U.S. patent application number 10/182557 was filed with the patent office on 2003-02-27 for computerized puppet theatre.
Invention is credited to Arlinsky, David.
Application Number | 20030039947 10/182557 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 11073797 |
Filed Date | 2003-02-27 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030039947 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Arlinsky, David |
February 27, 2003 |
Computerized puppet theatre
Abstract
A computerized puppet theatre (1, 100, 120) including one or
more puppets P each capable of performing visually discernible
actions and/or translatory stage movements on a stage (6, 122) for
playing the role of at least one character of a puppet show in
accordance with a computerized puppet show script. A computerized
puppet show script may be either pre-prepared, or user directed and
produced using a computerized script editing station and at least
one hand worn manipulator (101) for controlling puppets.
Inventors: |
Arlinsky, David; (Atlit,
IL) |
Correspondence
Address: |
NATH & ASSOCIATES
1030 15th STREET
6TH FLOOR
WASHINGTON
DC
20005
US
|
Family ID: |
11073797 |
Appl. No.: |
10/182557 |
Filed: |
July 30, 2002 |
PCT Filed: |
February 7, 2001 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/IL01/00122 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
434/308 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63J 19/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
434/308 |
International
Class: |
G09B 005/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Feb 8, 2000 |
IL |
134432 |
Claims
1. Computerized puppet theatre for staging a puppet show, the
theatre comprising: (a) a stage; (b) at least one puppet each
capable of performing visually discernible actions and/or
translatory stage movements on said stage; and (c) at least one
hand worn manipulator each capable of controlling at least one
puppet of said at least one puppet for staging a user directed and
produced puppet show.
2. The theatre as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising: (a) a
computerized script editing station for recording a computerized
puppet show script of the user directed and produced puppet show
including the instructions for the visually discernible actions
and/or translatory stage movements of said at least one hand worn
manipulator controlled puppet; and (b) a computerized control
circuitry for executing a computerized puppet show script for
staging either a user directed and produced or a pre-prepared
puppet show.
3. The theatre as claimed in claim 2 wherein a computerized puppet
show script includes a soundtrack for playing back over a sound
system.
4. The theatre as claimed in claim 2 wherein a computerized puppet
show script includes instructions for operating a lighting system
integrally formed with the theatre.
5. The theatre as claimed in claim 2 wherein each puppet of said at
least one puppet is capable of assuming at least one appearance,
and said computerized control circuitry is capable of identifying
the at least one appearance of each puppet of said at least one
puppet for allocation of the characters of the pre-prepared puppet
show to the at least one puppet by appearance.
6. The theatre as claimed in claim 5 wherein a puppet is adapted to
receive an exchangeable puppet exterior for changing its
appearance, each said puppet exterior having an appearance
identifier device addressable by said computerized control
circuitry for enabling identification of its appearance.
7. The theatre as claimed in claim 5 wherein a puppet has a front
side and a rear side each having a different appearance only one
thereof being employed for portraying a character at any one time
during the staging of a puppet show, and an appearance identifier
device addressable by said computerized control circuitry for
enabling identification of its two appearances, and its disposition
relative to a user the staging of a puppet show.
8. The theatre as claimed in claim 2 wherein said computerized
control circuitry instructs a user which characters are required to
stage a pre-prepared puppet show.
9. The theatre as claimed in claim 2 wherein said computerized
control circuitry stages a pre-prepared puppet show on the
condition that all its characters are portrayed on said stage.
10. The theatre as claimed in claim 1 wherein a puppet is motorized
for effecting its visually discernible actions in accordance with a
computerized puppet show script.
11. The theatre as claimed in claim 1 wherein a puppet includes
electrical current sensitive springs for effecting its visually
discernible actions in accordance with a computerized puppet show
script.
12. The theatre as claimed in claim 1 wherein a manipulator
includes a selector for selecting which puppet of said at least one
puppet is to be instantaneously under its control.
