Touch-Sensitive Game Board with Camera Tracking for Space-Efficient Multiplayer Play
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional board games require multiple physical pieces and setups, taking space and risking loss, while digital adaptations often focus on player-to-screen interactions rather than multiplayer table-top play.
Innovation Solution
A touch-sensitive game board system that displays a game board image and senses user input to move virtual game pieces, eliminating the need for physical pieces and allowing multiple player interactions, with features like optical louvres for privacy and AI for opponent simulation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional board games are used, then player interaction and strategic elements are improved, but space consumption and risk of piece loss increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a camera to capture images of physical game pieces and displays them as virtual copies on a touchscreen interface. This allows players to interact with digital representations of traditional game pieces, maintaining the tactile and visual experience of physical games while eliminating the need for multiple physical game sets and reducing space requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces physical game pieces and boards with digital equivalents displayed on a touchscreen. The mechanical interaction of moving physical pieces is substituted with touch-based digital manipulation, while the camera system captures and displays real-time images of actual pieces, creating a hybrid system that combines physical and digital elements.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple traditional board games are collected, then game variety is improved, but space consumption and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal gaming platform that can accommodate multiple different board games through a single touchscreen device. The system uses a camera to identify various game pieces and displays them in context-specific virtual boards, allowing one device to replace multiple dedicated game boards and piece sets, thereby reducing overall system complexity while maintaining game variety.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic game board configuration where the virtual board layout and game rules can change based on the detected physical pieces and selected game mode. The system adapts its interface and functionality in real-time, allowing a single static device to provide multiple dynamic game experiences without requiring physical reconfiguration of game components.
3Area of stationary object
If digital video games are used, then space efficiency is improved, but player-to-player interaction is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a camera as an intermediary that captures images of physical game pieces and transmits them to the touchscreen display. This intermediary system bridges the gap between physical pieces and digital interface, allowing players to see and interact with representations of actual pieces on screen while maintaining the social, table-top interaction experience of traditional board games.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for electronic board game play by producing on a display surface a first image which is a field of play image that senses at least one object on the display surface. The object is proximate or in contact with the display surface thus forming on a table-top horizontal display surface, at least one game piece image overlaid on the field of play image, and determined by sensing a position of the object on the display surface.