WO2006039323A1

WO2006039323A1 - Audio object location in a computerized wagering game

Info

Publication number: WO2006039323A1
Application number: PCT/US2005/034770
Authority: WO
Inventors: Eric M. Pryzby; Paul Radek; Alfred Thomas
Original assignee: Wms Gaming Inc.
Priority date: 2004-09-30
Filing date: 2005-09-29
Publication date: 2006-04-13
Also published as: US20080070685A1

Abstract

A computerized wagering game system (100) has a gaming module comprising a processor and gaming code which is operable when executed on the processor to conduct a wagering game on which monetary value can be wagered. An audio module comprising part of the computerized wagering game system (100) is operable to play sound through two or more speakers (108), and is further operable to apply audio object location processing to the sound so that it appears to come from a specific location.

Description

AUDIO OBJECT LOCATION IN A COMPUTERIZED WAGERING

GAME

Related Application

This application claims the priority benefit of U.S. Provisional

Application Serial No. 60/614,922, filed 30 September 2004, the contents of

which are incorporated herein by reference.

Field of the Invention

The invention relates generally to audio in wagering gaming systems, and

more specifically to audio object location in a computerized wagering game

system.

Limited Copyright Waiver

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material to

which the claim of copyright protection is made. The copyright owner has no

objection to the facsimile reproduction by any person of the patent document or

the patent disclosure, as it appears in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office file

or records, but reserves all other rights whatsoever. Background of the Invention

A wide variety of gaming devices are now available to gamers and to

casino operators in computerized form, from slot machines to games that are

traditionally played live such as poker and blackjack. These computerized

games provide many benefits to the game owner and to the gambler, including

greater reliability than can be achieved with a mechanical game or human dealer,

more variety, sound, and animation in presentation of a game, and a lower

overall cost of production and management.

Computerized video game systems must be designed with many of the

same concerns as their mechanical and table game ancestors - they must be fair,

they must provide sufficient feedback to the gamer to make the game fun to play,

and they must meet a variety of gaming regulations to ensure that both the

machine owner and gamer are honest and fairly treated in implementing the

game. Further, they must provide a gaming experience that is at least as

attractive as the older mechanical gaming machine experience to the gamer, to

ensure success in a competitive gaming market.

Many computerized wagering game systems have a variety of sound and

graphical elements designed to attract and keep a game player's attention, such

as sound effects, music, and animation. These game presentation features often

include a variety of music, sound effects, and voices presented to complement a

video presentation of the wagering game on a display.

Wagering game players typically stand or sit on one side of a wagering

game, and interact with the game such as by pushing buttons, pulling levers, and

operating a touchscreen. The wagering game system in turn provides feedback to the game player via the display and one or more speakers. Use of multiple

speakers in some wagering games allow playback of stereo audio in which each

of the two stereo audio channels plays a different signal.

In some wagering game machines, sound is played in conjunction with a

video object's motion or presentation, such as a sound accompanying reel spin in

a reel slot machine, or credit bang-up sounds played as credits are counted up in

a game player's credit counter. Such sounds can help call the game player's

attention to the screen and can audibly indicate the occurrence of particular

events, enhancing presentation of the game to the wagering game player.

But, some sounds can become repetitive and lose meaning to a game

player, and a game player may not associate a certain sound with a particular

game element or activity as is desired by the wagering game designers. It is

therefore desirable to more strongly associate sounds presented in a wagering

game system with their associated wagering game objects.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention provides in one embodiment a computerized

wagering game system has a gaming module comprising a processor and gaming

code which is operable when executed on the processor to play a wagering game

on which monetary value can be wagered. An audio module comprising part of

the computerized wagering game system is operable to play sound through two

or more speakers, and is further operable to apply audio object location

processing to the sound so that it appears to come from a specific location. Brief Description of the Figures

Figure 1 shows a computerized reel slot gaming system operable to play a

sound processed with audio object location processing, consistent with an

example embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a top view display diagram of a software application to

facilitate audio object location specification, consistent with an example

embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a side view display diagram of a software application to

facilitate audio object location specification, consistent with an example

embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a wagering game system employing a surround sound speaker

system and audio object location processing, consistent with an example

embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 5 is a diagram of a head and torso model as is used to derive a

head-related transfer function in some example embodiments of the present

invention.

Detailed Description

In the following detailed description of sample embodiments of the

invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part

hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific sample

embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are

described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the

invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that logical, mechanical, electrical, and other changes may be made without

departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. The following

detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the

scope of the invention is defined only by the appended claims.

The present invention provides in one embodiment a computerized

wagering game system having a gaming module comprising a processor and

gaming code which is operable when executed on the processor to present or

conduct a wagering game on which monetary value can be wagered. An audio

module comprising part of the computerized wagering game system is operable

to play sound through two or more speakers, and is further operable to apply

audio object location processing to the sound so that it appears to come from a

specific location.

