Patent Application
20060068366
The present invention is directed to a system for entertaining a user, and especially to an anthropoid or human-like shaped apparatus, such as a doll, for entertaining children. Such anthropoid apparatuses include, by way of example and not by way of limitation, dolls in the shapes of children, monkeys, adult humans, whimsical characters and other limbed characters configured for dressing in clothing-like articles.
Dolls designed to perform some functions of a playmate have been designed before. Early dolls were designed with a capability to utter prerecorded words or phrases in response to an initiating action on the part of the human playmate-user. For example, such prior art doll may utter a phrase upon being moved, or upon having its abdomen or hand pressed by the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,629,133 to Philyaw et al. for “Interactive Doll” (hereinafter referred to as “Philyaw”) discloses a doll containing embedded sensors which respond to touch or other kinds of physical stimuli to output a signal to a tone generation circuit. Philyaw's tone generation circuit encodes predetermined information into an audible tone related to what sensor is activated according to unique identifying information for each sensor. The encoded audible tone is communicated to a personal computer (PC). The PC decodes the tone and responds accordingly.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,319,010 to Kikinis for “PC Peripheral Interactive Doll” (hereinafter referred to as “Kikinis”) discloses a doll having input and output elements (I/O elements), control circuitry for driving the I/O elements and a bi-directional communication link to a personal computer (PC). Kikinis's communication between the PC and the doll treats the doll as a peripheral device of the PC. The doll may have servo-mechanisms for providing doll motion which may be coordinated with verbalization in different scripts by commands retrieved at the PC and sent to the doll.
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology has been employed in various applications involving identification of particular items, such as inventory and point of sale applications. Such an application used by Prada is described at http://www.ideo.com. Some have opined that a smart sensor can be implanted in the back of a doll that stores information about clothes and accessories that the doll “wants”. See http://www.digitalforum.accenture.com. Others have developed a smart doll able to react to RFID tagged objects and respond appropriately. For example, the doll can be programmed to buy only the latest fashions, or be limited to purchases that fit an “expense account”. See http://www.accenture.com.
No entertainment system, such as a doll, has yet been proposed or disclosed that can approximate interactive play with a user without having a communication link established with a computing apparatus, such as a PC, remote from the doll during play.
No entertainment system, such as a doll, has been proposed or disclosed that employs RFID technology to effect a link between accessories such as clothing and the system to compose phrases uttered by the system, or doll, using phraseology that is real-time associated with accessories used with the system and is associated with environmental conditions near the doll.
No entertainment system, such as a doll, has yet been proposed or disclosed that can use an internet link through a computing apparatus remote from the doll to effect updates in vocabulary of the system.
No entertainment system, such as a doll, has yet been proposed or disclosed that can communicate with other like systems or dolls directly without participation by a remote computer remote from communicating dolls.
A system for entertaining a user includes: (a) an anthropoid apparatus having a first processing unit coupled with a plurality of sensor input devices including at least one radio frequency identification receiver device; each respective sensor input device being an originating sensor input device providing a respective sensor signal to the first processing unit; each respective sensor input signal indicating a respective parameter sensed by its respective originating sensor input device; (b) a plurality of accessory items for use with the apparatus; at least one selected accessory item bearing a radio frequency identifying indicium; each respective radio frequency identifying indicium distinguishing a respective selected accessory item; the first processing unit being programmed to cooperate with the at least one radio frequency identification receiver device for recognizing the at least one selected accessory item by the radio frequency identifying indicium.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an entertainment system, such as a doll, for entertaining a user that can approximate interactive play with a user without having a communication link established with a computing apparatus remote from the doll, such as a PC, during play.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an entertainment system, such as a doll, that employs RFID technology to effect a link between accessories such as clothing and the system to compose phrases uttered by the system, or doll, using phraseology that is real-time associated with accessories used with the system and is associated with environmental conditions near the doll.
Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide an entertainment system, such as a doll, that can use an internet link through a computing apparatus remote from the doll to effect updates in vocabulary of the system.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide an entertainment system, such as a doll, that can communicate with other like systems or dolls directly without participation by a remote computer remote from communicating dolls.
Further objects and features of the present invention will be apparent from the following specification and claims when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which like elements are labeled using like reference numerals in the various figures, illustrating the preferred embodiments of the invention.