13. The theatre as claimed in claim 1 wherein a manipulator
includes a sensor for sensing a pincer-like finger movement of a
pair of a user's fingers for effecting a puppet's hand clapping
action.
14. The theatre as claimed in claim 13 wherein a manipulator
includes a pair of sensors for sensing up/down movements of the
pair of user's fingers executing the pincer-like finger movement
for independently raising and lowering a puppet's arms.
15. The theatre as claimed in claim 1 wherein a manipulator
includes a sensor for sensing a user's finger bending movement for
effecting a puppet's head nodding action.
16. The theatre as claimed in claim 15 wherein the user's finger
controlling a puppet's head nodding action is interdisposed between
his fingers for effecting the puppet's hand clapping action.
17. The theatre as claimed in claim 1 wherein a manipulator
includes a linear displacement sensitive sensor for controlling the
position of a puppet on said stage.
18. The theatre as claimed in claim 17 wherein said linear
displacement sensitive sensor senses a roll orientation of a user's
forearm between an upright orientation and a flat orientation with
his forearm crossing his body corresponding to two extreme
translatory positions of a puppet on said stage.
19. The theatre as claimed in claim 1 wherein a manipulator
includes an angular displacement sensitive sensor for controlling
the turning of a puppet on said stage.
20. The theatre as claimed in claim 19 wherein said angular
displacement sensitive sensor senses the twist orientation of a
user's hand between a "palm facing out" orientation and a "palm
facing sideways" orientation corresponding to two extreme
rotational positions of a puppet on said stage relative to a
user.
21. The theatre as claimed in claim 1 wherein said manipulator is
concealed in a glove puppet.
22. For use with a computerized puppet theatre as claimed in claim
1, a computer program loadable into the computerized puppet theatre
for staging a pre-prepared puppet show in accordance with a
computerized puppet show script including instructions for the
visually discernible actions and/or translatory stage movements of
each character of its one or more characters, and a soundtrack for
playing back over the sound system.
23. The computer program as claimed in claim 22 wherein the
computer program resides on a Website.
24. The computer program as claimed in claim 22 wherein the
computer program is tangibly embodied in a computer readable
medium.
25. For use with a computerized puppet theatre as claimed in claim
1, a puppet capable of performing at least visually discernible
actions and capable of assuming at least one appearance each having
an appearance identifier device associated therewith whereby a
computerized control circuitry of the computerized puppet theatre
is capable of identifying the at least one appearance of each
puppet of said at least one puppet for allocation of the characters
of the pre-prepared puppet show to the at least one puppet by
appearance.
26. The puppet as claimed in claim 25 wherein a puppet is adapted
to receive an exchangeable puppet exterior for changing its
appearance, each said puppet exterior having an appearance
identifier device addressable by said computerized control
circuitry for enabling identification of its appearance.
27. The puppet as claimed in claim 25 wherein a puppet has a front
side and a rear side each having a different appearance only one
thereof being employed for portraying a character at any one time
during the staging of a puppet show, and an appearance identifier
device addressable by said computerized control circuitry for
enabling identification of its two appearances, and its disposition
relative to a user the staging of a puppet show.
28. The puppet as claimed in claim 25 wherein it is motorized for
effecting its visually discernible actions in accordance with a
computerized puppet show script.
29. The puppet as claimed in claim 25 wherein it includes
electrical current sensitive springs for effecting its visually
discernible actions in accordance with a computerized puppet show
script.
30. A computer program for running a computerized script editing
station for recording a computerized puppet show script of a user
directed and produced puppet show including the instructions for
the visually discernible actions and/or translatory stage movements
of at least puppet under the controlled of a hand worn
manipulator.
31. The computer program as claimed in claim 30 wherein the
computer program enables the recording of a soundtrack for playing
back over a sound system.
32. The computer program as claimed in claim 30 wherein the
computer program enables the recording of instructions for
operating a lighting system.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The invention is in the field of game apparatus.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Children the world over are enchanted by storytelling, role
playing, Punch and Judy shows, and the like.
