

generate a control signal that causes a type of feedback indicative of the wearable device being within an area of an attraction via the one or more feedback devices in response to interaction between electromagnetic radiation having a first frequency and the first RFID tag; and

generate an additional control signal that causes an additional type of feedback indicative of a user interaction with an interactive element within the area via the one or more feedback devices in response to interaction between electromagnetic radiation having a second frequency and the second RFID tag while the first RFID tag is interacting with the electromagnetic radiation having the first frequency.

2. The wearable device of claim 1, comprising a power harvesting circuit configured to harness power from the electromagnetic radiation having the first frequency, the electromagnetic radiation having the second frequency, or both.

3. The wearable device of claim 2, comprising an energy storage device configured to store the harnessed power.

4. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein the one or more feedback devices comprise a speaker, the type of feedback comprises a first type of audible output, and the additional type of feedback comprises a second type of audible output.

5. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein the one or more feedback devices comprise a haptic feedback device, the type of feedback comprises a first type of tactile output, and the additional type of feedback comprises a second type of tactile output.

6. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein the one or more feedback devices comprise one or more light emitters configured to emit light, the type of feedback comprises a first type of illumination, and the additional type of feedback comprises a second type of illumination.

7. The wearable device of claim 6, wherein the first type of illumination comprises illuminating a first light emitter of the one or more light emitters, and the second type of illumination comprises illuminating a second light emitter of the one or more light emitters.

8. The wearable device of claim 6, wherein the first type of illumination comprises a first color, and the second type of illumination comprises a second color, different from the first color.

9. The wearable device of claim 6, wherein the first type of illumination comprises illuminating at least one of the one or more light emitters continuously over time, and the second type of illumination comprises illuminating at least one of the one or more light emitters intermittently to blink over time.

10. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein the first RFID tag is configured to receive ultra-high frequency (UHF) electromagnetic radiation and the second RFID tag is configured to receive near-field communication (NFC) electromagnetic radiation.

11. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein the first RFID tag is a read/write RFID tag, and the microcontroller is configured to generate another control signal that causes another type of feedback via the one or more feedback devices in response to data being written to the first RFID tag.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the microcontroller is configured to generate another control signal that causes another type of feedback indicative of a total number of user interactions with the interactive element and other interactive elements within the attraction in response to interaction between the electromagnetic radiation having the first frequency and the first RFID tag, interaction between the electromagnetic radiation having the second frequency and the second RFID tag, or both.

13. A system, comprising:

a wearable device comprising a first radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag comprising a first memory that stores first identification information;

a first reader associated with an area of an attraction and configured to transmit electromagnetic radiation comprising a first frequency that enables the first reader to read the first identification information from the first memory;

a second RFID tag supported by the wearable device and comprising a second memory that stores second identification information;

a second reader associated with an interactive element within the area of the attraction and configured to transmit electromagnetic radiation comprising a second frequency that enables the second reader to read the second identification information from the second memory;

one or more light emitters supported by the wearable device; and

a microcontroller supported by the wearable device and configured to;

receive a signal indicative of receipt of the transmitted electromagnetic radiation comprising the first frequency at the first RFID tag;

receive an additional signal indicative of receipt of the transmitted electromagnetic radiation comprising the second frequency at the second RFID tag;

generate a control signal that causes a type of illumination of the one or more light emitters in response to receipt of the signal, wherein the type of illumination of the one or more light emitters is indicative of the wearable device being within the area of the attraction; and

generate an additional control signal that causes an additional type of illumination of the one or more light emitters in response to receipt of the additional signal while receiving the signal, wherein the additional type of illumination of the one or more light emitters is indicative of a user interaction with the interactive element within the area.

14. The system of claim 13, comprising a power harvesting circuit of the wearable device, wherein the power harvesting circuit is configured to harness power from the transmitted electromagnetic radiation comprising the first frequency, the transmitted electromagnetic radiation comprising the second frequency, or both, and wherein the one or more light emitters and the microcontroller are configured to utilize the power.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the first reader is configured to write data indicative of a wait time for a ride of an amusement park to the first memory of the first RFID tag, and the control signal causes the at least one of the one or more light emitters to illuminate in a pattern that indicates the wait time.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the second reader is disposed within or proximate to the interactive element, and wherein the first reader is disposed in a different location separate from the interactive element.

17. The system of claim 13, comprising:

a plurality of additional second readers each associated with a respective additional interactive element of the attraction and configured to transmit electromagnetic radiation comprising the second frequency that enables each of the plurality of additional second readers to read the second identification information from the second memory; and

a computing system communicatively coupled to the first reader, the second reader, and the plurality of additional second readers, wherein the computing system is configured to determine a total number of user interactions with the interactive element and the additional interactive elements based on a total number of user interactions between the second reader and the second RFID tag and between the plurality of additional second readers and the second RFID tag, and the computing system is configured to instruct at least one of the first reader, the second reader, and the plurality of additional second readers to write data indicative of the total number of user interactions to a respective one of the first RFID tag or the second RFID tag;

wherein the one or more light emitters comprise a plurality of light emitters, and the microcontroller is configured to generate another control signal based on the data to cause illumination of a number of the plurality of light emitters, and the number is indicative of the total number of user interactions with the interactive element and the additional interactive elements.

18. A method, comprising:

transmitting electromagnetic radiation comprising a first frequency from a first reader within an area of an attraction;

transmitting identification information from a first radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag supported by a wearable device to the first reader in response to receipt of the transmitted electromagnetic radiation comprising the first frequency;

receiving, at a microcontroller supported by the wearable device, a signal from the first RFID tag, wherein the signal indicates receipt of the electromagnetic radiation comprising the first frequency at the first RFID tag;

generating a control signal, using the microcontroller and in response to receipt of the signal at the microcontroller, wherein the control signal causes one of a plurality of available types of illumination of one or more light emitters supported by the wearable device, wherein the one of the plurality of available types of illumination of the one or more light emitters supported by the wearable device is indicative of the wearable device being within the area of the attraction;

transmitting electromagnetic radiation comprising a second frequency from a second reader;

receiving, at the microcontroller, an additional signal from a second RFID tag supported by the wearable device, wherein the additional signal indicates receipt of the electromagnetic radiation comprising the second frequency at the second RFID tag; and

generating an additional control signal, using the microcontroller and in response to receipt of the additional signal at the microcontroller while receiving the signal at the microcontroller, wherein the additional control signal causes an additional one of the plurality of available types of illumination of the one or more light emitters supported by the wearable device, wherein the additional one of plurality of available types of illumination of the one or more light emitters supported by the wearable device is indicative of a user interaction with an interactive element within the area.

19. The method of claim 18, comprising harvesting power from the transmitted electromagnetic radiation comprising the first frequency, the transmitted electromagnetic radiation comprising the second frequency, or both, using a power harvesting circuit of the wearable device and utilizing the harvested power to operate the microcontroller and the one or more light emitters.

20. The method of claim 18, comprising:

writing data indicative of a total number of user interactions with the interactive element and other interactive elements of the attraction to a memory accessible by the microcontroller; and

generating another additional control signal, using the microcontroller and in response to the data being written to the memory, wherein the another additional control signal causes another one of the plurality of available types of illumination of the one or more light emitters, and the another one of the plurality of available types of illumination of the one or more light emitters is indicative of the total number of user interactions with the interactive element and the other interactive elements of the attraction.