FIGURINES HAVING INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATION
The invention provides a method for figurines to form and join a network of figurines by setting them near other figurines, by activating them via a power switch, or by placing them in communication with a central hub. A communications path using radio or IR frequency is used to form the network, such that only one figurine can transmit data while the others receive data at any time. Once the network has been formed, the figurines can formulate behaviors based on the attributes, requests, and actions of the others. These behaviors are based on the data transpired between the figurines and can include meaning of spoken words, current state, etc. Each figurine has a personality controlled by its internal data, which also controls its relationships with others. Each figurine can spontaneously create a speech or action based on the reply given by another coupled with data stored within its databank.
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The present application claims the benefit of priority from pending U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/469,858 filed May 12, 2003, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of figurines, and in particular to a method for interactive communication between two or more figurines.
Portions of the disclosure of this patent document contain material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office file or records, but otherwise reserves all rights whatsoever.
2. Background Art
Figurines are collectibles or figurines that represent characters, fictional or real, human, plant, or animal. There have been a number of attempts in the past to make figurines that represent life like characteristics. For example, figurine dolls and other figurines have been created that eat, sleep, cry, laugh, speak, shoot, drive, swim, dance, and walk. Some figurines have been created to have some degree of interactivity with a user. For example, a stuffed bear known as “Teddy Ruxpin” seemed to interact with a user by telling stories, asking questions, and urging a user to touch, tickle, or squeeze various regions on the doll's body to provoke a response. Certain electronic toy dogs allegedly “learn” as they interact with an owner/user to do tricks and behave as trained by the user.
Existing figurines have had a number of disadvantages, including a limited ability of speech and an inability to interact with other figurines without direct input from a live user.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe embodiments of the present invention provide a method for figurines to form and join a network of figurines. In one embodiment, each figurine includes mechanisms for producing audible speech. In another embodiment, a hub is provided that provides all speech capability, and individual figurines include identifying characteristics so that speech is generated at the hub in response to the presence of specific figurines. In other embodiments, one figurine contains mechanisms similar to a hub so as to provide speech for itself and all other figurines.
According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the figurines can form a network by setting them near other figurines capable of forming a network. The network is formed, for example, by facing two or more figurines at each other, by pointing them in the direction of other figurines, by activating the figurines via a power switch, or by placing them in communication with a central hub. A communication path using a radio or IR frequency may used to form the network. According to another embodiment of the present invention, a figurine can simultaneously be a member of more than one network, which means that the network communication transmission of a figurine can be either one-to-one or one-to-many depending on the number of networks the figurine belongs to, but there is a mechanism such that only one figurine can transmit data within a network while the rest receive at any given time. This is one embodiment of the invention, and other embodiments are contemplated where multiple overlapping data transmissions may occur.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, once a network has been formed, the figurines can formulate behaviors based on attributes, requests, and actions of the other figurines within the network. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the data transmitted between the figurines in a network consists of the meaning of spoken words, a description of the figurine's properties, the current psychological state of the figurines, and other data. In some cases, each figurine within the network has a personality controlled by its internal data located in a databank. Each figurine may have a table of relationships with the other figurines in the network. In one embodiment, a behavioral scoring algorithm within the figurine's databank assigns a score based on the mood and psychological state of the figurine, which governs the figurine's future behavior. According to another embodiment of the present invention, each figurine in the network can spontaneously create a speech or behavioral pattern based on the reply given by another figurine coupled with the data stored within its internal data.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThese and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims and accompanying drawings where:
The embodiments of the present invention are a method for figurines to form and join a network of figurines. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a more thorough description of embodiments of the invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well known features have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the invention.
Figurine
The figurines of the invention may represent real beings (for example, actors), fictitious characters (for example, super heroes and mythical gods), animated beings (for example, dolls), or inanimate objects (for example, cars and buildings). According to one embodiment of the present invention, figurines are able to formulate behaviors based on the attributes, requests, and actions of other figurines in a network. The behaviors include conversations, creating relationships, making sounds, controlling mechanical devices, running electronic processes, and connecting to computers and the Internet, to name a few.
