U.S. patent application number 12/598109 was filed with the patent office on 2010-08-05 for interactive media.
This patent application is currently assigned to SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT EUROPE LIMITED. Invention is credited to Adriana Maria Eyzaguirre, Peter John Hodges.
Application Number | 20100197411 12/598109 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38170948 |
Filed Date | 2010-08-05 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100197411 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Eyzaguirre; Adriana Maria ;
et al. |
August 5, 2010 |
Interactive Media
Abstract
A removable storage medium comprising media content, and further
comprising supplementary data for use with interactive toys, the
supplementary data being categorised according to one or more
criteria selected from the list consisting of: i. physical
capabilities of an interactive toy; ii. target age-range of a user
of an interactive toy; iii. licensing type of an interactive toy;
iv. personality type of an interactive toy; v. the apparent gender
of an interactive toy; and vi. the apparent age of an interactive
toy.
Inventors: |
Eyzaguirre; Adriana Maria;
(London, GB) ; Hodges; Peter John; (London,
GB) |
Correspondence
Address: |
LERNER, DAVID, LITTENBERG,;KRUMHOLZ & MENTLIK
600 SOUTH AVENUE WEST
WESTFIELD
NJ
07090
US
|
Assignee: |
SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT EUROPE
LIMITED
London
GB
|
Family ID: |
38170948 |
Appl. No.: |
12/598109 |
Filed: |
April 30, 2008 |
PCT Filed: |
April 30, 2008 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/GB08/01518 |
371 Date: |
March 16, 2010 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
463/43 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G09B 5/06 20130101; A63H
33/00 20130101; A63H 30/04 20130101; A63H 2200/00 20130101; A63H
3/28 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
463/43 |
International
Class: |
A63F 9/24 20060101
A63F009/24 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Apr 30, 2007 |
GB |
0708357.9 |
Claims
1. A removable storage medium comprising media content, and further
comprising supplementary data for use with interactive toys,
different interactive toys having different respective
characteristics, the supplementary data being categorized into
subsets according to one or more criteria selected from the list
consisting of: i. physical capabilities of a respective interactive
toy; ii. target age-range of a user of the respective interactive
toy; iii. licensing type of the respective interactive toy; iv.
personality type of the respective interactive toy; v. apparent
gender of the respective interactive toy; and vi. apparent age of
the respective interactive toy, and wherein one or more subset of
the supplementary data are selectable response to the
characteristics of respective interactive toy.
2. A removable storage medium according to claim 1 in which the
supplementary data comprises one or more selected from the list
consisting of: i. audio data; ii. motion control data; iii.
executable data; and iv. retention duration data.
3. An entertainment system comprising: a removable storage medium
according to any one of claims 1 or 2; a removable storage medium
reader for reading media content and supplementary data from the
removable storage medium; a media content player for generating a
video signal for display by a display means; and a processor to
generate interaction signals for the respective interactive toy; in
which the generated interaction signals are based upon a subset of
the supplementary data from the removable storage medium, selected
in response to one or more characteristics of the respective
interactive toy.
4. A removable storage medium comprising respective supplementary
data for use with interactive toys and data associating a plurality
of respective other removable storage media comprising media
content with the respective supplementary data stored on the
removable storage medium.
5. A removable storage medium according to claim 4 in which some or
all of the supplementary data corresponds with time stamps
associated with the respective other removable storage media.
6. A removable storage medium according to claim 4 or 5 in which
the supplementary data comprises one or more selected from the list
consisting of: i. audio data; ii. motion control data; iii.
executable data; and iv. retention duration data.
7. A removable storage medium according to claim 4 in which the
supplementary data is categorized according to one or more criteria
selected from the list consisting of: i. physical capabilities of
an interactive toy; ii. target age-range of a user of an
interactive toy; iii. licensing type of an interactive toy; iv.
personality type of an interactive toy; v. the apparent gender of
an interactive toy; and vi. the apparent age of an interactive
toy.
8. An entertainment system comprising: a non-volatile rewritable
storage medium; a removable storage medium reader operable to
transfer to the non-volatile rewritable storage medium
supplementary data from a removable storage medium according to
claim 4; the removable storage medium reader being operable to read
media content from a removable storage medium carrying media data;
a processor operable to identify the removable storage medium
carrying media data and to associate with it supplementary data
previously transferred to the non-volatile rewritable storage
medium, and operable to generate interaction signals for an
interactive toy; in which the generated interaction signals are
based upon a subset of the supplementary data from the non-volatile
rewritable storage medium, selected in response to one or more
characteristics of the interactive toy.
Description
[0001] This invention relates to interactive media.
[0002] Interactive toys are known in the prior art. The
Microsoft.TM. ActiMates.TM. system launched in 1997 featured an
interactive toy based upon the children's TV character Barney the
dinosaur (see
https://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/1997/feb97/actimate.mspx).
By default the interactive Barney has a 2000-word vocabulary and a
range of physical movements driven by actuators.
[0003] Interaction with a child is provided by twelve in-built
games that can be selected by squeezing a paw containing a pressure
sensor (i.e. a button). The toy also features pressure sensors in
the feet and a light sensor in the eyes.
[0004] In addition, the interactive Barney can interact with video
and computer programmes.
[0005] Video tapes of Barney's TV programmes that comprise encoded
data can be played on a conventional video player. Optionally, a
radio transmitter is attached between the video player and the
output lead to the television that extracts the encoded data and
transmits it to the toy. When receiving such data from the video
programme, the interactive Barney is prompted to comment on what is
happening on screen, ask questions about the programme and engage
in related activities.
