JPS60122588A - Electronic board game apparatus having touch responding overlay - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an electronic board type display device, and more particularly to an electronic board type game display device having cooperating touch sensitive means. .

[Summary of the Invention] According to the present invention, there is provided a flat panel liquid crystal display device, a method for setting a display suitable for a game to be played on the display device, and a control that cooperates with the above-mentioned four display devices. An electronic display for a board game is provided, comprising touch-sensitive means cooperating with said display to communicate the movements to be played to the means.

[Embodiments of the invention] Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the embodiment shown, a smectic (liquid crystal) flat panel display is used, which is used for chess, d
The size is suitable for board games such as chess (roughts) and shogi (halma). Such displays are inherently thin, with an overall thickness of approximately 12.5 to 50 II
The associated control device is located behind the display panel. Once written, the display is permanent (until changed by the control unit), which has the advantage of providing flicker-free output without power consumption due to the reflective panel.

Such games are played between two players, and in particular chess can be played by one player against a machine. In the latter case, a control device with a memory for storing the game program and a display drive circuit is placed behind the display.

A two-dimensional display of the pieces on the board is required, and chess, ki, shogi, puzzles, etc. that are published in newspapers are usually in two-dimensional formats, so if they are already available, there is no guarantee. exists. The representation of black pieces on a black eye (on a chess board) is done by representing the black eye in gray (for example, by crossed hatches).

Individual picture elements in a smectic display are black or white.

However, gray can be made to look like black by making some of the picture elements of the black eye black in a certain pattern or pseudo-randomly. Newspapers use a similar technique to display black chessboard numbers. The black piece above the black eye is set to black with white pixels remaining to form the desired outline or shape. The embodiments described below are suitable when two players are located far from each other or when one player plays with the machine. Two players in the same location do not require the use of electronic devices, although it is worthwhile to safely accumulate the state of a paused game for later analysis. Also, once the device is installed, there is no need for two rolling players to be restricted from using it.

Board games of the type described above are relatively slow moving and therefore there are no real time problems in updating the display to keep pace with the player's movements. Space Invaders type games require high rates of change, which cannot be accommodated well by today's speeds of smectic display devices. Additionally, they require color, which current smectic display technology cannot provide. These two factors can be changed with further development. Still other flat panel type display devices exist. Although the permanent memory features of smectic displays are less useful in such applications, there are features that allow for relatively large areas. Currently large area Space Invaders games use cathode ray tubes, which require a larger volume than smectic displays of the same area.

The board shown in Figure 1 consists of a smectic display panel with a suitable touch-sensitive overlay, which may be of any conventional type. The strip-like area along one edge of the panel is the "control area." The overlay in this control area is used to perform control actions,
In the display device, this operation is called "menu mode."

Upon turning on the switch, the player is presented with a display consisting of "buttons" formed by areas of the display in which the main game selection (eg chess, shogi, gi, etc.) is specified. For example, if we touch on the area for chess, 64
A square-shaped board appears with the pieces and pawns set up for the game. The label of the button pressed will therefore change to indicate that a chess choice has been made (eg, play against a distant player, degree of difficulty against a machine opponent, choice of black or white, etc.). To move a piece, the player touches the eye the piece or bone is currently in and then touches the eye he wants to move it to. The electronic device has a clock that monitors and gives the time (digital display in one corner of the board) and also uses a menu selection procedure to give the end of the time for the player. Can be programmed. Surveillance may be visual and/or acoustic. Games, such as chess and chess, can also be played against a clock for a given random system.

The front edge of the board is provided with a keyway 1 for a key used to switch the game on and off, and the end slot of the key also has a lock position to lock the board for a paused game.

Behind the game device there is an optional socket (S) as follows
It is equipped with

(a) A communication interface for use when two players are playing at a distance from each other using coordinated boards.

(b) Programs and interfaces for loading programs for new games or variations of the basic game from an external cassette or microprocessor. It is assumed that the basic set of game programs is stored in the basic start module.

(C) Interface for damped motion for later analysis, which may be physically the same as (b). For example, moves in a chess game may be stored externally in the memory of a personal computer and played again later.

(d) Mains power socket. The mains power supply may include optional means such as a backup battery to keep the memory alive when the mains power is interrupted and/or a battery to power the device in the absence of the mains power supply. External power supply. In the latter case, the device goes into a "dormant" state between movements to conserve power.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the control device. The microprocessor 10 is the control element, which is equipped with a ROM (read only memory) to have internally built-in game programs, control procedure programs, and display graphs. It also has RAM (Random Access Memory) for performing game variations and for storing additional externally provided game programs. The display panel has a display driver and a touch sensitive overlay 10A operative therewith. The interface of the touch sensitive overlay IOA is scanned or interrupted by the microprocessor and the coordinate information is sent to the microprocessor which sends the coordinate information to the display driver so that the required pattern can be displayed.

A communication interface 11 is provided so that movements on the local board can be sent to the remote board and movements from the remote board can be sent to the local board.

Apparatus is provided for periodically transmitting the status of the entire board from one board to another so that problems due to loss or deterioration of information can be recognized.

Information is sent in packets using the I5DN and/or packet switched network. This is because this is a much more economical arrangement than keeping the audio circuit open for the duration of the game.

Voice communication using a regular telephone may be necessary at the start of the game. I5DN provides voice/data equipment suitable for such requirements.

The support interface 12 provides inputs from external game sources and outputs for braking the device for subsequent analysis.

The necessary circuitry is provided in conjunction with the power supply to put the device into a dormant state to keep the RAM alive when the game is interrupted and when the main power supply is interrupted or fails.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a game board according to one embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an electronic support device suitable for use with the game board of FIG. be. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Microprocessor, 10A... Touch sensitive overlay, 11... Communication interface, 1
2...Support interface. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue

Claims (9)

[Claims] (1) (a) a flat panel liquid crystal display; and (b) said display for storing a program for at least one game and for producing on said display a visual representation of the current state of said game. (C) touch sensitive means, in cooperation with said display device, connected to said control means for communicating to said control means movements made by a player during game play; An electronic display device for board games, comprising: (2) The control means comprises a memory for storing the program and a processor for executing the program based on movements made by the player during game play. Apparatus described in section. 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said control means is programmed to cause a smooth movement in response to movements made by a player. (4) The touch-sensitive means comprises a transparent overlay disposed on the display device.
Apparatus described in section. (5) The device according to claim 1, wherein the display device includes a smectic liquid crystal material. (6) (a) a flat panel smectic liquid crystal display; (b) control means connected to the display for setting on the display a visual display suitable for the game to be played; (1) touch-sensitive means overlying the display for transmitting movements made by the player relative to the control position; (d) the control means comprises An electronic display device, characterized in that it comprises a processor programmed according to the rules of play of said game for displaying movements and performing and displaying movements accordingly. 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the processor is programmed to determine player movement by periodically reading information from touch-sensitive means. 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the control means is programmed to display both the board on which the game is to be played and the positions of the game pieces on that board. 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processor is programmed to determine player movement by reading both the initial and final positions of game pieces from the touch sensitive means.