The present invention contemplates a number of embodiments regarding a figurine, both active and passive. In one embodiment, the figurine is more self contained while in another, it is more cooperative and dependent.
Active Figurine
The present invention contemplates a figurine that is substantially self sufficient, meaning that it has power, processing, and audio capability.
Computer 301 is further divided into sub-blocks, viz., logic 308, text to speech 309, and internal data 310. Logic 308 has a networking engine 311 in two-way communication on a first side with the receiver driver circuit 304, a transmitter driver circuit 317 on a second side, and behavior logic 312 on a third side. The behavior logic 312 consists of an action scoring algorithm 313 and a speech scoring algorithm 314, which is in a two-way communication with the text to speech component 309. The behavior logic 312 is in a two-way communication with internal data 310. Internal data 310 contains RAM 315 and ROM 316. RAM 315 is responsible for controlling and monitoring the mental state of the figurine, the sent and received message queues, the to-do queues, recent history, the relationship table, and other miscellaneous duties. ROM 316, on the other hand, is responsible for controlling and monitoring character identification, personality traits, textual database, items of interest, and other miscellaneous duties.
Output 302 contains various separate components, and is not limited to, a transmitter driver circuit 317 in a two-way communication with a wireless communications transmitter 318, an audio amplifier 319 in a two-way communication with logic 308 and text to speech 309 on a first side and with speaker 320 on a second side, various D/A drivers 321 in a two-way communication with logic 308 on a first side and with various devices such as motors, lights, etc. 322 on a second side.
Passive Figurine
In another embodiment of the invention, figurines are referred to as “passive” in that they do not include, for example, audio capability. A passive figurine includes a “tag” of some sort that represents the figurine's “DNA”, i.e. its name, identity, personality, etc. The tag may be implemented in a number of ways. For example, the tag could be an automatically detectable device such as an RFID (radio frequency identification) device. The tag could also be an infrared device, electronic transmitter, scannable barcode, or even a molecular barcode. In other embodiments, the tag may be a unique identifier that is manually provided to an active receiver to initiate activity or network formation.
Hub and Spoke
In one embodiment of the invention, such as, for example, where passive figurines are used, a central hub is provided that contains processing, memory, and audio visual capability for all figurines that will interact with it. A play set can be used that includes a hub with a plurality of spokes physically connected to the hub and with known positions. In other embodiments, the spokes are in some form of communication with the hub (i.e. electrical, optical, etc) such that when a figurine is placed on any of the spoke locations, the hub is aware of both its presence, and, via its tag, the identity of the figurine.
An example of such a hub/spoke assembly is illustrated in
The hub 501 is comprised of similar hardware as the active figurine of
Another example of a hub and spoke assembly is illustrated in
Network Formation
One aspect of the invention, regardless of whether active or passive figurines are used, is the formation of a network. This refers to the initiation or continuation of interaction between one or more figurines. It should be noted that networks are not limited to figurines all of one type. It is contemplated that interactions and networks of mixed active/passive pairs or groups of figurines is possible. Even solo activity of a single figurine is considered to be within this description of network formation (e.g. with the single hub/spoke of
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a figurine can automatically form and join a network with user interaction to the extent of placing the figurine close to other figurines capable of network formation, by facing the figurine or pointing it towards another figurine capable of network formation, or by placing it on a sensor of a hub assembly. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the user can activate the formation of a network by pressing a button on the figurine, which may be a power switch. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the figurine can create and be a part of more than one network.
Network Communication Methods
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a figurine uses infra-red (IR) technology as a physical communications method to communicate with other figurines in the network. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the figurine uses radio frequency to communicate with other figurines within the network. In another embodiment, the communication is via the hub and spoke environment, where communication is via the hub.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, these methods allow the figurines to communicate with each other verbally (via speech and sound) or non-verbally, via actions, which can range from a hand wave to symbolize a “hello” to the stomping of feet to symbolize “annoyance”. According to another embodiment of the present invention, a figurine can use one communications method to form one network and another method to form another network.
