WO2019037015A1

WO2019037015A1 - Apparatus and method for managing gaming device

Info

Publication number: WO2019037015A1
Application number: PCT/CN2017/098788
Authority: WO
Inventors: 王启舟
Original assignee: 王启舟
Priority date: 2017-08-24
Filing date: 2017-08-24
Publication date: 2019-02-28

Abstract

An apparatus and method for managing a gaming device. The apparatus comprises: a video encoder/decoder (VED) configured to receive a video output of a gaming device, acquire an output frame of the gaming device from the video output of the gaming device, and encode the acquired frame into a video image; and an image processing unit (IRD) configured to receive the video image from the VED, and perform image identification on the video image to extract display contents in the output frame of the gaming device. The apparatus enables detailed tracking of prize information in a game.

Description

Apparatus and method for managing game machines

Technical field

The present disclosure relates to the field of video processing, and more particularly to a system and method for managing a gaming machine.

Background technique

In the face of game machines that can be bet (such as slot machines), many players will decide whether to play and when to play the game machine based on the winning or losing situation in the history of the machine. There are game console games on the market that allow players to see information about the game's past wins and losses, betting, free game frequency, and more. At present, the way to realize such information display is mainly: before the game machine leaves the factory, according to the information recorded in the game, the winning situation and the free game frequency and other information, the design of a specific program is completed. The downside of this implementation is that it relies entirely on game developers to provide this functionality when developing games. However, gaming and entertainment establishments typically purchase games from a number of different vendors. Most vendors do not provide such functionality for a variety of reasons. This feature is what most gamers want to see. Games with this feature are often popular in gaming and entertainment venues.

Accordingly, there is a need for a device or system for managing a gaming machine that is adapted to provide gaming features for gaming machines of a variety of different vendors.

Summary of the invention

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an apparatus for managing a gaming machine, comprising: a video codec VED configured to receive a video output of a gaming machine, to capture a gaming machine from a video output of the gaming machine in real time Output picture and encoding the captured picture into a video image; and an image processing unit IRD configured to receive the video image from the VED and perform image recognition on the video image to extract an output image of the gaming machine Display content.

In some embodiments, the extracted display content may include at least one of the following: a bet amount, a game win-loss amount, a game name, a game symbol, information indicating whether to enter a free game, a winning amount in a free game. The selection in the interactive game, the information indicating whether or not the progressive bonus is included, and the information indicating whether or not the bonus is included.

In some embodiments, the device may further include: a game winning data tracker GHT configured to generate winning tracking data according to the display content extracted by the IRD, and generate a history winning curve screen according to the winning tracking data.

In some embodiments, the device may further include: a video splitter VSD configured to receive a video output of the gaming machine, and divide the video output into two paths, one output to the VED, and the other output to the picture The drawing device; and the picture-in-picture device PIP, configured to display a historical winning curve picture from the GHT and a video output from the gaming machine of the VSD.

In some embodiments, the apparatus may further include a player game preference extractor PPE configured to generate a player's game preferences based on the display content extracted by the IRD. Preferably, the device may further include: a game feature extractor GFE configured to generate a game feature according to the display content extracted by the IRD; and a player game recommendation module PGR configured to match the player's game preference and the game feature, and determine A game recommended to players.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method of managing a gaming machine, comprising: capturing an output screen of a gaming machine from a video output of the gaming machine in real time, and encoding the captured image into a video image; And performing image recognition on the video image to extract display content in an output screen of the gaming machine.

In some embodiments, the method may further include: generating winning tracking data according to the extracted display content, and generating a historical winning curve screen according to the winning tracking data.

In some embodiments, the method may further include outputting the historical winning curve screen to display to the player.

In some embodiments, the outputting may include synthesizing the historical winning curve screen and the video output of the gaming machine, and displaying the historical winning curve screen on a display of the gaming machine in a picture-in-picture manner.

In some embodiments, the method may further include generating a game preference of the player based on the extracted display content. Preferably, the method may further include: generating a game feature according to the extracted display content; and determining a game recommended to the player by matching the player's game preference and the game feature.

According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an apparatus for managing a gaming machine, comprising: a processor; and a memory configured to store machine readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause The processor performs the method as described above.

According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a system comprising: one or more gaming machines; and an apparatus for managing a gaming machine according to the first or third aspect of the present disclosure.

According to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a non-volatile storage medium storing machine-executable instructions that, when executed by a machine, are used to implement the method as described above.

According to a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program comprising computer executable instructions for performing the method as described above when executed by a machine.

DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and its advantages, reference will now be made to the following description

FIG. 1 schematically shows a diagram of a system in which a device for managing a gaming machine according to an embodiment of the present disclosure can be applied;

FIG. 2 schematically shows a block diagram of a management device according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing an implementation example of a management device according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG.

FIG. 4 schematically shows another implementation of a management device according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. a block diagram of an example;

FIG. 5 schematically shows a block diagram of another implementation example of a management device according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram schematically showing a management device according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG.

FIG. 7 is a view schematically showing an application of a management device according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram schematically showing a variation of a management device according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG.

FIG. 9 schematically shows a block diagram of a management device according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG.

FIG. 10 schematically shows a block diagram of another implementation of a management device in accordance with a third embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG.

FIG. 11 schematically shows a block diagram of another implementation of a management device in accordance with a third embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG.

FIG. 12 schematically shows a block diagram of a management device according to a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram schematically showing another implementation of a management device according to a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG.

FIG. 14 schematically shows a block diagram of another implementation of a management device in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG.

Figure 15 shows an example of an output screen of the gaming machine;

Figure 16 illustrates an example of implementing image recognition in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure;

Figure 17 shows an example of a winning curve;

Figure 18 shows another example of a winning curve;

Figure 19 shows an example of a preference curve;

FIG. 20 is a flow chart schematically showing a method of managing a gaming machine according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG.

21 is a flow chart schematically showing a method of managing a gaming machine according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 22 is a flow chart schematically showing a variation of a method of managing a gaming machine according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG.

