Digital toy posing system

Abstract

A method includes: accessing a link sequence that defines a relative placement of each of a plurality of components of a posable toy; defining a movement pattern for each of the plurality of components by associating at least one primitive having a defined movement pattern with each of the plurality of components; determining a skeleton model of the posable toy, where the skeleton model defines the relative location of the plurality of components and the movement pattern for each of the plurality of components; presenting a digital representation of the posable toy based on the skeleton model, the digital representation of the posable toy including digital representations of the plurality of components; in response to user input selecting one of digital representations of the plurality of components, generating a posed digital representation by moving the selected component in accordance with its movement pattern; and presenting the posed digital representation.

Description

[0001] DIGITAL TOY POSING SYSTEM

[0002] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0003] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 660,719, filed on June 17, 2024, and titled DIGITAL TOY POSING SYSTEM, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0004] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0005] This disclosure relates to a digital toy posing system.

[0006] BACKGROUND

[0007] Persons of all ages enjoy playing with toys.

[0008] SUMMARY

[0009] In one aspect, a method includes: accessing a link sequence that defines a relative placement of each of a plurality of components of a posable toy; defining a movement pattern for each of the plurality of components by associating at least one primitive having a defined movement pattern with each of the plurality of components; determining a skeleton model of the posable toy, where the skeleton model defines the relative location of the plurality of components and the movement pattern for each of the plurality of components; presenting a digital representation of the posable toy based on the skeleton model, the digital representation of the posable toy including digital representations of the plurality of components; in response to user input selecting one of digital representations of the plurality of components, generating a posed digital representation by moving the selected component in accordance with its movement pattern; and presenting the posed digital representation.

[0010] Implementations may include one or more of the following features.

[0011] The method also may include generating a physical version of the posed digital representation. The physical version of the posed digital representation may include physical packaging. The posable toy may include a physical toy, and the method also may include: attaching the physical packaging to a container that includes an instance of the physical toy. In some implementations, the user input also specifies an amount of motion, and the posed digital representation is generated by moving the selected component based on its movement pattern and the amount of motion.

[0012] The plurality of components may include one or more articulating joints.

[0013] The posable toy may be an existing, tangible posable object.

[0014] The posable toy may be an electronic toy or object.

[0015] In another aspect, a method includes: accessing a link sequence that defines a relative placement of each of a plurality of components of a posable toy; defining a movement pattern for each of the plurality of components by associating at least one primitive having a defined movement pattern with each of the plurality of components; and determining a skeleton model of the posable toy. The skeleton model defines the relative location of the plurality of components and the movement pattern for each of the plurality of components.

[0016] Implementations may include one or more of the following features.

[0017] The method also may include defining the link sequence.

[0018] The method also may include animating the skeleton model.

[0019] In another aspect, a system includes; a rig generation engine configured to; access a link sequence that defines a relative placement of each of a plurality of components of a posable toy; define a movement pattern for each of the plurality of components by associating at least one primitive having a defined movement pattern with each of the plurality of components; and determine a skeleton model of the posable toy. The skeleton model defines the relative location of the plurality of components and the movement pattern for each of the plurality of components.

[0020] In some implementations, the rig generation engine is further configured to present a digital representation of the posable toy based on the skeleton model; and the system also includes a user interface configured to accept user input and to move the digital representation based on the user input.

[0021] The techniques discussed herein may be implemented as a system, an apparatus, a device, instructions stored on a machine-readable medium and configured to be executed by a machine, or a method.

[0022] DRAWING DESCRIPTION

[0023] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a digital posing system. FIG. 2 is a flow chart of an example of a process for generating a skeleton model of a posable toy.

[0024] FIG. 3 is an example of a link sequence for a humanoid action figure.

[0025] FIG. 4 is an image of a toy and the primitives associated with each component of the toy.

[0026] FIG. 5 shows two primitives.

[0027] FIG. 6 shows a skeleton model.

[0028] FIGS. 7A and 7B show examples of a digital environment that includes a digital representation of a posable toy.

[0029] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] Referring to FIG. 1, a digital toy posing system 100 is disclosed. The digital toy posing system 100 includes a rig generation engine 150 that generates a skeleton model 155 of a posable toy 112. The skeleton model 115 may be provided to a user interface 110 that allows a user to manipulate a digital representation 111 of the toy 112 in a digital environment 115. The digital representation 111 is based on the skeleton model 155.

