Multiplayer Urinal Gaming System with Stream Sensing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for gamifying urinal use in public restrooms, such as sports bars and restaurants, primarily offer solitary and unengaging single-player experiences that do not effectively promote cleanliness or reward users or businesses.
Innovation Solution
A multiplayer gaming system where users compete based on characteristics of their urine streams, using urine sensing systems integrated with urinals, and mobile devices to interact with the system, providing rewards like loyalty points and displaying results on a common display or mobile devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If single-player urinal gaming systems are implemented, then user engagement is provided, but user engagement and cleanliness improvement are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple urinal gaming systems into a multiplayer networked environment where users at different urinals can compete simultaneously. The system combines urine stream detection from multiple sensors, integrates results into a unified game competition displayed on common displays, and creates a shared gaming experience that transforms isolated single-player interactions into engaging multiplayer competition, thereby significantly improving both user engagement and motivation for accurate urination.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements real-time feedback by continuously monitoring urine stream characteristics through sensors at multiple urinals, immediately processing this data into game scores and rankings, and displaying results on common displays visible to all users. This immediate feedback loop allows users to see their performance relative to others in real-time, creating competitive motivation that enhances both engagement and cleanliness behavior.
2Productivity
If multiplayer gaming system is implemented, then user engagement and cleanliness are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs multi-functional urine sensing systems that detect multiple characteristics (flow rate, accuracy, volume) simultaneously, and common displays that serve both as game scoreboards and cleanliness instruction tools. The centralized processing system handles multiple urinals' data, game logic, and reward distribution through a single integrated platform, reducing overall system complexity despite the multiplayer capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a centralized processing system as an intermediary that receives data from multiple distributed urine sensors, processes game logic, and communicates results to common displays and user mobile devices. This intermediary layer abstracts the complexity of multiplayer coordination, allowing individual urinal sensors to remain simple while achieving complex multiplayer functionality through centralized management.
Data Source
AI summary
A urinal-based multiplayer gaming system is provided. The system includes a plurality of urinals, each including a respective urine sensing system, each urine sensing system configured to sense, when active, a urine stream attribute of urine collected at that urinal. A common display is viewable from each of the plurality of urinals. A processing system is configured to: execute a computer-implemented game responsive to urine stream attributes received from the active urine sensing systems; and render game graphics on the common display during execution of the computer-implemented game, wherein the game graphics include, for each of the active urine sensing systems, a corresponding graphical component.