Selecting infrared transmission modes based on user actions

Number: 10384142
Published: 2019-08-20
Filed: 2015-11-06
Assignee: Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Inventors: Naney; David Tillman, Putzeys; Philippe
CPC: A63H33/00; A63H30/00; A63H3/36; A63H30/04; A63H33/26
Verdict: Medium Hardware
Source: Google Patents · FreePatentsOnline

The keeper's note

Selecting IR transmission modes based on user actions (interactive toy).

Abstract

Embodiments herein use multiple different transmission modes of a line-of-sight (LOS) communication system (e.g., an infrared (IR) or visible light communicate system) to simulate user actions that correspond to different distances—e.g., a melee attack versus a ranged attack. A toy device may include various sensors that detect user motion which is then used to identify a user action. If the user action is a melee attack, then the attack should affect only targets that are close to the toy device. To simulate this difference between user actions, the toy device uses a first LOS transmission mode which may have a limited range to send an instruction to a target device. Conversely, if the user action is a ranged attack, then the toy device uses a second LOS transmission mode which has a greater range than the first LOS transmission mode to send the instruction.

Background

BACKGROUND(1) Field of the Invention(2) Embodiments presented in this disclosure generally relate to selecting infrared transmission modes according to identifying user actions.(3) Description of the Related Art(4) Computer graphics technology has come a long way since video games were first developed. Relatively inexpensive 3D graphics engines now provide nearly photo-realistic interactive game play on hand-held video game, home video game and personal computer hardware platforms costing only a few hundred dollars. These video game systems typically include a hand-held controller, game controller, or, in the case of a hand-held video game platform, an integrated controller. A user interacts with the controller to send commands or other instructions to the video game system to control a video game or other simulation. For example, the controller may include a joystick and buttons operated by the user.(5) While video games allow the user to interact directly with the video game system, such interactions primarily influence the graphical depiction shown on the video game device (or on a connected display), and rarely influence any other objects outside of the virtual world. That is, a user may specify an input to the video game system, indicating that the user's avatar should perform a jump action, and in response the video game system displays the user's avatar jumping. However, such interactions are typically limited to the virtual world, and any interactions outside the virt

Claims

1. A method of operating a toy device, comprising: detecting user motion using the toy device; selecting a user action from a plurality of predefined user actions based on the user motion, wherein each of the plurality of predefined user actions corresponds to a respective effective distance; selecting, based on the selected user action, only one of a plurality of line-of-sight (LOS) transmission power levels to simulate the respective effective distance of the selected user action, wherein each of the plurality of LOS transmission power levels corresponds to a respective one of the plurality of predefined user actions; and transmitting, using the selected LOS transmission power level, a data signal corresponding to the selected user action using a LOS communication system. 11. A computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-readable program code embodied therewith, the computer-readable program code is executable by one or more computer processors to perform an operation comprising: detecting user motion using a toy; selecting a user action from a plurality of predefined user actions based on the user motion, wherein each of the plurality of predefined user actions corresponds to a respective effective distance; selecting, based on the selected user action, only one of a plurality of line-of-sight (LOS) transmission power levels to simulate the respective effective distance of the selected user action, wherein each of the plurality of LOS transmission power levels corresponds to a respective one of the plurality of predefined user actions; and transmitting, using the selected LOS transmission power level, a data signal corresponding to the selected action using a LOS communication system. 16. A toy device, comprising: a line-of-sight (LOS) communication system; at least one sensor; and control logic configured to: detect user motion using the at least one sensor; select a user action from a plurality of predefined user actions based on the user motion, wherein each of the plurality of predefined user actions corresponds to a respective effective distance; select, based on the selected user action, only one of a plurality of LOS transmission power levels to simulate the respective effective distance corresponding to the selected user action, wherein each of the LOS transmission power levels corresponds to a respective one of the plurality of predefined user actions; and instruct the LOS communication system to transmit a data signal corresponding to the selected action using the selected LOS transmission power level.