Patents Examined by Ross A. Williams
  • Patent number: 10549182
    Abstract: An information processing system includes an operation apparatus and a main body apparatus which is capable of communicating with the operation apparatus. The operation apparatus includes a first transceiver which transmits operation data to the main body apparatus. The main body apparatus includes a memory in which an operation scheme of the operation apparatus is registered, a second transceiver which receives the operation data, and a controller. The controller registers the operation scheme of the operation apparatus in the memory as a first operation scheme when the operation data received by the second transceiver indicates a first operation and registers the operation scheme of the operation apparatus in the memory as a second operation scheme when the operation data received by the second transceiver indicates a second operation, and performs processing based on the operation scheme registered in the memory onto the operation data received by the second transceiver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2020
    Assignee: Nintendo Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Naoki Miwa, Shumpei Yasuda, Shinji Takenaka, Sumikazu Ono, Kiyomi Itani, Ryota Oiwa
  • Patent number: 10546464
    Abstract: This disclosure provides a wagering system associated with a first wagering facility, the system communicably coupled with a network and including a memory operable to store betting odds on a plurality of wagering events hosted by the first wagering facility. The system further includes a processor coupled to the memory and operable to receive a first bet on a particular event via the network, the particular event comprising at least one of the wagering events hosted by the first wagering facility. If a second bet is received within a predetermined period of time after the first bet is received, then the processor recalculates the betting odds on the particular event based upon both of the first bet and the second bet. If a second bet is not received within a predetermined period of time after the first bet is received, then the processor recalculates the betting odds on the particular event based upon the first bet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2020
    Assignee: CFPH, LLC
    Inventors: Joseph M. Asher, Howard W. Lutnick
  • Patent number: 10537821
    Abstract: An interactive play set is described which comprises one or more active physical play pieces. In an embodiment, each active physical play piece receives data from one or more other play pieces in the play set and uses this data to generate proximity data. The proximity data describes distances between two or more play pieces from which it receives data to three or more proximity levels. The proximity data is then transmitted to an interactive entertainment experience (such as a game) which reflects changes in proximity level. For example, the changes may be visible in a graphical user interface or another play piece or audible to a user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Haiyan Zhang, James William Scott, Nicolas Villar, Alexandra Keeley Bunting, Lee Jason Schuneman, Michael Paul Rouse
  • Patent number: 10537808
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a system and method for controlling mobile gaming on a vessel may have a plurality of mobile gaming devices, a location server operable to track a device position of each of the plurality of mobile gaming devices and track a vessel position of the vessel, and a mobile gaming management server configured to communicate with the location server and a gaming server, the mobile gaming management server operable to individually control whether each of the plurality of mobile gaming devices is permitted to play a game of chance based on the device position and the vessel position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: Nguyem Gaming LLC
    Inventor: Binh T. Nguyen
  • Patent number: 10518160
    Abstract: A Smart-court system, adaptive to constrained sport environment, for enabling real time analysis and debriefing of sport activities is provided herein. The Smart-court system is comprised of: (i) an automatic recording system comprising a plurality of video cameras located in a court, arranged to real-time (RT) recording of a sport session and utilizing automatic calibration and stabilization module; and (ii) a data processing system comprising: (a) a capture module for grabbing a video stream; (b) an objects' detector module arranged to extract during the RT sport session, the objects from the foreground of each frame; (c) an event module for automatically analyzing, the motion and the activities of the tracked objects for automatically identifying and classifying events, creating a synchronized event log and calculating statistics that occurred during the RT sport session; and (d) a presentation module enabling to perform instant debriefing, combined biomechanical and tactical analysis of the video.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2019
    Assignee: PLAYSIGHT INTERACTIVE LTD.
