Not Applicable
Not Applicable
The invention relates to a method for card, lot, or number selection based on movement, biometrics, or environmental data detection sensors for use in interactive electronic media. Games of chance have been an established pastime for centuries. There are myriad examples of card and lot-based games or systems for entertainment, religious, or even simple selection purposes. Modern technology has made it possible to operate these systems on computer software across many types of devices. Interactive electronic media here can be narrowed down to computer-operated systems in which the user must participate in some fashion, by choice, selection, or other input methods. Some systems require user input that is random in that there is no right or wrong input and the user's selection does not result from a conscious choice made by the user. For example, this is true of any system which uses a die to arrive at a number by chance. Many card games that use online systems have benefited from continued advancements in finding ways to verifiably randomize output, as is evidenced in U.S. Pat. No. 10,803,702 which describes a dual physical-electronic selection system for card games, which is particularly useful for casino and gambling operations. However, another popular system that oftentimes utilizes selection by chance is the practice of divination.
Divination has been used throughout human history in many different forms. The purpose of divination is to attempt to gain insight or advice through a ritual or practice. For example, cleromancy, the practice of throwing lots (paper, tokens, or other objects with some form of designation akin to a die) is most commonly associated with the practice of I Ching divination, which sometimes also uses coins in the selection system. Another form of divination is known as cartomancy, which is the use of either a special deck of cards or a regular 52-card playing card deck in the practice of fortune-telling or self-reflection. The method by which divination provides these answers relies strongly on providing guidance that is so abstract or non-specific that the person for whom the reading is conducted may often find a way to apply the guidance to their own life. Alternatively, spiritual or religious practitioners may rely on their spiritual beliefs and backgrounds to use these tools to arrive at a meaningful answer.
Divination practices will often focus on the practitioner or user associating their personal energy field with the divinatory tools. While this particular practice is not scientifically supported by quantifiable data, it is a popular idea rooted in spirituality, mysticism, and religious practices of multiple faiths. The practice of personal energy incorporation supports the spiritual belief of some practitioners that the advice or guidance they are receiving from a divinatory reading is coming from a mystical source or contains some otherwise unknowable information. While the idea of tapping into unknowable information remains to be proven, modern technological advancements have been successfully integrated into divinatory or spiritual practices, as evidenced by the I Ching hexagram system described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,528,903 which describes a magnetized device designed to achieve randomized I Ching readings, as well as U.S. Pat. No. 10,820,644 which describes a method of implementing new age healing techniques such as crystals and other materials which may deliver vibrational or other healing methods through placement in personal effects.
Using modern technology, interactive electronic divination tools operating on computer software allow people everywhere to access divination for entertainment, religious, or spiritual purposes without having to acquire physical tools which take up space. Interactive electronic divination tools can be run on websites, systems, and devices such as smart phones, tablets, and similar technologies. Tools simulating cartomancy may show an animated deck of cards being shuffled, or for cleromancy, they may display an animation of coins being tossed. Electronic divination tools typically utilize random number generators to shuffle the deck of cards or select the lot. Tools that rely on a random number generator to select a card or lot are only interactive in that they allow the user to select precisely when a card is drawn or when a lot is thrown. Thus due to the uniformity of their administration, selection methods that rely solely on a random number generator lack amusement or novelty in the sense that there is no additional interest in the selection method.
The present invention provides a method of selecting a card, lot, or number for interactive electronic media, currently configured as but not limited to a divination tool, that relies on movement and other environmental data sensors rather than a random number generator. Accordingly, the present invention provides a framework wherein the virtual deck of cards or lots can be shuffled according to measurements taken by a device's sensors which can measure variables such as electromagnetic fields, acceleration, heading, and other expressions of energy, movement, or biometrics.
In another aspect of the invention, the invention provides for a selection method that reliably generates a unique shuffling of the cards or lots upon each use. Accordingly, the present invention polls each device sensor, whose readings may be expressed in as many as 309 significant digits which can change up to 120 times each second depending on the device capabilities, and uses these values to shuffle the virtual deck or lots with a mathematical formula. The sensitivity of the readings combined with the mathematical formula ensure randomization. Therefore the shuffling method generates a unique selection which is based entirely upon the sensor data while maintaining the same probability of selection contemplated under a random number generator.
In yet another aspect of the invention, the invention provides an element of amusement by relying on an alternative method other than a random number generator for card or lot selection. Accordingly, users who seek out electronic divination tools for entertainment purposes may enjoy the aspect of the sensor readings determining the sequence in which the cards or lots are shuffled.