Figure 1 illustrates a computerized wagering game machine, as may be

used in an embodiment of the present invention. The computerized gaming

system shown generally at 100 is a video wagering game system, which displays

information for at least one wagering game upon which monetary value can be

wagered on video display 101. Video display 101 is in various embodiments a

CRT display, an LCD display, a surface conducting electron emitter display, or

any other type of display suitable for displaying electronically provided display

information. Alternate embodiments of the invention will have other game

indicators, such as mechanical reels instead of the video graphics reels shown at

102 that comprise a part of a video slot machine wagering game.

A game of chance is implemented as software within the wagering game,

such as via instructions stored on a machine-readable medium such as a hard disk drive or nonvolatile memory. In some further example embodiments, some

or all of the software stored in the wagering game machine is encrypted or is

verified using a hash algorithm or encryption algorithm to ensure its authenticity

and to verify that it has not been altered. The game of chance takes various

forms in different wagering game machines, and includes such well-known

wagering games as reel slots, video poker, blackjack, craps, roulette, or hold 'em

games. The wagering game is played and controlled with inputs such as various

buttons 103 or via a touchscreen overlay to video screen 101. In some alternate

examples, other devices such as pull arm 104 used to initiate reel spin in this reel

slot machine example are employed to provide other input interfaces to the game

player.

Monetary value is typically wagered on the outcome of the games, such

as with tokens, coins, bills, or cards that hold monetary value. The wagered

value is conveyed to the machine through a changer 105 or a secure user

identification module interface 106, and winnings are returned via the returned

value card or through the coin tray 107. Sound is also provided through speakers

108. In some further embodiments, the wagering game machine is coupled to a

network, and is operable to use its network connection to receive wagering game

data, track players and monetary value associated with a player, and to perform

other such functions.

The wagering game in one example embodiment of the present invention

uses audio object location processing applied to sound played through speakers

108 to make it sound to a game player as though the sound were coming from a

specific location. In some embodiments, the location is based on the screen location of an object associated with the sound, while in some other embodiments the specific location is selected to provide a broader soundstage of

sounds or for special effects purposes.

The sounds are processed in one embodiment by application of what is

known as a head-related transfer function to the sounds that are intended to

sound as though they come from specified directions or locations. The head

related transfer function, or HTRF, is derived from the way a listener's head, ear,

and torso affect the sound that is eventually heard. These head, ear, and torso

effects are largely responsible for the listener's ability to determine the direction

from which a sound is coming, and can be characterized and applied to sounds to

make them sound as though they are coming from directions other than their true y. source.

The head-related transfer function is determined such as by use of

preexisting models, or by measuring a dummy head designed to mimic the

acoustic behavior of a human head. This function is then applied to a sound

signal by use of filters such as digital signal processing filters that shape the

frequency response of the sound signal before the signal is routed to a speaker

and converted to an acoustic or audible sound signal. The game player then

hears a filtered version of the sound having frequency response filtering _rapplied

such that the sound appears to come from a location specific to the applied

filtering process.

Figure 2 illustrates one method of applying such filter processing to a

sound to make it appear to a game player as though it comes from a specified

direction. A screen diagram is shown generally at 201 of a computer program designed to allow a game's creator to specify the apparent position of sound in a

horizontal plane relative to a game player 202. The screen shot shows a

sequence of positions such as 203, each of which are connected and have various

attributes that can be specified. In one example, the sound starts at position 203,

and progresses second by second to the other positions shown in Figure 2. Time

in between seconds is interpolated, such that motion of the sound is smooth and

appears to follow the approximate paths shown in Figure 2 linking points rather

than jumping second-by-second. In other embodiments, the period of time and

the change between positions is further customizable or can be specified in other

ways, such as by specifying the amount of time a sound takes to travel from one

specified position to the next or the amount of time a sound spends stationary at

one point before proceeding on.

In some embodiments, the elevation of the sound is a parameter that can

be set along with other parameters for a particular point such as point 203 of

Figure 2, while other systems will use other methods of further specifying

position such as the screen diagram of Figure 3. The screen shot 301 shown

generally in Figure 3 shows a top view of a computer program screen designed to

allow a game creator to specify a sound's location in a vertical plane, along with

various points such as point 303 corresponding to the points such as 203 of

Figure 2. This alternate view enables visualization and configuration of the

apparent elevation or height of a sound relative to the head of a listener 302,

enabling a creator to fully visualize the position of a sound at a given time when

viewed in conjunction with the position view of Figure 2. In some embodiments of the invention, the specified sound location is

achieved not only with a head-related transfer function, but by using a

mutichannel speaker system, or what is commonly known as a surround sound

system. Such a system is shown in Figure 4, adapted to the two-speaker

wagering game system shown in Figure 1. The speakers 108 of Figure 1 are

replaced with left, center, and right channel speakers 401, 402, and 403.

Additional surround channel speakers are added, including left rear channel

speaker 404 and right rear channel speaker 405. The use of multiple speakers

means that less head-related transfer function processing is needed to make

sound come from a certain direction or elevation, hi some example

embodiments, simply directing sound to the appropriate speakers can in a

surround sound system having three or more speakers located in different

positions such as are shown in Figure 4 can create the illusion of a sound being

placed in a specific location, and the audio processing involves specifying which

speakers are to play a sound, what volume each speaker is to play the sound, or the like.

Sound having more than the traditional two stereo channels can be

encoded and decoded in many ways, including a few example commercial

embodiments discussed here in greater detail (all names are trademarked

property of their respective owners). Examples include Dolby formats such as

Dolby ProLogic and Dolby Digital, Logic 7, and various embodiments of DTS

such as DTS-ES and DTS-NEO6.

Dolby ProLogic was one of the first commercially available surround

sound formats, and enabled analog derivation of a center channel and two surround channels from a two-channel encoded signal. Dolby Digital is a

digitally encoded format, providing for encoding and decoding of five full-range

channels and a low frequency channel (5.1 channels) from an encoded digital

signal.

Similarly, a variety of digital surround sound formats from DTS,

including DTS, DTS-ES, and DTS-NEO6 derive five or six channels plus a low

frequency effects channel from a digitally encoded signal. DTS is a five channel

discrete encoded signal that also has an encoded low frequency effects channel.

DTS-ES adds a sixth channel, plus the ability to matrix encode a 5.1 channel

surround signal in addition to discrete channel encoding. DTS-NEO6 is a six

channel matrix encoded format, incorporating a low-frequency effects channel to

provide a 6.1 channel matrix encoded digital surround format.

Logic 7, also known as L7, is a proprietary seven-channel decoding

process developed by Lexicon, a subsidiary of Harman International. Logic 7 in

various embodiments is able to derive seven channel surround sound from a two

channel stereo or matrix encoded source, and has various parameters optimized

for film, broadcast, reverberant environment, and other modes. It is further able

to derive up to seven channels of surround information from other surround

encoded formats, including matrix and discrete multichannel surround formats

such as Dolby Digital or DTS .

The Logic 7, Dolby Digital, DTS, and other surround sound formats

presented here are examples of ways in which various audio processing can be

applied to implement different surround sound formats in an audio system

having three or more discrete audio channels and speakers. Systems employing only two speakers will in many embodiments rely on

implementation of a head-related transfer function (HRTF) as described earlier

to provide the audio object location function that causes an audible sound to

sound to a game player like it's coming from a specific location. Figure 5 shows

a typical example of a dummy head as is often used to derive a head-related

transfer function.

The head and torso 501 are a three-dimensional model of a human head

and torso, made with materials having acoustic absorptive and reflective

properties similar to that of an actual human. The head and torso 501 are also

, typically clothed with a shirt work on the torso, to reflect the damping effect that

audio striking the clothed areas of a real person who is clothed would

experience. The ears of the head and torso model similarly are designed to

reflect a typical human ear, except that they contain microphones 502 that are

coupled to measurement equipment. The head and torso of Figure 5 is further

mounted on a turntable apparatus 503 that is operable to turn the head and torso

assembly during measurement, so that a sound source at a particular elevation

can be measured from a variety of angles relative to the head in a horizontal

plane.

Measurements are typically conducted in an anechoic chamber to

minimize the effects of reflected and reverberation of sound. Characterization of

a head-related transfer function in three dimensions will typically involve placing

a sound source at various heights and various distances from the head and torso

assembly 501, and rotating the head and torso assembly about a complete

rotation while taking measurements for each sound source position. The resulting changes in frequency response observed characterize the head-related

transfer function, and can be applied to sounds reproduced through speakers to

make the sounds appear to come from specific locations other than the speaker

or speakers playing the sound.

The examples shown herein have illustrated how audio processing can be

employed in a wagering game system to apply audio object location processing

to sound so that the sound appears to come from a specific location. Although

specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it will be

appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that any arrangement which is

calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific

embodiments shown. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or

variations of the invention. It is intended that this invention be limited only by

the claims, and the full scope of equivalents thereof.

Claims

1. A computerized wagering game system, comprising:

a gaming module comprising a processor and gaming code which is

operable when executed on the processor to present a wagering game on which

monetary value can be wagered; an audio module operable to play sound through two or more speakers,

and further operable to apply audio object location processing to the sound so

that it appears to come from a specific location.

2. The computerized wagering game system of claim 1, wherein the audio

module is further operable to apply crosstalk cancellation to the sound.

