- Number
- 10974139
- Published
- 2021-04-13
- Filed
- 2017-11-09
- Assignee
- Disney Enterprises, Inc.
- Inventors
- Feder; David H., Dekeyser; Thomas M., Chai; Nina W., Khalfan; Alif
- CPC
- G06F16/951; A61C17/22; A63F13/56; G06F9/547; A63F13/85; A46B15/0002; G06F9/546; A63F13/24; A63H3/003; A63F13/52; A63F13/42; A63F13/79; A63F13/327; A63F13/65; A63F13/822; A63F13/285; A63H3/28; A63F13/428; A63F13/60; A63F13/215; A63F13/69; A63F13/211
- Verdict
- Medium Hardware
- Source
- Google Patents · FreePatentsOnline
The keeper's note
Interactive connected-toy storytelling via networked physical devices.
Abstract
Systems, methods and articles of manufacture for affect a virtual world based n available electronic devices. A control node identifies electronic devices present within a physical environment. Embodiments detect a device type of a first electronic device and determine an API implemented by the first electronic device, based on the detected device type of the first electronic device. Electronic messages are transmitted to the first electronic device, via the one or more data communications networks. The electronic messages are formatted according to the determined API. One or more actions are determined for a first user for a first computer game, based on data received from the first electronic device via the one or more data communications networks, and a game state for the first computer game is updated, based on performance of the one or more actions.
Background
BACKGROUND Field of the Invention (1) The present invention generally relates to electronic device management, and more specifically to techniques for controlling electronic devices as part of a computer gaming application. Description of the Related Art (2) Many modern physical locations, such as homes, contain a number of interconnected electronic devices. Such electronic devices can be referred to as Internet-of-Things devices. Generally, these devices may be capable of collecting data (e.g., describing the behavior of the device, describing conditions of the physical environment, etc.), which can then be communicated to and used by one or more other electronic devices. One challenge when integrating such devices is that they are typically produced by a variety of different manufacturers and may not conform to any standardized feature set, interface, communication protocol, and so on. (3) Currently, 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 but
Claims
1. A method, comprising: identifying, at a control node, a plurality of electronic devices present within a physical environment, by communicating with the plurality of electronic devices over one or more data communications networks; detecting, for a first one of the plurality of electronic devices, a respective device type of the first electronic device; determining an Application Program Interface (API) implemented by the first electronic device, based on the detected device type of the first electronic device; transmitting one or more electronic messages to the first electronic device, via the one or more data communications networks, wherein the one or more electronic messages are formatted according to the determined API implemented by the first electronic device; determining to perform one or more actions for a first user for a first computer game, based on data received from the first electronic device via the one or more data communications networks, including determining to grant, to the first user, one or more achievement points usable to unlock virtual content within the first computer game; and updating a game state for the first computer game, based on the determined one or more actions. ||
18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing computer program code that, when executed by operation of one or more computer processors, performs an operation comprising: identifying, at a control node, a plurality of electronic devices present within a physical environment, by communicating with the plurality of electronic devices over one or more data communications networks; detecting, for a first one of the plurality of electronic devices, a respective device type of the first electronic device; determining an Application Program Interface (API) implemented by the first electronic device, based on the detected device type of the first electronic device; transmitting one or more electronic messages to the first electronic device, via the one or more data communications networks, wherein the one or more electronic messages are formatted according to the determined API implemented by the first electronic device; determining to perform one or more actions for a first user for a first computer game, based on data received from the first electronic device via the one or more data communications networks, including determining to grant, to the first user, one or more achievement points usable to unlock virtual content within the first computer game; and updating a game state for the first computer game, based on the determined one or more actions. ||
19. A system, comprising: one or more computer processors; one or more network interfaces; and a memory containing computer program code that, when executed by operation of the one or more computer processors, performs an operation comprising: identifying, at a control node, a plurality of electronic devices present within a physical environment, by communicating with the plurality of electronic devices over one or more data communications networks using the one or more network interfaces; detecting, for a first one of the plurality of electronic devices, a respective device type of the first electronic device; determining an Application Program Interface (API) implemented by the first electronic device, based on the detected device type of the first electronic device; transmitting one or more electronic messages to the first electronic device, via the one or more data communications networks, wherein the one or more electronic messages are formatted according to the determined API implemented by the first electronic device; determining to perform one or more actions for a first user for a first computer game, based on data received from the first electronic device via the one or more data communications networks, including determining to grant, to the first user, one or more achievement points usable to unlock virtual content within the first computer game; and updating a game state for the first computer game, based on the determined one or more actions.