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The present invention relates generally to gaming systems, and more particularly to a dynamic user interface for gaming machines.
Many design considerations for gaming machines are founded in the history of a particular style of game, while other design considerations are determined through surveys, interviews, or simple observation of game players. For a particular game machine, such as a slot machine game or a video poker machine, many players have become used to a particular layout of the pushbuttons, levers, or other input devices that control game operation. Because of these user preferences, game machine manufacturers are somewhat reluctant to change the layout or function of input pushbuttons for a particular game.
Gaming machines have evolved from largely mechanical (or electromechanical) systems to largely electronic ones. The mechanical reels of early slot machines have been replaced by video reel-strips that appear on a high-resolution display. The lever used to initiate play of these early machines has also been replaced by an input device, such as a pushbutton or touch-screen, whose activation can be detected electronically.
In known gaming machines, an input panel, sometimes known as a “button panel,” is generally employed to allow the operator to control particular aspects of the game by depressing only a small number of pushbuttons. The pushbuttons are electromechanical switches that include printed information specific to a particular game. For example, the button panel layout for a slot machine game is significantly different from the layout for a video poker game.
As gaming machines have evolved toward electronic implementations, the functionality of the gaming machine is controlled by software installed within the game machine. Although the software is easily replaced simply by replacing a memory device within the machine, the button panel must also be replaced in order to significantly alter the game machine's functionality. Replacement of the button panel is labor intensive, and the necessity of producing a plurality of button panels, each designed for a particular gaming machine, increases the manufacturing cost of the gaming machine.
In one implementation, a dynamically re-configurable input panel for a gaming machine comprises a plurality of electrical contact regions disposed on the input panel and a plurality of display elements associated with the electrical contact regions, wherein information displayed on the display elements is dynamically re-configurable under game machine software control.
According to another implementation, one of the electrical contact regions is a virtual touch pad.
Additional aspects of the invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the detailed description of various embodiments, which is made with reference to the drawings, a brief description of which is provided below. The use of the same reference numeral in the drawings is utilized to denote identical or similar elements.
Various embodiments of this invention can be utilized. The drawings and descriptions of embodiments of the invention exemplify its principles and are not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to only the illustrated embodiments.
Other types of display technology may also be used to form the integral displays discussed above, and different display technologies can also be combined on a single pushbutton. In addition to LCD, contemplated display technologies include LEDs (light emitting diodes), OLEDs (organic light emitting diodes), digital paper, and vacuum fluorescent, among others. It is also possible to make the pushbuttons themselves transparent or translucent, in order to permit viewing of an underlying display area. The display area may also be hidden for effect, such as beneath a semi-transparent surface (a partially mirrored surface, for example) so that display elements are not visible at all unless activated by the game machine resident software.
In fact, input panel functionality can be altered during play of a particular game. Many gaming machines, such as video poker and slot machines, include bonus play within the play of the game itself. These bonus play opportunities allow the player to capitalize on accumulated points, for example, or to take advantage of a particularly good poker hand, to alter a wager to the player's advantage. Consequently, the functionality of a particular pushbutton on the input panel 308 may be altered from direct game play control to bonus element control, with a corresponding change in the text or animation displayed on the face of the pushbutton.
There are many forms of bonus play available in known gaming machines. One such form of bonus play first requires the user to select from among a plurality of bonus types, then requires a selection of particular bonus parameters (amount of wager in the bonus, for example). Under these conditions, the display areas of the five centrally located pushbuttons 302 in
Alternatively, the electromechanical pushbuttons 302, 304 with self-contained display regions illustrated in
To add yet another dimension to dynamic re-configuration, the individual keys may be given non-planar geometries.
In a high-resolution display, different levels of “transparency” are obtainable. In other words, portions of an underlying display can be permitted to “show through” the touch pad region 708. By scanning within the touch pad region 708 for a contact closure, the resident software of the game machine can determine the precise location of a player's finger (or stylus, if such an implement is used for touch pad manipulation) within the touch pad region. By detection of direction of motion of a finger in contact with the touch pad region, or through detection of a contact proximate a border of the region, for example, the resident software can scroll through an available display. Motion of a finger in the direction of arrow D would initiate scrolling of the underlying display in the direction of arrow D, while motion of a finger in the direction of arrow E would cause the display to scroll in the direction of arrow E. Of course, as noted above, steady contact detected proximate an interior border of the touch pad region can also initiate scrolling in the associated direction.
Since the touch pad region 708 is virtual, it can be resized or translated (moved laterally) under software control in response to a predetermined user input. In an exemplary translation scenario, if two contacts are detected simultaneously a minimum distance apart, such as at points A and B, for example, the virtual touch pad moves laterally in conjunction with detected movement of the two contact points A and B. Of course, other translation control methodologies are also possible. For resizing the touch pad region 708, the resident software may look for three simultaneous contacts that are mutually a minimum distance apart, then resize the touch pad region 708 when contact region C is moved with respect to stationary contact regions A and B. Of course, the foregoing is merely exemplary, and other methods exist for controlling the resizing of the touch pad region 708. In fact, merely contacting the touch pad region near an extremity 710 may be used to initiate a translation or resize process.
It is also contemplated that the input panel 702 may include electromechanical pushbuttons 902 as illustrated in
Information relating to the function of a particular pushbutton 902 may be displayed in areas (906, 908, for example) adjacent to, or even surrounding, the pushbutton 902. In order to allow for installation of an electromechanical pushbutton, the display area 704 may have an opening disposed therethrough to accommodate the pushbutton 902. In the alternative, since it is contemplated that the input panel 702 may include a touch screen, a mechanical pushbutton may simply be disposed above the touch screen surface, such that depressing the pushbutton causes a detectable electrical contact in the touch screen itself.
While dynamic re-configuration of an input panel has been described in conjunction with installation of new gaming software for a particular gaming machine, it is contemplated that input panel configuration information can also be bundled with game application software. When new game software is downloaded into a gaming machine, the input panel then auto-configures. Input panel configuration information is thus a downloadable asset, just like the game itself. In a downloadable gaming system where gaming machines are networked to a game server (either hard-wired or through a wireless communication channel), the game server houses and distributes gaming application software to the networked gaming machines. The gaming software includes input panel configuration information (software) which is uploaded by the gaming machine to configure the input panel for play of that particular game. Each of these embodiments and obvious variations thereof is contemplated as falling within the spirit and scope of the claimed invention, which is set forth in the following claims.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/US2006/034446 | 9/5/2006 | WO | 00 | 2/29/2008 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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60715474 | Sep 2005 | US |