[0003] To this end, various game apparatuses in the broadest sense
are known in the art including inter alia:
[0004] U.S. Pat. No. 3,812,611 to Bierwiler illustrates and
describes an motorized children's marionette theatre including one
or more puppets hanging from self-propelled puppet transport
vehicles which may include additional mechanisms for imparting
movements to a puppet's arms legs, etc.
[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 4,141,176 to Flicker et al. illustrates and
describes a toy camera having a rotatable lens for actuating a
posable doll mounted on a platform, and a viewfinder for viewing
the doll so as to simulate a photography session.
[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,994 to Tong illustrates and describes an
interactive computer controlled motorized doll in which a program
source can operate one or more dolls provided with actuators for
moving doll parts, a speaker, etc.
[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,602 to Kikinis illustrates and describes
a PC peripheral interactive doll similar to U.S. Pat. No. '994.
[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 5,766,077 to Hongo illustrates and describes a
game apparatus where characters corresponding to three dimensional
toy bodies are displayed on a monitor, and controllers effect
movements of the characters on the monitor.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] Broadly speaking, the present invention is for a
computerized puppet theatre for staging puppet shows for children
(a child hereinafter referred to as a user) of different ages
ranging from pre-school age through to high school age for both
entertainment purposes, for example, for staging Red Riding Hood,
Robin Hood, and the like, and educational purposes, for example,
for teaching popular science, history, and the like.
[0010] A basic version of the computerized puppet theatre of the
present invention stages a pre-prepared puppet show particularly
suitable for young users including reproduction of a soundtrack
with narration, music, songs, etc, and optional lighting effects,
in accordance with a computerized puppet show script. Each script
includes instructions for visually discernible actions, for
example, nodding, clapping hands, and the like, and/or translatory
stage movements of each of its characters played by a different
puppet. The puppets preferably have appearances corresponding to
the characters which they are intended to portray but they also may
have non-distinguishing appearances. The soundtrack is a preferably
multi-track soundtrack such that different tracks can be played
back over different speakers of a multi-speaker sound system, for
example, to enable each puppet to play back only those parts of a
script associated with its character, thereby rendering a more
interesting, life-like performance.
[0011] A more sophisticated version of the computerized puppet
theatre of the present invention enables older users to stage their
own puppet shows by way of a script editing software application,
and one or more hand worn manipulators each controlling a puppet's
visually discernible actions, and its translatory stage movements.
Additionally, one or more remote computerized puppet theatres can
communicate with one another via an on-line chat site such that
they each can simultaneously stage the same puppet show in a
similar manner to an on-line bridge game.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] In order to understand the invention and to see how it can
be carried out in practice, preferred embodiments will now be
described, by way of non-limiting examples only, with reference to
the accompanying drawings, in which similar parts are likewise
numbered, and in which:
[0013] FIG. 1A is a pictorial representation illustrating a first
embodiment of a computerized puppet theatre for staging a
pre-prepared puppet show in accordance with the present
invention;
[0014] FIG. 1B is a pictorial representation of a puppet of the
computerized puppet theatre of FIG. 1;
[0015] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the computerized puppet theatre
of FIG. 1;
[0016] FIG. 3 is a pictorial partially cut-away representation of
the puppet of FIG. 1B;
[0017] FIGS. 4A and 4B are pictorial longitudinal cross sectional
representations of the puppet of FIG. 1B with its right arm being
raised and its right hand effecting a hand clapping action,
respectively;
