Patents Examined by James S. McClellan
  • Player journey
    Patent number: 11577162
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are methods and apparatus related to enhancing player experiences at gaming locations via player journey actions. A server computing device can receive one or more gaming location events related to one or more electronic gaming machines. Each of the electronic gaming machine(s) can be configured to play one or more wager games. At least one of the gaming location events can be associated with a particular wager game. The server computing device can determine one or more player journey actions based on the gaming location events, where the one or more player journey actions instruct at least one electronic gaming machine to perform one or more actions related to the gaming location events. The server computing device can send the gaming location events.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2023
    Assignee: Games Global Operations Limited
    Inventors: Andrew Thomas Slabbert, Terence Marc Stievenart, Fredrik Nilsson
  • Gaming system and method for providing predictable changing paytables
    Patent number: 11574525
    Abstract: Gaming systems and methods which utilize one or more predictable changing paytables in association with one or more plays of a game.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2023
    Assignee: IGT
    Inventor: Todd Grimm
  • Guiding creation of an electronic survey
    Patent number: 11568754
    Abstract: This disclosure generally covers systems and methods that provide guidance to create an electronic survey. In some embodiments, the systems and methods identify and provide a suggested survey topic—with a corresponding option to create an electronic survey—based on user input. In some embodiments, the systems and methods identify and provide one or more suggested electronic survey questions based on user input. In such embodiments, the systems and methods provide, for example, components of suggested electronic survey questions, previously composed and benchmarking electronic survey questions, or suggested revisions to electronic survey questions. In addition, the systems and methods can provide entire premade electronic surveys based on receiving user input from a survey administrator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: Qualtrics, LLC
    Inventors: Jared Smith, Milind Kopikare, Daryl R Pinkal, Oliver M Hall, Daan Lindhout
  • Systems and methods for tracking of non-wagering account associated with gaming environment
    Patent number: 11568712
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for associating a player identifier with a financial account. The financial account can holds funds that are accessible through the player's use of a payment vehicle. Information associated with transactions using the payment vehicle can be used for player relationship purposes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: SIGHTLINE PAYMENTS LLC
    Inventors: Kirk E. Sanford, Thomas M. Sears, Omer Sattar
  • Electronic gaming machines with out-of-process rendering
    Patent number: 11562616
    Abstract: An electronic gaming machine architecture is provided in which a gaming platform application and wagering game applications are executed in separate processes but may share access to common display windows; such display windows may be caused to be generated by the gaming platform application, which may then assign specific display windows to the various wagering game applications, along with window handles usable to direct graphical content thereto. The wagering game applications may then direct graphical content to the display windows, while the gaming platform application may retain control over the size, position, transparency, and/or z-order of the display windows.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2023
    Assignee: Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Limited
    Inventors: Thomas Rizos, Donovan David Meyer
  • Gaming system and method for providing a cascading symbol game with multiple symbol display position elements
    Patent number: 11562630
    Abstract: A gaming system including a cascading symbol or tumbling reel game which utilizes zero, one or more multiple symbol display position elements. Each multiple symbol display position element is configured to occupy or span a plurality of symbol display positions of a symbol display position matrix. For a generated multiple symbol display position element to be removed from the symbol display matrix, each of the individual symbols of the multiple symbol display position element must individually qualify to be removed from the symbol display matrix.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2023
    Assignee: IGT
    Inventor: Mark C. Nicely
  • Computer-readable non-transitory storage medium having game program stored therein, game system, game apparatus control method, and game apparatus
    Patent number: 11559742