Aspects of the invention are not limited to the specific sensors or devices described in the description and drawings as the method is reliant only on the fact that the device upon which the tool is running contains sensors capable of measuring a combination of movement, biometrics, or environmental data. In addition, the present invention does not need to be limited to the particular tool that currently supports the invention because the invented method may be utilized in other software or systems designed to pull card, lot, or number readings in an interactive media setting. To the accomplishment of the above, this description may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which are illustrative only. Variations due to type of device and sensor capabilities are contemplated as being part of the disclosure.
The following detailed description illustrates the invention by way of example, not by way of limitation of the principles of the invention. This description will clearly enable one skilled in the art to make and use the invention and describes several embodiments, adaptions, variations, alternatives, and uses of the invention, including the present modality of carrying out the invention.
Similarly, while the current iteration of the computer software which comprises the invention is a particular computer application configured for mobile devices, this should not limit the invention to this particular software application as the invention itself is a method inside of one such tool. The software application presently configured is an interactive electronic divination tool, such as many other mobile applications configured for tarot card or I Ching readings and which are available in mobile device application stores across many different device platforms. However, this invention may not be limited to the framework of electronic divination tools, as it may be applied to other interactive electronic media, especially electronic card selection systems or games. Because the present invention provides an alternative to the random number generator in card or lot selection, it could feasibly be used in any system in which dice are thrown, numbers are selected, or any other selection is made from a predetermined set of options and which system relies upon a random output. This is to say that this particular invention would not be suitable for a system in which there is a right and wrong answer, but instead will work for systems that require a random answer. This is of particular appeal in the field of divination, wherein the applicability of the answers provided is largely dependent on user belief and confirmation bias. Therefore, there can be no wrong answers, since each answer is subjective. However, the present invention could just as easily find appeal within the framework of an electronic card game, board game, or other interactive story game wherein the user makes selections that are tantamount to a game of chance controlled by the rolling of a die, but which may benefit from the amusement of not relying on a random number generator. Thus the present invention should only be limited to interactive electronic media requiring random outputs from user selections, as long as the method's software and hardware requirements are met.
The next step in the shuffling operation described in
This interpretation of the sensor value can result in a very large number sometimes containing up to 309 significant digits. The sensor value is then divided by the amount of cards in the deck. In the example, the extremely large 309 digit number is divided by 78 which represents the amount of cards capable of being selected. This division results in a remainder. The software uses the remainder to create a new index for each card position. The new index is used to swap, or shuffle, the cards by going through the initially assigned positions in the card array sequentially and swapping each card. For example, the card in initial position 1, which may be Ace of Cups, becomes the card value from position 49, which may be Seven of Swords, using the new index created using the gyroscope value. This swapping occurs sequentially for each card in the deck, with each card swap using the next device sensor in sequence. Therefore, in the example, the card in position 2 is then swapped using a new index created from the accelerometer value. This entire process is repeated for every card in the deck at the previously discussed frequency, which is currently configured at 60 times per second.
The benefit of using the large value interpretations of the sensor values is that even micro-changes from the user or the environment, which may be imperceptible to human touch or sight, will create a sufficient change in the value to produce a variation in each shuffle. For example, even an inert device sitting on a flat surface will experience sensor measurements in attitude, acceleration, and electromagnetic field that have changes in the least significant digit spaces, but these changes are still enough to create a new value each time when finding the remainder. Since these large value sensor readings are changing at 60 times each second, this also ensures that the speed with which the values are changing creates unique variations and allows the user's movement or environmental data input to affect the shuffling of the cards. Using the sensors in sequence provides another way to ensure unique readings since it gives each sensor time to bring in new data before being polled again. There is no limit to the amount of sensors that can be utilized in this process, but the operation will work best with more than one sensor. It could, however, be used with only one. In addition, the user is never required to wait for the cards to be shuffled since the shuffling process is so fast it may feasibly be hidden behind the graphic user interface beginning before the user is physically even able to select a card.
The present invention has been described above in terms of a currently preferred embodiment so that an understanding of the present invention can be conveyed. There are, however, many configurations for card and lot selection methods based on movement, biometrics, and environmental data detection sensors not specifically described herein but to which the present invention is applicable. The present invention should therefore not be seen as limited to the particular embodiments described herein, but rather, it should be understood that the present invention has wide applicability with respect to card, lot, and number selection methods utilizing movement, biometrics, or environmental data detection sensors generally. All modifications, variations, or equivalent arrangements and implementations that are within the scope of the attached claims should therefore be considered within the scope of the invention.
This nonprovisional patent application claims the earlier filing date of provisional utility patent application 63/268,163 filed on Feb. 17, 2022 under the same name.
Number | Date | Country | |
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63268163 | Feb 2022 | US |