GB2525212A

GB2525212A - Gaming apparatus and method

Info

Publication number: GB2525212A
Application number: GB1406812.6A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Saj Muzaffar
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2014-04-15
Filing date: 2014-04-15
Publication date: 2015-10-21
Also published as: GB201414150D0; GB201406812D0

Abstract

A base station of microprocessor-controlled gaming apparatus comprises a TV 1 having a display, means for generating audio signals and an audio transducer 3 arranged to generate high frequency sounds corresponding to the audio signals, the audio signals encoding potential game play (eg the correct answer to a puzzle or question displayed on the TV). The players each have a mobile processing device 7, 8 such as a conventional smartphone provided with a microphone 5, 6 and a display and use these to answer the displayed question or puzzle. The audio signals are preferably above the range of normal human hearing, eg 18 kHz, but detectable by the microphones. The detected audio signals are decoded by the smartphones to generate the correct answer which is then stored but withheld from the players until after a delay or after at least one player has submitted an answer. A conventional quiz or puzzle game can be implemented in this manner on a smartphone app.

Description

Camlnci Anuaratus and Method The present invention relates to game apparatus and a method of playing games, and relates particularly but not exclusively to apparatus for multi-player games with two or more mobile devices. The invention relates particularly but not exclusively to games played on a TV or display device.

Interactive games played on a TV including smart TVs, set-top boxes, DVD, Blu-ray players and games consoles are conventionally played by a player controlling play with buttons, roller-ball, a joystick or other selecting or pointing device via a renote control.

Some interactive games have a multiple player facility.

However these reguire the players to play by turn as there is only one remote control. This prevents competition in real time between the players and hence much of the competitive fun element of the game is lost.

This limitation is inherent: existing interactive games are only designed to work with one remote control. It would be expensive to provide additional eguipment allowing multiple remote control support.

It would be desirable to provide a low cost gaming experience that could be used on existing, SmartTV, set-bop box, DVD player, flu-Ray players or blie like which are normally provided with only a single remote control handset.

Accordingly, in a first aspect the invention provides microprocessor-controlled gaming apparatus comprising a

I

display, means for generating audio signals and an audio transducer arranged to generate sounds corresponding to said audio signals, said audio signals encoding potential game play by one or more players.

Preferably said audio signals are inaudible to the human ear.

The audio signals can be transmitted (eg from a TV or display) to one or more mobile devices operated by one or more players, such as smartphones or tablets for example.

Such mobile devices normally include a microphone which can receive the audio signals, which in preferred embodiments have a frequency of about 18 -20 khz, ie above the range of normal human hearing but still within the frequency response of the microphone of a mobile device.

Optionally said audio signals are masked or encrypted so that even if they are perceived by a user, no information can be derived until they are processed by a mobile device.

Preferably said audio signals consist of a single or multiple frequency sine or square wave.

Preferably said mobile devices are programmable via a software application (an app) Preferably the microprocessor-controlled gaming apparatus comprises a microprocessor-controlled unit arranged to display images, video and output audio signals.

Preferably said microprocessor-controlled unit is a smart TV, DVD, Blu-Ray player, set-top box for use with a satellite, cable or the internet.

In one embodiment said audio signals include a trigger signal arranged to initiate game play on a mobile pro-cessing device.

Preferably said gaming apparatus is arranged to generate an audio signal encoding an answer to a question or puz-zle presented to a player by said gaming apparatus.

Preferably said gaming apparatus is arranged to display said question or said puzzle (eq on the display of a set- top box or digital video player) in conjunction with gen-erating said audio signal.

Preferably said audio signals encoding potential game play differ in frequency and thereby encode different game play.

Preferably said audio signals encoding game play have a frequency of 10kHz or greater, more preferably 15 kHz or greater, most preferably 17 kHz or greater, e.g 18kHz.

Preferably the microprocessor-controlled gaming apparatus comprises a digital video player or is a set-top box for use with a satellite or cable TV arrangement.

Preferably the gaming apparatus (eq a set-top box or dig- ital video player) comprises a receiver for receiving in-fra-red signals, audio signals, wireless signals via a WiFi router or B1uetoothl connection, or signals via an internet connection, said apparatus being arranged to generate said audio signals in dependenoe upon signals received by said receiver.

In a second aspect the invention provides a gaming appa- ratus comprising a mobile processing device having a mi- crophone and a display, said mobile processing device be-ing programmed to launch or control a gaming application in response to an audio signal received by said micro-phone.

