Patent Application
20240053126
Embodiments disclosed herein relate to shooting games and, in particular, to a target system for use in shooting games.
Target practice and shooting simulation systems that use specially adapted weapons that fire lasers beams instead of live fire may add a new dimension to the shooter gaming experience. Alternatively and additionally, such systems may be useful for shooting skills development. Players may shoot at “laser targets” that include laser beam detectors that can detect laser beams fired by such weapons.
In many cases the laser targets that are used for such shooting games are provided in fixed positions due to the need for laser detectors in the laser targets that require a power source. In addition to not being mobile, such laser targets may not accurately simulate the shape and positions that would be ideal in a simulated human target.
There is therefore a need for a laser target that may be mobile (portable) and that is flexible in various configurations of simulated positions/forms that the target may represent.
This disclosure describes target systems and methods of operation thereof used in shooter gaming. The disclosed target system may include a body, a leg mount, one or more laser detection units, and a shoot-back unit. Advantageously, the leg mount may enable positioning of the body of the target system in standing and kneeling postures. Further advantageously, the target system disclosed herein may be portable and may be positioned on a range of ground surfaces thus potentially enabling shooting games in a variety of environments including ad-hoc gaming setups.
The laser detection units may be mounted in or attached to the head and/or torso of the body to thereby detect virtual hits to the head and torso of the body from laser beams fired by simulated weapons with laser beam transmitters that may transmit uniquely identifiable codes in the laser beams. The shoot-back unit may fire laser beams in the direction of a player to thereby force a player to seek cover while firing at the target system.
As used herein the terms virtual ammunition, virtual firing, virtual hit, and similar terms relate to use of the disclosed system in methods for simulated use of weapons such as for gaming purposes. As used herein the terms “user”, “player”, and/or “gamer” may refer to a human user of the target system described herein. As used herein a “game” may refer to any gaming environment for performing simulated activities including but not limited weapon usage. As used herein “laser detection units” refer to laser beam or laser light detection units that detect direct or reflected or proximal laser beams.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description below. It may be understood that this Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. The details of one or more implementations are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features will be apparent from the description and drawings.
Aspects, embodiments, and features disclosed herein will become apparent from the following detailed description and claims when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:
Reference will now be made in detail to non-limiting examples of target systems and methods which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The examples are described below by referring to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements. When similar reference numerals are shown, corresponding description(s) are not repeated, and the interested reader is referred to the previously discussed figure(s) for a description of the like element(s).
Aspects of this disclosure may provide a technical solution to the challenging technical problem of gaming targets and may relate to a target system with the system having at least one processor (e.g., processor, processing circuit or other processing structure described herein), including methods, systems, devices, and computer-readable media. For ease of discussion, example methods are described below with the understanding that aspects of the example methods apply equally to systems, devices, and computer-readable media. For example, some aspects of such methods may be implemented by a computing device (or “controller”) or software running thereon. The computing device may include at least one processor (e.g., a CPU, GPU, DSP, FPGA, ASIC, or any circuitry for performing logical operations on input data) to perform the example methods. Other aspects of such methods may be implemented over a network (e.g., a wired network, a wireless network, or both).
As another example, some aspects of such methods may be implemented as operations or program codes in a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The operations or program codes may be executed by at least one processor. Non-transitory computer readable media, as described herein, may be implemented as any combination of hardware, firmware, software, or any medium capable of storing data that is readable by any computing device with a processor for performing methods or operations represented by the stored data. In a broadest sense, the example methods are not limited to particular physical or electronic instrumentalities, but rather may be accomplished using many differing instrumentalities.
Embodiments disclosed herein relate to a target system.
Target system 100 may include body 110, leg mount 112 with base 113, one or more laser detection units 114, a controller 116, and a shoot-back unit 118. In some embodiments, target system 100 may be of a weight that can be borne by single individual to thus enhance the portability of target system 100.
Shooting games utilizing target system 100 may make use of a simulated weapon 120 with an integrated or attached laser transmitter 122 configured to emit laser light (or a “laser beam”) responsive to the pulling of a trigger of simulated weapon 120.