23 is a flow chart schematically showing another variation of a method of managing a gaming machine according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 24 is a flow chart schematically showing another variation of a method of managing a gaming machine according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG.

FIG. 25 is a flow chart schematically showing another variation of a method of managing a gaming machine according to a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure;

26 is a block diagram that schematically illustrates a computing system that can be used to implement the management device of the present disclosure, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the accompanying drawings, like reference numerals indicate similar elements.

Detailed ways

Other aspects, advantages and salient features of the present disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the <

In the present disclosure, the terms "include" and "including" and their derivatives are meant to be inclusive and not limiting; the term "or" is inclusive, meaning and/or.

In the present specification, the following various embodiments for describing the principles of the present disclosure are merely illustrative and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure. The following description with reference to the drawings is intended to be a The description below includes numerous specific details to assist the understanding, but these details should be considered as merely exemplary. Accordingly, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made to the embodiments described herein without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness. In addition, the same reference numerals are used throughout the drawings for similar functions and operations.

As mentioned above, in the face of game machines that can be bet (such as slot machines), many players will decide whether to play and when to play the game based on the win or loss situation in the history of the machine. There are game console games on the market that allow players to see information about the game's past wins and losses, betting, free game frequency, and more. However, most gaming machines do not provide such functionality. On the other hand, although some game consoles provide such work Yes, but this is usually done before the game machine leaves the factory, according to the information recorded in the game, the winning situation and the free game frequency and other information, the design of a specific program is completed. Operators of gaming entertainment venues are often unable to personalize this information display. Therefore, it is desirable for the operator of the game entertainment business site to obtain the in-game information of the game machine without depending on the factory design of the game machine manufacturer.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure suggest that in-game content can be captured from a screen output by the gaming machine in real time by image recognition technology to determine game features. Specifically, the image output by the gaming machine can be captured in real time, and the content of the image is analyzed by the image recognition technology to obtain the amount of bet in the game, the amount of winning or losing, and whether or not the in-game information of the free game is entered. This information can be recorded in the background system in real time. Based on these records, the characteristics of this gaming machine can be determined, for example, a winning curve can be drawn.

In addition, each player may have different preferences for different types of gaming machines. Some like to win more frequent prizes, even if the prize money is not too high; some can endure a long time without winning, but once, I hope to win a big prize. Therefore, for the operator of the game entertainment business place, it is desirable to be able to recommend a suitable game to the player according to the player's behavior preference in order to improve the player's satisfaction and the game duration. Therefore, they want to be able to track different preferences of different players.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure propose that the in-game content can be captured from a screen output by the gaming machine in real time by image recognition technology to generate a game preference of the player. Personal preference information such as when each player starts playing a game, when to quit, how much bet in the game, how to make a choice in a free game, can be recorded in the backend system. The system can perform game recommendations based on an analysis of the player's behavioral preferences, thereby increasing player satisfaction and game duration, helping the casino to improve customer satisfaction and generate more revenue.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a diagram of a system in which a device for managing a gaming machine (hereinafter simply referred to as a management device) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure can be applied.

As shown, the system includes one or more gaming machines, such as

EGMs

20a, 20b, 20c; and management device 10. The system can be deployed, for example, in a variety of gaming and entertainment venues.

As an example, three gaming machines are shown in the figure. But it should be understood that the system can be packaged Includes more or fewer consoles. For the sake of brevity, in the following, one or more gaming machines are collectively referred to as EGM 20.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the gaming machine is an electronic gaming machine (EGM) that can be bet, such as a slot machine. Each gaming machine (such as a slot machine) 20 is typically comprised of a master module (also referred to as a host), a display, and a number of peripherals. The content and results of the game are controlled by the main control module, which is usually displayed as video content on the display of the game machine through an interface such as VGA/HDMI. Hereinafter, unless otherwise stated, when referring to a gaming machine (or EGM), it generally refers to a main control module (ie, a host) of a gaming machine.

The management device MD 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure is communicatively coupled to one or more gaming machines EGM 20. The management device MD 10 can be implemented as a server. The management device MD 10 can capture the output screen of the gaming machine from the video output of the gaming machine, and extract the game content from the captured screen.

The management device MD 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 2 to 18.

FIG. 2 schematically shows a block diagram of a management device 10A according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure.

The management device MD 10A shown in FIG. 2 may be a specific implementation of the management device MD 10 shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the management device 10A may include a video codec VED (Video Encoder Device, VED) 101 and an image processing unit IRD (Image Recognition Device, IRD) 102.

The video codec VED 101 is communicatively coupled to the video output interface (eg, VGA/HDMI interface) of the gaming machine's EGM 20. The VED 101 can be configured to receive the video output of the EGM 20, capture the output screen of the gaming machine from the video output of the gaming machine in real time, and encode the captured picture into the video output of the video image EGM 20. The encoded video image may be a video stream or sequence of images suitable for the format of IRD 102 processing.

Image processing unit IRD 102 is communicatively coupled to VED 101. The IRD 102 can be configured to receive the encoded video image from the VED 101 and perform image processing and recognition on the received video image to extract display content (also referred to simply as game content) in the output screen of the gaming machine. The extracted display content may include, for example, a bet amount, a game winning or losing money. Amount, game name, game symbol, information indicating whether to enter a free game, winning amount in a free game, selection in an interactive game, information indicating whether a progressive bonus is in progress, and/or indicating whether or not The bonus information, and so on.

The video codec VED 101 can periodically capture the output of the game console. The image processing unit IRD 102 can determine whether the output screen of the gaming machine captured by the VED 101 has been refreshed by comparison of the sequential images. The image processing unit IRD 102 can process and recognize only the refreshed picture, while ignoring the paused picture without refreshing

Optionally, the management device 10A may further include a Game Content Database (GCD) 103. The display content in the output screen of the gaming machine extracted by the IRD 102, such as the amount of money, the amount of winning or losing of the game, etc., can be stored in the memory GCD 103 and used for subsequent processing. Table 1 below shows an example storage implementation in GCD.

