Player Tracking via Body-Conducted Electrical Signals
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current player tracking systems in gaming environments, such as those using PT cards, are inconvenient for both operators and patrons, costly, and prone to errors due to card loss or misplacement, with alternative methods like Bluetooth-based solutions being unreliable in densely packed casino environments.
Innovation Solution
A method utilizing a player's smartphone or PDA to establish a one-to-one linkage with an Electronic Gaming Machine (EGM) through a small electrical signal, where the player's body acts as a signal conduit, using projected capacitance technology to detect and modulate a charge pattern for identification, eliminating the need for physical cards and reducing equipment costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If Bluetooth protocol is used for player tracking, then convenience for patrons is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to signal interference and identical field strength from multiple EGMs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the identification function from wireless broadcast signals and implements it through direct electrical signal transmission via the player's body as a conduit. This removes the signal interference problem by creating a dedicated, isolated transmission path from the specific EGM to the mobile device, eliminating cross-talk from other EGMs in the environment.
Solution Approach 2:
The player's body serves as an intermediary conductor that directly transmits electrical signals from the EGM's touch surface to the mobile device. This physical intermediary creates a unique, traceable signal path that cannot be confused with signals from other EGMs, solving the field strength ambiguity problem.
2Reliability
If PT cards with magnetic strips are used, then player identification is achieved, but device complexity and costs increase due to card readers required in every EGM
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical card insertion and magnetic strip reading system with an electrical signal transmission system through the player's body. The mobile device's touchscreen capacitor detects electrical signals directly, eliminating the need for dedicated card readers in each EGM and reducing hardware complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The EGM's existing touch surface serves multiple functions: it acts as both the game interface and the signal transmission medium. The mobile device's touchscreen also serves dual purposes as both display and signal receiver, eliminating the need for separate dedicated tracking hardware.
3Reliability
If PT cards are tethered with lanyards, then card loss is prevented, but ease of operation deteriorates due to ergonomic inconvenience and visual obstruction
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the identification function from the physical card entirely and transfers it to the player's mobile device. This eliminates the need for physical attachment methods like lanyards, as the mobile device naturally remains with the player without creating ergonomic obstructions.
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
This solution provides a convenient, cost-effective, and reliable player tracking system that eliminates the need for physical cards, reduces equipment expenses, and enhances the gaming experience by allowing seamless association of players with EGMs without the ergonomic and aesthetic drawbacks of tethered cards.
Implementation Method 1
using projected capacitance technology to detect and modulate a charge pattern for identification
Implementation Method 2
transmitting, the signal from the first touch surface through the signal conduit to a second touch surface on a receiving device
Data Source
AI summary
A method of player tracking includes generating, by a transmitting device, a signal modulated to contain an identification of the transmitting device, charging at least a portion of a first touch surface on the transmitting device with the signal such that the signal is present and transmittable, transmitting, the signal from the first touch surface through the signal conduit to a second touch surface on a receiving device, receiving, by a gaming system, an authentication request comprising the identification, authenticating, by the gaming system, the transmitting device based on the identification, and linking, by the gaming system, the transmitting device with the receiving device.