Abstract: A video game system provides dialog responses based on a natural language model (NLM). The NLM is a language model that receives a language input, such as a dialog selection, audio recording, or natural language text input provided by a user of the video game system. In response to the language input, and based on a corpus of natural language candidate lines, the NLM identifies one or more potential responses. The video game system selects a final response from the identified potential responses and provides the selected response to the user via, for example, one or more display frames or via an audio output.

Abstract: Handling of input or output (I/O) to or from a media device may be implemented in a system having a memory, a processor unit with a main processor and an auxiliary processor having an associated local memory, and the media device. An incoming I/O request received from an application running on the processor unit may be serviced according to the schedule. A set of processor executable instructions configured to implement I/O handling may include media filter layers. I/O handling may alternatively comprise: receiving an incoming I/O request from an application running on a main processor; inserting the request into a schedule embodied in the main memory; and implementing the request according to the schedule and one or more filters, at least one of which is implemented by an auxiliary processor.

Abstract: Handling of input or output (I/O) to or from a media device may be implemented in a system having a memory, a processor unit with a main processor and an auxiliary processor having an associated local memory, and the media device. An incoming I/O request received from an application running on the processor unit may be serviced according to the schedule. A set of processor executable instructions configured to implement I/O handling may include media filter layers. I/O handling may alternatively comprise: receiving an incoming I/O request from an application running on a main processor; inserting the request into a schedule embodied in the main memory; and implementing the request according to the schedule and one or more filters, at least one of which is implemented by an auxiliary processor.

Abstract: The invention provides a method and apparatus for enhancing apparent image resolution by way of multi-line interpolation.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for updating a color look up table and expanding video data for use in various applications such as a multimedia computer. The color look up table updating scheme permits selective updating of one entry in the table or up to all of the entries in the table. Updating of the color look up table is preferably performed during the horizontal blanking period. The table may be comprised of two buffers, and a combined output of these two buffers further enhances a multiplicity of colors available to a user.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for a 2:1 compression of a digital audio signal including 1) a compression operation for compressing a sixteen bit sample of the audio signal as both an exact value and a delta value, and 2) a regeneration operation for regenerating the compressed exact and delta values once again into a sixteen bit word. The regenerated exact and delta values are then compared against the original sample. Whichever regenerated value most closely matches the original sample has its corresponding compressed value encoded onto a storage medium.

Abstract: Linked lists of spryte control blocks are prepared in memory and traversed by a spryte rendering engine. Each spryte control block controls the rendering of a respective spryte into the display buffer, and contains such information as a pointer to source data for the corresponding spryte, positional and incrementing specifications for a destination quadrilateral, a control word for manipulations to be performed on the spryte image source data, and an indication of which of several available formats the spryte image source data is packed in. Once the linked list is prepared, the spryte rendering engine can be called by writing certain values into specific memory-mapped hardware registers, and then writing dummy data to an address recognized by the hardware as a command to initiate the spryte rendering operation.

Abstract: The invention provides a method and apparatus for processing digital image data to produce realism-imparting effects such as shadowing, highlighting, color filtering, colored reflections rendering and the like. An image processing apparatus in accordance with the invention includes three independent processing units for processing the Red, Green and Blue components of a supplied set of image-defining signals. The apparatus provides either homogeneous intensity scaling for all three colors or intensity scaling on a color-by-color basis. Means are provided for changing the imparted effects in real time on a pixel-by-pixel basis. Means are provided for using one signal to control the effect imparted on a second signal.

Abstract: The invention provides a method and apparatus for managing color modification of a raster based image on a real time, line-by-line basis and for managing real-time of new imagery into buffers whose data is displayable.

Abstract: The invention provides a method and apparatus for enhancing apparent image resolution by way of multi-line interpolation. A method for enhancing the resolution of low-resolution image-data includes the steps of: providing a memory having independently addressable storage banks; storing the low-resolution image-data in the memory such that low-resolution image-data defining a first low-resolution row resides in a first of said storage banks and such that low-resolution image-data defining a second low-resolution row, adjacent to the first low-resolution row, resides in a second of said storage banks; extracting first through Nth low-resolution pixel signals from the memory, said signals representing values of low-resolution pixels in the adjacent first and second low-resolution rows of the low-resolution image-data; and producing a high-resolution pixel signal from said first through Nth low-resolution pixel signals in accordance with a distance-weighted algorithm.

Abstract: A raster graphics color palette architecture for multiple display objects or sprites includes a first memory for storing pen index information for each display object. The pen index information for each display object includes pen index information corresponding to each pixel of that display object. A second memory stores indexing information for each display object. The indexing information maps the pen index information for the corresponding display object to pen numbers. A pen palette device includes a number of dynamically alterable registers, or "pens," containing RGB information for driving a multicolor raster display. In operation, pen index information representing the pixels of a display object is accessed from the first memory. This pen index information is mapped into pen numbers using the indexing information for the display object stored in the second memory. These pen numbers are then coupled to the pen palette to provide the RGB information for driving a multicolor raster display.

Abstract: An invertible, hand-held, electronic game apparatus having a manually engageable housing, a display screen mounting in the housing, an electronic circuit electrically connected to drive the display screen, and a control switch assembly mounted for manipulation by at least one hand of the player while holding the housing. The control switch assembly includes a joypad and fire buttons which are positioned on the housing to permit rotation or inverting of the housing and operation of the switches in a rotated position. Inversion of the housing and operation of the switches is possible when the images are vertically or horizontally oriented. In the preferred form, the control switch assembly includes a joypad on one side of the display screen and two pairs of functionally duplicate fire buttons symmetrically positioned about a central plane of the housing on an opposite side of the screen. The back of the housing is formed with protruding convex surfaces to facilitate gripping.

Abstract: Menu item selection is performed in a personal computer system through the use of a mouse device which has means to allow the user to call up onto the display a header block which performs the function of the menu bar and to erase the header block from the screen when menu operations are not required. Multiple menu items can be selected during the same menu session by using a pair of mouse buttons to generate a sequence of selection commands which are utilized by unique system software to accumulate plural item selections without terminating the menu operation.