Table 1

In the example of Table 1, there are two games g0000001 and g0000002 on the gaming machine m0000001. These two games are stored separately in the database. The bet number here is for a game on a game console. Recording starts from the system. Anyone who clicks on this machine will have a record.

The following is an example of extracting an account balance, a winning bonus, and a total bet from a slot machine, and explaining how the image processing unit IRD 102 extracts the display content in the output screen of the gaming machine.

Fig. 15 shows an example of a screen output by the slot machine. The image processing unit IRD 102 determines, in the implementation, which of the location areas in the specified screen corresponds to the account balance, which location area corresponds to the winning bonus (win), and which location area corresponds to the bet amount (total bet), The blocks pointed to by 601, 602, and 603 in Fig. 16 are shown. The image processing unit IRD 102 can then recognize the player's account balance, win win, and total bet each time from the location area indicated by FIG. 16 through image processing and recognition.

In particular, there may be multiple games in some gaming machines. In this case, the image processing unit IRD also needs to identify what game the gaming machine is currently running. The recognition of the game can be realized, for example, in the following three ways. The first way may be to obtain the game name or the game identifier by receiving the user input, for example, the game player notifies the game that the IRD is playing through the mobile phone or the game machine's service window or the Player User Interface (PUI). Name or game logo. The second way may be to identify the name of the game from the screen output by the gaming machine by means of image processing. The third way may be to identify the symbol of the game from the screen output by the gaming machine by means of image processing, and determine the game name or the game logo by the recognized symbol. Specifically, the name of the game appears on the output screen of some games, and the game can be identified according to the name of the game. The game name is usually displayed at a fixed position, and the game name can be recognized from the output screen of the gaming machine by pre-determining the display position of the game name to be recognized. The game names of different games may be displayed at different locations, which may be achieved by pre-determining the display locations of a plurality of possible game names to be identified. Some games do not display names, and such games can be identified based on the symbols in the game. For example, in the game screen shown in FIG. 15, if the name of the game is not displayed, it can be identified according to the feature symbol it displays, such as peaches, numbers, pineapples, and the like in the screen.

Most games that support multiple games are pre-determined. For this type of game machine, the game feature symbol set of each game can be pre-stored, and the game machine can be identified by matching the symbol image recognized from the output screen of the game machine with the pre-stored game feature symbol set. game.

A small number of game consoles can download and update game content remotely (server side). For this type of gaming machine, a game feature matching set may be generated in advance according to a game library on the remote server side, wherein each game corresponds to one or more feature symbols. Then, the game running on the gaming machine can be identified by matching the symbol image recognized from the output screen of the gaming machine with the previously generated game feature symbol set.

It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the video codec and/or the image processing unit may be implemented by hardware circuits, or may be implemented by executing software by various types of processors, or may be a combination of hardware and software. achieve. The hardware circuit can be, for example, Very large scale integrated circuits or gate arrays, semiconductors such as logic chips, transistors, etc., or programmable hardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmable logic devices, and the like. The processor may, for example, comprise a general purpose microprocessor, an instruction set processor and/or a related chipset and/or a special purpose microprocessor or the like.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, storage device GCD 103 may be a variety of machine-readable storage media including, but not limited to, electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, devices, devices. Specific examples of the readable storage medium include: a magnetic storage device such as a magnetic tape or a hard disk (HDD); an optical storage device such as a compact disk (CD-ROM); a memory such as a random access memory (RAM) or a flash memory.

It should be understood that only MD 10A is shown in FIG. 2 in communication coupling with a single EGM 20, and MD 10A includes a single video codec VED 101 and a single image processing unit IRD 102. It should be understood, however, that management device MD 10A can be communicatively coupled to one or more EGMs 20 to obtain video output from one or more EGMs 20. Moreover, the MD 10A may include one or more video codecs VED 101 and one or more image processing units IRD 102.

As an example, FIG. 3 shows an MD 10A of a structure. As shown in FIG. 3, the MD 10A includes a single VED 101 and a single IRD 102, wherein the VED 101 includes a plurality of interfaces, and each interface can be connected to one gaming machine EGM 20.

As an example, FIG. 4 shows another configuration of the MD 10A. As shown in FIG. 4, MD 10A includes a plurality of VEDs 101 and an IRD 102, wherein each VED 101 includes a video output that can be communicatively coupled to a gaming machine EGM 20 to obtain the EGM 20.

As an example, FIG. 5 shows another configuration of the MD 10A. As shown in FIG. 5, MD 10A includes multiple VEDs 101 and IRDs 102, wherein each of VED 101 and IRD 102 can acquire and process the video output of one gaming machine EGM 20.

FIG. 6 schematically shows a block diagram of a management device 10B according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure.

The management device MD 10B shown in FIG. 6 may be another specific implementation of the management device MD 10 shown in FIG. 1. The management device MD 10B shown in FIG. 6 is similar to the management device MD 10A described in FIG. 2, except that the management device MD 10B further includes in-game bonus data. Game Hit Tracker (GHT) 104.

The GHT 104 may be configured to generate winning tracking data based on the display content extracted by the IRD 102, and generate winning history information (data or curve screen) based on the winning tracking data. The winning history information generated by the GHT 104 can be output to the output device 40 for display to the player.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, the winning history information generated by the GHT 104 may be output to a Hit History Display (HHD) for display to the player (as shown in FIG. 7). The HHD can be, for example, an electronic display of an entertainment venue. Alternatively, the HHD may be a display of a player's cell phone or personal computer (eg, a tablet computer, laptop computer, etc.). Specifically, the winning history information can be displayed through a dedicated application APP or a web page on a mobile phone or a personal computer. In such an embodiment, the output device 40 shown in FIG. 6 may be the winning information presenter HHD 40A.