[0031] The posable toy 112 is any type of entertainment object that is capable of being posed or capable of posing. The posable toy 112 may be a physical or tangible object, such as an action figure or doll that has been fabricated through a manufacturing or prototyping process. However, the posable toy 112 maybe an object that is not yet fabricated but is associated with digital information that could be used to fabricate the object through a traditional or additive manufacturing process. Moreover, the posable toy 112 may be a conceptual object that is not fabricated and may or may not be fabricated. Examples of conceptual objects include, without limitation, digital sculptures that do not necessarily not include information related to fabrication or manufacturing, digital files and other digital information that portray renderings or computer graphics of the object, electronic game characters and objects that do not necessarily exist in physical form, animation characters and objects, and movie characters and objects.

[0032] The rig generation engine 150 includes a primitive module 152, a naming convention module 154, and a control code module 156. The primitive module 152, the naming convention module 154, and the control code module 156 are implemented as executable instructions and / or data stored on a machine-readable medium, such as electronic memory. The executable instructions are executable by an electronic processor and may be implemented, for example, as a stand-alone software program, a plug-in that can be used with other software packages, a software update that can be incorporated into an existing software package, or a function.

[0033] The primitive module 152 stores names, labels, or templates of primitives and a movement pattern associated with each primitive. The primitives are three-dimensional geometric objects or shapes, such as, for example, cylinders, spheres, and a cylinder that extends from a sphere. Each primitive represents a specific movement behavior. For example, the cylinder primitive may represent rotation about a longitudinal axis of the cylinder. In another example, the sphere primitive may represent orbital and / or 3 -axis rotation originating from the sphere center location. A primitive that is a combination of a sphere and a cylinder may represent rotation about the longitudinal axis of the cylinder and rotation originating from the sphere center location. In yet another example, a primitive may represent lateral motion along a longitudinal axis of the primitive. Additionally, the primitive module 152 may store one or more placeholder primitives to allow additional movement behavior in the future.

[0034] The naming convention module 154 is a dataset, for example, a database, fde structure, or lookup table that associates a name of a joint or a portion of the toy 112 with one or more of the primitives. The naming convention module 154 is configured to receive or access a link sequence 117 that defines the posable motion of the posable toy 112. The link sequence 117 includes a name for each joint or connection portion of the posable toy 112. The name includes a number and a descriptive portion.

[0035] The number indicates where a particular joint or connection portion is relative to other joints or connection points of the toy 112, and the descriptive portion provides information about the particular joint or connection portion. For example, the posable toy 112 may be a humanoid action figure, and the link sequence for an arm of the action figure 112 may include “Ol Shoulder”, “02_Elbow”, “03_Hand”. In this example, the shoulder joint is the dominant joint, and the movement of the elbow and hand follow the movement of the shoulder.

[0036] The number associated with a particular joint or connection portion indicates which other joint(s) or connection portion(s) are attached to the particular joint or object. For example, the link sequence 117 also may include “Ol Shoulder” and “02 Chest”. In this example, the shoulder is a direct child of “02_Chest”. The higher numerical value (2) assigned to the chest indicates that there are multiple components that make up the chest of the humanoid action figure. The chest components also have a parent-child numerical structure. For example, the chest is a child of the hips. In this example, the chest has a parent-child structure as follows: Ol Hips, 02_Chest, 03_Head. Moreover, the humanoid action figure may have additional parent-child structures. For example, the leg region of the humanoid action figure has a parentchild structure as follows: Ol femur, 02_knee, 03_shin, 04_ankle, 05_foot. In this example, the Ol femur is also connected to the Ol hips component mentioned above.

[0037] In some implementations, the link structure 117 is stored electronically in a folder structure or other organized database that links larger sub-portions of the humanoid action figure to other sub-portions. Continuing with the above example, the parent-child structure of the chest (Ol Hips, 02_Chest, 03_Head) may be in a folder called Torso, and the leg region components (Ol femur, 02_knee, 03_shin, 04_ankle, O5_foot) maybe in a folder called Leg Torso Ol, indicating that the leg region motion follows the motion of hips Ol. In this way, the articulation of even a complex object can be defined with the link sequence 117.

[0038] The link sequence 117 may be predefined by a user and provided to the rig generation engine 150, or the link sequence 117 may be stored on the rig generation engine 150.

[0039] The naming convention module 154 stores an indication of the primitive or primitives associated with each joint or connection portion. For example, “Ol Shoulder” may be associated with the sphere primitive. The user may specify the association between the names and the primitives, or the relationship may be pre-defined.

[0040] The control code module 156 generates the skeleton model 155. The control code module 156 analyzes the link sequence 117 and associates one or more primitives with each joint and / or connection portion in the link sequence 117 based on the information in the naming convention module 154. For example, to analyze the action figure toy 112 arm link sequence (which includes “Ol Shoulder”, “02_Elbow”, “03_Hand”), the control code module 156 parses the components of the link sequence 117 and determines which one or more of the primitives are associated with each component. In this example, the control code module 156 parses out the “02_Elbow” component and finds the associated primitive or primitives in the naming convention module 154. In this example, the control code module 156 determines that the “02 Elbow” is associated with the cylinder primitive. In this way, the skeleton model 155 is generated.

[0041] In some implementations, the control code module 156 also includes machine-executable instructions that allow the toy 112 to be animated. Referring to FIG. 2, a flow chart of a process 200 is shown. The process 200 is an example of a process for generating a skeleton model of the posable toy 112. The posable toy 112 is any type of poseable toy. For example, the posable toy 112 may resemble or be a humanoid action figure, an insect or reptile, or a toy automobile. As discussed above, the toy 112 may or may not be a tangible object. The process 200 is discussed with reference to the posable toy 112 and the rig generation engine 250 shown in FIG. 1. The process 200 may be performed by an electronic processor in the rig generating engine 150.

[0042] The link sequence 117 for the posable toy 112 is accessed (205). The link sequence 117 may be stored on the rig generation engine 250 or entered into the rig generation engine 250. In some implementations, the user defines the link sequence in the rig generation engine 250. Each component in the toy 112 is assigned a numerical prefix to denote the sequence of interconnected portion. For example, the shoulder joint may have a prefix of “01”, the elbow joint a prefix of “02”, and the hand joint a prefix of “03”. The first half of the name is the region name. The back half, denoted by the dash, names the parent and joint that this region follows. For example, Arm_01 would follow the movement of Torso_02 and therefore the entire joint chain of the arm would follow the second joint in the torso. An example of a link sequence for a humanoid action figure is shown in FIG. 3 and is also shown below, where obj suffix is the file type for 3D content:

[0043] ■ Torso

[0044] • 01_Hips.obj

[0045] • 02_Chest.obj

[0046] • 03_Head.obj

[0047] ■ Arm_RT-Torso_02

[0048] • 01 -Shoulder. obj

[0049] • 02 Elbow. obj

[0050] • 03_Hand.obj

[0051] ■ Arm_LFT-Torso_02

[0052] • 01 _Shoulder. obj

[0053] • 02 _Elbow. obj

[0054] • 03_Hand.obj

[0055] ■ Leg_RT-Torso_01

[0056] • 01 _Thigh. obj

[0057] • 02_Knee.obj • 03_Foot.obj

[0058] ■ Leg_LFT-Torso_01

[0059] • 01 _Thigh.obj

[0060] • 02_Knee.obj

[0061] • 03 Foot. obj

[0062] The rig generation engine 150 establishes the primitives (210). The rig generation engine 250 associates one or more of the primitives with each component in the link sequence (215). The association may be based on pre -determined rules or the association may be specified by the user. FIG. 4 shows an image of the toy 112 and the primitives associated with each component of the toy 112. FIG. 5 shows two primitives in more detail: a cylinder 560 (associated with single-axis rotation) and sphere 570 (associated with 3-axis rotation). The cylinder 560 includes end caps 562, 563 defined with polygroups or color so that data will be used later to define the rotation of the controls and bones. The sphere 570 has a single polygroup (they do not have end caps).

[0063] The rig generation engine 150 recognizes the primitives by polygroups which automatically establish articulation from the respective center axis point 564, 574. A cylinder is recognized when multiple polygroups are detected by the rig generation engine 150, resulting in rotation on a single axis perpendicular to the direction of the cylinder. A sphere is recognized when a single polygroup is detected by the rig generation engine 150, establishing orbital / 3-axis rotation originating from the sphere center location.

