Passive Wand Tracking with Retro-Reflective Gesture Detection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Amusement parks face challenges in providing interactive and engaging attractions that can divert guest traffic and enhance entertainment value without increasing costs or compromising the thematic experience.
Innovation Solution
A passive wand tracking system that uses retro-reflective materials to detect wand movements and actuate effects based on predefined gestures, employing electromagnetic radiation emission and sensing, without active components like LEDs or RF transmitters, to create interactive experiences in various lighting conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional rides and shows are added to increase capacity, then guest traffic handling improves, but the complexity and cost of the attraction system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The wand tracking system allows guests to independently interact with attractions through simple wave motions, eliminating the need for complex operator-controlled mechanisms. The system automatically detects wand position, identifies gestures, and triggers effects without human intervention, reducing operational complexity while maintaining high guest throughput.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical ride control systems with an optical sensing system that uses cameras and computer vision to detect wand gestures. This substitution eliminates complex mechanical linkages, motors, and control panels, reducing device complexity while enabling more intuitive and frequent guest interactions.
2Adaptability or versatility
If interactive elements are added to enhance entertainment value, then guest engagement improves, but the cost and complexity of the system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The wand tracking system serves multiple functions: it tracks wand position, identifies various gestures (waves, circles, patterns), triggers different effects, and adapts to different lighting conditions all through a single integrated system. This multi-functionality increases guest interaction versatility without proportionally increasing system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system adapts to different lighting conditions by adjusting camera exposure, gain, and filtering parameters in real-time. This allows the interactive system to maintain functionality across diverse environments (indoor, outdoor, daytime, nighttime) without requiring separate hardware systems for each condition, thereby enhancing versatility cost-effectively.
3Ease of operation
If passive wands without active components are used, then the thematic mystery and simplicity improve, but the difficulty of detecting and measuring wand position increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces retro-reflective markers as intermediaries on the passive wand. These markers reflect light from the environment or dedicated light sources back to cameras, enabling detection without requiring active components on the wand itself. This intermediary solution maintains wand simplicity and thematic mystery while solving the detection challenge.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses retro-reflective materials with specific optical properties that reflect light in characteristic patterns or colors. By detecting these reflected light patterns, the system can identify and track the passive wand's position and orientation without the wand containing any active electronic components, preserving both simplicity and detectability.
4Adaptability or versatility
If tolerance levels are adjusted to accommodate different retro-reflective materials, then the adaptability of gesture recognition improves, but the precision of path matching may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts tolerance levels based on the identified retro-reflective material type and environmental conditions. Rather than using a fixed tolerance threshold, the system adapts its matching criteria in real-time to balance between accommodating material variations and maintaining accurate gesture recognition, thereby resolving the contradiction between adaptability and precision.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables economical and immersive guest interactions, diversifying attractions and enhancing entertainment value while maintaining a thematic mystery, and operating effectively in diverse lighting environments.
Implementation Method 1
a retro-reflective material of an article positioned in the area
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
A system in accordance with present embodiments includes a source of electromagnetic radiation that operates to emit electromagnetic radiation into an active playing area. The system also includes a sensing device that operates to receive the electromagnetic radiation after being reflected from a retro-reflective material of an article positioned in the active playing area and operable to generate data based on receiving reflected electromagnetic radiation from a series of article positions. Further, the system includes a controller that operates to process the data generated by the sensing device to determine whether the series of article positions correlate to a stored gesture and output a control signal to actuate an effect when the series of article positions correlate to the stored gesture.