    Abstract: Direction input data and inertial sensor data are acquired from a controller including a direction input section and an inertial sensor. Movement of a player character is controlled on the basis of the direction input data. In addition, a control mode for a position of a cursor is switchable between a first control mode and a second control mode. When the control mode is the first control mode, a position further shifted, based on the inertial sensor data, from a position calculated based on a position and a direction of the player character is set as the position of the cursor. When the control mode is the second control mode, a position shifted, based on the inertial sensor data, within a predetermined range, in a virtual space, including a predetermined position in the virtual space, from the predetermined position is set as the position of the cursor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2023
    Assignee: NINTENDO CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yuji Kando, Yoshiaki Onishi, Ayako Moriwaki
  • Gaming device with prize symbols
    Patent number: 11562623
    Abstract: A gaming device comprises a display, a processor, and a memory storing instructions. When the instructions are executed by the processor, the instructions cause the processor to select a plurality of symbols from each of a plurality of reel strips, wherein at least one of the plurality of reel strips comprises a designated symbol, control the display to display the selected symbols of each of the plurality of reel strips in a corresponding column of symbol positions, and evaluate the selected symbols for winning combinations. The evaluation includes upon the selected symbols including the designated symbol and a first prize symbol, awarding a first prize, and upon the selected symbols including the designated symbol and a second prize symbol, awarding a second prize.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2023
    Assignee: Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Limited
    Inventors: Billy Tam, Antoon Visser, Lipi Gupta, Alessandro Sidoti, Karen Kendall
  • Gaming system player identification device
    Patent number: 11562622
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates generally to gaming systems and methods which utilize a player identification device to provide to electronic gaming machines certain gaming system functionality and features otherwise not associated with or available in association with the electronic gaming machines existing gaming establishment management systems.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2023
    Assignee: IGT
    Inventors: Erik B. Petersen, Kevin M. Higgins, Matthew Levin
  • Machine learned virtual gaming environment
    Patent number: 11559738
    Abstract: Virtual game worlds for computer games can be provided using machine learning. The use of machine learning enables the virtual game worlds to be generated at run time by standard consumer hardware devices. Machine learning agents are trained in advance to the characteristics of the particular game world. Then, these suitably trained machine learning agents can be used to generate a relevant portion of a virtual game world, such as a portion of the virtual game world that is proximate to a play's position. Advantageously, the virtual game world can be provided in high resolution and is able to cover a substantially larger region than conventional practical.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2023
    Assignee: PlayerUnknown Productions B.V.
    Inventors: David Lupien St-Pierre, Noel Lopez-Gonzaga, Serge vanKeulen
  • Systems and methods for playing an electronic game including merge and unmerge operations
    Patent number: 11557176
    Abstract: An electronic gaming machine includes a processor configured to at least display a plurality of reel strips located within a matrix of symbol display positions, and present a first oversized symbol associated with a first game award in the matrix, where the first oversized symbol occupies at least a first symbol display position and a second symbol display position. The processor is also configured to present a third symbol in a third symbol display position adjacent at least one of the first symbol display position or the second symbol display position, and divide the first oversized symbol display position to display separate symbols in at least the first symbol display position and the second display position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: ARISTOCRAT TECHNOLOGIES AUSTRALIA PTY LIMITED
    Inventors: Gary Penacho, Bradley John Hendricks, Lorin Santucci, Patrick Finch, Casey Lyle Condron, Joseph Masinter
  • Classification of musculoskeletal form using machine learning model
    Patent number: 11557215
    Abstract: An exercise feedback system receives exercise data such as images or video captured by client devices of users performing exercises. The exercise feedback system may access a machine learning model trained using image of a population of users. The images used for training may be labeled, for example, as having proper or improper musculoskeletal form. The exercise feedback system may determine a metrics describing the musculoskeletal form of a user by applying the trained machine learning model to images of the user as input features. The exercise feedback system may generate feedback for a certain exercise using the metrics based on output predictions of the model. The feedback can be provided to a client device of the user or a physical therapist for presentation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: Physera, Inc.