It should be understood that in the case of passive figurines in the hub/spoke assembly, all audio communication comes from a single source, i.e. the hub. However, the hub is capable of producing speech for a plurality of characters with different voice tones for each figurine. Thus, two or more figurines can seem to be “talking” to each other even though all of the sound is produced by a single source.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the network communication transmission is one-to-one. This means that a figurine can communicate with another figurine from within the same network. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the network communication transmission is one-to-many. This means that a figurine can communicate with more than one figurine which may or may not belong to the same network.
In some cases, multiple data transmissions may occur simultaneously or in an overlapping manner. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the mechanism is a software trigger to signal the end of a logical sentence or conversation so that the listening figurine may respond, or the end of a logical motion like a body movement so that the other figurine may respond accordingly.
Figurine Interaction and Use
There are a number of ways in which the figurines can be used in the present invention. Consider a set of figurines that include characters named Andy, Bob, Charlie, and Dave. As is explained more fully below, each character has a different personality, mood, vocabulary, interests, and relationships. When Andy and Bob are in network communication with each other, they begin “speaking” to each other. The conversation can be tentative, if they are meeting for the first time, or familiar, if they have had previous interaction. Andy may ask questions of Bob such as “What is your name”, “What do you like to do”, etc. and wait for answers. The conversations are spoken aloud for the enjoyment of the user. In addition, data is sent back and forth between the figurines to indicate what is being said so that an appropriate response can be generated. Andy and Bob may tell jokes to each other, one or both may tell a story, or they may even insult each other, all depending on their coded personalities and relationships. Charlie and Dave can also join in the network and join in the conversation. The figurines may have a group conversation, two or more one on one conversations, or may ignore a figurine entirely. The figurines may even borrow “money” from each other. The money is virtual but each figurine can keep track of its own accounts. Money owed or borrowed from another figurine is a factor that can affect the relationship and verbal interaction between figurines.
In other embodiments, the play may be more structured. For example, one figurine, or the hub may direct interaction with one or more figurines by following a scripted story, playing a game with rules, or by requesting the user to answer questions by introducing various figurines into the network. For example, the sensors in a hub/spoke assembly can be uniquely marked. Overlays or game boards can be used with the sensors and the user can be directed to move figurines on and off certain sensors to accomplish a goal, play a game, further a story, etc.
The use of the figurines of the present invention can also provide an enhanced experience with traditional and existing games. For example, figurines can be created to play a detective game that takes place in a house. A hub spoke assembly corresponding to the rooms of the house can be provided and the user or users can play a detective game by manipulating the figurines.
A fantasy role playing game can also be enhanced by the figurines of the present invention. The hub can take the place of a rule book and record keeper. Data for characters is kept in the hub memory and accessed when that figurine is involved. Complex rules for interactions between characters can be handled automatically, resulting in a streamlined but more realistic game playing experience.
Internal Data
According to one embodiment of the present invention, each member of a network is capable of individualizing its personality that controls the behavior that the figurine wants to do next. This personality is defined in its Internal Data. The Internal Data may include such traits as: mental states (happiness, sadness, etc.), sent-message queues, received-message queues, to-do queues, recent history, figurine relationship table (knowing specific figurines), character identification (frog 123, or teen doll 420), personality traits (“I am a classy frog”), items of interest (“I like flies”), and other data. It is understood that for active figurines, this data is stored within each figurine. For passive figurines, the Internal Data for all figurines is stored in the hub.
Data Structure/Relationship Table
The personality of each figurine is kept in a data table stored in or associated with each figurine. An example of a figurine data structure is illustrated below in Table I:
The static traits of a particular figurine establish certain characteristics and personalities of the figurine. The categories shown above are given by way of example only and could be added to, changed, or reduced without departing from the scope of the invention. In one embodiment, static traits are given scores from −10 to 10, permitting thousands of unique personalities available for figurines. For example, a high compliment value will cause a figurine to give more compliments to other figurines.
The dynamic traits of a figurine are changed based on game play and/or interaction with other figurines. For example, it is contemplated that figurines will conduct financial transactions with each other, pursuant to some game play rules, or with a hub controller. Thus one dynamic trait shown above is “money”. Health and Happiness are other dynamic traits that can change during conversations and game play.
The Likes of a figurine are stored as associators consisting of classes and instances. Each instance may be scored (e.g. from −100 to 100) to further fine tune and represent the personality of the figurine. An example of a class is Food, with instances of pizza, ice cream, cookies, vegetables, etc. Another class may be colors with instances of individual colors. In one embodiment of the invention, new instances and classes may be added by game play and/or interaction and conversation. This is accomplished by other figurines or the hub transmitting new data to a figurine or to the data file of a figurine.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a figurine relationship table contains a list of other figurines in the network and a description of their relationships with the figurine. For example, a figurine may like a superhero who just joined the network recently, but may be tired and bored by a clown who is a founding member of the network.
An example of a relationship table is illustrated below in Table II:
The Relationship Value indicates how much this figurine (whose table this is) likes another figurine found in its relationship table. The table can be prepopulated with all possible figurines or can be dynamically created as a figurine meets, interacts with, or learns about, other figurines. In one embodiment, the Relationships Table is populated only with the data of other figurines presently in a network with this figurine. In other cases, the data may be always available but a presence/absence flag indicates which other figurines are available for direct interaction.
The Attraction score indicates how much this figurine is attracted to another figurine and is represented, for example, by a score from −10 to 10. The Likes Match indicates how closely the likes of this figurine match up with other figurines in the table. Others Likes may be similar to the Likes entry of the data structure of this figurine, but stores the Likes of other figurines that this figurine has met. This data may be stored in this relationship table or may be accessible by this figurine so that it can tailor conversation more appropriately, either by talking about common likes or by introducing new likes to the other figurines. The Last Message entry indicates the last communication from the other figurine and can be used as a factor in initiating or continuing conversation. This can also impact dynamic traits of this figurine. The Greeting entry indicates whether this figurine has greeted the other figurines.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, in order to be able to change a behavior depending on the mood, the figurine is capable of periodically determining a behavior it wants to do next. According to one embodiment of the present invention, this is accomplished using a behavior scoring algorithm that analyzes the internal data and assigns a behavior score. Typical behaviors include, but not limited to, speech, making sounds, updating of the internal data, and making mechanical motions.
Transmitted Data/Figurine Behavior
Transmitted data can include, and is not limited to, an explanation of the figurine's spoken words (for example, the meaning of a joke), a description of the figurine's properties (for example, if the figurine is a frog then the data may include features and characteristics of a frog), the figurine's current state (for example, the current mood of the figurine), and commands to other figurines (for example, “you must laugh”).
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the spontaneous creation by a figurine of unique and relevant speeches is one of the many figurine behaviors. The contents of a speech are created by a speech scoring algorithm, which selects what to say based on the internal data of the figurine and on what phrases are available in the text database. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the phrases in the text database are marked-up with usage, keywords, and other descriptive data. This allows the figurine, using its speech scoring algorithm, to select the most appropriate phrase for a given situation. For example, the phrase “Hello there” is marked up as a ‘greeting’ that could be used when first encountering another figurine. According to another embodiment of the present invention, other phrases are in the form of templates that may be a combination of literal text and placeholders. By replacing the placeholders with words from a database, a new and meaningful phrase can be created. For example, one figurine may say “My name is Butch”, and another figurine might respond using the “Gcod to meet you NAME” template, where “Butch” would be substituted for ‘NAME’. According to another embodiment of the present invention, a figurine may use more than one placeholder in a sentence or conversation. An example of a personality sheet and phrases for a figurine is shown in Table III further below.
It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to pregenerated or prerecorded phrases. An embodiment of the invention uses text-to-speech generation techniques to output conversational sentences. Using templates, word substitution and/or phrase substitution, new phrases can be generated and spoken using text-to-speech. In some embodiments, these phrases are a function of the context of the speech or of the figurines involved in the speech. In some cases, one figurine may transmit a vocabulary to another figurine to allow that figurine to customize its speech with the first figurine. In addition, by interacting with more figurines, the vocabulary of a figurine can grow over time.
