Single Display Multi-Player Card Game System with Concealing Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Multi-player electronic card games face challenges in preserving a traditional user experience, reducing costs, and minimizing hardware failure risks due to the complexity and expense of multi-screen electronic tables.
Innovation Solution
A system that executes multi-player card games on a single display using computing devices to generate and manage player cards, with a single display embedded in a traditional table, and a concealing mechanism to protect face-down cards from other players, reducing hardware requirements and costs while maintaining a traditional table appearance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If multi-screen electronic tables are used to automate multi-player card games, then the need for human dealers and physical cards is eliminated, but the cost and hardware complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple display functions into a single display surface. Instead of using separate screens for each player and the dealer, one display surface shows all game elements including player hands, community cards, and dealer information. This consolidation reduces hardware complexity while maintaining full automation capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The single display surface serves multiple functions simultaneously - displaying player cards, community cards, pot information, and dealer actions all on one surface. This multi-functional approach eliminates the need for multiple specialized displays, reducing overall system complexity.
2Extent of automation
If multi-screen electronic tables are used, then card game automation is achieved, but production costs increase due to multiple electronic displays and synchronization hardware
Solution Approach 1:
By combining multiple display functions into a single display unit, the patent significantly reduces the bill of materials. Instead of requiring eleven different electronic displays and synchronization hardware, only one display is needed, substantially lowering production costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses software to create virtual representations of cards and game elements on the single display, replacing the need for physical cards and multiple physical displays. This virtual copying approach reduces hardware requirements and production costs.
3Loss of information
If multiple electronic screens are used for each player, then all player information can be displayed, but the risk of hardware failure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent consolidates all player information display onto a single display surface, reducing the number of hardware components that could fail. With only one display instead of multiple screens, the system has fewer failure points while still displaying all necessary player information through software rendering.
4Loss of information
If players have their own cards exposed on their own screen, then card information is visible to each player, but players must shield other players from their screens to prevent card exposure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges all card displays onto a single centralized display surface rather than individual player screens. This allows the system to control exactly which cards are visible to which players through software, eliminating the need for players to physically shield screens while maintaining proper card confidentiality.
Solution Approach 2:
The single display surface acts as an intermediary between players and card information. Instead of each player directly viewing their own screen, the centralized display mediates what information is shown to whom, allowing players to view their cards without exposing others while maintaining proper game protocols.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus, computer-readable medium, and computer-implemented method for executing a multi-player card game on a single display, including generating playing cards corresponding to each player in a plurality of players, transmitting a plurality of images to a plurality of regions of a single display, each region corresponding to a player in the plurality of players, each region being located at a position on the single display which is closer to a physical location reserved for the corresponding player than to any other physical location reserved for any other player, and the plurality of images including a representation of the playing cards corresponding to each player, receiving one or more inputs from one or more players in the plurality of players, and transmitting one or more new images to the single display in response to the one or more inputs.