CONTEXT-BASED INTERACTIVE PLUSH TOY

• US 20110124264A1
• Filed: 11/25/2009
• Published: 05/26/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hallmark Cards Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Hallmark Cards Incorporated
• Inventors: Garbos, Jennifer R.
• Granted Patent: US 8,568,189 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 446/147
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 2200/00 Computerized interactive toys, e.g. dolls
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 3/28 Arrangements of sound-producing means in dolls; Means in dolls for producing sounds
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 33/38 Picture books with additional toy effects, e.g. pop-up or slide displays picture books B42D1/00

Abstract

An interactive toy for interacting with a user while a story is being read aloud from a book or played from a movie/video. The toy includes a speech recognition unit that receives and detects certain triggering phrases as they are read aloud or played from a companion literary work. The triggering phrase read aloud from the book or played in the movie/video may have independent significance or may only have significance when combined with other phrases read aloud from the book or played in the movie/video.

Claims

1. A method of interacting with a user, wherein a toy responds to the user as the user reads a book, the method comprising:

receiving a first plurality of audible sounds from the user, wherein the first plurality of audible sounds correspond to text read aloud from the book that contains at least one triggering phrase and at least one non-triggering phrase, the at least one triggering phrase and the at least one non-triggering phrase combine to form a narrative in the book that describe a sequence of fictional or non-fictional events;

analyzing the first plurality of audible sounds to detect the at least one triggering phrase; and

upon detecting the at least one triggering phrase, activating a first responsive program, wherein the responsive program supplements the narrative in the book.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a second plurality of audible sounds from the user, wherein the second plurality of audible sounds correspond to text read aloud from the book that contains at least one additional triggering phrase and at least one additional non-triggering phrase, wherein the at least one additional triggering phrase and the at least one additional non-triggering phrase combine to continue the narrative in the book formed by the at least one triggering phrase and the at least one non-triggering phrase;

analyzing the second plurality of audible sounds to detect the at least one additional triggering phrase; and

upon detecting the at least one additional triggering phrase, activating a second responsive program, wherein the second responsive program supplements the narrative in the book.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the second responsive program and the first responsive program are the same.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein analyzing the first plurality of audible sounds to detect the at least one triggering phrase includes:

parsing at least a portion of the first plurality of audible sounds into one or more constituent phonemes; and

comparing the one or more constituent phonemes of the at least a portion of the first plurality of audible sounds against one or more constituent phonemes of the at least one triggering phrase.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein analyzing the second plurality of audible sounds to detect the at least one additional triggering phrase includes:

parsing at least a portion of the second plurality of audible sounds into one or more constituent phonemes; and

comparing the one or more constituent phonemes of the at least a portion of the second plurality of audible sounds against one or more constituent phonemes of the at least one additional triggering phrase.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first responsive program is activated based on the detecting of at least one triggering phrase and at least one non-triggering phrase.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the first responsive program is activated based on the detecting of at least one triggering phrase and at least one non-triggering phrase.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the second responsive program is activated based on the detecting of at least one triggering phrase and at least one additional triggering phrase.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one triggering phrase is selectively placed among a plurality of non-triggering phrases in the book by placing the at least one triggering phrase at a beginning of a sentence, wherein the sentence comprises the at least one triggering phrase and the at least one non-triggering phrase.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one triggering phrase is selectively placed among a plurality of non-triggering phrases in the book by placing the at least one triggering phrase at an end of a sentence, wherein the sentence comprises the at least one triggering phrase and the at least one non-triggering phrase.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one triggering phrase is selectively placed among a plurality of non-triggering phrases in the book by placing the at least one triggering phrase in a clause of a sentence, wherein the sentence comprises the at least one triggering phrase and the at least one non-triggering phrase.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one triggering phrase is selectively placed among a plurality of non-triggering phrases in the book by placing the at least one triggering phrase at the end of a page in the book.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein activating a responsive program comprises activating an audio file.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein activating a responsive program comprises activating a movement program, wherein at least a portion of the toy moves in response to activating the movement program.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein activating a responsive program comprises activating a lighting program, wherein at least a portion of the toy lights up in response to the lighting program.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein activating a responsive program comprises communicating data to one or more devices.