Preferably said mobile processing device is programmed to compare said potential game play with actual game play by a user of said mobile processing device.

In one embodiment the gaming application puts a question or puzzle to the user.

Optionally, the gaming application is launched by an au-dio signal in the form of a trigger signal.

Preferably the gaming apparatus comprises a plurality of such mobile processing devices for use by competing users.

In such embodiments the invention provides a low cost solution for a true multiple player interactive game.

The audio signals received by the mobile devices may for example comprise game play data including but not limited bo g ante, level s Lar L arid/or end briggers, answers Lo questions and/or puzzles or the like.

In such embodiments an interactive game can be played by any number of players (simultaneously) with a mobile device app running on the mobile device(s) and game software running on the microprocessor-controlled gaming apparatus Keg a set-top box or digital video player) In use, the apparatus of the first and second aspects is combined.

In a third aspect the invention provides a computer program product for operating the processing device of the first aspect of the invention or the mobile processing device of the second aspect of the invention, said computer program product comprising a computer readable medium embodying program code means executable by the processing device for generating or decoding said audio signals.

For example the computer program product may be a digital data carrier for use with a digital video player, said digital data carrier having a digital video game recorded thereon in association with program means whereby said digital video game can be played by competing players on said digital video player.

In a fourth aspect the invention provides a method of playing a microprocessor-controlled game wherein audio signals are generated, an audio transducer generates sounds corresponding to said audio signals, said audio signals encoding potential game play by one or more play- ers, said sounds are detected by at least one mobile pro-cessiriy device arid are decoded Lo derive said po Len Lial game play.

A screen initiating game play Keg by displaying a question or puzzle) may for example be displayed on a dIsplay of a digital video player or a set-top box, or it may be displayed on a display of the mobile device.

The present invention is applicable particularly to conventional game eguipment (eg a set-top box or digital video player) running a known interactive game. The game run could be a broadcast (live or streamed) or could previously have been saved, for example.

In a preferred embodiment the game equipment (eq set-top box or digital video player) is arranged to receive user interaction data encoded as an audio signal (which may optionally be ultrasonic) from the said mobile devices.

A truly simultaneous multiple player facility can be provided, without requiring additional equipment beyond the remote control handset The mobile device game application may be designed so that a correct answer awards a player points.

Additionally or alternatively each player may be scored accordIng to the speed of correctly answering a question being displayed.

The system may be arranged so that many players can compete against one another during a game. In this case each player may be scored according to his or her accuracy and/or speed of answerIng qes Lions. Each player's score may then be transmitted back to the game operator in order to find a winner.

The game may for example be a game show, trivia, board game or a puzzle based game, It may for example be a game of skill or chance or a combination thereof.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representation of one embodiment of gaming apparatus in accordance with the invention, and Figure 2 is a flow diagram illustrating use of the apparatus of Figure 1.

The apparatus depicted in Figure 1 includes a TV 1, which is used to receive all visual, video and audio sig-nals, set-top box 2, on which the game software runs, and an audio output transducer 3, preferably a loudspeak-er integral to TV 1, which outputs first (trigger) and second audio signals, the latter including encoded game play data.

Separate smartphones 7,8 used by competing players in-clude microphones 5, 6 respectively which are preferably integral and receive all audio signals from transducer 3.

In order to link the players' smartphones 7,8 to the TV game eguipment the players download and install a smart-phone game app for Llie game (firs b Lime only) arid rii IL which puts the smart phones 7,8 into "waiting for gues-tions" mode.

To begin playing the game, a player selects the TV game from TV 1 games menu screen using a remote control 4. In this example the game is a multiple player quiz game, (which may then be downloaded or it may have been previ- ously downloaded) . This is represented by step 40 in Fig-ure 2.

Referring to Figure 2, the game starts (step 10) . A wstart1 sound (trigger signal) is transmitted to the smartphones, which sets the app to await questions 9step 50, Figure 2) Once the game is running it then displays a Play" option on the screen of TV 1. Upon pressing the remote enter key, a question is picked at random, the display of TV 1 displays the question and four multiple answers (step 30, Figure 2) and simultaneously a first audio signal that represents which one of the four possible multiple choice answers is the correct answer is output from transducer 3 (step 20, Figure 2) . The correct answer is one example of potential game play encoded by the audio signal.