Array 14 of sensors includes, by way of example and not by way of limitation, an RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) receiver unit 40 located at head 16, an RFID receiver unit 42 located at torso 18, an RFID receiver unit 44 located at butt 24, RFID receiver units 46, 48 located at hands 30, 32 and RFID receiver units 50, 52 located at feet 34, 36. RFID receiver units 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52 are coupled via buses 53, 54, 55 with a sensor interface unit 56. Sensor interface unit 56 is coupled with a microprocessor unit 58. Microprocessor unit 58 includes or is coupled with a memory storage unit (not shown in
Array 14 of sensors also includes a plurality of environmental sensors such as, by way of example and not by way of limitation, a motion sensor 30 for sensing when apparatus 12 is moved, a time sensor 62 for indicating time of day or elapsed time or other time measurements, a sound sensor 64 for sensing sound level in the vicinity of apparatus 12, a light sensor 66 for detecting ambient light in the vicinity of apparatus 12 and a temperature sensor 68 for sensing temperature in the vicinity of apparatus 12. Environmental sensors 60, 62, 64, 66, 68 are coupled via buses 54, 55 with sensor interface unit 56. Sensor interface unit 56 is coupled with microprocessor 58.
System 10 also includes functional devices 70 for effecting operation of system 10. A USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface device 72 is coupled with microprocessor 58 via a bus 71. An external access locus 73 is coupled with USB interface device 72 to provide access to microprocessor 58 from without apparatus 12 via USB interface device 72 and bus 71. A recording device 74 is coupled with microprocessor 58 via bus 71. A battery 76 is coupled with microprocessor 58 via bus 71. A battery charging device 78 is coupled with battery 76. An external access locus 79 is coupled with battery charging device 78 to provide access to battery 76 from without apparatus 12 via battery charging device 78. A speaker 80 is coupled with microprocessor 58 via bus 71. An RF (Radio Frequency) interface device 82 is coupled with microprocessor 58 via bus 71. An antenna 83 is coupled with RF interface device 82 to provide RF access to microprocessor 58 via RF interface device 82 and bus 71.
RF interface device 82 permits apparatus 12 to wirelessly communicate with a PC (personal computer) or communicate with a similar computing device. RF interface device 82 also permits apparatus 12 to wirelessly communicate with other apparatuses (not shown in
Sensors in apparatus 112 include, by way of example and not by way of limitation, an RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) receiver unit 140 located at head 116, an RFID receiver unit 142 located at torso 118, an RFID receiver unit 144 located above junction of legs 120, 122, RFID receiver units 146, 148 located at hands 130, 132 and RFID receiver units 150, 152 located at feet 134, 136. RFID receiver units 140, 142, 144, 146, 148, 150, 152 are coupled with a microprocessor unit (not shown in
Clothing and accessories are provided for use with apparatus 112 such as, by way of example and not by way of limitation, a dress 220, a raincoat 230 and a rain hat 234. Dress 220 has an RFID label 222 affixed that identifies dress 220. By way of example and not by way of limitation, RFID label 222 may be encoded with a series of digital codes, such as a series of numerals. A first numeral (0-9) may indicate color. A second numeral (0-9) may indicate style such as dress, pants or raincoat. Style may also indicate that the article bearing the RFID tag is an accessory such as a pony, a surfboard or a recreation vehicle. A third numeral (0-9) may indicate location such as inside, outside, beach or other location suitable for wearing the article of clothing or accessory. This coding arrangement is exemplary only; other coding arrangements may also be used while remaining within the scope of the present invention.
By placing dress 220 on apparatus 112, RFID tag 222 will be situated generally adjacent RFID receiver 142. The code on RFID tag 222 is read by RFID receiver 142 and passed to a microprocessor (e.g., microprocessor 58;
Other phrases can be generated in a fill-in-the-blank approach using code numerals from RFID tags affixed to clothing or accessories brought into range of RFID receiver units 140, 142, 144, 146, 148, 150, 152. Additional coding may be provided on RFID tags to more finely granulate response by apparatus 112. For example, added coding may be provided to require only certain RFID receiver units may read a particular RFID tag. Such a limitation would prevent a hand located RFID reader unit 146, 148 reading a shoe intended for reading by an RIFD reader unit 150, 152. Alternatively, other phrases may be generated by such misplaced accessories or clothes, such as:
In similar fashion, by placing raincoat 230 on apparatus 112, RFID tag 232 will be situated generally adjacent RFID receiver 144. The code on RFID tag 232 is read by RFID receiver 144 and passed to a microprocessor (e.g., microprocessor 58;
When two articles of clothing should be used together, apparatus 112 may note the absence of an accompanying article of clothing and remind the user. For example, the microprocessor in apparatus 112 (e.g., microprocessor 58;
Apparatus 112 may communicate with a computer 200 via a USB cable 210 fitted with a connector 212 configured to engage external access locus 73 of USB interface device 72 (
Knowing what clothing is available (downloaded during an update and stored in the memory storage unit) permits the apparatus to utter a phrase such as:
This feature is described to illustrate the flexibility of apparatus 112. It is up to the marketing staff of manufacturers of apparatus 112 whether they think this capability would be appreciated by parents of users of apparatus 112.
