Interactive play device and method

• US 9,868,072 B2
• Filed: 12/07/2005
• Issued: 01/16/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/10/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Interactive Play Devices LLC (Empire IP LLC)
• Original Assignee: Interactive Play Devices LLC (Empire IP LLC)
• Inventors: Ghaly, Nabil N.
• Primary Examiner(s): Shah, Milap
• Assistant Examiner(s): PINHEIRO, JASON PAUL
• Application Number:
  US11/294,803
• Publication Number:
  US 20060084362A1
• Time in Patent Office: 4,423 Days
• Field of Search: 463 1, 463 36- 38, 463 46- 47
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 17/28 Electric lighting systems
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 17/32 Acoustical or optical signalling devices
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 2200/00 Computerized interactive toys, e.g. dolls
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 29/22 Electric drives power supply through track A63H18/12
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 3/28 Arrangements of sound-producing means in dolls; Means in dolls for producing sounds
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 33/26 Magnetic or electric toys electric drives A63H29/22 ; indoor games played with small balls using magnetic power A63F7/0088, A63F7/068

Abstract

An interactive play device, method and apparatus, is disclosed that includes means for generating a plurality of interactions, input control mechanisms, means for storing responses to interactions, and control means to select the next interaction based on memorized responses. This invention provides a new class of interactive play devices, which is founded on personalizing a play device so that its current functionality is based on how the player has interacted with it in prior playing sessions. The invention also discloses a doll device and a car device, which operate in a plurality of states that mimic human behavior. Further, the specification describes a game during which the player is challenged to transform a play device from an initial state to a desired state by providing appropriate responses to interactions initiated by the device.

Claims

1. An interactive play device for interacting between the device and a user, wherein the device gains knowledge from a plurality of past interactions with the user, comprising:

means for providing a plurality of interactions,

a plurality of input control mechanisms,

memory means for storing information related to user'"'"'s interactions with the device, means for deriving knowledge information pertaining to the user from said plurality of past interactions, including at least one of user'"'"'s responses to interactions by the device, pattern of user'"'"'s interactions with the device, user'"'"'s preferences in interacting with the device, user'"'"'s skill in interacting with the device, and personal information pertaining to the user,

means for operating the device in a plurality of states, wherein the device provides at least two distinct interactions during at least one of said plurality of operating states, and control means responsive to said plurality of input control mechanisms and which employs said knowledge information for the user to transform the device from an initial operating state to a desired operating state.

2. An interactive play device as recited in claim 1 further comprising a housing.

3. An interactive play device as recited in claim 2 wherein said housing is in the form of a doll, animal, action figure, story or fairytale character, historic character, monster character, alien or extraterrestrial character, heroic character, religious character, movie or television character, vehicle, android or cartoon character.

4. An interactive play device as recited in claim 1 further comprising means for modifying stored information related to user interactions.

5. An interactive play device as recited in claim 2, further comprising a screen that provides visual communication.

6. An interactive play device as recited in claim 1, wherein said means to transform the device from an initial operating state to a desired operating state includes random element.

7. An interactive play device as recited in claim 1 wherein said plurality of input control mechanisms includes at least one of a switch, a computer keyboard, touch screen controls and a computer mouse with associated controls.

8. An interactive play device as recited in claim 2 wherein said plurality of input control mechanisms includes at least one of a switch located on the device, a switch located on a remote control apparatus, a touch control switch located on a remote control apparatus, a sensor, sound detector, motion detector, a speech recognition module, and accessories that could be plugged into the device.

9. An interactive play device as recited in claim 1, wherein in at least one of said plurality of states the device mimics human behavior.

10. An interactive play device as recited in claim 9, wherein said at least one of said plurality of states during which the device mimics human behavior includes at least one of happy, sad, angry, scared and surprised states.

11. An interactive play device for interacting between the device and a user, wherein the device gains knowledge from a plurality of past interactions with the user, and can operate in a plurality of states, comprising:

a housing,

a microprocessor with a non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with a computer program to control the operation of the play device, including controlling the device to operate in a plurality of states,

a computer program segment that controls a plurality of interactions with the user, wherein the device provides at least two distinct interactions in at least one of said plurality of operating states,

a plurality of input control mechanisms for the user to interact with the device, computer memory to store data related to user'"'"'s interactions with the device,

a computer program segment that processes said stored data to establish knowledge information related to how the user interacted with the device during said plurality of past interactions, including at least one of user'"'"'s responses to interactions by the device, pattern of user'"'"'s interactions with the device, user'"'"'s preferences in interacting with the device, user'"'"'s skill in interacting with the device, and personal information pertaining to the user, and

a computer program segment, responsive to user'"'"'s activations of said plurality of input control mechanisms, and which employs said knowledge information to transform the device from a current operating state to a different operating state.

12. An interactive play device as recited in claim 11 wherein said plurality of interactions include visual communications provided by light emitting means.

