Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090298590 | Expandable Control Device Via Hardware Attachment - Apparatus, methods and systems for interfacing a controller with a gaming system to interact with a computer program rendering interactive content on a display are presented. In one embodiment, a controller includes a handle, a connector and an attachment. The handle has an elongated shape, which includes opposite first and second ends, and is configured to be held by a single hand of a user during operation. The handle's second end, aimed towards the display during operation, holds the connector. The attachment includes two interfaces: a visual interface for communication with the gaming system, and a connector interface that is coupled to the connector in the handle. The attachment can be coupled and decoupled to the connector and allows the gaming system to visually track the location of the handle via the visual interface. In another embodiment, the attachment provides additional communication capabilities. | 12-03-2009 |
20100105475 | DETERMINING LOCATION AND MOVEMENT OF BALL-ATTACHED CONTROLLER - Methods, systems and computer programs for determining the location in a field of play of a game controller are provided. A ball section is attached to the game controller to locate the controller using visual information. The method obtains an image of the field of play where the game controller is present, and then finds pixels in the image associated with the ball section. The method further establishes an area encompassing the found pixels and determines a geometric shape based on the area associated with the ball. The location of the controller is calculated based on the geometric shape, with the center of the geometric shape indicating the horizontal and vertical location of the controller, and the size of the geometric shape determining the depth of the controller within the field of play. The location is stored in memory, which is used to drive an action by the computer. | 04-29-2010 |
20100105480 | SPHERICAL ENDED CONTROLLER WITH CONFIGURABLE MODES - Input devices for interfacing with a game console to interact with a computer program are disclosed. In one example, the input device includes a controller with a handle and a spherical object that is connected to a first end of the handle. The controller further includes a circuit that identifies the position of the handle. The circuit further includes communication logic to communicate the identified position to the game console during interaction with the computer program. The controller further includes control inputs connected to a second end of the handle, wherein the spherical object is placed in contact with a surface when held by the handle and the circuit updates the identified position of the handle as the handle is pivoted on the surface. The control inputs providing commands that are exchanged with the game console to further interact with the computer program. | 04-29-2010 |
20100144436 | Control Device for Communicating Visual Information - Methods and systems for interfacing a control device with a computer program executing at a base computing device are presented. The method generates a visual cue at a spherical section of the control device and captures an image of the visual cue using an image capture device connected to the base computing device. Further, the method determines whether the visual cue is user feedback or input for the computer program, and processes the visual cue at the base computing device when the visual cue is an input. Additionally, a state of an object being processed is updated by the computer program in response to the input to drive interactivity with the computer program via the control device. | 06-10-2010 |
20110205240 | Implementing Lighting Control of a User Environment - A system and method for controlling lighting conditions in a user environment whereby bandwidth consumption may be managed is disclosed. An inner frame area and an outer frame area adjust certain lighting conditions in the user environment in response to certain lighting conditions detected by the image capture device as those conditions affect bandwidth consumption during transmission of the image capture data. The frame areas may be dynamically controlled as to affect the brightness and/or color of the particular user environment. | 08-25-2011 |
20110249072 | Lighting Control of a User Environment via a Display Device - A system and method for controlling lighting conditions in a user environment in the context of an image capture device are disclosed. An inner frame area and an outer frame area adjust certain lighting conditions in the user environment in response to certain lighting conditions detected by the image capture device. The frame areas may be dynamically controlled as to affect the brightness and/or color of the particular user environment. Multiple image capture devices may be used to video conference. | 10-13-2011 |
20120088581 | 3-D GLASSES WITH CAMERA BASED HEAD TRACKING - Methods, devices, and systems, are described for tracking a video game player's head under different ambient lighting conditions and switching between tracking techniques as lighting conditions change. Based on measurements of ambient lighting conditions, a camera hooked to a game console can ( | 04-12-2012 |
20120190448 | DIRECTIONAL INPUT FOR A VIDEO GAME - A method for providing directional input to a video game is provided. The method initiates with capturing an image of a first object and a second object, the first object and the second object being defined at a fixed distance from each other. A three-dimensional location of the first object is determined based on analysis of the captured image, and a two-dimensional location of the second object is determined based on analysis of the captured image. An input direction for a video game is determined based on the three-dimensional location of the first object and the two-dimensional location of the second object. | 07-26-2012 |
20120289334 | CONTROLLER HAVING VISUALLY TRACKABLE OBJECT FOR INTERFACING WITH A GAMING SYSTEM - Methods, systems and computer programs for determining the location in a field of play of a game controller are provided. A ball section is attached to the game controller to locate the controller using visual information. The method obtains an image of the field of play where the game controller is present, and then finds pixels in the image associated with the ball section. The method further establishes an area encompassing the found pixels and determines a geometric shape based on the area associated with the ball. The location of the controller is calculated based on the geometric shape, with the center of the geometric shape indicating the horizontal and vertical location of the controller, and the size of the geometric shape determining the depth of the controller within the field of play. The location is stored in memory, which is used to drive an action by the computer. | 11-15-2012 |
20120302349 | CONTROL DEVICE FOR COMMUNICATING VISUAL INFORMATION - Methods and systems for processing input by a computing device are presented. One method includes operations for receiving images of a control device that includes an object section, and for determining a location of the control device utilizing image analysis for each captured image. Additionally, the movement of the control device is tracked based on the determined locations, where the tracking of the movement includes receiving inertial sensor information obtained by sensors in the control device, and determining an orientation of the control device based on the sensor information. Additionally, the method includes an operation for translating the movement and orientation of the control device into input for a game executing in the computing device, where the input is translated into a motion and orientation of an object in the game based on the movement of the control device. | 11-29-2012 |
20130201285 | 3-D GLASSES WITH ILLUMINATED LIGHT GUIDE - 3-D or other glasses with an illuminated light guide for tracking with a camera are presented. The light guide can be a light guide plate (LGP) or other transparent and/or translucent material that conveys light through its interior. LEDs embedded within the frames illuminate the light guide and optionally can be dimmed or brightened depending on ambient lighting. | 08-08-2013 |
20130324243 | MULTI-IMAGE INTERACTIVE GAMING DEVICE - An image capture device includes: a housing; a first camera defined along a front surface of the housing; a first camera controller configured to control the first camera to capture images of an interactive environment during user interactivity at a first exposure setting; a second camera defined along the front surface of the housing; a second camera controller configured to control the second camera to capture images of the interactive environment during the user interactivity at a second exposure setting lower than the first exposure setting, the captured images from the second camera being analyzed to identify and track an illuminated object in the interactive environment. | 12-05-2013 |
20130324244 | MANAGING CONTROLLER PAIRING IN A MULTIPLAYER GAME - A method for managing multi-player interactivity with an interactive application is provided, including the following method operations: determining a location of a first controller; determining a location of a second controller; determining a location of a biometric identifier of a first user; determining a location of a biometric identifier of a second user; pairing the first controller to the first user based on the location of the first controller and the location of the biometric identifier of the first user; pairing the second controller to the second user based on the location of the second controller and the location of the biometric identifier of the second user. | 12-05-2013 |