[0018] FIG. 5 is a pictorial representation of a second embodiment
of a computerized puppet theatre in accordance with the present
invention;
[0019] FIG. 6 is a pictorial representation illustrating a hand
worn manipulator concealed in a glove puppet for use with the
computerized puppet theatre of FIG. 5;
[0020] FIGS. 7A and 7B are pictorial representations illustrating
the use of the manipulator of FIG. 6 for effecting a stage movement
of a puppet between an extreme leftmost position (FIG. 7A) and an
extreme rightmost position (FIG. 7B) on the stage of the
computerized puppet theatre of FIG. 5, respectively;
[0021] FIGS. 8A and 8B are pictorial representations illustrating
the use of the manipulator of FIG. 6 for turning a puppet from a
front facing position (FIG. 8A) to a side facing position (FIG. 8B)
on the stage of the computerized puppet theatre of FIG. 5,
respectively;
[0022] FIG. 9 is a pictorial representation of a third embodiment
of a computerized puppet theatre in accordance with the present
invention;
[0023] FIG. 10 is a pictorial representation of a set of Batman and
Robin portraying puppet exterior, and a CD storing computerized
Batman and Robin puppet show scripts; and FIG. 11 is a pictorial
representation of a puppet having a front side and a rear side each
having a different appearance for portraying a different
character.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0024] With reference now to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a computerized puppet
theatre 1 is configured as a battery or mains operated portable
housing 2 having a base 3 and a cover 4 disposable between a closed
position, and an open position enabling the staging of a
pre-prepared puppet show. The base 3 includes a stage 6 having a
pair of parallel grooves G1 and G2 each associated with a puppet
transport device D (see FIG. 3) for sliding its associated puppet P
therealong constituting a so-called translatory stage movement. The
housing 2 has a speaker 7 connected to a sound system 8 (see FIG.
2) for playing back a soundtrack including narration, background
music, special sound effects, and the like, and one or more
spotlights 9 for illuminating the stage 6.
[0025] Each puppet P has a body portion 11 with a movable head
support 12, a pair of movable arms 13A and 13B, and a speaker 16
connected to the sound system 8. The head support 12 is adapted to
have an exchangeable puppet exterior 17 snap fitted thereon. Each
puppet exterior 17 includes an appearance identifier device 18 for
enabling computerized identification of its appearance for
allocation of characters to puppets based on their appearance.
Different puppet exteriors 17 are employed for staging different
puppet shows.
[0026] The housing 2 has an ON/OFF switch 19, a volume control 21,
a puppet show selection interface 22, a cassette player like user
interface 23, computerized control circuitry 24 including a main
controller 26, a flash memory 27, a communication controller 28, a
LCD display 29 and the sound system 8 (see FIG. 2).
[0027] The puppet show selection interface 22 includes a COM button
22A, a SELECT button 22B, and SCROLL UP and SCROLL DOWN buttons 22C
and 22D. The COM button 22A controls the communication controller
27 for establishing a connection to a Website 31, an external data
storage device 32, for example, a CD, a DVD, and the like, storing
an inventory of computerized puppet show scripts. The SELECT button
22B selects a computerized puppet show script to be executed for
staging a puppet show. The SCROLL UP and SCROLL DOWN buttons 22C
and 22D enable a user to scroll through computerized puppet show
scripts stored in the flash memory 26.
[0028] The user interface 23 includes a PLAY button 23A, a STOP
button 23B, a REWIND button 23C, and a FORWARD button 23D. The PLAY
button 23A activates the main controller 26 for controlling the
puppets P, the puppet transport devices D, the sound system 8, and
the spotlights 9 for staging a puppet show on the stage 6 in
accordance with the computerized puppet show script stored in the
flash memory 27. The REWIND and FORWARD buttons 23C and 23D
respectively rewind and forward the computerized puppet show script
stored in the flash memory 27 in either slow mode or fast mode
similar to a VCR, namely, in the slow mode, the puppet show is
rewound or forwarded at regular play speed such that a user can
arrive at a particular part of the puppet show whilst, in the fast
mode, the puppet show is not staged.