    Inventors: Chen Shachar, Evgeni Khazanov, Yoram Ben Zur
  • Patent number: 10512835
    Abstract: A portable sensor unit for capturing motion and/or other data may be securely mounted on objects such as a user's limb, a vehicle, or other items. The sensor unit may then collect motion and/or other data from the object to which it is affixed, and may provide this data to a data logger which stores the data. The data logger may subsequently communicate the data to a gaming system which may tailor the motion characteristics of a virtual object to resemble those of the real-world object from which the motion data was captured. Thus, a user can (for example) capture motion data from a vehicle, with this data being supplied to a video gaming unit which provides a virtual vehicle having the same acceleration/deceleration, handling, and other characteristics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 24, 2019
    Inventors: Christopher Lee Kavars, Leslie Davis
  • Patent number: 10512846
    Abstract: Multiplayer video games involve multiple players playing using either a single computer system or multiple computer systems connected together. While a first player of the multiplayer game is playing the multiplayer game, the first player's actions are tracked and stored. When the first player quits or stops responding before the multiplayer game has completed, the first player is replaced by a computer-simulated version of the first player that selects its actions based on probabilities calculated from the tracked actions of the first player. The multiplayer game is thus able to continue without interruption or disruption, and the first player's playstyle is preserved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 24, 2019
    Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC
    Inventor: Shigeru Enomoto
  • Patent number: 10482722
    Abstract: Methods and apparatuses for administering game play include displaying an electronic reel simulation including a multiple reel array for a wagering game on a display. A user input indicates a selected play option from a plurality of play options. All play options enable all displayed positions of the multiple reel array to be considered in winning outcomes. A game outcome is determined and presented as game symbols on the display. Winning combinations of the game symbols are determined, wherein each winning combination includes three or more matching game symbols appearing in the displayed positions on each of three or more adjacent reels and at least one of the three or more matching game symbols is not used in another winning combination. A payout is determined and multiplied by a multiple correlated to the selected play option when a substitute multiplier symbol appears as one of the game symbols.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2019
    Assignee: SG Gaming ANZ PTY LTD
    Inventors: Ross M. Gilbertson, Andrew B. Masen, Qin You
  • Patent number: 10482657
    Abstract: An information processing system includes: a camera destination calculating unit configured to calculate a position of a destination of a virtual camera in a virtual space, based on predetermined information processing; a camera moving unit configured to move the virtual camera to an avoidance position at which a shielding object is avoided, in a case where a first vector heading from a position of an object to be captured by the virtual camera to the position of the destination, intersects with the shielding object from an outside in the virtual space and a second vector heading from the position of the destination to the position of the object to be captured by the virtual camera, does not intersect with the shielding object from the outside; and an image generating unit configured to generate an image of the virtual space, based on the virtual camera moved by the camera moving unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2019
    Assignee: Nintendo Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Yusuke Kitazono
  • Patent number: 10471360
    Abstract: A multi-user system hosts a game session over a communication network. The game session includes a plurality of media streams that show one or more views of live game play for the game session. The multi-user system further assigns a spectator value to each media stream, updates one or more spectator values based on user inputs received during the game session, selects, for one or more time periods of the game session, one media stream to broadcast based on the spectator value assigned to the one media stream for the one or more time periods, and broadcasts the one media stream over the communication network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2019
    Assignee: SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT LLC
    Inventors: Steven Trombetta, James Fairbairn
  • Patent number: 10449453
    Abstract: A virtual reality (VR) gaming platform has a head-mounted display (HMD), software executing on a processor, controlling display of a virtual environment in the HMD and providing functions for network connectivity via a digital port, a three-axis input device providing input to the processor, and dedicated control scripts executable on the processor to provide specific functions in moving an avatar and establishing camera position. The control scripts operate during game play to move the avatar from a first position to a second position in response to specific directional input from the player via the three-axis input device, the camera remains stationary while the avatar moves, and when the avatar stops moving, the camera position teleports to at or near the new avatar position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2019
    Assignee: Robolox Corporation
    Inventors: Michael McHale, Claus Christopher Moberg, Kyle Emmerich
  • Patent number: 10434402
    Abstract: An input from an input device including a first input section and a second input section is received. A direction of movement of a player object is set based on the input from the first input section, and a direction relating to an action of the player object other than the movement is set based on the input from the second input section. Further, an image taken by a first virtual camera is displayed on a first display area, based on the direction of movement of the player object, and an image taken by a second virtual camera is displayed on a second display area, based on the direction relating to the action of the player object other than the movement. The first virtual camera and the second virtual camera are present in the same virtual space, and take images from different positions and/or different directions in the virtual space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2019
    Assignee: Nintendo Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shigeru Miyamoto
  • Patent number: 10427042
    Abstract: Various embodiments are directed towards employing one or more physical sensors arranged on or in proximity to a video game player to obtain biofeedback measures that are then useable to dynamically modify a state of play of a video game. The sensors may be connected or even un-connected to the game player, replace, or otherwise augment traditional physical game controllers. The sensors gather various biofeedback measures and provide such measures to a biofeedback application programming interface (API). Before and/or during video game play, the video game queries the biofeedback API to request inferences about the game player's state of arousal. The response to the query is then used to modify the state of the video game play. Where the video game is a multi-player video game, biofeedback measures from other game players may also be obtained and used to further modify the state of the video game play.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2019
    Assignee: Valve Corporation
    Inventors: Steven J. Bond, Michael S. Ambinder
  • Patent number: 10413827
    Abstract: An online gaming system for adjusting game content presented to users in an online game. The system may adjust content based on mood profiles determined for the individual users. The system may comprise one or more processors configured to execute computer program modules. The system may include a game module configured to execute an instance of an online game and to implement the instance of the online game to facilitate participation of users in the online game. The system may include a biometrics module configured to obtain biometric characteristic information from user client computing platforms. The system may include a mood module configured to determine mood profiles for the users based on the biometric characteristic information. The system may include a content adjustment module configured to identify and effectuation presentation of content in the online game based on the mood profiles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2019
    Assignee: ELECTRONIC ARTS INC.