    Inventors: Yigal Dan Rubinstein, Cameron Marlow, Todd Riley Norwood, Jonathan Chang, Shane Patrick Ahern, Daniel Matthew Merl
  • Game controller with touchpad input
    Patent number: 11554322
    Abstract: A game controller includes a touchpad that a user, viewing a virtual keyboard on a screen, can soft-touch to move a cursor on the screen and then hard-touch to move the cursor and also send location data to a processor for inputting a letter from the virtual keyboard. Machine learning is used to predict a next letter or next word.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC
    Inventors: Cen Zhao, Chung-Hsien Yu, Samuel Ian Matthews
  • Amusement devices and games involving multiple operators, multiple players, and/or multiple jurisdictions
    Patent number: 11557180
    Abstract: Various methods and apparatus related to gaming are described. Some embodiments relate to a multi-tiered game involving multiple participants. Some embodiments relate to players from a plurality of gaming operators playing games with one another. Other embodiments are described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: CFPH, LLC
    Inventors: Lee Amaitis, Phillip Flaherty
  • Systems and methods for gaming account funding
    Patent number: 11551520
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for associating a player identifier with a financial account. The financial account can holds funds that are accessible through the player's use of a payment vehicle. The payment vehicle can be, for example, a credit payment vehicle or a debit payment vehicle. The player can load funds from the financial account to a wagering account.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignee: SIGHTLINE PAYMENTS LLC
    Inventors: Kirk E. Sanford, Thomas M. Sears, Omer Sattar
  • Gaming machine, system, and method facilitating bet configuration by bet level within a given game denomination
    Patent number: 11551512
    Abstract: A method includes storing multiple bet configurations for a gaming machine. Each bet configuration specifies a respective pay table and a set of bet levels including a minimum bet level. A payout percentage may be selected for each bet level. The pay tables each include a number N of prize levels and each prize level corresponding to a respective numerical prize value for a win on the gaming machine while the corresponding bet configuration is in an active state at the gaming machine. The minimum bets for the different bet configurations are unequal and are related by a translation ratio. The different numerical prize values for the different bet configurations are also related by that same translating ratio. A bet configuration may be placed in the active state at a gaming machine and plays are then resolved according to the bet configuration in the active state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignee: Everi Games Inc.
    Inventors: Brian Alexander Watkins, Daniel Eulenfeld
  • Multiplayer and multigame electronic wagering table game system using live dealer
    Patent number: 11544993
    Abstract: An electronic table game (“ETG”) system in which a sequence of cards dealt by a common dealer is used to generate a real-time data stream of card identities communicated to a plurality of different player terminals, thereby allowing the different player terminals to provide different games utilizing the same card identities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignee: ARUZE GAMING AMERICA, INC.
    Inventor: Kelvin Morin
  • Quickly suspending and resuming applications running on a cloud server
    Patent number: 11541309
    Abstract: Many times, users play games to certain places in the game and decide to save the game and resume it later. When users resume the game, they have to wait for it to load, wade through menus to select the saved game, and wait again for the game to resume. The introduced technique directly suspends and resume games that are rendered on a cloud server based on user initiated suspend and resume control commands. As the games are directly suspended and resumed, the users can skip past menu and screen loading. The introduced technique can track game information of multiples users in cloud tokens, and can move these cloud tokens from one memory location to another based on the user initiated suspend and resume control commands.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
    Inventor: Andrew Fear
  • Method and apparatus for controlling virtual race car, storage medium, and device
    Patent number: 11529560
    Abstract: This application discloses a method for controlling a virtual race car based on artificial intelligence (AI). The method includes: controlling, using a client, a first virtual race car to move on a virtual map of a round of racing game, the first virtual race car being a pursuing race car and the first account being an account participating in the round of racing game; displaying, on the client, that an endurance value of a second virtual race car is reduced when the first virtual race car hits the second virtual race car on the virtual map, the second virtual race car being a fleeing race car; and displaying, on the client, that the second virtual race car has been removed from the round of racing game when the endurance value of the second virtual race car is no greater than a preset threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: TENCENT TECHNOLOGY (SHENZHEN) COMPANY LIMITED
    Inventors: Meng Wang, Rui Zheng, Haosheng Xue, Lei Zheng
  • Simulation based training system for measurement of cognitive load to automatically customize simulation content
    Patent number: 11532241
    Abstract: In one example embodiment of the invention, a simulation based training system is provided having a sensor that unobtrusively collects objective data for individuals and teams experiencing training content to determine the cognitive states of individuals and teams; time-synchronizes the various data streams; automatically determines granular and objective measures for individual cognitive load (CL) of individuals and teams; and automatically determines a cognitive load balance (CLB) and a relative cognitive load (RCL) measure in real or near-real time. Data is unobtrusively gathered through physiological or other activity sensors such as electroencephalogram (EEG) and electrocardiogram (ECG) sensors. Some embodiments are further configured to also include sociometric data in the determining cognitive load. Sociometric data may be obtained through the use of sociometric badges.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: Aptima, Inc.
    Inventors: Jeffrey Beaubien, John Feeney, William N. DePriest, Scott Pappada