[0029] With reference now to FIG. 3, a puppet's body portion 11
includes a lower section 37 which extends through its associated
groove G, and an upper generally cylindrical section 38 disposed
above the stage 6. The lower section 37 is formed with oppositely
formed apertures 39A and 39B through which extends a rack 41 along
which a puppet P is driven by a puppet transport device D
constituted by a motor driven pinion 42 under the control of the
main controller 26. The upper section 38 is rotatably mounted on
the lower section 37 by way of a motor 43 under the control of the
main controller 26, and is capable of being rotated through about
90.degree. between a front position facing a user (see FIG. 8A) and
a side position facing across the stage (see FIG. 8B). The upper
section 38 includes an upper slot 44 through which extends the head
support 12, and a pair of oppositely disposed arcuate slots 46A and
46B through which extend the arms 13A and 13B, respectively. The
head support 12 can be rocked to and fro by a motor 47 under the
control of the main controller 26 whereby the puppet head 17 can
effect a head nodding action (see FIG. 4A). Each arm 13 is
supported on a support rod 48 transversing a bearing 49 mounted in
an arcuate support piece 51 having an outermost portion 52
slidingly mounted in its associated aperture 46. Each support rod
48 is rotatable by a motor 53 under the control of the main
controller 26 whereby its associated arm 13 can be raised and
lowered (see FIG. 4A). Each support piece 51 has a lower rack
portion 54 engaged by a motor driven pinion 56 under the control of
the main controller 26 whereby a puppet's arms 13A and 13B can
effect a hand clapping action (see FIG. 4B).
[0030] The use of the computerized puppet theatre 1 is as
follows:
[0031] A user depresses the COM button whereupon the list of
available titles of computerized puppet show scripts is displayed
on the LCD display and/or announced over the speaker. Sufficient
time is provided between consecutive titles such that a user has
sufficient time to consider whether he is interested in a
particular title. On hearing a title of a puppet show that he is
interested in watching, the user depresses the SELECT button
whereupon the computerized puppet show script is downloaded to his
computerized puppet theatre. The user presses the PLAY button for
staging the puppet show on the computerized puppet theatre
whereupon the computerized control circuitry checks whether the
puppets have the correct puppet exteriors for portraying all the
characters of the selected computerized puppet show script. If
necessary, the user is instructed to clip certain puppet exteriors
onto the puppets. The computerized control circuitry identifies
which puppet is portraying which character by its appearance from
its appearance identifier device and then proceeds to control each
puppet in accordance with the character of the selected
computerized puppet show script. At the same time that it is
controlling the puppets on the stage, the computerized control
circuitry plays back the soundtrack over the sound system, and
operates the lighting system if instructions are also included in
the selected computerized puppet show script. The script can be
rewound and forwarded in either slow mode or fast mode as described
hereinabove.
[0032] With reference now to FIG. 5, a computerized puppet theatre
100 is similar to the computerized puppet theatre 1 insofar that it
can stage pre-prepared puppet shows but it enables a user to
control the visually discernible actions, and the stage movements
of a puppet P puppet on-the-fly by way of a hand worn manipulator
101 (see FIG. 6) concealed in a glove puppet 102. The computerized
puppet theatre 100 can also be hooked up to a computer 103 running
a script editing software application for transforming the computer
103 into a computerized script editing station for recording an
entire original user directed and produced computerized puppet show
script in a similar manner to a film producer producing a film. The
computerized puppet theatre 100 has a port 104 for cable connection
to the computer 103, and has four ports 106 for cable connection of
upto four glove puppets 101 for controlling upto four puppets P.
The computerized puppet theatre 100 may not necessarily be provided
with its own sound system which instead the computer's sound system
may be used for the purpose of staging a puppet show.
