Patent Application
20070026917
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an interference interface whereby a player participant may input and receive concealed information by way of a handheld reader or viewing media. More particularly, the invention relates to an interference interface for use with a video display and a lens for the purpose of viewing concealed indicia and for playing a multiplayer game linked to a multimedia system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Methods of concealing information have been employed through the use of interference interfaces in which an image becomes viewable through a filtering lens. Interference reader interfaces work using the color of the interface lens to filter out the associated color in the image. This occurs because in viewing the image through the interface, the background becomes the color of the interface and, therefore, any instance of that color in the image becomes indistinguishable from the background. The filtering interface works best when colors of the opposite spectrum are used in the concealed image. This creates high contrast between the colors such that when the interface is used and the lens color blends into the background of the image, the contrasting color becomes dominant and easily viewable. Interference interfaces have been used in the past to read concealed images on postcards, create 3D images on screens through lens of two different colors, or read words on playing cards of multiplayer games.
As multimedia technology has become more accessible to the public, game manufacturers have begun to incorporate traditional board games and the like with media for multimedia systems such as DVD video machines and televisions. One way of accomplishing participant interaction is by way of the multimedia system seeking answers to questions in audio or video form and having the participant players answer questions, then moving game pieces on a board in response. Players using a multimedia user interface indicate to the multimedia system that they are ready for a question. The system selects a question and plays the audio or video clip corresponding to the question selected. Players decide on an answer, indicate to the multimedia system that that are ready to see or hear the answer, and the system then plays an audio or video clip that reveals the answer. This interaction between multimedia system and traditional games makes the games more exciting to both younger generations who have become accustomed to interactive multimedia systems and to older generations who get to view the game in a new way.
In competitive multiplayer games, there has always been a need for a player to conceal information that he possesses from the other players. The concealing of a player's information enables him to have a competitive advantage over the other players in the game. Previous games have attempted to achieve the goal of confidentiality of information through the use of one-sided playing cards or rules limiting how a player may ask for information from others.
Sometimes games require the need to conceal information from players of the game. This may be particularly necessary if the purpose of the game is to solve a puzzle. Previous games have attempted to solve this problem by having the answer to the puzzle placed in an envelope. However, this is imperfect because once a player makes a guess and is wrong, he knows the right answer to the puzzle and can no longer participate in the game.
It would be desirable to incorporate interference reader technology into the growing multimedia interactive game market. It is not believed that a multimedia interactive game has used an interference interface to selectively read concealed images on a display for the purpose of inputting or receiving information. The invention described herein addresses this deficiency of the prior art.
The present invention provides an interaction between a multimedia system in a multiplayer board game using a DVD player, in which participant players interact with the multimedia system through an input device in response to selections made through the display. A method for an interaction between a player and the game uses an interference interface for receiving private information from the game through the interference interface, and alternately inputting private information from the player to the game through the interference interface. A computer readable media is operable to provide a display routine for displaying the concealed image on a display viewable by a reader, and an input interface routine receives an input selection responsive to an input device and the concealed image being displayed on the display allowing the user to provide input selection.
The interference interface facilitates interaction with the multimedia system generating concealed images on the display that only the interference interface is able to reveal, allowing the game to proceed by sending messages encoded in the concealed image to only the player with the interference interface at the time the image is displayed which allows a selected player to receive messages from the game system. Additionally, the interference interface also facilitates the player sending a message to the game by moving an encoded image under one of many selections available on the display. The display of the concealed image is generated by the multimedia system, viewed using the reader to receive the message, and the input device transmits the input selection. The multimedia system receives the inputted message, processes, and displays an output in response.
The invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, novel features believed characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself as well as the preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, is best understood by reference to the following detailed description of the embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and Appendix, in which:
In a described embodiment, the invention provides an interaction between a multimedia system and a multiplayer boardgame. The players interact with the multimedia system through an input device in response to selections made through the display. In addition to a standard input device such as a remote, an interference interface, herein using the lens associated with a Red Reader interface reader 100, provides a unique type of interaction between the player and the game. The multimedia system generates concealed images on the display which only an interference interface is able to reveal. This allows the game program to send a number encoded in the concealed image to only the player with the interference interface at the time the image is displayed. Thus the interface allows a selected player to receive one or more messages from the game system, e.g., via a number that may correspond to a message from a game booklet or the like. Additionally, the interference interface also facilitates the player sending a message to the game by moving an encoded image under one of many selections available on the display. The multimedia system receives the inputted message, processes, and displays an output in response.
In a present described embodiment of the present invention is to be implemented into the CLUE™ boardgame. The game contains most of the original elements of the original CLUE boardgame but would now include a DVD disc. Players interact with the DVD disc through the DVD remote and a TV. The DVD disc adds extra multimedia elements to the traditional game of CLUE. The multimedia elements include receiving hints from the DVD disc, entering a final accusation using an input device such as the DVD remote, taking a secret passage, looking at an item card, and responding to a challenge from the inspector. The game includes a reader used by the player to receive a concealed image from the screen. The reader, called the “Red Reader”, is a filtered lens used to view a concealed image tailored to be viewed by the filtered lens.
Once the DVD disc is inserted into the player, the DVD player will display the case selection menu.
After the player selects one of the predetermined cases, the DVD player will display an animated sequence instructing the players on how to setup the game for play. The game then begins and the main menu for the case is displayed. As shown in
If the player selects the option to read an inspector's note 308, the DVD player follows the programming flow as illustrated in
If, from the case main menu, the player selects the option to make an accusation to the inspector 310, the DVD player then follows the programming flow as illustrated in
The DVD player then displays the image screen used for inputting a character selection for the final accusation 612. The image screen contains an image of the all the characters in the game and a concealed letter underneath each of the characters. The player uses the Red Reader interface to view these concealed letters and using the DVD remote places the concealed letter given to him under the character he believes committed the crime 612.
The DVD player repeats the above selection process for the player to enter his selection for place 614, time 616, and item 618.
The DVD player then analyzes the player's selections and displays one of five results based on the player's choices 620. The displayed screen is based on the number of selections the player answered correctly, i.e. if four of four correct display 622. If the player answered one of the four selections correctly, a particular image is displayed 624. Likewise, the DVD player displays a particular image for the player answering two 626, three 628, or no 630 correct selections. After displaying the image the DVD player returns to the case main menu 638.
It should be appreciated that a wide range of changes and modifications may be made to the embodiments of the invention as described herein. Thus, it is intended that the foregoing detailed description be regarded as illustrative rather than limiting and that the following claims, including all equivalents, are intended to define the scope of the invention.