13. An interactive play device as recited in claim 11 wherein said plurality of interactions includes at least one aural interaction.

14. An interactive play device as recited in claim 11 further comprising a screen that provides visual interactions.

15. An interactive play device as recited in claim 11 wherein said plurality of interactions includes a reply by the device that is responsive to the activation of an input control mechanism.

16. An interactive play device as recited in claim 11, wherein said user'"'"'s interactions with the device include at least one of the activation of a switch located on the device, the activation of a touch control switch located on a remote apparatus that communicates with the device, the activation of a sensor, the activation of speech recognition module, the activation of a sound detector, the activation of a motion detector and plugging in an accessory into the device.

17. An interactive play device as recited in claim 11 wherein said housing is in the form of a doll, animal, action figure, story or fairytale character, historic character, monster character, alien or extraterrestrial character, heroic character, religious character, movie or television character, a military character, a vehicle, an android or cartoon character.

18. An interactive play device as recited in claim 11, wherein in at least one of said plurality of states the device mimics human behavior.

19. An interactive play device as recited in claim 18, wherein said at least one of said plurality of states during which the device mimics human behavior includes at least one of happy, sad, angry, afraid and surprised states.

20. An interactive play device for interacting between the device and a user, wherein the device gains knowledge from a plurality of interactions with the user, comprising:

a housing,

a microprocessor with a non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with a computer program to control the operation of the play device, including enabling the device to operate in a plurality of states,

a computer program segment that generates a plurality of interactions, wherein the device provides at least two distinct interactions in at least one of said plurality of operating states,

at least one of a push button, switch, pressure switch, touch control switch, sensor, voice activated switch, speech recognition module, sound activated sensor, a motion detector, a touch control located on a remote apparatus, a sensor located on a remote apparatus, a push button located on a remote control apparatus, and an accessory that can be plugged into the device to enable the user to interact with the device,

computer memory to store information related to said plurality of user'"'"'s interactions with the device,

a computer program segment that employs said stored information to establish knowledge information that includes at least one of user'"'"'s responses to interactions by the device, pattern of user'"'"'s interactions, user'"'"'s preferences in interacting with the device, user'"'"'s skill in interacting with the device, and personal information pertaining to the user, and

a computer program segment, responsive to user'"'"'s interaction with the device and which uses said knowledge information to transform the device from a current operating state to a different operating state.

21. An interactive play device as recited in claim 20 wherein said plurality of interactions includes visual interactions.

22. An interactive play device as recited in claim 20 wherein said plurality of interactions includes sound effects.

23. An interactive play device as recited in claim 20 wherein said housing is in the form of a doll, animal, action figure, story or fairytale character, historic character, monster character, alien or extraterrestrial character, heroic character, religious character, movie or television character, or cartoon character, a vehicle or an android.

24. An interactive play device as recited in claim 20, wherein during at least one of said plurality of operating states, the device operates autonomously independent of the activation of said plurality of input control mechanisms.

25. An interactive play device as recited in claim 20 further comprising means for communicating with a similar device.

26. An interactive play device as recited in claim 25, further comprising a control program segment to generate a plurality of interactions for providing interactive effects with a similar device.

27. An interactive play device as recited in claim 20, wherein in at least one of said plurality of states the device mimics human behavior.

28. An interactive play device as recited in claim 27, wherein said at least one of said plurality of states during which the device mimics human behavior includes at least one of happy, sad, afraid, angry and surprised states.

29. An interactive play device for interacting between the device and a user, wherein the device gains knowledge from a plurality of past interactions with the user, and can operate in a plurality of states, and wherein the device provides one or more interactions in at least one of said plurality of states comprising:

a housing,

a microprocessor with a non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with a computer program to control the operation of the play device,

a program segment that controls a plurality of interactions with the user,

at least one of a push button, switch, pressure switch, touch control switch, sensor, voice activated switch, a sound detector, a speech recognition module, a motion detector, a push button located on a remote control apparatus, at least one of a mechanical switch, a touch control switch, a sensor and a detector located on a remote apparatus that communicates with the device, and an accessory that can be plugged into the device to enable the user to interact with the device,

computer memory to store information related to user'"'"'s interactions with the device, a computer program segment that establishes knowledge information on how the user interacted with the device during said plurality of past interactions, including at least one of user'"'"'s responses to interactions, pattern of user'"'"'s interactions, user'"'"'s preferences in responding to interactions by the device, user'"'"'s skill in interacting with the device, and personal information pertaining to the user, and

a computer program segment, responsive to said user'"'"'s interactions to transform the device from a current operating state to a different operating state.

30. An interactive play device as recited in claim 29 wherein in at least one of said plurality of states, the device mimics human behavior and operates in at least one of happy, sad, afraid, angry and surprised states.