    Inventor: Michael C. DeLaet
  • Patent number: 10412357
    Abstract: Systems, devices and methods are provided to arbitrate network bandwidth that is shared between multiple video players executing concurrently on one or more client platforms that each have at least one video data stream supplied over a data network. An amount of bandwidth available from the data network is determined. An arbitration module calculates whether the selected video players can sustain a video playback quality above a pre-defined threshold using the determined amount of bandwidth available, and a modify playback message is sent to at least one video player when the video playback quality is not sustainable. Various implementations could prioritize bandwidth based upon the content presented so that high-bandwidth scenes (e.g., action sequences) receive more bandwidth than more static scenes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2019
    Assignee: DISH Technologies L.L.C.
    Inventor: Mark B. Hurst
  • Patent number: 10398966
    Abstract: A method of automatically generating a calibration file for a card handling device comprises automatically generating a calibration file stored in memory of a main control system for a card handling device. Automatically generating the calibration file comprises identifying at least one parameter associated with a rank area around a rank of at least a portion of the card, identifying at least one parameter associated with a suit area around a suit of the at least a portion of the card, and storing the at least one parameter associated with the rank area and the at least one parameter associated with the suit area in the calibration file. Additionally, a method of automatically generating deck libraries for one or more decks of cards comprises automatically generating a plurality of master images for the cards of the first deck type using the parameters from the calibration file.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2019
    Assignee: Bally Gaming, Inc.
    Inventors: James V. Kelly, Vladislav Zvercov, Brian Miller
  • Patent number: 10391358
    Abstract: Golf performance and equipment characteristics may be determined by analyzing the impact between a golf ball and an impacting surface. In some examples, the impacting surface may be a golf club face. The impact between the golf ball and the surface may be measured based on sound and/or motion sensors (e.g., gyroscopes, accelerometers, etc.). Based on motion and/or sound data, various equipment-related information including golf ball compression, club head speed and impact location may be derived. Such information and/or other types of data may be conveyed to a user to help improve performance, aid in selecting golf equipment and/or to insure quality of golfing products.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2019
    Assignee: Karsten Manufacturing Corporation
    Inventors: Jeffrey A. Hadden, Douglas A. Thornton, Bradley C. Glenn, Nicholas A. Leech, Arthur Molinari
  • Patent number: 10369476
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for an automatic user or friend recommendation system that matches players that have compatible play styles, play schedules, or the like. Behavioral data is collected or entered from players, and a profile of each player is created and compared to calculate a compatibility score. If the compatibility score exceeds a predetermined threshold, then the players are marked as compatible, or a degree of compatibility may be calculated and displayed as well. Users can edit their profile, e.g., on a web application or in-game. Users may also interact with optional and incremental demographic survey questions as they log in. A notification of compatible players may be provided via the web application or via an in-game indication. For example, a glow may appear around a compatible player, or compatible players may be displayed in a list, such as an instant messaging client.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2019
    Assignee: SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA LLC
    Inventor: Nathan Pearce
  • Patent number: 10369478
    Abstract: A system and method for providing secondary gaming for fantasy sports to provide more interactive, robust and comprehensive fantasy sports gaming. A secondary game involves one or more fantasy sports players, one or more statistics to measure fantasy performance of the players, one or more time period in which to evaluate the fantasy player, and a game value amount, which is the consideration contested in the fantasy game. Accordingly, Users may place wagers on the expected performance of fantasy players or teams in a fantasy league regardless of whether the party is a participant in the league. The system may be functionally connected to the league software manager to provide real-time registration, submission, monitoring, and submission of second games.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2019
    Inventor: Rishi Nangia
  • Patent number: 10373425
    Abstract: Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a system and method for automatically creating and updating a friend database associated with a player. Generally, in various embodiments, the system of the present disclosure is configured to access one or more player accounts (such as social media accounts) of the player, collect player friend data from the accessed player account(s), determine a list or one of more friends of the player based on the collected player data, and create or update a friend database associated with the player to include the determined friends. The system of the present disclosure thus dynamically and automatically creates and updates the friend database associated with the player without requiring the player to actively create and repeatedly and actively update (e.g., add friends to and remove friends from) the friend database.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2019
    Assignee: IGT
    Inventor: Dwayne R. Nelson