Amusement devices: toys – Construction toy – Figure
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-21
2001-09-18
O'Neill, Michael (Department: 3713)
Amusement devices: toys
Construction toy
Figure
C463S036000, C273S14800B
Reexamination Certificate
active
06290565
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an interactive game apparatus in which a three dimensional user-modifiable toy controls a computer generated rendering of the toy in an interactive virtual environment game.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Computer games are a very popular form of contemporary entertainment. Many of these computer games display an animated character in a virtual, on-screen environment. Movement and actions performed by the animated character can be controlled by the user and often the character interacts with other characters that are generated by the computer in the virtual environment.
In most conventional games, such a character is controlled either by specialized controllers which are part of the game apparatus that is associated with the computer, or by means of a conventional mouse, keyboard or joystick. When keyboards, mice or joysticks are used to control a character, the possible movement and actions of the character are limited due to the limited nature of these controls. Consequently, the character is often limited to simple actions, such as walking or jumping. The user has no actual physical contact with the character. Therefore, no matter how realistically the character is drawn on the screen, the user can only generally guide the character and cannot actually operate or interact directly with the character.
In order to overcome these difficulties, some conventional systems have associated a three dimensional toy with the computer in such a manner that a user can construct an on-screen character by manipulating interchangeable pieces of the three dimensional toy to physically construct a three dimensional model. The three dimensional model is connected to the computer and each of the interchangeable parts is connected to the toy by means of a coded connection. When the toy is connected to the computer, the computer reads the configuration of the toy and generates an on-screen character whose appearance matches that of the toy. Once the character is generated on screen, the user can then control the character by means of a conventional joy stick or controller. In an alternative embodiment, once the character is constructed, it is controlled solely by the computer and the user merely watches the character interact with other characters and objects in a virtual scene. An example of such a system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,766,077. This system has the advantage in that it allows the user, especially a young user, to manually construct a character that has different characteristics that are chosen by the user during the construction of the toy.
However, with this system, once the graphic representation of the character is drawn on the computer screen, the user is then limited to controlling the character in a conventional manner with the joy stick, keyboard or game controller. Therefore, there is a need for an interactive game in which the user has more direct physical control over the graphical representation of the character on the computer screen.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with one illustrative embodiment of the invention, a three dimensional physical toy that can be manipulated by a user is connected to a computer. interchangeable accessory parts can be plugged into the toy via mechanisms which identify the accessory parts immediately when they are plugged into the toy body. A software program running in the computer displays a graphical character representation of the toy, including the accessory parts that have been plugged into the toy in a virtual environment on a monitor screen. The toy and the accessory parts interact dynamically with the software program so that the graphical character representation of the toy appears on the screen exactly as it physically appears to the user.
Furthermore, the toy interacts with the virtual environment in each stage of construction and as each accessory part is added or removed. As various accessory parts are inserted into, or removed from, the toy, the graphical character representation of the toy interacts with the virtual environment in different ways. A user can thus control the interaction between the graphical character and the virtual environment by modifying the physical toy. In addition, the graphical character representation may also be controlled by directly and physically manipulating certain accessory parts which are plugged into the toy.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment, some of the accessory parts have physical sensors built in to detect motion, bending, etc or buttons or other input devices. These parts can be physically manipulated by the user causing a predetermined action between the graphic character and the virtual environment.
In accordance with another embodiment, the toy contains an internal network such that several toys can be plugged together to produce a “cascaded” toy that allows cooperation between the accessory parts plugged into the separate toys.
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Blumberg Bruce M.
Galyean III Tinsley A.
Kaufman Henry
O'connor David C.
Kudirka & Jobse LLP
Nearlife, Inc.
O'Neill Michael
LandOfFree
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