US20140120995A1

US20140120995A1 - Game board interacting with a digital tablet screen

Info

Publication number: US20140120995A1
Application number: US14/124,145
Authority: US
Inventors: Bertrand Duplat; Etienne Mineur
Original assignee: LES EDITIONS VOLUMIQUES
Current assignee: LES EDITIONS VOLUMIQUES
Priority date: 2011-06-09
Filing date: 2012-06-07
Publication date: 2014-05-01
Also published as: WO2012168574A1; ES2533855T3; FR2976187A1; EP2717982A1; JP2014524769A; EP2717982B1

Abstract

A game board (20), wherein the players or the actions of the players are identified by pawns (P) or cards, wherein the pawns (P) are conductive and include an authentication sole (S) interpreted by the software of a capacitive screen (5) of a digital tablet (1), wherein the game board (20) includes an opening window (21), the edges of the opening window (21) being arranged against the edges of the capacitive screen (5) of the digital tablet (1), the contact between the game board and the screen occurring over transmission areas (24) which are electrically connected to pawn-authentication areas (22) on the surface of the game board (20).

Description

The present invention relates to a physical game board that interacts with tablet computers (“digital tablets”) having a capacitive screen.
Various game boards that are made by folding a sheet of cardboard are known. Players' game pieces (“pawns”) and/or game action cards are positioned/moved on the board. All these boards, pawns and cards are physical objects without any digital component. Certain game versions exist, in marginal quantities, where either the board or the pawns or cards comprise digital programming. However, a game board that is adapted specifically to a digital tablet does not yet exist.
According to the invention, the board opens a window on the digital tablet, enabling a part of the game to be displayed in digital form on the screen of the digital tablet. In a way, the digital tablet becomes a perfected continuity of the board.
One main object of the invention is to propose a game board that permits the physical movement of cards or pawns on the game board and/or the screen of the digital tablet and then interactively displays correlated information on the digital tablet.
Another object of the invention is to be able to detect the presence and/or identity of pawns and/or cards both on the game board and on the capacitive screen of the digital tablet.
A further object of the invention is easy adaptation to existing published board games.
A further object of the invention is to propose a game board that is economical and easy to mass produce in industrial production.
In a main aspect, the invention includes a game board that consists of a specifically shaped board that comprises a conductive network enabling interactivity between the digital tablet and the players' pawns positioned on the game board.
In one aspect, the invention uses conductive pawns having a conductive signature sole. Static electricity is transmitted from the body of the player through the pawn and then finally via the board to the conductive screen of the digital tablet.
In another aspect, the identity of the pawn is first recognized on the capacitive screen of the digital tablet. The pawn is then placed on the authentication area, which transmits the information that a pawn has been placed on this area to the digital tablet.
In one aspect, the game board comprises pawn authentication areas that transmit the coordinates of the pawns to the digital tablet.
In one aspect the board comprises an opening window that securely houses the digital tablet.
In one aspect, the opening window is made of transparent material that includes a conductive wiring network connected to the board. In this variant, the pawns placed on the conductive window will be recognized by the tablet.

The Figures attached to the present document represent one particular mode of the invention, as follows:

FIG. 1 represents a digital tablet

FIG. 2 represents a top plan view of the game board according to the invention

FIG. 3 represents a first embodiment of the connectivity according to the invention

FIG. 4 represents a pawn signature according to the first embodiment of the invention

FIG. 5 represents a second connectivity embodiment according to the invention

FIG. 6 represents a second pawn signature embodiment according to the invention

FIGS. 7 and 8 represent methods of physically combining the game board and digital tablet.