Alternatively, in other embodiments of the present disclosure, the winning history information generated by the GHT 104 may be output to the display 22 of the gaming machine (as shown in FIG. 8). For example, the winning history information can be synthesized with the original picture of the game, for example, in the form of picture-in-picture, displayed to the player. In such an embodiment, the output device 40 shown in Figure 6 can be the display 22 of the gaming machine.

The GHT 104 primarily tracks the betting history and win-loss history on the gaming machine. The following is explained by way of example.

A player puts $100 on the game machine. You can record the amount of the player's bet each time in the following table (in this case, the player bets 2 dollars each time), the number of prizes won each bet, and the balance on the account. information.

下注额度(total bet)Bet amount (total bet)	中奖奖金(win)Winning prize (win)	帐上余额(balance)Balance on account
22	00	9898
22	00	9696
……......	……......	……......
22	00	8484

Table 2

According to the data in the above table, a winning curve as shown in Fig. 17 can be generated.

The ordinate of the winning graph shown in Fig. 17 is generally in units of multiples of a bet. For example, a scale of the ordinate is 10 bets, which is usually not a specific amount. The abscissa can be counted in the following number of times, and the next bet is counted once, regardless of whether the bet is 1 bet, 10 bet, or 100 bet. The abscissa can also be a fixed multiple of a bet or a bet. For example, if 1 bet is used as a unit, then if 10 bets are bet at a time, it will be divided into several points in the abscissa, and the winning amount will be on the ordinate. It is calculated on the 1/10 average.

Preferably, the GHT 104 can also track the situation in which the player is cashing in to the gaming machine. A player may add cash to the game during the game, which should be distinguished from the win situation. For example, referring to the above example, when the player has $84 left and the player adds $100 to the game console, you can remove $100 from all subsequent account balances, as shown below.

下注额度Bet amount	中奖奖金Winning prize	加钱(cash in)Add money (cash in)	账上实际余额Actual balance on the account	曲线显示余额Curve showing balance
22	00		9898	9898
22	00		9696	9696
……......	……......	……......	……......	……......
22	00		8484	8484
00	00	100100	184184	8484
22	00		182182	8282
22	1010		190190	9090
……......	……......	……......	……......	……......

table 3

Further, in the winning curve displayed to the player, the numerical value of the ordinate may not be displayed as shown in FIG. In the diagram of Fig. 18, each scale of the ordinate is 40 bets.

Similar to the MD 10A of FIG. 2, the MD 10B shown in FIG. 6 may also include a storage device GCD 103 to store the extracted game content.

It should be understood that although GHT 104 is shown in FIG. 6 to be communicatively coupled to IRD 102, the GHT may also be communicatively coupled to storage device GCD 103 to obtain a game from GCD 103. Content, rather than directly obtaining game content from IRD 102.

Although only MD 10B is shown in FIG. 6 in communication coupling with a single EGM 20, and MD 10B includes a single video codec VED 101 and a single image processing unit IRD 102. It should be understood, however, that similar to MD 10A of FIG. 2, management device MD 10B can be communicatively coupled with one or more EGMs 20 to obtain video output from one or more EGMs 20. Likewise, similar to MD 10A of FIG. 2, MD 10B may include one or more video codecs VED 101 and one or more image processing units IRD 102. For example, the MD 10B can be realized by adding the GHT 104 thereto by referring to the structure of the MD 10A shown in FIGS. 3 to 5.

FIG. 8 schematically shows a block diagram of a variant implementing MD 10C of the management device MD 10B according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure.

The management device MD 10C shown in FIG. 8 is similar to the MD 10B shown in FIG. 6, except that it further includes a video splitter VSD 105 and a picture-in-picture device PIP 106.

The video splitter VSD 105 can be configured to receive the video output of the gaming machine and divide the video output into two paths, one for the VED 101 and the other for the picture-in-picture device PIP 106.

The picture in picture device PIP 106 can be configured to output both the winning history information (data or curve picture) from the GHT and the video output (ie, the original game picture content) of the gaming machine from the VSD 105.

Alternatively, the picture in picture device PIP 106 may be configured to synthesize the winning history information and the original game screen content into a picture in picture for display. For example, a winning curve screen is displayed on the upper right side of the original game machine screen screen, or a winning curve screen is displayed on the top screen of the game. Specifically, the PIP 106 device typically has two inputs that respectively receive a video output from the VSD and a winning history information output from the GHT 104. The output of the PIP 106 device is coupled to the screen 22 of the gaming machine.

Alternatively, the picture in picture device PIP 106 may also be configured to display the winning history information and the original game screen content alternately or switchably. For example, one of the following contents may be displayed on the original gaming machine screen or the top screen: winning history information or original game screen content, and switching between the two display contents.

FIG. 9 schematically shows a block diagram of a management device MD 10D according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure.

The management device MD 10D shown in FIG. 9 may be another specific implementation of the management device MD 10 shown in FIG. 1. The management device MD 10D shown in FIG. 9 is similar to the management device MD 10A described in FIG. 2, except that the management device MD 10D further includes a Player Preference Extractor (PPE) 108.

The PPE 108 can be configured to generate a player's game preferences based on the display content extracted by the IRD 102. For example, the PPE 108 can generate a bet curve for the player based on behavior information of a particular player, such as betting information and winning or losing information on each machine (as shown in FIG. 27). The player's game preference characteristics can be extracted for features such as the player's bet curve and the game theme that has been played. For example, N kinds of game preference features (p ₁ , . . . , p _N ) may be defined, where p _i represents an i-th game preference, and for example, player A's game preference feature is (p ₁ = v ₁ , . p _N = v _N ), where v _i represents the value of the i-th game preference of player A, i=1, . . . , N. The player's game preference features may include, for example, winning and losing curve features, game theme features, and the like.

The PPE 108 can also identify the identity of the player who is playing the game. The PPE 108 can identify the player's identity in a number of ways. Alternatively, the player can be identified based on the insertion and removal of the membership card. Alternatively, the identity of the player can be known by receiving user input. For example, the player's identity can be identified by the player performing a login and logout operation on the mobile terminal, the game console's operation interface such as a service window or a Player User Interface (PUI). Alternatively, the identity of the player sitting in front of the gaming machine can be identified by biometric means (face recognition, iris recognition, etc.).

