Touchless Slot Machine Interface Using IR Proximity Sensing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing touch-based interfaces in casinos and gaming machines are prone to indirect person-to-person contact, leading to potential disease transmission, and existing touchless solutions are either inaccurate or excessively complex and costly, making them impractical for widespread adoption.
Innovation Solution
A touchless user interface system utilizing a sensor with a light emitting diode and photodiode, coupled with a microcontroller, to detect object proximity and activate a switch based on predefined time intervals, accompanied by visual feedback through LEDs, replacing traditional mechanical buttons.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If proximity sensing is used to register button presses, then touchless input is achieved, but accidental touching is likely to occur and the sensing distance must be very close
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses periodic pulsed infrared illumination instead of continuous light, sending out light pulses at specific intervals. The photodiode is synchronized to detect only during these pulse windows, creating a periodic detection mechanism that reduces false detections from ambient light while maintaining reliable proximity sensing at a safe distance.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary verification by measuring the time-of-flight of the reflected light pulse. By calculating the round-trip time of the infrared pulse from emission to detection, the system can distinguish between genuine proximity (object within valid distance range) and false detections, enabling reliable touchless operation without accidental activation.
2Ease of operation
If machine vision with camera and processing unit is used, then gesture-based input is achieved, but system complexity and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex mechanical vision systems (cameras, image processing units, gesture recognition algorithms) with a simple optical sensing mechanism using infrared LEDs and photodiodes. This substitution dramatically reduces system complexity, component count, and cost while maintaining touchless operation capability through time-of-flight measurement instead of visual gesture analysis.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts only the essential function needed for touchless operation - detecting the presence and distance of an object - from the complex machine vision system. By using simple infrared emission and detection with time-of-flight measurement, it removes unnecessary complexity of camera systems, image processing, and gesture recognition while achieving the core goal of contactless input.
3Ease of operation
If eye tracking technology is used, then gaze-based input is achieved, but system complexity and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex eye tracking systems with simple optical proximity sensing. Instead of using cameras to track eye movements and gaze direction, the system uses infrared LEDs and photodiodes to detect the presence and distance of the user's face or hand, providing sufficient information for touchless button activation without the complexity of gaze tracking hardware and software.
4Reliability
If traditional mechanical buttons are used, then reliable input is achieved, but indirect person-to-person contact occurs leading to disease transmission
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical buttons with an optical sensing system using infrared LEDs and photodiodes. This substitution eliminates the need for physical contact while maintaining reliable input detection through time-of-flight measurement, thereby removing the disease transmission risk associated with shared mechanical surfaces while preserving input reliability.
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
Provides accurate and durable touchless interaction, reducing disease transmission risks while being cost-effective and suitable for retrofitting existing systems, offering visual confirmation of button presses.
Implementation Method 1
a first sensor output signal is HIGH, begin the timer; (2) when a pre-specified amount of time has elapsed as indicated by the timer, set the switch to an ON configuration
Implementation Method 2
a first sensor, comprising a first light emitting diode and a first photodiode; a first sensor signal conditioning unit coupled to the first sensor and configured to raise a first sensor output signal HIGH when the first photodiode detects a light pulse of sufficient intensity emitted by the first light emitting diode and reflected off an object
Data Source
AI summary
This application is directed to touchless interfaces. Some embodiments disclosed are directed to plug and play replacements for casino gaming machine touch-based interfaces on, e.g., slot machines. Existing slot machine interfaces can be replaced with touchless interfaces of the inventive subject matter to enable touchless interaction with gaming machines. This allows people in casinos to minimize contact with gaming machines to stymy the spread of diseases like COVID-19.