17. A method of interacting with a user via an interactive toy, wherein the toy responds to the user based on a user-provided context, the method comprising:

receiving a first plurality of audible sounds, wherein the first plurality of audible sounds correspond to a literary work and form a narrative of a story being told in the literary work;

analyzing the first plurality of audible sounds to detect a first phrase;

upon detecting the first phrase, receiving a second plurality of audible sounds,

wherein the second plurality of audible sounds correspond to a literary work and form a narrative of a story being told in the literary work;

analyzing the second plurality of audible sounds to detect a second phrase; and

upon detecting the second phrase, activating a responsive program associated with detection of both the first and second phrases, wherein the responsive program supplements the narrative of the story being told in the literary work.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the literary work is a book and the first plurality of audible sounds and the second plurality of audible sounds each correspond to text read aloud from the book and comprise a user'"'"'s voice.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the literary work is a movie and the first plurality of audible sounds and the second plurality of audible sounds each correspond to a voice of one or more characters in the movie.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the literary work is a live broadcast.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the first phrase corresponds to a first plurality of responsive programs.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the second phrase corresponds to a second plurality of responsive programs.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the first phrase and the second phrase each correspond to one shared responsive program.

24. The method of claim 17, wherein activating the responsive program consists of one or more of activating an audio file, activating a movement program, and activating a lighting program.

25. An interactive story and toy system, the system comprising:

an interactive toy, wherein the interactive toy includes;

a body having an interior cavity;

a speech recognition unit at least partially positioned within the interior cavity, the speech recognition unit configured to receive audible sounds and determine if at least one triggering phrase has been received; and

a sound module at least partially positioned within the interior cavity, the sound module having a speaker and a controller with a plurality of audio messages stored therein for selective playback via the speaker, wherein one or more messages are selected if the speech recognition unit determines that at least one triggering phrase has been received; and

a user engagable switch for powering on the interactive toy;

a literary work, wherein the literary work includes;

a plurality of non-triggering phrases, wherein the plurality of non-triggering phrases form part of a story told in the literary work; and

at least one triggering phrase, wherein the at least one triggering phrase also forms part of the story told in the literary work and is selectively placed within the plurality of non-triggering phrases to assist the speech recognition unit in differentiating non-triggering phrases from triggering phrases.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the literary work is a movie.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein the literary work is a book.

28. The system of claim 25, wherein the literary work is a live broadcast.

29. The system of claim 27, wherein the at least one triggering phrase is selectively placed at an end of a sentence within the story told in the book.

30. The system of claim 27, wherein the at least one triggering phrase is selectively placed at the beginning of a sentence within the story told in the book.

31. The system of claim 27, wherein the at least one triggering phrase is selectively placed at an end of a sentence at an end of a page of the book.

32. The system of claim 27, wherein the at least one triggering phrase is selectively placed in a clause within a sentence within the story told in the book.

33. A computer-implemented method of activating triggering phrases from a memory to facilitate user interaction, the method comprising:

receiving a first plurality of audible sounds;

comparing the first plurality of audible sounds to a plurality of leading triggering phrases lacking significance independent of one or more additional triggering phrases;

determining if the first plurality of audible sounds includes a leading triggering phrase; and

upon determining that the first plurality of audible sounds includes a leading triggering phrase, activating a plurality of lagging triggering phrases, wherein the leading triggering phrase included in the first plurality of audible sounds and each of the plurality of lagging triggering phrases define an interactive response.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

receiving a second plurality of audible sounds;

comparing the second plurality of audible sounds to the plurality of lagging triggering phrases;

determining if the second plurality of audible sounds includes a lagging triggering phrase; and

upon determining that the second plurality of audible sounds includes a lagging triggering phrase, activating the interactive response associated with the combination of the leading triggering phrase included in the first plurality of audible sounds and the lagging triggering phrase included in the second plurality of audible sounds.

36. The method of claim 33, wherein the leading and lagging triggering phrases combined correspond to one or more interactive responses.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the interactive response defined by the leading triggering phrase included in the first plurality of audible sounds and the lagging triggering phrase included in the second plurality of audible sounds includes one or more of an audio, mechanical or visual response.

35. (canceled)