Similar to the MD 10A of FIG. 2, the MD 10D shown in FIG. 9 may also include a storage device GCD 103 to store the extracted game content.

It should be understood that although PPE 108 is shown in FIG. 9 to be communicatively coupled to IRD 102, the PPE may also be communicatively coupled to storage device GCD 103 to obtain game content from GCD 103 rather than directly obtaining game content from IRD 102.

Although MD 10D is shown in FIG. 9 to be communicatively coupled to multiple EGMs 20, in some embodiments MD 10D may be communicatively coupled to a single EGM 20. Although the MD 10D shown in FIG. 9 includes only a single video codec VED 101 and a single image processing unit IRD 102, but it should be understood that similar to MD 10A of FIG. 2, management device MD 10D may include one or more video codecs VED 101 and one or more image processing units IRD 102. For example, the MD 10D can be realized by adding the PPE 108 therein by referring to the structure of the MD 10A shown in FIGS. 4 to 5 (see FIGS. 10 and 11).

FIG. 12 schematically shows a block diagram of a management device MD 10E according to a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure.

The management device MD 10E shown in FIG. 12 may be another specific implementation of the management device MD 10 shown in FIG. 1. The management device MD 10E shown in FIG. 12 is similar to the management device MD 10A described in FIG. 2, except that the management device MD 10E further includes a Player Preference Extractor (PPE) 108 and a Game Feature Extractor (Game Feature). Extractor, GFE) 109 and Player Game Recommendation (PGR) 110.

The GFE 109 can be configured to generate game features based on the display content extracted by the IRD. For example, define M game features (f ₁ , ..., f _M ), where f _i represents the i-th game feature, and game A has the feature (f ₁ = v ₁ , ..., f _M = v _M ) Where v _i represents the value of the i-th game feature of game A, i=1, . . . , M. Game features may include, for example, winning and losing curve features, game theme features, and the like.

The PGR 110 can be configured to match the player's game preferences and game characteristics to determine a game recommended to the player. For example, a game in which the game feature matches the player's game preferences above a threshold may be recommended to the player.

The following is an example to illustrate how the GFE 109 generates game features based on the display content extracted by the IRD.

Game features are used to describe features of a game that are different from other games, such as defining M game features (f ₁ ,..., f _M ), where f _i represents the i-th game feature, i=1,..., M. For example, f ₁ represents the trigger frequency of a bonus game (such as a free game, bonus game, or feature game). It can be a numeric value or a range of values. For example, f ₂ indicates the number of free games that can be obtained after entering a bonus game. It can be a fixed number or one of several numbers. In some games, the number of free games in the bonus game is fixed, such as 10 times. In some games, after entering the bonus game, the player will make a choice, for example, 5, 8 or 10 times. In some games, there are different free game times depending on the trigger conditions for entering the bonus game. For example, when there are 3 symbols in the game screen, you can enter the bonus game and get 10 free games. When the game screen appears 4 times, you can also enter the bonus game, but the number of free games obtained is 20 Times. Therefore, the value of f ₂ has several different representations: for example, f ₂ = 10, indicating that f ₂ is a fixed value; f ₂ = (5, 8, 10), indicating that f ₂ is 5, 8, and 10 One of the values; f ₂ = (c ₁ : 10, c ₂ : 20, c ₃ : 30), indicating different values of f ₂ under different trigger conditions, when the trigger condition is c ₁ , f ₂ is 10, When the trigger condition is c ₂ , f ₂ is 20, and so on.

In addition to winning the game, the game features can also be related to the game screen design, related to the theme of the game, related to the screen size of the game console, related to whether it is a 3D game, the resolution of the game machine, the clarity of the game symbol, the speed of the game. (the minimum interval between two bets), the linked progressive between multiple game consoles, the size of the prize pool and the probability of winning, and so on. All of the above factors can be defined as characteristics of the game. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the game feature may be game screen information acquired according to image recognition technology, or information that may be directly or indirectly derived from the acquired game screen information. For example, game theme features, fruits, numbers, cats and dogs, etc., which can be extracted directly from the screen. Some game features are obtained after the information obtained from the game screen, such as the trigger frequency of the bonus game. Some game features are the game name or game symbol extracted from the game screen to identify which game the game is, and then Obtained by looking up game records in the database. For example, it can be recognized that the game on a game machine is game A. In the database, the record corresponding to Game A indicates that the game advantage of the game is 10%.

The following illustrates, by way of example, how the PPE 108 generates a player's game preferences based on the display content extracted by the IRD 102.

N game preference features (p ₁ , . . . , p _N ) may be defined, where p _i represents the ith game preference, i=1, . . . , N. The preference feature of player A is (p ₁ = v ₁ , ..., p _N = v _N ), where v _i represents the value of the i-th game preference of player A, i=1, . . . , N. The N player preference information generally corresponds to the game feature information, which records a player whose player's preferences are for each game feature. The number of player game preference features N may be less than or equal to the number M of game features of all games. For example, the game features of all games as above are defined as (f ₁ , . . . , f _M ), where f _i represents the i-th game feature, i=1, . . . , M. p _i and f _i corresponds. For example, f ₁ represents the trigger frequency of a bonus game (bonus game, feature game), and p ₁ represents a player's preference for the bonus game trigger frequency. For example, player A's preference is that the bonus game trigger frequency ranges from 80 to 100. If there is a game with an f ₁ eigenvalue of 90, then the game happens to belong to player A's favorite range and can be recommended to this player.

