Mobile Bonus Activation for QR-Linked Gaming Machines
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing casino gaming systems lack efficient methods for players to access bonuses on electronic gaming machines using their smartphones, limiting revenue generation, marketing effectiveness, and player engagement.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that allows players to interact with their smartphones to scan a unique QR code associated with an EGM, enabling bonus awards through a customizable app, which can be tailored to individual players or machines, and includes features like timed selections and customizable rewards.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If players use traditional casino gaming systems to access bonuses, then the system maintains simplicity, but player engagement and revenue generation are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a mobile computing device as an intermediary between the player and the EGM. The mobile device captures an image of the EGM, transmits it to a remote server for processing, and receives bonus award information back. This intermediary approach enables enhanced player engagement and revenue generation through personalized bonuses while keeping the EGM itself relatively simple.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical casino gaming systems with an image-based digital system. Instead of using physical cards, buttons, or displays for bonus distribution, the system uses mobile device cameras to capture EGM images, processes them remotely, and delivers digital bonus awards. This substitution enables more sophisticated bonus management and player tracking capabilities.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the system provides personalized bonuses to individual players, then player engagement increases, but the complexity of managing and distributing bonuses increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the complex bonus management functionality from the EGM and relocates it to a remote server. The EGM simply displays its identifier and awaits bonus awards, while the remote server handles image processing, player identification, bonus selection, and distribution logic. This extraction allows personalized bonuses to be managed centrally without complicating the individual EGM units.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by capturing and storing EGM images and player information in advance. When a player requests a bonus, the system already has the necessary data (EGM identifier, player profile, play history) prepared and can quickly process the bonus award without complex real-time calculations at the EGM level.
3Productivity
If the system uses mobile computing devices for bonus access, then player engagement and marketing effectiveness improve, but the difficulty of detecting and measuring player interactions increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses the mobile device's camera to create a digital copy of the EGM's visual identifier. This image copy is then transmitted to the remote server for processing and matching with player accounts. This copying approach simplifies interaction tracking compared to traditional methods, as the image data can be automatically processed and matched without requiring complex sensor arrays or manual verification.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer-implemented method of activating a secondary game on a mobile computing device associated with a primary game on one of a plurality of networked electronic gaming machines in which an optical code is affixed to each gaming machine. Each optical code is stored in electronic form in a database and is associated with at least one bonus award that may be collected by a player of the gaming machine to which the stored optical code is affixed. An electronic optical code associated with one of the gaming machines is received responsive to scanning with a camera on the mobile computing device. The player may apply at least one of the bonus awards to the one electronic gaming machine in response to an input received at the mobile computing device. In one aspect, the mobile computing device displays real and virtual worlds.