Interactive entertainment attraction using telepresence vehicles

• US 6,309,306 B1
• Filed: 03/03/1999
• Issued: 10/30/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Disney Enterprises Incorporated (The Walt Disney Company)
• Original Assignee: Disney Enterprises Incorporated (The Walt Disney Company)
• Inventors: Redmann, William G., Garlington, Joseph O., Nadler, Gary J., Geagley, Bradley K., Hagen-Brenner, John T.
• Primary Examiner(s): ONEILL, MICHAEL W
• Application Number:
  US09/261,398
• Time in Patent Office: 972 Days
• Field of Search: 463/6, 463/7, 463/58, 463/59, 463/60, 463/61, 463/62, 463/63, 340/323.R, 446/456, 446/454, 472/60, 472/62, 472/57, 472/137
• US Class Current: 472/60
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 9/24 Electric games; Games using electronic circuits not otherwise provided for video games A63F13/00; computerized gaming systems G07F17/32

Abstract

An entertainment attraction (100) comprises remote-controlled, telepresence vehicles (204) and an environment (200) for the vehicles to traverse. The environment includes a plurality of reconfigurable portions (206). A vehicle includes an identification device (208) for providing an identifier and a camera (210) for imaging its field of view. A driver console (102) corresponding to a vehicle includes a monitor (212) for displaying the imaged field of view of the camera and a control device (214) for providing a driver-initiated control signal. A control system (218) includes detectors (220) dispersed about the environment. A detector is configured to receive the identifier or to sense the vehicle or both. The control system composes the interactions among the vehicles, the driver console, and the reconfigurable portions according to the received identifier, the sensing of the vehicle, or the driver-initiated control signal or some combination thereof.

Claims

1. An entertainment attraction comprising:

a plurality of remote-controlled vehicles;

an environment for the plurality of vehicles to traverse, the environment includes a plurality of reconfigurable portions; and

a control system communicatively coupled with the plurality of reconfigurable portions, the control system includes a plurality of detectors, each detector corresponds to one reconfigurable portion of the plurality of reconfigurable portions, a detector is configured to sense a vehicle, and the control system is programmed to reconfigure, in response to sensing the vehicle, the reconfigurable portion corresponding to the detector that sensed the vehicle.

2. The entertainment attraction of claim 1 further comprises:

wherein each vehicle further includes a camera for imaging a field of view of the camera;

a plurality of driver consoles, each driver console corresponds to one vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, each driver console includes a monitor for displaying the imaged field of view of the camera of the corresponding vehicle;

wherein the environment further includes a plurality of walls arranged to form a maze with corridors for the plurality of vehicles to negotiate, and the corridors are of sufficient dimension relative to the size of the vehicle to give the appearance that the vehicle is going faster than its actual speed as viewed by the displayed field of view of the camera of the vehicle negotiating the maze.

3. The entertainment attraction of claim 1 further comprises:

wherein each vehicle further includes a camera for imaging the field of view of the camera;

a plurality of driver consoles, each driver console corresponds to one vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, each driver console includes a monitor for displaying the imaged field of view of the camera of the corresponding vehicle;

wherein the control system is further communicatively coupled with the plurality of driver consoles, the detector is further configured to sense the vehicle, and, in response to sensing the vehicle, the control system is further programmed to provide an overlay over the displayed field of view of the camera of the vehicle.

4. The entertainment attraction of claim 1, wherein the environment is disposed out of direct view of a plurality of game players located at the plurality of driver consoles but in direct view of a plurality of spectators watching the plurality of vehicles traversing the environment.

5. The entertainment attraction of claim 1 further comprises:

a plurality of driver consoles, each driver console corresponds to one vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, each driver console includes a control device for providing a driver-initiated control signal;

wherein the control system is further communicatively coupled with the plurality of driver consoles, and the control system is further programmed to reconfigure, according to the driver-initiated control signal provided by the control device of the driver console corresponding to the vehicle, the reconfigurable portion corresponding to the detector that received the identifier of the vehicle.

6. The entertainment attraction of claim 1, wherein each vehicle further includes an identification device for providing an identifier that uniquely identifies each vehicle from all other vehicles, the detector is further configured to receive the identifier, and the control system is further programmed to reconfigure the reconfigurable portion according to the received identifier.

7. An entertainment attraction comprising:

a plurality of remote-controlled vehicles, each vehicle includes a camera for imaging a field of view of the camera;

an environment for the plurality of vehicles to traverse;

a plurality of driver consoles, each driver console corresponds to one vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, each driver console includes a monitor for displaying the imaged field of view of the camera of the corresponding vehicle; and

a control system communicatively coupled with the plurality of driver consoles, the control system including a plurality of detectors dispersed about the environment, a detector is configured to sense a vehicle, and, in response to sensing the vehicle, the control system is programmed to provide an overlay over the displayed field of view of the camera of the vehicle.

8. The entertainment attraction of claim 7, wherein:

each vehicle further includes an identification device for providing an identifier that uniquely identifies each vehicle from all other vehicles;

the detector is further configured to receive the identifier of the sensed vehicle;

the overlay is selected from a plurality of overlays according to the received identifier.

9. The entertainment attraction of claim 7, wherein the environment includes a plurality of walls arranged to form a maze with corridors for the plurality of vehicles to negotiate, and the corridors of sufficient dimension relative to the size of the vehicle to give the appearance that the vehicle is going faster than its actual speed as viewed by the displayed field of view of the camera of the vehicle negotiating the maze.

10. The entertainment attraction of claim 7, wherein the environment is disposed out of direct view of a plurality of game players located at the plurality of driver consoles but in direct view of a plurality of spectators watching the plurality of vehicles traversing the environment.