The extraction of player preference features can exist as follows. The first way is to extract the common features of multiple or all games played by this player as a preference feature for this player. Another way is to combine a player's betting history and win/loss history on one or more gaming machines. The first way: For example, if a player has played 10 games, and 9 of the 10 games have game themes related to the pet, it can be concluded that one of the player's game features is a pet-like theme. The second way: For example, a player places a total of 200 bets on 3 game machines, as shown in the following figure:

Table 4

In the feature extraction, the player's actual account balance can be treated with some special treatment. In the above example, you can see that after the player played on game consoles A and B, the remaining $44, the player went to game console C and put in $100. It can be seen that the balance here is not calculated according to the actual $100, but is calculated according to the remaining $44 on the gaming machine B. This simplifies the process, but it is not required. Based on the processed data, the preference curve shown in Fig. 19 can be obtained. According to the curve of Fig. 19 and Table 4, the game preferences related to this player and bet can be calculated.

Similar to the MD 10A of FIG. 2, the MD 10E shown in FIG. 12 may also include a storage device GCD 103 to store the extracted game content. Alternatively, the GCD 103 may also store game features generated by the GFE 109 and/or game preferences of the player generated by the PPE 108.

It should be understood that although PPE 108 and GFE 109 are shown in FIG. 12 to be communicatively coupled to IRD 102, PPE 108 and GFE 109 may also be in communication with storage device GCD 103. Coupling, obtaining game content from GCD 103, rather than directly obtaining game content from IRD 102. Although PGR 110 is shown in FIG. 12 as being communicatively coupled to PPE 108 and GFE 109, PGR 110 may also be communicatively coupled to GCD 103 to obtain game features and game preferences of the player from GCD 103.

It should be understood that although MD 10E is shown in FIG. 12 to be communicatively coupled to multiple EGMs 20, in some embodiments MD 10E may be communicatively coupled to a single EGM 20. Although the MD 10E shown in FIG. 12 includes only a single video codec VED 101 and a single image processing unit IRD 102, it should be understood that similar to the MD 10A of FIG. 2, the management device MD 10E may include one or more videos. Codec VED 101 and one or more image processing units IRD 102. For example, the MD 10E can be realized by adding the PPE 108, the GFE 109, and the PGR 110 to the structure of the MD 10A shown in FIGS. 4 to 5 (see FIGS. 13 and 14).

The present disclosure has been described above in connection with the embodiments of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the above-described devices are merely exemplary and are not intended to limit the disclosure to the specific structures shown. The apparatus of the present disclosure is not limited to the components shown above, but may include more or fewer components. Further features of one embodiment may be used in combination with features of other embodiments. Many variations and modifications can be made by those skilled in the art in light of the teachings of the illustrated embodiments. For example, the VSD shown in FIG. 8 above can be applied to the management devices shown in FIGS. 9 to 14, so that these MDs can receive the video output of the gaming machine through the VSD instead of directly from the video output interface of the gaming machine. receive.

A method of managing a gaming machine according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to FIGS. 20 to 25 in conjunction with the management device shown above.

FIG. 20 schematically illustrates a flow chart of a method 1000 of managing a gaming machine in accordance with a first embodiment of the present disclosure.

The method 1000 can be performed, for example, by the management device MD 10A according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure described above.

As shown, in step S1100, the output screen of the gaming machine is captured from the video output of the gaming machine in real time, and the captured image is encoded into a video image. Step S1100 This can be achieved, for example, by managing the video codec VED in the device. The management device can obtain the video output of the gaming machine by coupling with the video output of the gaming machine. Alternatively, the video output of the gaming machine can be divided into two paths by the video splitter VSD, and outputted to the VED in the management device for processing. A display that can be output to the gaming machine is displayed or output to the picture-in-picture device for display together with other videos or images. It should be understood that the video format that the gaming machine outputs to the display for display is usually different from the format of the video image used for image processing and recognition, so it is necessary to use VED to convert the image captured from the video output of the gaming machine into an image suitable for IRD. The format of the process.

In step S1200, image recognition is performed on the video image to extract display content in the output screen of the gaming machine. Step S1200 can be implemented, for example, by an image processing unit IRD in the management device. The video image here is a game machine output screen that is encoded by VED into a format suitable for IRD processing. A variety of display contents can be extracted from the output screen of the game machine, such as the amount of money, the amount of game wins and losses, the name of the game, the game symbol, the information indicating whether to enter the free game, the winning amount in the free game, and the interactive game. Selecting, indicating whether or not the progressive bonus information is included, and information indicating whether or not a bonus is included, and the like.

Step S1100 can be performed periodically to capture the output screen of the gaming machine and encode the video image into a suitable format. The video image may also be filtered first in step S1200. For example, it is determined whether the output screen of the game machine captured in S1100 has been refreshed by comparison of successive images. It is possible to process and recognize only the refreshed picture in step S1200, while ignoring the paused picture without refreshing.

It should be understood that the method of managing a gaming machine in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention may include more steps. Optionally, the display content extracted in step S1200 may be stored in the memory for use in subsequent processing. Alternatively, the method 1000 may include various additional processing of outputting the display content in the screen to the gaming machine extracted in step S1200. Several examples are shown below with reference to Figures 21-25.

21 shows a flow chart of a method 2000 of managing a gaming machine in accordance with a second embodiment of the present disclosure.

The method 2000 can be performed, for example, by the management device MD 10B or its variant MD 10C according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure described above.

As shown, in step S2100, the output screen of the gaming machine is captured from the video output of the gaming machine in real time, and the captured image is encoded into a video image.

In step S2200, image recognition is performed on the video image to extract display content in an output screen of the gaming machine.

In step S2300, winning winning tracking data is generated based on the extracted display content, and winning information (data or curve screen) is generated based on the winning tracking data. Step S2300 can be performed by the Game Hit Tracker (GHT) described above. In step S2300, the betting history and the win/loss history on the gaming machine can be mainly tracked.

Steps S2100 and S2200 in the method 2000 are similar to the steps S1100 and S1200 in the method 1000, and are not described herein again.

Alternatively, the winning history information (for example, the history winning curve screen) generated in step S2300 may be output to an output device and displayed to the player. The output device can be a display of a gaming machine or can be other specialized devices. Details will be made below with reference to Figs. 22 and 23.