FIG. 1 represents a digital tablet (1) comprising a capacitive screen (5) and a graphical interface control button (6), which combines with the action of the user's fingers on the capacitive screen to control the graphical interface of the digital tablet (1). FIG. 2 represents a top plan view of the game board (20). The game board (20) can be implemented on the basis of common types of existing game board, such as boards made of folding cardboard, see fold (25). A first specificity of the game board is an opening window (20), wherein the edges of the window lock in place against the edges of the capacitive screen (5) of the digital tablet (1). In the case of FIG. 2, the window is a rectangle having an opening format that is very slightly smaller than the format of the capacitive screen of the digital table. This format enables the size of the screen remaining visible to the users to be maximized, while at the same time reserving an area for conductive contact and electrical data transmission between the game board and the capacitive screen. Obviously, in order to retain the game board with precision on the digital tablet, a retention system is installed on the game to enable a temporary mounting that can withstand the movements of the players and prevent said movements from causing any inadvertent displacement of the game board relative to the tablet. The retention system also establishes a permanent contact between the game board and the digital tablet. FIG. 7 represents a retention system constructed from a board that has a mounting notch under the perimeter of the window edge. FIG. 8 represents a proposed design comprising a system of board levelling blocks (80) and a mechanical retaining system (81) that holds the game board against the screen of the tablet. In another version of the game board, the window (21) can be positioned at the edge of the game board (20). The advantage of a window located in the centre of the game board (20) is that this configuration preserves the ergonomic design of a multi-player game board where all the players are positioned around the board. The game surface of the board comprises authentication areas (22), which are connected by a conductive circuit (23) to board/screen transmission areas (24) positioned underneath the board on the edge of the opening window (24). FIG. 3 represents a first connectivity embodiment according to the invention, with an authentication area (22) comprising an alignment of mutually insulated squares or spaces, wherein each space includes a conductive area. Each space is in turn connected by conductive wire to a corresponding space positioned on the transmission area (24) at the edge of the game board. According to this version, the signature sole of the pawn (P) comprises a series of spaces matching the model of the authentication area described in FIG. 3. See signature S1 and S2 of two pawns for different players in FIG. 4. Certain spaces are conductively connected to the prehension area of the pawn (P). Other spaces are not. Therefore, when the user picks up a pawn and places it on the authentication area (22), the user transmits information to certain precise spaces of the transmission area (24), thereby constituting a signature that is then interpreted by the recognition software of the digital tablet. FIGS. 5 and 6 represent a second connectivity system according to the invention, wherein this time the spaces are no longer arranged in line but in an arc of a circle on the authentication area (22) corresponding to the signature typology of the soles of the pawns (P), see FIG. 6. Each space is then electrically connected, in mutual insulation from every other space, to a series of spaces aligned on the transmission area, so that the tablet's processing software then recognizes the signature of the pawns according to the specific distribution of electrically activated spaces.
The present invention therefore relates to a multi-player game board (20), where the players or players' actions are identified by pawns (P) or cards, and where the pawns (P) are conductive and have an authentication sole (S), which is interpreted by the software of a capacitive screen (5) of a digital tablet (1), characterized in that the game board (20) comprises an opening window (21), the edges of the opening window (21) being retained against the edges of the capacitive screen (5) of the digital tablet (1), wherein the contact between the game board and the screen is established by means of transmission areas (24), which are electrically connected to corresponding authentication areas (22) of the pawn on the surface of the game board (20).
The present invention therefore relates to a multi-player game board (20), characterized in that the authentication area (22) comprises a set of spaces arranged in line and mutually insulated from one another, whereby each space comprises a conductive area and each space is then connected by conductive wire to a corresponding space positioned on the edge of the board on the transmission area (24).
The present invention therefore relates to a multi-player game board (20) characterized in that the authentication area (22) comprises spaces that are arranged in a circular arc on the authentication area (22) and that correspond to the signature typology of the soles of the pawns (P), whereby each space is then electrically connected, in mutual insulation from every other space, to a series of spaces aligned on the transmission area (24), where the tablet's processing software then recognizes the signature of the pawns (P) according to the specific distribution of electrically activated spaces.
It is clear that numerous variants can be introduced and possibly also combined with one another without leaving the framework of the invention as defined above.

Claims

1. Multi-player game board, where the players or players' actions are identified by pawns or cards, and where said pawns are conductive and have an authentication sole, which is interpreted by the software of a capacitive screen of a digital tablet, wherein said game board comprises an opening window, the edges of said opening window being retained against the edges of the capacitive screen of the digital tablet, whereby contact between said game board and said screen is established by means of transmission areas, which are electrically connected to corresponding authentication areas of said pawn on the surface of said game board.

2. Multi-player game board according to claim 1, wherein said authentication area comprises a set of spaces arranged in line and mutually insulated from one another, whereby each space comprises a conductive area and each space is then connected by conductive wire to a corresponding space positioned on the edge of said board on said transmission area.

3. Multi-player game board according to claim 1, wherein said authentication area comprises spaces that are arranged in a circular arc on said authentication area and that correspond to the signature typology of the soles of said pawns, whereby each space is then electrically connected, in mutual insulation from every other space, to a series of spaces aligned on said transmission area, where said tablet's processing software then recognizes the signature of said pawns according to the specific distribution of electrically activated spaces.