In some embodiments, such as shown in
In some embodiments, body 110 may be configured for insertion and removal of leg mount 112. In some embodiments, leg mount 112 may be formed out of a durable and strong metallic material. In some embodiments, leg mount 112 may be configured such that target system 100 is positioned to mimic postures such as but not limited to standing (
In some embodiments, leg mount 112 may have the form as shown in
In some embodiments, body 110 may be mounted to leg mount 112 at a desired height by attaching body 110 to leg mount 112 at one of holes 128 at a selected height, to thereby allow configuration and reconfiguration of target system 100 for standing and kneeling postures or for detachment of leg mount 112 from body 110 for transport and storage of the pieces of target system 110. In some embodiments, a releasable holding mechanism such as, but not limited to a spring clip (not shown) in each of holes 128 enables quick adjustment of the height of body 110 on leg mount 112. In some embodiments, body 110 may be mounted to leg mount 112 by bolting body 110 to leg mount 112 through one of holes 128. Access to holes 128 through body 110 when leg mount 112 is inserted into body 110 may be provided in the opening in body 110 provided for insertion of laser detection units 114.
In some embodiments, leg mount 112 may include a leg mount base 113 that may be configured to stably support positioning of target system 100 on a variety of ground conditions. In some embodiments, such as shown in
In some embodiments, body 110 may be configured for insertion and removal of laser detection units 114. In some embodiments, two laser detection units 114 may be inserted into or attached to body 110, a first laser detection unit 114-1 in the torso part of body 110 and a second laser detection unit 114-2 in the head part of body 110. In some embodiments, more than two laser detection units 114 may be inserted into or attached to body 110. In some embodiments, laser detection units 114 may be inserted into or attached to body 110 at positions other than those indicated, anywhere on body 110.
In some embodiments, laser detection units 114 may detect a laser beam that is generated by laser transmitter 122 that strikes laser detection units 114. In some embodiments, laser detection units 114 may detect a laser beam that is generated by laser transmitter 122 that strikes an area surrounding laser detection units 114, such as the torso part of body 110 (first laser detection unit 114-1) or head part of body 110 (second laser detection unit 114-2) as well as detecting a laser beam that strikes laser detection units 114. Laser detection units 114 may determine based on a detected laser beam that strikes laser detection units 114 that was fired by laser transmitter 122 as part of virtual firing has scored a virtual hit on body 110 and also what part of a body 110 (torso, head) has been hit. In some embodiments, following detection of a virtual hit, laser detection units 114 may be configured to emit an audible sound or visual confirmation of the virtual hit. In some embodiments, laser detection units 114 may include a battery power source (not shown). In some embodiments, the battery power source may be rechargeable.
In some embodiments, body 110 may be configured for insertion and removal of one or more shoot-back units 118 or for attachment of shoot-back unit 118 to body 110. Shoot-back unit 118 may be configured to emit one or more laser beams responsive to detection of a virtual hit by laser detection units 114. In some embodiments, shoot-back unit 118 may be configured to emit a one or more laser beams continually while in operation. In some embodiments, the laser beam emitted by shoot-back unit 118 may be substantially directed at the source of the virtual hit, namely the player firing weapon 120 with laser transmitter 122 in the direction of target system 100. In some embodiments, the laser beam emitted by shoot-back unit 118 may be directed in a preconfigured direction. In some embodiments, the player may be wearing or holding some form of laser beam detector (not shown), such as mounted on a vest, helmet, or on weapon 120, to thereby detect a virtual hit fired by shoot-back unit 118. In some embodiments, shoot-back unit 118 may include a battery power source (not shown). In some embodiments, the battery power source of shoot-back unit 118 may be rechargeable. In some embodiments, body 110 nay include a portable power source to power shoot-back unit 118 and laser detection unit 114.
In some embodiments, multiple players using multiple weapons 120 may simultaneously fire at target system 100 such as in a multiplayer game/simulation. In some embodiments, in multiplayer games, each laser transmitter 122 may transmit a code or other form of unique identifier in the emitted laser beam that can be determined by laser detection units 114 to belong to the laser transmitter 122 of a specific player, to thereby differentiate between laser beams fired at laser detection units 114. Such differentiation may enable tracking the shooting performance of a player, particularly in multiplayer games where each player may have their own weapon with an embedded/attached laser transmitter 122. In such a multiplayer game, laser detection units 114 may thus associate the laser beam emitted from each separate laser transmitter 122 with a specific player, to thereby track the player's shooting once the game commences. It should be appreciated that, during a game or simulation, multiple laser transmitters 122 each corresponding to a player may be emitting laser beams substantially simultaneously or near simultaneously in the direction of target system 100 and a unique player identifier is thus invaluable for tracking performance of each player.