The smartphones' microphones 5, 6 pick up this audio sig-nal, decode and store the correct answer to currently displaying multiple choice question on TV 1 (step 60 Fig-ure 2) . This answer is not available to the players at this stage. Smartphones 7,8 also start to display eg four multiple choice answer buttons, marked/coloured like those being displayed on TV 1 The players must then within a countdown period select one of the multiple choice answers being displayed on their smartphones 7,8 by means of a touch screen or but- tons (step 70) . This preset time may have started count-ing down from the moment the said audio signal was first picked up.

Once the countdown timer reaches zero the piayers' an-swers are checked against the stored correct answer (step 90) and points are awarded for correctness and speed of answering.

The above process may continue a number of times depend-ing on the game rules.

In a variant (not shown) the smartphones 7, 8 send data back to the TV 1. This data may for example be an audio signal (picked up by a microphone on the TV) or an infra-red signal.

Other means for local data transmission back to the TV could include Bluetooth or a shared router (using eg WiFi) Alternatively the smartphones could send data back to the TV via a remote server by connecting wirelessly to the internet (eg via 3G/WiFi)

Claims

Claims: 1. Microprocessor-controlled gaming apparatus compris-ing a display, means for generating audio signals and an audio transducer arranged to generate sounds correspond-ing to said audio signals, said audio signals encoding potential game play by one or more players.
2. A gaming apparatus according to claim 1 which is ar-ranged to generate an audio signal encoding an answer to a question or puzzle presented to a player by said appa-ratus.
3. A gaming apparatus according to claim 2 which is ar- ranged to display said question or said puzzle in con-junction with generating said audio signal.
4. A gaming apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein said audio signals encoding potential game play differ in frequency and thereby encode different game play.
5. A gaming apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein said audio signals encoding potential game play have a frequency of 10kHz or greater.
6. A gaming apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said audio signals encoding potential game play have a frequency of 15 kHz or yrea Ler.
7. A gaming apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said audio signals encoding potential game play have a fre-quency of 17kHz or greater.
8. A gaming apparatus accordIng to any preoeding claim which is arranged to generate a trigger signal arranged to initiate game play on a mobile processing device.
9. A gaming apparatus according to any preceding claim which is a digital video player or is a set-top box for use with a satellite or cable TV arrangement.
10. A gaming apparatus according to any preceding claim comprising a receiver for receiving infra-red signals, audio signals, wireless signals via a WiFi router or Bluetooth® connection, or signals via an internet connec- tion, said apparatus being arranged to generate said au-dio signals in dependence upon signals received by said receiver.
11. A gaming apparatus comprising a mobile processing device having a microphone and a display, said mobile processing device being programmed to launch or control a gaming application in response to an audio signal re-ceived by said microphone.
12. A gaming apparatus according to claim 11 wherein said mobile processing device is programmed to compare said potential game play with actual game play by a user of said mobile processing device.
13. A gaming apparatus according to claim 11 or claim 12 wilerelil blie gaining appllca LIon pubs a goes Lion or poz 21e to the user.
14. A gaming apparatus according to any of claims 11 to 13 which is a multi-player apparatus comprising a plural- ity of such mobile processing devices for use by compet-ing users.
15. A gaming apparatus according to any of claims 11 to 14 wherein said audio signals encoding potential game play have a freguency of 10kHz or greater.
16. A gaming apparatus according to claim 17 wherein said audio signals have a frequency of 15 kHz or greater.
17. A gaming apparatus according to any of claims 11 to 16 wherein the or each said mobile processing device is a mobile communications device.
18. An assembly of gaming apparatus comprising micropro-cessor-controlled gaming apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 10 in combination with gaming apparatus as claimed in any of claims 11 to 17.
19. A computer program product for operating the pro-cessing device of any of claims 1 to 10 or the mobile processing device of any of claims 11 to 18, said comput-er program product comprising a computer readable medium embodying program code means executable by the processing device for generating or decoding said audio signals.
20. A computer program product according to claim 19 which is a digital data carrier for use with a digital video player, said digiLal daba carrier having a digibal video game recorded thereon in association with program means whereby said digital video game can be played by competing players on said digital video player.
21. A method of playing a nicroprocessor-controlled game wherein audio signals are generated, an audio transducer generates sounds corresponding to said audio signals, said audio signals encoding potential game play by one or more players, said sounds are detected by at least one mobile processing device and are decoded to derive said potential game play.
22. A method according to claim 21 when implemented with apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 18.
23. Microprocessor-controlled multi-player gaming appa- ratus substantially as described hereinabove with refer-ence to Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.
24. A digital data carrier for use with a digital video player, said digital data carrier being arranged to im-plement a method substantially as described hereinabove with reference to Figure 2 of the accompanying drawings.