WO2016178256A1

WO2016178256A1 - Control device for video games with controls without physical contact

Info

Publication number: WO2016178256A1
Application number: PCT/IT2016/000113
Authority: WO
Inventors: Enrico GAROFALO
Original assignee: Xplored S.R.L.
Priority date: 2015-05-05
Filing date: 2016-05-03
Publication date: 2016-11-10

Abstract

Object of the present invention to provide a game controller functionally connectable to electronic devices such as tablets, smartphones, game consoles and PCs, in which action figures positioned and moved on a suitable board, allow the real-time dynamic control of playable characters or elements associated with them, within one or more video games. The proposed solution consists of a board and a set of action figures or objects on it which can be positioned and associated with playable elements and specific contents of the video game. Unlike traditional systems, based exclusively on radio frequency recognition tags, the proposed solution implements a dual detection system, based on sensors and radio frequency identifiers, employed together with markers and position sensors of magnetic contactless type. The employment of said integrated system of contactless magnetic position sensors and markers, together with a radio frequency identification system, allows to perform not only the detection and recognition of the action figures, as in the case of the systems commonly employed, but it allows to detect in a reliable and repeatable manner, the positioning and movement of the action figures themselves on the board and, consequently, to draw useful information to completely control the characters associated with them within the video game without the employment of traditional controller such as gamepads, joysticks, keyboards, etc.

Description

"CONTROL DEVICE FOR VIDEO GAMES WITH CONTROLS WITHOUT PHYSICAL CONTACT".

Background art

The "game controller" are control devices useful to provide input signals to entertainment systems. A controller for video games is usually connected via a wired or wireless connection, to electronic devices such as console, personal computer, tablet, smartphone and allows governing, regulating, operating the game elements and its settings. Over time, many hardware control solutions have been developed including joystick, gamepad, mouse, trackball, button panels, pedals, steering wheels, up to much more complex solutions based on touch screen (e.g. Nintendo DS) and motion sensors (e.g. Wii Remote or Microsoft Kinect).

Moreover, in the world of video games new types of games called "hybrid" (or "Toys2Life" or "T2L") have recently appeared on the market, which associate a video game with a physical toy (action figure, toy car, etc.). Said toy may be positioned by the player on a suitable baseplate and employed to carry out a limited set of controls such as the selection of the game, location or character with which to play, or the activation of a specific game function. In the above-mention systems, much of the interaction between user and video game, and in particular the dynamic control, remains delegated to a "traditional" control system of the game platform, such as a gamepad, joystick, keyboard or equivalents.

Among the main solutions present on the international markets, in the "Toys2Life" game industry, there are products such as Sky landers (by Activision and Toys For Bob), Disney Infinity (by Disney), LEGO Dimension i (by LEGO), Telepods (by Rovio and Hasbro), Amiibo (by Nintendo). These solutions generally include a base, or board, provided with at least a short- range RFID reader, useful to detect and recognize the presence of a predefined set of toy action figures which can be positioned on the base and provided with unique identifier or RFID tag. The above-mentioned board communicates through a connection, usually a wireless (WiFi or Bluetooth) or wired one, towards the console or equivalent gaming device, and the positioning of the action figures allows to activate the game or to choose the character or also the possible location.

Technical field

For the player who is suitable to use the above-mentioned systems, the base on which to place the action figures is limited to carry out the function of "summoning portal" for the associated or associable video game. In practice, the employment and positioning of the action figures on the board, changes the game type and its settings (Disney Enterprises Inc., US20140181062, US20140181507, US20140304624 and Mattel Inc. US20140194029) or the control modes (Reiche et al., US2012295704, US20140100029), but does not affect the dynamic control of playable characters which is, anyway, delegated to a third conventional device, usually a gamepad, which is physically and functionally distinct from the baseplate, or to a specific hardware, anyway composed of physical buttons and activations, or, in case of use in conjunction with tablets and mobile devices, to a direct interaction with the touch screen interface integrated into said devices.

In the systems mentioned, the action figures, albeit provided with identifier, do not allow to dynamically and directly govern the playable elements connected to them, but only to determine the activation inside the video game and/or to select environmental elements (Reiche et al, US2012295704) or to store the experience gained by the virtual character (Reiche et al., US20140162785) or informatio related to a sequence of actions which must take place in the game (Reiche et al., US2012295704), inside the character's memory or physical object.

There are, indeed, more advanced technological solutions, which try to solve this problem allowing not only to identify the single objects or action figure, but also to govern the game elements through the direct physical interaction with the playable element. These include, in particular, solutions based on interactive tablets provided with systems of position and orientation detection of mobile objects placed on them, based on the employment of electromagnetic induction detection technologies (Namco Ltd. US2007015588), on RFID identification systems which are also able to detect position information by means of multiple readers and multiplexed array of antennas (Industrial Technology Research Institute US20100105477) or by means of an electromagnetic interference detection system based on the use of a plurality of receivers (Epawn FR3013482). However, these solutions are all characterized by the employment of hardware support of considerable complexity and very high cost, not only in economic terms, but also in terms of computational power required for processing the position information, especially because of the use of multiple antennas and dedicated hardware apparatuses of control and management. In fact, it is well known that the implementation of systems consisting of multiple antennas (Epawn FR3013482 and Industrial Technology Research Institute US20100105477) causes a considerable increase of the complexity and the cost of printed circuit boards, which houses them, making the above-mentioned solutions uneconomical.

It is also known that the employment of position detection systems based on electromagnetic induction methods (Namco Ltd. US2007015588) is equally complex under the hardware profile, due to the employment of a plurality of coils suitable to generate the induced current signals, and, however, susceptible to interferences and to a decrease in performance with the increase of the playable elements employed. Such solutions, precisely because of their constructive complexity and the high cost of the components required to construct them, are not, to date, known industrial and commercial application.

Object of the present invention is to provide an economical game controller, having an easy industrial realization, functionally connectable to electronic devices such as tablets, smartphones, game consoles and PCs, in which action figures positioned and moved on a suitable board, allow the real-time dynamic control of playable characters or elements within one or more video games.

Therefore, it is intended to provide a video game controller based primary and/or exclusively on the interaction between a board and the action figures, which is therefore not merely an accessory to the game itself and that, above all, avoids resorting to a gamepad or a similar product for the dynamic activation and control of the playable objects in the videogame.

Moreover, it is intended to overcome the known limits of the current interactive solutions mentioned above, through the realization of an apparatus based on the combination of two separate systems, one for identifying the objects (RFID) and one for detecting the position of the objects themselves (of magnetic type), which is simple to realize and which is cost-efficient in terms of production.

Disclosure of the invention

The proposed solution consists of a board and a set of action figures, or other playful objects which can be positioned on it, being said system employable to control all the playable elements and the specific content of a video game running on a third-party device such as a console, a personal computer, a tablet, a smartphone or equivalent device for playful applications. Unlike traditional systems, based exclusively on radio frequency recognition tags, the proposed solution implements a dual detection system, based on sensors and radio frequency identifiers, employed together with markers and position sensors of magnetic contactless type.

The employment of an integrated system of contactless magnetic position sensors and radio frequency identification, allows to perform not only the detection and recognition of the action figures, as in the case of the previously mentioned systems, but it also allows to detect, in a reliable and repeatable manner, the positioning of the action figures themselves on the board and, consequently, to draw useful information to control the associated characters, within the video game.

In practice, the action figures position on the board and the variation thereof, may be interpreted as game controls and transmitted from the board to the associated gaming device, through wireless connection, just as with a traditional gamepad or joystick, in which the absolute and relative position of a lever or an equivalent mechanism is converted into a control signal to dynamically control the running game.

Brief description of the drawings

Further characteristics and advantages of the proposed technical solution will appear more evident in the following description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment shown by way of example and not limitation in the accompanying 3 drawings, in which:

• Fig. 1 indicates a general scheme of the board, on which some elements used to carry out the control of a video game are positioned and, in detail, an embodiment of an action figure, used to control the video game, represented in section, in which the main components (RFID and magnetic position marker) are depicted

• Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the board, in which the main elements of the system and the employed components are represented.

• Fig. 3 is a side sectional view of an embodiment of the board, in which are presented the main elements of the system and the employed components are represented.

• Fig. 4 is a detailed view of a possible removable decorative element, in which the identification marker (RFID) and the related housing on the board are illustrated.

• Fig. 5 is a detailed view of an embodiment of an additional object (action figure/totems), used to activate/recall game functions, in which the identification marker (RFID) and the related housing on the board are depicted. Best mode for carrying out the invention

With reference to the accompanying drawings and, particularly, to Figure 1 thereof a board ( 100) is represented which is used to control wirelessly a gaming device such as, e.g., a tablet (1) which can be possibly placed in a specific slot (2) formed on the frame of the board itself, and suitable to facilitate its use during the game. The board has relief tracks (3) on which it is possible to position and move some action figures (4) provided with RFID identifiers (14) and magnetic position markers ( 15), related to the characters of a video game running on the tablet (1). The positioning and movement of the action figures on the sensorized areas (3) allows to control the associated characters. The board ( 100) may have a removable aesthetic element (5) that, when applied, allows to evoke appropriate game locations. At the end of the relief tracks is positioned a led light emitter (6), employed to provide the player with additional visual feedback information such as, by way of example, the activation of special powers and abilities of the character controlled in the game, the achievement of special status, etc. Finally, the board has an area (7) suitable to house an additional element in the form of action figure/totem (8) which allows the activation of additional functionalities within the video game, able to exert influences on all the controlled characters, or to interfere/interact with the location or non-playable characters in the game, and two control buttons (9) and ( 10), employed, e.g., to reject and confirm possible choices that require a decision by the user.

With reference to the accompanying drawings, and particularly to Fig. 2 and 3, the elements merely related to electronics are depicted together with those related to the detection system of the presence (RFID) and position (magnetic-type contactless) of the action figures employed to play. In particular, the sensorized areas (3) under which the detectors of magnetic-type contactless position are highlighted and the positioning of a RFID antenna ( 1 1 ), situated under the board surface, is indicated, being such antenna used to recognize the corresponding tags (14) (18) placed in the aforementioned elements such as action figures (4), totem (8) or removable aesthetic element (5). Moreover, Fig. 3 shows the positioning of the compartments suitable to house the necessary control circuitry of the sensors and communication systems (12) and battery (13) used to supply them with power.

With reference to the accompanying drawings, and particularly to Fig. 4, a removable aesthetic element (5), equipped with appropriate RFID identification marker ( 16) is represented together with its housing ( 17) on the board ( 100).

With reference to the accompanying drawings, and particularly to Fig. 5, an action figure/totem (8), equipped with appropriate RFID identification marker ( 18) is represented together with its housing (7) on the board ( 100), with the detail of a led (19) placed inside it and employed to illuminate the object itself.

From the functional point of view, according to the proposed embodiment example, the action figures (4) associated with the playable elements of a video game house two distinct elements, an RFID identifier ( 14) and a magnetic-type marker (15). Said elements are recognized independently by two sensor systems. A first system based on a single RFID antenna ( 1 1 ), recognizes the unique identifier housed in the action figures (4) and, thus, allows to identify its physical presence in proximity to the control board. As a result of the approach of the action figures to employ, the system, thus, acquire the information about the playable elements to be employed and controlled. However, the control dynamic is left to the position sensors, which are based on the contactless interaction between the magnetic position sensors integrated in the board (3) and the marker (15) housed in the action figures. The magnetic position detectors placed in correspondence of each sensorized area (3) allow to determine, with good approximation, the absolute position of the marker (15) and, consequently, the corresponding action figures positioned along the relief tracks. Once the identifier associated with the action figure (RFID) is acquired, together with the position of this on the corresponding sensorized area, the control system transmits to the game device (1) the useful controls and quantities to allow control of the corresponding playable element. This translation of the positioning of an action figure on the board, with the consequent actions of a character or element of a video game, occurs through a mapping and a control logic which associates, to the different positions (or variations thereof) detected by the magnetic contactless sensors, a corresponding action or series of actions to be carried out in the virtual game. Finally, it should be noted that, having disengaged the identification part from the positioning detection one, the system is fully functional regardless of the occupied sensorized track and the action figures may be freely inserted on each track producing the same effects in terms of control.

The so-realized controller also provides for additional modes of interaction, among which we mention, by way of example and not of limitation, the positioning of action figures/totem (8) or the application of removable aesthetic elements (5) inside the respective housings (7) (17) in order to send signals for the activation of special functions within the video game.

Industrial applicability and implementation options

The invention can be realized with technical equivalents, with supplementary materials or solutions suitable for the purpose and the application scope. Conformation and dimensions of the constituent parts may vary in a suitable way, but consistent with the proposed solution.

By way of example and not limitation, it is noted that the geometric shapes of the involved parts may be varied while maintaining the functionality. In particular, the shapes of the action figure/icons may vary in correspondence of the different plays or different aims. The shape itself of the board may vary as long as it is maintained the concept of position tracking of the elements on it reported through two or more dedicated sensorized areas. At the hardware level, it will be possible to change the types of RFID tags and magnetic contactless sensors, provided that the above-mentioned basic functions are maintained, i.e. identification (RFID) and position detection by means of magnetic systems (magnetic position sensors). In particular, the magnetic position sensors may be implemented with various hardware solutions among which we mention the magnetic potentiometer ones, the Hall-effect sensors of analogue or digital type one, or, also, arrays of magnetic sensors (Reed Switch), but also through other types of magnetic sensors, able to provide a continuous or discrete signal, according to the position variation of a suitable marker, placed in proximity to the sensors themselves. By varying these implementations, it will be necessary to change the conditioning and acquisition circuits, without, however, departing from the purpose and scope of application of the proposed solution.

Advantages of the invention

The proposed solution is effective, easy to realize and employ, and enables the remote control of playable elements of a video game, simply by positioning and moving i contactless mode on a suitable board one or more action figures or icons associated with those characters and game elements, without requiring the further use of traditional control devices.

Compared to the solutions currently on the market, the system has greater interactivity and functionality, which, so far, were possibly achievable only by using much more complex and expensive solutions in economic and computational terms.

Scope of the invoked protection

The proposed solution is applied to remote control systems (game controller) of gaming devices such as PCs, consoles, tablets, smartphones or equivalent electronic devices to run software for recreational and playful activities.

Claims

1. Interface ( 100) for controlling video games on electronic devices, such as PCs, smart phones, tablet, console and the like, characterized by a RFID wireless identification system provided with one single antenna (11), coupled with a detection system composed of at least two sensorized areas (3) provided with magnetic-type sensors for detecting the position of objects (4) provided with appropriate magnetic markers ( 15) and RFID transponders (14); the identification and/or movement information of said objects (4) being transmitted as control information to an electronic device (1) through a wireless communication interface.

2. Device according to claim 1 , wherein said sensorized areas (3) detect the position of the objects (4) through an array of Hall-effect digital magnetic sensors

3. Device according to claim 1 , wherein said sensorized areas (3) detect the position of the objects (4) through at least a Hall-effect analogue sensor

4. Device according to claim 1 , wherein said sensorized areas (3) detect the position of the objects (4) through an array of Reed-type digital magnetic sensors

5. Device according to claim 1 , wherein said sensorized areas (3) detect the position of the objects (4) through at least one magnetically actuated potentiometer.

6. Device according to claim 1, wherein said interface (100) is characterized by the integration of a series of luminous elements (6) located at each area (3) with sensors.

7. Device according to claim 1, wherein said sensorized areas (3) are characterized by the form of relief guide or track relative to the plane of the interface ( 100), in order to favour the positioning and movement of objects (4).

8. Device according to claim 1 , wherein said interface (100) has a space (2) for housing an electronic device such as a tablet or a smart phone ( 1 ).

9. Device according to claim 1 , wherein said interface (100) is characterized by the presence of an area (7) to accommodate an object (8) of semitransparent material provided with RFID TAGs ( 18), said area (7) being illuminable by a luminous element ( 19) placed therein.