AU741887B2

AU741887B2 - Competition method and means

Info

Publication number: AU741887B2
Application number: AU75384/98A
Authority: AU
Inventors: William Constantine; William Robert Constantine
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1997-05-21
Filing date: 1998-05-20
Publication date: 2001-12-13
Anticipated expiration: 2018-05-20
Also published as: GB9926105D0; GB2339130B; EP0983108A1; WO1998052663A1; GB2339130A; CA2290440A1; GB9710388D0; AU7538498A

Description

COMPETITION METHOD AND MEANS The present invention comprises a method of conducting a pictorial competition and apparatus for conducting a competition of this type.

Competitions requiring competitors to identify a winning location upon a pictorial entry coupon are well known. For example, football-based competitions in which the entrant attempts to determine the notional location of a ball which has been erased or otherwise omitted from a football action picture were first described well over 60 years ago. Similar competitions have been described wherein the same principle is applied to a wide range of other sports, for example to tennis and to motor racing.

Competitions of this foregoing general type have become extremely popular and millions of competitors each week now submit entries to such competitions, by obtaining the required entry form bearing the entry picture, marking thereon one or more notional positions for the omitted ball, and despatching the entry form, by post or via an appointed collector, together with the required entry fee. Unfortunately, this necessary procedure inevitably entails a delay, usually of several days, between the marking of the entry location by the competitor and the eventual publication of the competition result. In the current situation where instant-result lottery and other competitions are readily accessible, competitions of the "Spot the Ball" type are fast losing ground.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a competition method and means whereby some at least of the disadvantages of such prior competitions are reduced or eliminated.

AMRAIEI V~EEI~ The method according to the present invention of conducting a pictorial competition comprises displaying upon a computer screen a pictorial display which is concurrently received from a remote location, in which pictorial display the notional position of an object is required to be indicated by a competitor, and providing for the competitor to superimpose electronically upon said pictorial display upon said screen an indication of the position selected by said competitor.

Apparatus for conducting and for entering a competition of this type includes a computer screen, means to display upon the screen the required pictorial display received from a remote location, and means for superimposing electronically upon the display the indication of the position selected by the competitor.

Although the competition method and apparatus according to o o* *0 the present invention may take a wide variety of different forms, a common feature of at least the majority of such S competitions is that the result, that is the success or failure of the entry, may if desired by seen as soon as the entry has been made.

ooo The pictorial display is displayed upon a computer screen. ooze Thus the screen may be a personal screen located in the home of a competitor.

The display itself may, in various alternative forms of the invention, be a three-dimensional or stereoscopic image, a holographic image or a display in virtual reality. Displayed upon a computer screen, the display may be for example sent by land-line or by radio, from a remote location or via the Internet.

The pictorial display may be a static or moving display.

Thus, in the case of a moving display, the picture will usually, but not essentially, be stopped when the competitor is to enter the competition. In this form of the competition, when an entry has been made by the application of an indication of the selected position to the display, the display may be caused to move on to provide a new image, in particular if the earlier entry is successful.

The pictorial display may be an authentic reproduction of a real view or photographic image but it may alternatively be a created or simulated display, for example in the manner of a cartoon or hand-created image or an image produced with the aid of computer graphics.

The "winning" position, that is the position to be identified by a competitor, may be a position from which a part of the overall pictorial display has been removed. As an alternative, it may be a position selected by the creator of the competition upon a logical or arbitrary basis. For example, the position may be that from which the image of a football has been removed or it may be simply a position selected for some article against an artificial background.

The entry of a competitor in the competition is applied to the pictorial display electronically. Thus, by way of example, an electronic pen, a touch screen or a computer mouse may be used to transmit to the display screen an indication of the position selected by the competition entrant.

0: The position selected by the competitor as his competition S* entry may be indicated by means of a simple cross, or by a dot, for example, or by a representation of the omitted item, for example of a football. Preferably the indication is of a multiplicity of adjacent markers, for example a multiplicity of crosses or dots, so that the competitor may thereby be given more than one opportunity of identifying the winning location in a single entry. The indication may be of threedimensional form.

The checking of each entry to establish whether or not the desired location has been correctly identified, that is to determine whether or not it is a winning entry, may be achieved by a simple visual check but it is much preferred that the checking be carried out automatically, that is electronically for example. Thus when the electronic message conveying the indication of the location selected by the competitor impinges on the correct, that is winning, location, a visual, oral or audiovisual signal indicating success may be emitted automatically.

The invention may further be clarified by means of the following description of one specific example of an embodiment.

The pictorial display may be sent to a competitor's computer screen from some central location, for example from a television studio or from an Internet site, and the .o competitor may then make his entry by sending a signal to the

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central location, for example by keying in selected coordinates on a keyboard or by means of a computer mouse or by a touch-screen method.

Throughout this specification and the claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise", and variations such as "comprises" and "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or steps.

The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that that prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in Australia.

Claims

1. A method of conducting a pictorial competition, which method comprises displaying upon a computer screen a pictorial display which is concurrently received from a remote location, in which pictorial display the notional position of an object is required to be indicated by a competitor, and providing for the competitor to superimpose electronically upon said pictorial display upon said screen an indication of the position selected by said competitor.

2. A method as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the display is received by land-line or by radio.

3. A method as claimed in either of the preceding claims, e* wherein the position selected by the competitor is indicated by an electronic pen,.a touch screen, a computer ;mouse or a computer keyboard. *9

4. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the pictorial display is three-dimensional.

5. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims, o..wherein the position selected by the competitor is o indicated by a multiplicity of adjacent markers.

6. Apparatus for conducting a pictorial competition by the method as claimed in any of the preceding claims, which apparatus comprises a computer screen, means to display upon said screen a pictorial display which is concurrently received from a remote location and from which pictorial display an object has been notionally or actually omitted, and means to superimpose electronically upon said pictorial display an indication of a position selected by a competitor. P:\oprssb\75384-9')esdoc-l5/10/l)l -6-

7. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 6, wherein the means to superimpose an indication of the selected position is an electronic pen, a touch screen, a computer mouse or a computer keyboard.

8. Apparatus as claimed in either of Claims 6 and 7, including means to determine electronically whether or not the position selected by a competitor coincides with the position from which the object has been omitted.

9. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 8, including means to provide a visual, aural or audiovisual signal when said two positions coincide. 15

10. A method of conducting a pictorial competition substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

11. Apparatus for conducting a pictorial competition 20 substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to i* the accompanying drawings. DATED this 15th day of October, 2001 William Robert Constantine by DAVIES COLLISON CAVE Patent Attorneys for the Applicant