[0033] With reference now to FIG. 6, a manipulator 101 includes a
control box 107 for comfortably nesting in the palm of a user's
hand, and a finger activated selector 108 (not shown) for selecting
the puppet P to be under its instantaneous control if there are
more puppets P than manipulators 101. The manipulator 101 includes
a sensor 109 for sensing a pincer-like finger movement denoted A of
a user's thumb and middle finger for effecting a puppet's hand
clapping action. The sensor 109 is constituted by a pair of
oppositely disposed flex sensitive sensors 111A and 111B having
finger sockets 112A and 112B for receiving a user's thumb and
middle finger. Each flex sensitive sensor 111 includes a pair of
leaf springs 113A and 113B sandwiching therebetween a force
sensitive resistor 114. The flex sensitive sensors 111A and 111B
are rotatably mounted on the control box 109 which includes a pair
of potentiometers 116A and 116B for sensing up/down movements
denoted B of the user's thumb and middle finger for independently
raising and lowering a puppet's arms. An additional flex sensitive
sensor 111C is interdisposed between the pair of opposite flex
sensitive sensors 111A and 111B and is provided with a finger
socket 112C for receiving a user's forefinger for sensing a finger
bending movement denoted C for effecting a puppet's head nodding
action. The manipulator 101 includes a fluid inclinometer 117
constituting a linear displacement sensitive sensor for sensing the
orientation of a user's forearm between an upright orientation K1
(see FIG. 7A) and a flat orientation K2 (see FIG. 7B) across his
body for effecting a stage movement of its associated puppet P from
an extreme leftmost position L1 (see FIG. 7A) to an extreme
rightmost position L2 (see FIG. 7B) along its associated groove G,
respectively. The manipulator 101 includes an electronic compass
118 constituting a rotation displacement sensitive sensor for
sensing the orientation of a user's hand between a so-called "palm
facing out" orientation M1 in which the puppet P faces the user N1
(see FIG. 8A) and a so-called "palm facing sideways" orientation M2
in which the puppet P faces across the stage M2 (see FIG. 8B).
[0034] The use of the computerized puppet theatre 100 is as
follows:
[0035] A user prepares a manuscript for a computerized puppet show
script which he wishes to produce. The manuscript includes all the
visually discernible actions, for example, clapping hands, nodding
its head, etc, and stage movements of all the characters involved
in his intended puppet show, and their narrations. In addition, the
manuscript may include background music, sound effects, and
lighting effects. Once the manuscript is ready, the user snaps the
appropriate puppet exteriors onto the puppets whereupon he can now
begin recording his puppet show. The script editing software
application running on the computer identifies the puppet exteriors
and records a separate track for each puppet. The tracks for the
different puppets can be recorded consecutively or simultaneously
depending on how many users are controlling the puppets. If a
single user is controlling four puppets, he can switch between the
puppets on-the-fly by pressing the selector on his manipulator. At
the same time he is recording the tracks for the puppets, he can
record a soundtrack. Once all the relevant script portions have
been recorded, the user then edits the entire script adding
background music, sound effects, and lighting effects to produce
the final computerized puppet show script which can then be staged
on the computerized puppet theatre in the same manner as a
pre-prepared computerized puppet show script.
[0036] While the invention has been described with respect to a
limited number of embodiments, it will be appreciated that many
variations, modifications and other applications of the invention
can be made within the scope of the appended claims- For example,
FIG. 9 exemplifies a computerized puppet theatre 120 employing a
magnetic propulsion arrangement 121 for effecting multi-directional
translatory stage movements of puppets P on a stage 122, and
wireless communication between glove puppets 102, a computer 103,
and the stage 122. FIG. 10 exemplifies a set of Batman and Robin
puppet exteriors 123 and 124 for sale together with a data storage
device 126, for example, a CD, a DVD, or similar, storing one or
more computerized Batman and Robin puppet show scripts. FIG. 11
exemplifies a puppet 127 having a front side and a rear side each
having a different appearance, say, a businessman 128 and a nurse
129, only one thereof being employable at any one time during the
staging of a puppet show. The puppet 127 has an appearance
identifier device 18 enabling identification of its two appearances
when mounted on stage, and its disposition such that one or the
other of its appearances faces a user. Puppets may not be motorized
as illustrated and described hereinabove but instead may employ
electrical current sensitive springs to effect their visually
discernible actions.
* * * * *