Apparatus 212 includes a memory storage unit 220 that lists inventory of clothing and accessories “owned” by apparatus 212 (i.e., listed as held in memory storage unit 220). Apparatus 312 includes a memory storage unit 320 that lists inventory of clothing and accessories “owned” by apparatus 312 (i.e., listed as held in the memory storage unit 320). Preferably, each respective memory storage unit 220, 320 includes RFID tag information usable by microprocessors in apparatuses 212, 312 (e.g., microprocessor 58;
Other information may be included in memory storage units 220, 320 for exchange in a piconet, such as name, favorite color, favorite girl singer, favorite boy group and other preferences. Such personal preferences are preferably capable of being entered into memory storage units 220, 320 by a user using a computer and a USB cable or wireless interface, as described in connection with
By apparatuses 212, 312 sharing information in storage units 220, 320 each respective apparatus 212, 312 knows what is “owned” by the other apparatus 212, 312. Using this knowledge permits an apparatus 212, 312 to utter a phrase such as:
This feature is described to illustrate the flexibility of apparatuses 212, 312. It is up to the marketing staff of manufacturers of apparatuses 212, 312 whether they think this capability would be appreciated by parents of users of apparatuses 212, 312.
By way of example and not by way of limitation, a system employing matrix 400 that experiences a high temperature condition will compose a phrase:
The system may be programmed to recognize that when red shoes are “owned”, the red shoes and red dress are an ensemble. In such circumstances, the system will compose a phrase such as:
A system employing matrix 400 that experiences a low temperature condition will compose a phrase:
The system may be programmed to recognize that when a winter hat is “owned”, the winter coat and winter hat are an ensemble. In such circumstances, the system will compose a phrase such as:
A system employing matrix 400 that receives a rainy weather prediction will compose a phrase:
The system may be programmed to recognize that when a rain hat and rain boots are “owned”, the raincoat, rain hat and rain boots are an ensemble. In such circumstances, the system will compose a phrase such as:
Weather prediction input may be sensed from an Internet or other network connection updated periodically or from a web site offered via the Internet or another network by a manufacturer or marketer of the system.
A system employing matrix 400 that receives a sunny weather prediction will compose a phrase:
The system may be programmed to recognize that when blue shoes are “owned”, the blue dress and blue shoes are an ensemble. In such circumstances, the system will compose a phrase such as:
Alternatively, when a system employing matrix 400 that receives a sunny weather prediction it will compose a phrase:
The system may be programmed to recognize that when sunglasses are “owned”, the swimsuit and sunglasses are an ensemble. In such circumstances, the system will compose a phrase such as:
Another alternative is to have the sunglasses also be included in an ensemble with other sunny day outfits, such as the blue dress and blue shoes ensemble.
A system employing matrix 400 that notes the time is approaching Noon may compose a phrase:
Using such a fill-in-the-blanks approach to phrase composition one may employ a wide variety of environmental sensor inputs and RFID code inputs to provide for a large number of phrases for utterance by the system through the apparatus. It is desirable that a large number of phrases be preset for fill-in-the-blank utilization in connection with matrix 400 in order to avoid boredom by a user and in order to simulate real conversation by the apparatus posing as a playmate.
Matrix 400 is illustrated as a two-dimensional matrix in order to simplify explanation of the invention. Matrices of greater numbers of dimensions may be provided in memory storage units in order to provide greater variety and complexity for the phrase composition capability of the present invention.
It is to be understood that, while the detailed drawings and specific examples given describe preferred embodiments of the invention, they are for the purpose of illustration only, that the apparatus and method of the invention are not limited to the precise details and conditions disclosed and that various changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention which is defined by the following claims:
