Transparent Gaming Reels with Internal Display
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional gaming machines with mechanical rotating reels and video displays face issues such as difficulty in visually recognizing symbols due to high display brightness, incongruity between mechanical and video reel curvatures, and inability to create stereoscopic effects with multiple layers.
Innovation Solution
The use of transparent mechanical reels with motors, displays inside the reels, and a processor to generate start signals, determine symbols, and combine mechanical and video reel rotations, allowing players to see through the reels and create composite winning symbols by combining symbols on the reels with those on the display.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a display is placed in front of mechanical rotating reels, then video reel indication is improved, but visual recognition of symbols on mechanical reels deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The display is nested inside the mechanical rotating reels, with the display positioned within the reel structure rather than in front of it. This allows the display to be contained within the reel's cylindrical space, enabling video reel indication while maintaining visibility of the mechanical reels from the front.
Solution Approach 2:
The display is arranged in a different spatial dimension (inside the reel) rather than in the traditional front-position arrangement. This dimensional repositioning resolves the conflict between display visibility and mechanical reel visibility by placing the display in the internal space of the reel structure.
2Device complexity
If a flat display screen is used, then video reel indication is simplified, but curvature matching with mechanical reels deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The display screen is formed with a curved surface that matches the cylindrical curvature of the mechanical rotating reels. This curvature allows the display to conform to the reel's shape, creating visual congruity between the mechanical and video reels when viewed together.
3Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If transparent mechanical reels are used, then visual recognition of reels is improved, but construction complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mechanical rotating reels are constructed using transparent materials with thin-walled cylindrical structures. This allows the reels to be visually transparent while maintaining their mechanical function, enabling players to see both the mechanical reel rotation and the display inside through the transparent material.
4Ease of operation
If symbols are placed only on mechanical reels, then mechanical reel visibility is maintained, but stereoscopic effect with multiple layers is lost
Solution Approach 1:
Symbols are placed on both the mechanical rotating reels and the video display inside the reels. This combining of symbols on multiple layers (mechanical reel surface and internal display) creates a stereoscopic effect when viewed together, enhancing visual entertainment while maintaining mechanical reel visibility.
Data Source
AI summary
A gaming machine 1 with a plurality of transparent mechanical reels 51a to 51e, a plurality of motors 60a to 60e arranged respectively for spinning and stopping the transparent mechanical reels 51a to 51e, and a display 20 arranged inside of circumference of the transparent mechanical reels 51a to 51e through which the display can be visually recognized from a player's viewpoint. The gaming machine (a) generates a start signal in response to a player's operation, (b) receives the generated start signal and randomly determines a symbol to be stopped and displayed, (c) displays rotation of combination of the transparent mechanical reels 51a to 51e rotated by the motors 60a to 60e and the video reels shown on the display 20, and (d) stops the rotational display at any determined symbol and grants an award to a player.