[0064] After the primitive is (or primitives are) associated with each component in the link sequence 117, the skeleton model 155 is defined (220). FIG. 6 shows the skeleton model 155.

[0065] The skeleton model 155 may be provided to a digital environment 115 (225). The digital environment 115 may be separate from the rig generation engine 150 or part of the engine 150. The skeleton model 155 can be used to present a digital representation 111 of the posable toy 112 in the digital environment 115. Moreover, because the skeleton model 155 defines the location and motion behavior of the joints and connection elements of the posable toy 112, the user can manipulate the digital representation 111 of the posable toy 112 in the digital environment 115 to pose the digital representation 111 in any pose the posable toy 112 may be posed in and in any background or setting. For example, the digital environment 115 may include soft buttons, sliders, and other features that allow the user to manipulate the digital representation 111 in the environment 115. Moreover, the user may change the setting and place the digital representation 111 in a variety of backgrounds such as, for example, a beach, a spaceship, a forest, or an office.

[0066] The scenes of the posed digital representation 111 may be exported as electronic files and printed into, for example, artwork used in physical packaging for the toy 112; promotional illustrations related to in-person or online sales offers, digital games, board games, playing cards, movies, and / or television shows related to the toy 112; and / or decos for the toy 112. For example, in implementations in which the toy 112 is a tangible toy, the system 100 allows a producer, content maker, or seller to avoid lengthy and costly sessions where the posable toy 112 is posed and photographed in different positions and / or against different backgrounds and the photographs are converted into artwork. Moreover, the rig generation engine 150 is well suited to model complex toys such as multi-legged insects and aliens. Furthermore, the scenes of the posed digital representation may be shred by the user on social media, shared directly with friends and colleagues, thereby promoting the toy 112 and increasing its play value.

[0067] FIGS. 7A and 7B show examples of a digital environment 715 that includes a digital representation 711 of a posable toy. The digital representation 711 is based on a skeleton model created by the rig generation engine 150. FIG. 7A shows the digital representation 711 in a first pose. In FIG. 7B, the user has selected the left shoulder of the digital representation 711, the change pose mode, and a slider to specify the amount of motion. In response to the user input, the left arm of the digital representation 711 is moved based on the movement pattern specified in the skeleton model, and a posed representation 711 ’ is presented.

[0068] These and other implementations are within the scope of the claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method comprising: accessing a link sequence that defines a relative placement of each of a plurality of components of a posable toy; defining a movement pattern for each of the plurality of components by associating at least one primitive having a defined movement pattern with each of the plurality of components; determining a skeleton model of the posable toy, wherein the skeleton model defines the relative location of the plurality of components and the movement pattern for each of the plurality of components; presenting a digital representation of the posable toy based on the skeleton model, the digital representation of the posable toy comprising digital representations of the plurality of components; in response to user input selecting one of digital representations of the plurality of components, generating a posed digital representation by moving the selected component in accordance with its movement pattern; and presenting the posed digital representation.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a physical version of the posed digital representation.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the physical version of the posed digital representation comprises physical packaging.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the posable toy comprises a physical toy, and further comprising: attaching the physical packaging to a container that includes an instance of the physical toy.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the user input further specifies an amount of motion, and the posed digital representation is generated by moving the selected component based on its movement pattern and the amount of motion.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of components comprises one or more articulating joints.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the posable toy is an existing, tangible posable object.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the posable toy is an electronic toy or object.

9. A method comprising: accessing a link sequence that defines a relative placement of each of a plurality of components of a posable toy; defining a movement pattern for each of the plurality of components by associating at least one primitive having a defined movement pattern with each of the plurality of components; and determining a skeleton model of the posable toy, wherein the skeleton model defines the relative location of the plurality of components and the movement pattern for each of the plurality of components.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising defining the link sequence.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising animating the skeleton model.

12. A system comprising: a rig generation engine configured to: access a link sequence that defines a relative placement of each of a plurality of components of a posable toy; define a movement pattern for each of the plurality of components by associating at least one primitive having a defined movement pattern with each of the plurality of components; anddetermine a skeleton model of the posable toy, wherein the skeleton model defines the relative location of the plurality of components and the movement pattern for each of the plurality of components.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the rig generation engine is further configured to present a digital representation of the posable toy based on the skeleton model; and the system further comprises a user interface configured to accept user input and to move the digital representation based on the user input.

Images