Controller 116 and the modules and components that are included in controller 116 may include a processor and non-transitory computer readable medium containing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, are configured to perform the functions and/or operations necessary to provide the functionality described herein. Controller 116 may manage the operation of laser detection units 114 and shoot-back unit 118 and may direct the flow of data between these components of target system 100 and an external system 130. Where target system 100 may be said herein to provide specific functionality or perform actions, it should be understood that the functionality or actions are performed by controller 116, which may call on other components of target system 100. In some embodiments, the functionality of controller 116 may be distributed between laser detection units 114 and shoot-back unit 118, each having some form of controller. Controller 116 may be configured to store (such as on the non-transitory computer readable medium) and operate one or more gaming applications such as but not limited to a target practice (shooting) game. Controller 116 may provide communication for target system 100 and may thus include data network interfaces (such as but not limited to LAN, Bluetooth, and/or WiFi interfaces) for connection of target system 100 to data networks and/or to external system 130.
In some embodiments, external system 130 may collect data from detection units 114 and shoot-back unit 118 such as numbers of virtual hits, shooter that fired the virtual hits, number of shots fired by shoot-back unit 118, and so forth. It should be appreciated that target system 100 may therefore operate stand-alone (with no connection to any external system 130) or in communication with an external system 130.
In step 202, target system 100 may be set up for usage including attaching leg mount 112 to body 110 and positioning leg mount base 113 on a surface. Leg mount 112 may be attached to body 110 at a height equivalent to a standing or kneeling position. Leg mount base 113 may be adjusted (such as by adjusting adjustable height screws 130 mounted on base 113) to be level on the chosen surface so that target system 100 is stable. In some embodiments, leg mount 112 may be provided attached to body 110 (and therefore does not require attachment).
In step 204, laser detection units 114 may be prepared for usage. In some embodiments, laser detection units 114 may need to be paired with one another such as by initiating wireless data communication therebetween. Laser detection units 114 may then be inserted into body 110 such as in the torso of body 110 (laser detection unit 114-1) and head of body 110 (laser detection unit 114-2). In some embodiments, laser detection units 114 may be provided already installed in body 110 (and therefore do not require insertion).
In step 206, shoot-back unit 118 may be configured, such as by such as by initiating wireless data communication between laser detection units 114 and shoot-back unit 118 and inserting shoot-back unit 118 into body 110. In some embodiments, the direction of the shoot back unit's 118 laser beam may be set. In some embodiments, other functionality of shoot-back unit 118 may be configured including but not limited to the number of virtual shots per detected incoming virtual shot, and shooting intensity (such as single shot, automatic, or random virtual shots fired back).
In step 208, training (simulated) weapons 120 may be calibrated opposite laser detection units 114. In some embodiments, a shooter may shoot several calibration shots (using laser transmitter 122 firing laser beams) to thereby perform zeroing of a weapon 120.
In some embodiments, in multiplayer games, as part of step 208, each player having their own weapon with an embedded/attached laser transmitter 122 may in turn shoot several calibration shots (using laser transmitter 122 firing laser beams), thus enabling detection units 114 to associate the laser beam emitted from each separate laser transmitter 122 with a specific player, to thereby track the player's shooting once the game commences and multiple laser transmitters 122 each corresponding to a player emit laser beams simultaneously or near simultaneously in the direction of target system 100.
In step 210, the game may be started. In some embodiments, such as shown in
Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The materials, methods, and examples provided herein are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.
Implementation of the method and system of the present disclosure may involve performing or completing certain selected tasks or steps manually, automatically, or a combination thereof. Moreover, according to actual instrumentation and equipment of preferred embodiments of the method and system of the present disclosure, several selected steps may be implemented by hardware (HW) or by software (SW) on any operating system of any firmware, or by a combination thereof. For example, as hardware, selected steps of the disclosure could be implemented as a chip or a circuit. As software or algorithm, selected steps of the disclosure could be implemented as a plurality of software instructions being executed by a computer using any suitable operating system. In any case, selected steps of the method and system of the disclosure could be described as being performed by a data processor, such as a computing device for executing a plurality of instructions.
It should be appreciated that the above-described methods and apparatus may be varied in many ways, including omitting, or adding steps, changing the order of steps and the type of devices used. It should be appreciated that different features may be combined in different ways. In particular, not all the features shown above in a particular embodiment or implementation are necessary in every embodiment or implementation of the invention. Further combinations of the above features and implementations are also considered to be within the scope of some embodiments or implementations of the invention.
While certain features of the described implementations have been illustrated as described herein, many modifications, substitutions, changes, and equivalents will now occur to those skilled in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the scope of the implementations. It should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, not limitation, and various changes in form and details may be made.