22 shows a flow chart of a variation 2000A of a method 2000 of managing a gaming machine in accordance with a second embodiment of the present disclosure.

The method 2000A can be performed, for example, by the management device MD 10B according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure described above. Method 2000A differs from method 2000 in that step 2400A is further included.

In step S2400A, the winning history information generated in step S2300 is output to a winning history display (HHD) for display to the player (see FIG. 21). The HHD can be, for example, an electronic display of an entertainment venue. Alternatively, the HHD may be a player's cell phone or a personal computer (eg, a tablet computer, laptop computer, etc.).

23 shows a flow chart of another variation 2000B of a method 2000 of managing a gaming machine in accordance with a second embodiment of the present disclosure.

The method 2000B may, for example, be by the tube according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure described above The deformation of the device is performed by MD 10C. Method 2000B differs from method 2000 in that it further includes step 2400B.

In step S2400B, the winning history information generated in step S2300 is output to the display of the gaming machine (see Fig. 22). For example, the winning history information may be combined with the video output of the game (ie, the original picture of the game), for example, in the form of a picture-in-picture, displayed to the player.

FIG. 24 shows a flow chart of a method 3000 of managing a gaming machine in accordance with a third embodiment of the present disclosure.

The method 3000 can be performed, for example, by the management device MD 10D according to the third embodiment of the present disclosure described above.

As shown, in step S3100, the output screen of the gaming machine is captured from the video output of the gaming machine in real time, and the captured image is encoded into a video image.

In step S3200, image recognition is performed on the video image to extract display content in an output screen of the gaming machine.

In step S3500, the game preference of the player is generated based on the extracted display content.

Steps S3100 and S3200 in the method 3000 are similar to the steps S1100 and S1200 in the method 1000, and are not described herein again.

Step S3500 can be performed, for example, by the player game preference extractor PPE 108 described above. For example, in step S3500, the player's bet curve (shown in FIG. 27) may be generated based on the behavior information of the specific player, such as betting information and winning or losing information on each machine. The player's game preference characteristics can be extracted for features such as the player's bet curve and the game theme that has been played. For example, N kinds of game preference features (p ₁ , . . . , p _N ) may be defined, where p _i represents an i-th game preference, and for example, player A's game preference feature is (p ₁ = v ₁ , . p _N = v _N ), where v _i represents the value of the i-th game preference of player A, i=1, . . . , N. The player's game preference features may include, for example, winning and losing curve features, game theme features, and the like.

The extraction of player preference features can exist as follows. The first way is to extract the common features of multiple or all games played by this player as a preference feature for this player. Another way is to combine a player's betting history and win/loss history on one or more gaming machines.

FIG. 25 shows a flow chart of a method 4000 of managing a gaming machine in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure.

The method 4000 can be performed, for example, by the management device MD 10E according to the fourth embodiment of the present disclosure described above.

As shown, in step S4100, the output screen of the gaming machine is captured from the video output of the gaming machine in real time, and the captured image is encoded into a video image.

In step S4200, image recognition is performed on the video image to extract display content in an output screen of the gaming machine.

In step S4500, the game preference of the player is generated based on the extracted display content.

In step S4600, a game feature is generated based on the extracted display content.

In step S4700, the game recommended to the player is determined by matching the player's game preferences and game characteristics.

Steps S4100 and S4200 in the method 4000 are similar to the steps S1100 and S1200 in the method 1000, and are not described herein again.

Step S4500 is similar to step S3500 in method 3000, and may be performed, for example, by the player game preference extractor PPE 108 described above, and details are not described herein again.

Step S4600 can be performed, for example, by the game feature extractor GFE 109 described above. Specifically, in step S4600, various game features may be generated based on the extracted display content. For example, define M game features (f ₁ , ..., f _M ), where f _i represents the i-th game feature, and game A has the feature (f ₁ = v ₁ , ..., f _M = v _M ) Where v _i represents the value of the i-th game feature of game A, i=1, . . . , M. Game features may include, for example, winning and losing curve features, game theme features, and the like. Game features can be related to various factors, such as related to winning, related to game screen design, related to the theme of the game, related to the screen size of the game console, related to whether it is a 3D game. Game features can also be characterized by: resolution of the gaming machine, clarity of the game symbol, speed of the game (minimum interval between two bets), linked progressive between multiple gaming machines And the size of this prize pool and the probability of winning the prize, and so on. All of the above factors can be defined as characteristics of the game. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the game feature may be game screen information acquired according to image recognition technology, or information that may be directly or indirectly derived from the acquired game screen information. For example, game theme features, fruits, numbers, cats and dogs, etc., which can be extracted directly from the screen. Some game features are obtained after the information obtained from the game screen, such as the trigger frequency of the bonus game. Some game features are the game name or game symbol extracted from the game screen to identify which game the game is, and then obtained by looking up the game record in the database. For example, it can be recognized that the game on a game machine is game A. In the database, the record corresponding to Game A indicates that the game advantage of the game is 10%.

Step S4700 can be performed, for example, by the player game recommendation module (PGR) 110 described above. In step S4700, for example, a game in which the degree of matching of the game feature with the game preference of the player is higher than the threshold may be recommended to the player.

The management method of the present invention has been schematically illustrated by several embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings 20-25. For details of the above methods 1000 to 400, reference may be made to the operation of the management device according to the embodiment of the present invention described above with reference to FIGS. 2 to 18, and details are not described herein again.

The management method of the present invention has been described above in connection with the embodiments of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the above-described methods are merely exemplary and are not intended to limit the present disclosure to the specific flow shown. The method of the present disclosure is not limited to the specific steps and sequences shown above, but may include more or fewer steps and be performed in any suitable order, such as a number of steps that are not performed sequentially, and may be sequential or in parallel. Execution. Further features of one embodiment may be used in combination with features of other embodiments. For example, the operation of storing the extracted display content to the memory mentioned in method 1000 is equally applicable in other methods 2000-400.