11. The entertainment attraction of claim 7, wherein:

the environment includes a plurality of reconfigurable portions;

each detector corresponds to one reconfigurable portion of the plurality of reconfigurable portions;

each driver console includes a control device for providing a driver-initiated control signal;

the control system is further communicatively coupled with the plurality of reconfigurable portions, and the control system is further programmed to reconfigure, according to the driver-initiated control signal provided by the control device of the driver console corresponding to the vehicle, the reconfigurable portion corresponding to the detector that sensed the vehicle.

12. The entertainment attraction of claim 7, wherein:

each driver console further includes Control device for providing a driver-initiated control signal;

the control system is further programmed to select, according to the driver-initiated control signal provided by the control device of the driver console corresponding to the sensed vehicle, the overlay from a plurality of overlays.

13. An entertainment attraction comprising:

a plurality of remote-controlled vehicles, each vehicle includes a camera for imaging a field of view of the camera;

a plurality of driver consoles, each driver console corresponds to one vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, each driver console includes a monitor for displaying the imaged field of view of the camera of the corresponding vehicle; and

an environment for the plurality of vehicles to traverse, the environment includes a plurality of walls arranged to form a maze for the plurality of vehicles to negotiate, and the walls are arranged to form corridors of sufficient dimension relative to the size of a vehicle to give the appearance that the vehicle is going faster than its actual speed as viewed by the displayed field of view of the camera of the vehicle negotiating the maze.

14. The entertainment attraction of claim 13, wherein the environment is disposed out of direct view of a plurality of game players located at the plurality of driver consoles but in direct view of a plurality of spectators watching the plurality of vehicles traversing the environment.

15. The entertainment attraction of claim 13 further comprises:

wherein the environment further includes a purality of reconfigurable portions;

wherein each driver console further includes a control device for providing a driver-initiated control signal;

a control system communicatively coupled with the plurality of reconfigurable portions and the plurality of driver consoles, the control system includes a plurality of detectors, each detector corresponds to one reconfigurable portion of the plurality of reconfigurable portions, a detector is configured to sense the vehicle, and the control system is programmed to reconfigure, according to the driver-initiated control signal provided by the control device of the driver console corresponding to the sensed vehicle, the reconfigurable portion corresponding to the detector that sensed the vehicle.

16. The entertainment attraction of claim 13, wherein the width of the corridors is the greater of 225% of the length and 400% of the width of a one of the plurality of remote-controlled vehicles.

17. An entertainment attraction comprising:

a plurality of remote-controlled vehicles;

an environment for the plurality of vehicles to traverse, the environment includes a plurality of reconfigurable portions;

a plurality of driver consoles, each driver console corresponds to one vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, each driver console includes a control device for providing a driver-initiated control signal;

a control system communicatively coupled with the plurality of reconfigurable portions and the plurality of driver consoles, the control system includes a plurality of detectors, each detector corresponds to one reconfigurable portion of the plurality of reconfigurable portions, a detector is configured to sense a vehicle, and the control system is programmed to reconfigure, according to the driver-initiated control signal provided by the control device of the driver console corresponding to the sensed vehicle, the reconfigurable portion corresponding to the detector that sensed the vehicle.

18. The entertainment attraction of claim 17, wherein the environment is disposed out of direct view of a plurality of game players located at the plurality of driver consoles but in direct view of a plurality of spectators watching the plurality of vehicles traversing the environment.

19. An entertainment attraction comprising:

a plurality of remote-controlled vehicles, each vehicle includes a camera for imaging a field of view of the camera;

a plurality of driver consoles, each driver console corresponds to one vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, each driver console includes a monitor for displaying the imaged field of view of the camera of the corresponding vehicle; and

an environment for the plurality of vehicles to traverse, the environment disposed out of direct view of a plurality of game players located at the plurality of driver consoles but in direct view of a plurality of spectators watching the plurality of vehicles traversing the environment.

20. The entertainment attraction of claim 19, wherein the environment is disposed below a level of a floor supporting the plurality of spectators.

21. The entertainment attraction of claim 20, wherein the environment is covered by a transparent portion of the floor.

22. The entertainment attraction of claim 20, wherein the transparent portion of the floor includes removable tiles.

23. An entertainment attraction comprising:

a plurality of remote-controlled vehicles, each vehicle includes,

an identification device for providing an identifier that uniquely identifies each vehicle from all other vehicles, and

a camera for imaging the field of view of the camera;

an environment for the plurality of vehicles to traverse, the environment includes a plurality of reconfigurable portions;

a plurality of driver consoles, each driver console corresponds to one vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, each driver console includes,

a monitor for displaying the imaged field of view of the camera of the corresponding vehicle, and

a control device for providing a driver-initiated control signal; and

a control system communicatively coupled with the plurality of vehicles, the plurality of driver consoles, and the plurality of reconfigurable portions, the control system includes a plurality of detectors, each detector corresponds to one reconfigurable portion of the plurality of reconfigurable portions, a detector is configured to receive the identifier of a vehicle and to sense the vehicle, and the control system is programmed to compose, according to the received identifier, the sensing of the vehicle, and the driver-initiated control signal of the driver console that corresponds to the vehicle, the interactions among the vehicle, the driver console corresponding to the vehicle, and the reconfigurable portion that corresponds to the detector that received the identifier of the vehicle.

24. The entertainment attraction of claim 23, wherein the environment further includes a plurality of walls arranged to form a maze with corridors for the plurality of vehicles to negotiate, and the corridors are of sufficient dimension relative to the size of the vehicle to give the appearance that the vehicle is going faster than its actual speed as viewed by the displayed field of view of the camera of the vehicle negotiating the maze.

25. The entertainment attraction of claim 23, wherein the environment is disposed out of direct view of a plurality of game players located at the plurality of driver consoles but in direct view of a plurality of spectators watching the plurality of vehicles traversing the environment.