31. An interactive play device as recited in claim 29 wherein said housing is in the form of a doll, animal, action figure, story or fairytale character, historic character, monster character, alien or extraterrestrial character, heroic character, religious character, movie or television character, vehicle, android or cartoon character.

32. In an interactive play device for interacting between the device and a user, wherein the device includes a microprocessor with a computer-readable medium encoded with a computer program to control the operation of the device, wherein the device employs a plurality of input control mechanisms for the user to interact with the device, wherein the device includes memory to store information, wherein the device gains knowledge from a plurality of past interactions with the user, and can operate in a plurality of states, and wherein the device provides two or more distinct interactions during at least one of said plurality of states, a method for controlling the device having the steps of:

generating a plurality of interactions;

storing information in device memory related to user'"'"'s interactions;

employing said stored information to establish knowledge information that includes at least one of user'"'"'s responses to interactions by the device, pattern of user'"'"'s interactions, user'"'"'s preferences in responding to interactions by the device, user'"'"'s skill in interacting with the device, and personal information pertaining to the user; and

transforming the device from a current operating state to a different operating state based on said knowledge information and in response to user'"'"'s activations of said input control mechanisms.

33. An interactive play device for interacting between the device and a user, wherein the device gains knowledge from a plurality of previous interactions with the user, comprising:

a housing,

a microprocessor with a non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with a computer program to control the operation of the play device, including enabling the device to operate in a plurality of states,

a computer program segment that provides a plurality of interactions, wherein the device provides at least two distinct interactions in at least one of said plurality of operating states, and wherein in at least one of said operating states the device mimics human like behavior,

a plurality of input control mechanisms that include at least one of a push button, switch, pressure switch, touch control switch, sensor, voice activated switch, speech recognition module, sound activated sensor, a motion detector, a touch control located on a remote apparatus, a sensor located on a remote apparatus, a push button located on a remote control apparatus, and an accessory that can be plugged into the device,

computer memory to store information related to user'"'"'s interactions with the device,

a computer program segment that employs said stored information to establish knowledge information on how the user interacted with the device during said plurality of past interactions, wherein said knowledge information includes at least one of user'"'"'s responses to interactions by the device, pattern of user'"'"'s interactions, user'"'"'s preferences in interacting with the device, user'"'"'s skill in interacting with the device, and personal information pertaining to the user, and

a computer program segment, responsive to user'"'"'s activations of said plurality of input control mechanisms, and which uses said knowledge information to transform the device from a current operating state to a different operating state, wherein said different operating state includes at least one new interaction with the user.

34. In an interactive play device for interacting between the device and a user, wherein the device includes a microprocessor with a computer-readable medium encoded with a computer program to control the operation of the device, wherein the device employs a plurality of input control mechanisms for the user to interact with the device, wherein the device includes memory to store information, wherein the device gains knowledge from a plurality of past interactions with the user, and can operate in a plurality of states, and wherein the device provides two or more distinct interactions during at least one of said plurality of states, a method for controlling the device having the steps of:

providing a plurality of interactions with the user;

storing information in device memory related to user'"'"'s interactions;

employing said stored information to establish knowledge information that includes at least one of user'"'"'s responses to interactions by the device, pattern of user'"'"'s interactions, user'"'"'s preferences in responding to interactions by the device, user'"'"'s skill in interacting with the device, and personal information pertaining to the user; and

transforming the device from a current operating state to a different operating state based on said knowledge information and in response to user'"'"'s activations of said input control mechanisms, wherein said different operating state provides at least one additional interaction with the user.

35. An interactive play device for interacting between the device and a user, wherein the device gains knowledge from a plurality of previous interactions with the user, comprising:

a housing,

a microprocessor with a non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with a computer program to control the operation of the play device, including enabling the device to operate in a plurality of states,

at least one of a push button, switch, pressure switch, touch control switch, sensor, voice activated switch, speech recognition module, sound activated sensor, a motion detector, a touch control located on a remote apparatus, a sensor located on a remote apparatus, a push button located on a remote control apparatus, and an accessory that can be plugged into the device to enable the user to interact with the device,

a computer program segment that provides a plurality of interactions, wherein the device provides at least one interaction that mimics human behavior in at least one of said plurality of operating states, and wherein the device provides an interaction that is independent of user'"'"'s interaction during at least one of said operating states,

computer memory to store information related to user'"'"'s interactions with the device,

a computer program segment that employs said stored information to establish knowledge information on how the user interacted with the device during said plurality of past interactions, wherein said knowledge information includes at least one of user'"'"'s responses to interactions by the device, pattern of user'"'"'s interactions, user'"'"'s preferences in interacting with the device, user'"'"'s skill in interacting with the device, and personal information pertaining to the user, and

a computer program segment, responsive to user'"'"'s activations of said plurality of input control mechanisms, and which uses said knowledge information to transform the device from a current operating state to a different operating state, wherein said different operating state includes at least one new interaction with the user.