As shown in FIG. 26, computing system 500 includes a processor 510, a computer readable storage medium 520, an output interface 530, and an input interface 540. The computing system 500 can perform the above The method described with reference to Figs. 20 to 25 is implemented to realize management of the gaming machine.

In particular, processor 510 can include, for example, a general purpose microprocessor, an instruction set processor, and/or a related chipset and/or a special purpose microprocessor (eg, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), and the like. Processor 510 may also include an onboard memory for caching purposes. The processor 510 may be a single processing unit or a plurality of processing units for performing different actions of the method flow according to the embodiments of the present disclosure described with reference to FIGS. 20 to 25.

Computer readable storage medium 520, for example, can be any medium that can contain, store, communicate, propagate or transport the instructions. For example, a readable storage medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. Specific examples of the readable storage medium include: a magnetic storage device such as a magnetic tape or a hard disk (HDD); an optical storage device such as a compact disk (CD-ROM); a memory such as a random access memory (RAM) or a flash memory; and/or a wired /Wireless communication link.

The computer readable storage medium 520 can include a computer program 521 that can include code/computer executable instructions that, when executed by the processor 510, cause the processor 510 to perform, for example, the methods described above in connection with Figures 20-25 The process and any variations thereof.

Computer program 521 can be configured to have computer program code, for example, including a computer program module. For example, in an example embodiment, the code in computer program 521 may include one or more program modules, including, for example, 521A, module 521B, . It should be noted that the division manner and the number of modules are not fixed, and those skilled in the art may use suitable program modules or program module combinations according to actual situations. When these program module combinations are executed by the processor 510, the processor 510 may be The method flow, such as described above in connection with Figures 20-25, and any variations thereof are performed.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processor 510 can use the output interface 530 and the input interface 540 to perform the method flow described above in connection with FIGS. 20-25 and any variations thereof.

The present invention has been described above in connection with the embodiments of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the above-described methods and apparatus are merely exemplary, and are not intended to limit the invention to the specific structures and specific procedures shown. The apparatus of the present disclosure is not limited to the components shown above, but may include more or fewer components. The method of the present disclosure is not The specific steps and sequences shown in the above examples are limited, and may include more or fewer steps and be performed in any suitable order. Many variations and modifications can be made by those skilled in the art in light of the teachings of the illustrated embodiments.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, it is possible to track winning information of games of various gaming machines of a specific place at a fine granularity, such as being able to track the amount of each bet, the winning and losing amount of each bet, thereby forming an accurate in-game winning history information. , shown to the player. The prior art game winning information is limited to a single device, cannot be directed to all devices of the gaming establishment, and does not achieve the fine granularity of the embodiments of the present disclosure. In addition, the management device according to the preferred embodiment of the present disclosure can accurately track the game preferences of each player, such as whether the frequency of winning the prize is higher, or whether the frequency of the favorite is lower but the amount of each winning is larger, such as what a player likes. In the case of entering a game, when to leave, and accordingly provide game recommendations to the player at a finer granularity. This can increase player satisfaction and game duration, helping game operators improve customer satisfaction and generate more revenue.

Although the present disclosure has been shown and described with respect to the specific exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, it will be understood by those skilled in the art Various changes in form and detail are made to the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to the above-described embodiments, but should be determined not only by the appended claims but also by the equivalents of the appended claims.

Claims

A device for managing a gaming machine, comprising:

a video codec VED configured to receive a video output of the gaming machine, capture an output image of the gaming machine from a video output of the gaming machine in real time, and encode the captured image into a video image;

An image processing unit IRD is configured to receive the video image from the VED and perform image recognition on the video image to extract display content in an output screen of the gaming machine.
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

The extracted display content includes at least one of the following: a bet amount, a game win-loss amount, a game name, a game symbol, information indicating whether to enter a free game, a winning amount in a free game, in an interactive game. Select, indicate whether the information on the progressive bonus is included, and information indicating whether the reward is included.
The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a game winning data tracker GHT configured to generate winning tracking data based on the display content extracted by the IRD, and generate a history winning curve screen based on the winning tracking data.
The apparatus of claim 3 further comprising:

The video splitter VSD is configured to receive the video output of the gaming machine, and divide the video output into two paths, one output to the VED and the other output to the picture-in-picture device;

The picture-in-picture device PIP is configured to display a historical winning curve picture from the GHT and a video output from the VSD's gaming machine.
The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

The player game preference extractor PPE is configured to generate a player's game preferences based on the display content extracted by the IRD.
The device of claim 5, further comprising:

a game feature extractor GFE configured to generate a game feature based on the display content extracted by the IRD;

The player game recommendation module PGR is configured to match the player's game preferences and game characteristics to determine a game recommended to the player.
A method of managing a gaming machine, comprising:

Grab the output screen of the gaming machine from the video output of the gaming machine in real time, and encode the captured image into a video image;

Image recognition is performed on the video image to extract display content in an output screen of the gaming machine.
The method of claim 7 wherein

The extracted display content includes at least one of the following: a bet amount, a game win-loss amount, a game name, a game symbol, information indicating whether to enter a free game, a winning amount in a free game, in an interactive game. Select, indicate whether the information on the progressive bonus is included, and information indicating whether the reward is included.
The method of claim 7 further comprising:

Based on the extracted display content, the winning tracking data is generated, and a history winning curve screen is generated based on the winning tracking data.
The method of claim 9 further comprising:

The historical winning curve screen is output to be displayed to the player.
The method of claim 10 wherein said output comprises:

The historical winning curve screen and the video output of the gaming machine are combined to display the historical winning curve screen on the display of the gaming machine in a picture-in-picture manner.
The method of claim 7 further comprising:

A game preference of the player is generated based on the extracted display content.
The method of claim 12 further comprising:

Generating game features based on the extracted display content;

The game recommended to the player is determined by matching the player's game preferences and game characteristics.
A device for managing a gaming machine, comprising:

Processor;

A memory configured to store machine readable instructions, the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the method of any one of claims 7 to 13.