In addition, the database of a figurine may include a “diphone” table which comprises a number of single or linked phonemes. Pitch, tone, mood, and other modifiers may be used to adjust the speech of a figurine for context and to indicate emotional state of the figurine. The result is that identical sentences can have different meanings by modifying the pitch and attitude of the spoken words. What may be informational in one context could be sarcastic when spoken in a different way.
In order to update the internal data, the figurine uses the RAM and ROM components at step 410. Next, at step 406 (which contains steps 407-409) the behavior scoring algorithm is run. In order to run the behavior scoring algorithm, the figurine uses a speech scoring algorithm 407, and an action scoring algorithm 408, both of which use RAM and ROM components 410. At step 409, the figurine chooses an action or speech having the highest score. Next, at step 411, a comparison is made between the figurine's highest score and the highest score of others in the network. If the score of the figurine is not the highest in the network (the “no” branch), then at step 412 the figurine is put in a queue for future use, and the software goes back to reading messages from other figurines in the network at step 400.
If, on the other hand, the score is the highest (the “yes” branch), then at step 413 a check is made to see if speech is required. If speech is required (the “yes” branch), then at step 414 another check is made to see if there is a template available for the speech. If a template is available (the “yes” branch), then at step 417 the missing word(s) are substituted before going to step 415. If, on the other hand, there is no template available (the “no” branch), then at step 415 the text to speech component converts the phrase to an analog format. Next, at step 416, the speech is outputted to an amplifier and speaker before going to step 418. If, at step 413, there is no speech required (the “no” branch), then at step 418 another check is made to see if there is any action required. If there is one required (the “yes” branch), then at step 419 a control data is sent to the device before going back to step 400 to listen for new messages from other figurines in the network. If, on the other hand, there is no action required (the “no” branch), then the software goes back to step 400 to listen for new messages from other figurines in the network.
In one embodiment, the speech scoring algorithm looks at a number of factors. First the figurine looks at whether any immediate needs exist. For example, if the figurine urgently needs money, has very low health, or if someone has just joined the network and been detected, an immediate need exists for the figurine to communicate. Other indicators would be if another figurine has just asked it a question and an answer is appropriate.
The action algorithm involves the figurine reviewing its dynamic traits and their current values. If one of the traits is high or low, it determines to talk about that trait. First it checks to see if it has already been discussing that trait. If so, one embodiment of the invention attempts to reduce boredom from repeatedly talking about the same subject by suppressing a recently discussed trait or subject for some time period or some number of communications. In that case, it looks at other traits and relationships and picks a high value as a possible next subject. It may also look at relationships or traits that have changed recently, even if a score is not particularly high. A score is assigned to the selected subject in a tiered manner in, for example, the order of dynamic trait (e.g. 4000 points), relationship (e.g. 3000 points), conversation (e.g. 2000), and personality (e.g. 1000 points). This weighting and tiered nature insures that the most important subjects (dynamic traits) are talked about between two or more figurines.
It should be noted that the data structures, scoring and speech may be stored and generated by individual figurines or may be stored centrally at the hub configuration. When stored at the hub, the hub does processing for all members of a formed network and determines who “speaks” and in what order.
Thus, a method for figurines to form and join a network of figurines is described in conjunction with one or more specific embodiments. The invention is defined by the following claims and their full scope of equivalents.
Claims
1. (canceled)
2. An apparatus comprising:
- a first figurine having a processor;
- a speech generator coupled to the processor, wherein the speech generator comprises
- a speech scorer for assigning a score to each of a plurality of possible speeches;
- a memory coupled to the processor for storing dynamically changeable personality traits of the first figurine.
3. An apparatus comprising:
- a first figurine having a processor;
- a speech generator coupled to the processor wherein the speech generator comprises a text to speech generator;
- a memory coupled to the processor for storing dynamically changeable personality traits of the first figurine.
4. An apparatus comprising:
- a network of figurines;
- an audio generator that generates audio based on the presence or absence of one or more figurines in the network.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 6, 2007
Publication Date: Nov 29, 2007
Applicant:
Inventors: Will Wright (Orinda, CA), Michael Winter (Orinda, CA), Matthew Sibigtroth (Berkeley, CA)
Application Number: 11/834,613
International Classification: A63H 3/28 (20060101);