3. The computerized wagering game system of claim 1, wherein the audio object

location comprises application of a head-related transfer function (HRTF).

4. The computerized wagering game system of claim 3, wherein application of

the head-related transfer function is operable to change the perceived elevation

of a sound.

5. The computerized wagering game system of claim 1, wherein the two or more

speakers comprise a surround sound speaker configuration.

6. The computerized wagering game system of claim 1, wherein the specific

audio location the sound appears to come from moves during presentation of the

sound.

7. The computerized wagering game system of claim 1, wherein the specific

location from which the sound appears to come is determined by receiving video

object location data from a video module, and applying the video object location to an associated audio sound via the audio object location processing.

8. The computerized wagering game system of claim 1, wherein the audio object

location processing is applied based on object location data provided to the audio

module and associated with a particular sound.

9. The computerized wagering game system of claim 1, wherein the audio object

location processing comprises panning an object between two or more speakers

of a surround sound speaker system comprising three or more independent sound

channels and associated speakers.

10. The computerized wagering game of claim 1, wherein the audio object

location processing further comprises encoding the audio in at least one of Dolby

Digital, DTS, Qsound, CircleSurround, or Logic 7.

11. A method of operating a computerized wagering game system, comprising:

presenting a wagering game on which monetary value can be wagered;

applying audio object location processing to the sound so that it appears

to come from a specific location; and

playing the sound through two or more speakers.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising applying crosstalk cancellation

to the sound.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the audio object location comprises

application of a head-related transfer function (HRTF).

14. The method of claim 13, wherein application of the head-related transfer

function is operable to change the perceived elevation of a sound.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the two or more speakers comprise a

surround sound speaker configuration.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the specific audio location the sound

appears to come from moves during presentation of the sound.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the specific location from which the sound

appears to come is determined by receiving video object location data from a

video module, and applying the video object location to an associated audio

sound via the audio object location processing.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the audio object location processing is

applied based on object location data provided to the audio module and

associated with a particular sound.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein the audio object location processing

comprises panning an object between two or more speakers of a surround sound

speaker system comprising three or more independent sound channels and

associated speakers.

20. A machine-readable medium with instructions coded thereon, the

instructions when executed operable to cause a computerized wagering game

system operable to:

present a wagering game on which monetary value can be wagered;

apply audio object location processing to the sound so that it appears to

come from a specific location; and

play the sound through two or more speakers.

21. The machine-readable medium of claim 20, the instructions when executed

further operable to cause the computerized wagering game system to apply

crosstalk cancellation to the sound.

22. The machine-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the audio object

location comprises application of a head-related transfer function (HRTF).

23. The machine-readable medium of claim 22, wherein application of the head-

related transfer function is operable to change the perceived elevation of a sound.

24. The machine-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the two or more

speakers comprise a surround sound speaker configuration.

25. The machine-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the specific audio

location the sound appears to come from moves during presentation of the

sound.

26. The machine-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the specific location

from which the sound appears to come is determined by receiving video object

location data from a video module, and applying the video object location to an

associated audio sound via the audio object location processing.

27. The machine-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the audio object

module and associated with a particular sound.

28. The machine-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the audio object

location processing comprises panning an object between two or more speakers

of a surround sound speaker system comprising three or more independent sound

channels and associated speakers.

29. A computerized wagering game system, comprising:

a gaming module comprising a processor and gaming code which is

operable when executed on the processor to present a wagering game on which

monetary value can be wagered; and

an audio module operable to play sound through two or more speakers,

the sound comprising object location information such that it appears to come

from a specific location.

30. The computerized wagering game system of claim 29, wherein the object

location information comprises application of crosstalk cancellation to the sound.

31. The computerized wagering game system of claim 29, wherein the object

location information comprises application of a head-related transfer function

(HRTF) to the sound.

32. The computerized wagering game system of claim 31, wherein application

of the head-related transfer function is operable to change the perceived

elevation of a sound.

33. The computerized wagering game system of claim 29, wherein the two or

more speakers comprise a surround sound speaker configuration.

34. The computerized wagering game system of claim 29, wherein the specific

location from which the sound appears to come is determined by receiving video

object location data from a video module, and applying the video object location

to an associated audio sound via the audio object location processing.

35. The computerized wagering game system of claim 29, wherein the audio

object location information is based on object location data provided to the audio

module and associated with a particular sound.

36. The computerized wagering game system of claim 29, wherein the audio

object location information comprises panning an object between two or more

speakers of a surround sound speaker system comprising three or more

independent sound channels and associated speakers.

37. The computerized wagering game of claim 29, wherein the audio object

location information comprises audio information decoded via at least one of

Dolby Digital, DTS, Qsound, CircleSurround, or Logic 7.