GAMING SYSTEM WITH MOVEABLE DISPLAY

• US 20090176544A1
• Filed: 05/03/2007
• Published: 07/09/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Mertens, Mark Jozef Willem
• Granted Patent: US 9,511,290 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/5
• 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 13/52 involving aspects of the displayed game scene
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1006 having additional degrees of freedom
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1087 comprising photodetecting means, e.g. a camera
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/204 the platform being a handheld device
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/301 using an additional display connected to the game console, e.g. on the controller

Abstract

If one has at his disposition a robust display which can be thrown around, a whole new range of computer games can be designed. The electronic gaming system comprises: a robust, moveable display (101); a game controller (103), arranged to generate a game scenario, comprising generation of pictures to be displayed on the robust moveable display (101); and a trajectory mapping unit (105), arranged to map a virtual trajectory in space-time of a virtual world in the game scenario, with at least two of the pictures with unequal picture content corresponding to different locations of the virtual space-time trajectory, to a real trajectory of the robust moveable display (101) in real space, so that at an appropriate moment the two of the pictures are displayed on the robust moveable display (101).

Claims

1. An electronic gaming system comprising:

a robust, moveable display (101);

a game controller (103), arranged to generate a game scenario, comprising generation of pictures to be displayed on the robust moveable display (101); and

a trajectory mapping unit (105), arranged to map a virtual trajectory in space-time of a virtual world in the game scenario, with at least two of the pictures with unequal picture content corresponding to different locations of the virtual space-time trajectory, to a real trajectory of the robust moveable display (101) in real space, so that at an appropriate moment the two of the pictures are displayed on the robust moveable display (101).

2. An electronic gaming system as claimed in claim 1, in which the game controller (103) is arranged to generate a game scenario in which a game character (102) acts according to behavior rules, in dependence on its position along the virtual trajectory, and in which the trajectory mapping unit (105) is arranged to store data of the robust moveable display (101) on its real trajectory, allowing simulating that the display is a real character participating in the game.

3. An electronic gaming system as claimed in claim 1, in which the trajectory mapping unit (105) is coupled to spatial position estimation means (207;

150), arranged to be able to at least analyze a vertical motion through real space.

4. An electronic gaming system as claimed in claim 3, in which the spatial position estimation means (207) comprise an accelerometer.

5. An electronic gaming system as claimed in claim 3, in which the spatial position estimation means (207) comprise an ultrasound emitter (354) and detector (353).

6. An electronic gaming system as claimed in claim 1, in which the trajectory mapping unit (105) is coupled to player position determination means (360, 361;

150).

7. An electronic gaming system as claimed in claim 6, comprising proximity detection means to determine a proximity of a player.

8. An electronic gaming system as claimed in claim 7, in which the proximity detection means comprise a unit (362) capable of evaluating a signal time-of-flight.

9. An electronic gaming system as claimed in claim 7, in which the proximity detection means comprise a vicinity monitoring unit (211) for measuring the disturbance of a surrounding electromagnetic field.

10. An electronic gaming system as claimed in claim 1 comprising a player action detection unit (340), arranged to detect at least one particular action of at least one of a number of possible players.

11. An electronic gaming system as claimed in claim 3, in which the spatial position estimation means and/or the player position determination means and/or the player action detection unit get as input a picture from at least one camera (105).

12. An electronic gaming system as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that the player action detection unit (340) is coupled to at least one light sensor (320, 321) attached to the robust moveable display (101).

16. A protocol signal (PROT) to be transmitted by a trajectory mapping unit (105) as claimed in claim 1 to a game controller (103) as claimed in claim 1, to indicate at least information regarding a position of a robust moveable display (101) on a real space trajectory.

13. A robust moveable display (101) usable for electronic gaming, comprising:

a coupling to a game controller (103), arranged to generate a game scenario, comprising generation of pictures to be displayed on the robust moveable display (101); and

a trajectory mapping unit (105), arranged to map a virtual trajectory in space-time of a virtual world in the game scenario, with at least two of the pictures with unequal picture content corresponding to different locations of the virtual space-time trajectory, to a real trajectory of the robust moveable display (101) in real space, so that at an appropriate moment the two of the pictures are displayed on the robust moveable display (101).

14. A robust moveable display (101) as claimed in claim 13, characterized in that it is formed as a soft pillow or an elastic ball.

15. A method of gaming comprising:

moving a robust, moveable display (101) through space;

generating events of a game scenario by a game controller (103), comprising generating pictures to be displayed on the robust moveable display (101); and

coordinating by a trajectory mapping unit (105) when the pictures are to be displayed on the robust moveable display (101), the trajectory mapping unit (105) being arranged to map a virtual trajectory in space-time of a virtual world in the game scenario, with at least two of the pictures with unequal picture content corresponding to different locations of the virtual space-time trajectory, to a real trajectory of the robust moveable display (101) in real space, so that at an appropriate moment the two of the pictures are displayed on the robust moveable display (101).

17. A computer program product comprising code enabling a processor to perform the trajectory mapping unit coordination as claimed in claim 15.