[0006] Similarly, a radio transmitter can be attached to the midi
port of a personal computer. In this case, games for children are
run by the computer and the Barney toy can act as an output
interface for the games by commenting, prompting and encouraging a
child.
[0007] Other interactive toys exist such as Mattel's `Talk With Me
Barbie`, which uses software to wirelessly load a Barbie doll with
topics of conversation and selected names such as those of the
owner. Once loaded, the doll can be carried around in a
conventional manner (see
http://sandbox.xerox.com/dourish/sweetpea.pdf).
[0008] The use of interactive toys such as the ActiMates Barney as
a more general interface with electronic devices has also been
explored (see again http://sandbox.xerox.com/dourish/sweetpea.pdf).
In this context, the input sensors (pressure and light) have also
been used as input controls for other devices, either singly or in
simple combinations.
[0009] However, the success of such interactive toys depends on
there being a good range of titles for the toy to interact with
both at launch and into the future. It is also dependent on whether
parents will buy a comparatively expensive toy whilst believing it
will require further purchases of videos to maintain their child's
interest.
[0010] The present invention aims to mitigate or alleviate the
above problem.
[0011] In a first aspect of the present invention, a removable
storage medium comprises media content, and further comprises
supplementary data for use with interactive toys, the supplementary
data being categorised according to one or more criteria selected
from the list consisting of physical capabilities of an interactive
toy, target age-range of a user of an interactive toy, licensing
type of an interactive toy, personality type of an interactive toy,
the apparent gender of an interactive toy, and the apparent age of
an interactive toy.
[0012] In a second aspect of the present invention, a removable
storage medium comprises respective supplementary data for use with
interactive toys and data associating a plurality of respective
other removable storage media with the respective supplementary
data stored on the removable storage medium.
[0013] Advantageously, the above two aspects provide interactive
data for new toy-enabled media and also for a back-catalogue of
existing popular media that a child may already own, and moreover
arrange this interactive data so that suitable parts or versions of
the data may be selected by very different designs of toy.
[0014] Further respective aspects and features of the invention are
defined by the appended claims.
[0015] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described
by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in
which:
[0016] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an entertainment
device;
[0017] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a cell processor;
[0018] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a video graphics
processor;
[0019] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an interactive toy in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0020] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a method of interaction between
an entertainment device and an interactive toy in accordance with
an embodiment of the present invention;
[0021] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a method of modifying the
behaviour of an interactive toy in accordance with an embodiment of
the present invention;
[0022] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a method of controlling an
entertainment device using an interactive toy in accordance with an
embodiment of the present invention.
[0023] In a summary embodiment of the present invention, an
interactive toy is sold together with a data disk that contains
identification codes for DVDs, Blu-ray discs etc., of popular
children's programmes and films. This data can be installed on an
entertainment device. In the resulting interactive system, when the
entertainment device then plays such a film or programme, it is
identified using these codes and a corresponding sequence of
interactive commands is accessed. This sequence is specific to the
film, and associates interactive commands with the timestamp of the
film disk. Such commands are then transmitted to the interactive
toy. In this way the interactive toy can interact with a large
number of popular titles already found in the family's collection
of films. Future titles can optionally comprise interactive
commands as part of the disk content. Further, the toy can inform
the entertainment device of its characteristics, such as its
physical abilities or depicted gender, so that the entertainment
device can select commands appropriate to the toy. In this way,
toys to can be introduced over time with varying specifications
that nevertheless maintain a baseline level of compatibility with
available and future titles.
[0024] An entertainment device in accordance with an embodiment of
the present invention is now described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2
and 3.
[0025] FIG. 1 schematically illustrates the overall system
architecture of the Sony.RTM. Playstation 3.RTM. entertainment
device. A system unit 10 is provided, with various peripheral
devices connectable to the system unit.
[0026] The system unit 10 comprises: a Cell processor 100; a
Rambus.RTM. dynamic random access memory (XDRAM) unit 500; a
Reality Synthesiser graphics unit 200 with a dedicated video random
access memory (VRAM) unit 250; and an I/O bridge 700. The system
unit 10 also comprises a Blu Ray.RTM. Disk BD-ROM.RTM. optical disk
reader 430 for reading from a disk 440 and a removable slot-in hard
disk drive (HDD) 400, acting as a non-volatile rewritable storage
medium and accessible through the I/O bridge 700. Optionally the
system unit also comprises a memory card reader 450 for reading
compact flash memory cards, Memory Stick.RTM. memory cards and the
like, which is similarly accessible through the I/O bridge 700.
[0027] The I/O bridge 700 also connects to four Universal Serial
Bus (USB) 2.0 ports 710; a gigabit Ethernet port 720; an IEEE
802.11b/g wireless network (Wi-Fi) port 730; and a Bluetooth.RTM.
wireless link port 740 capable of supporting of up to seven
Bluetooth connections.
[0028] In operation the I/O bridge 700 handles all wireless, USB
and Ethernet data, including data from one or more game controllers
751. For example when a user is playing a game, the I/O bridge 700
receives data from the game controller 751 via a Bluetooth link and
directs it to the Cell processor 100, which updates the current
state of the game accordingly.
[0029] The wireless, USB and Ethernet ports also provide
connectivity for other peripheral devices in addition to game
controllers 751, such as: a remote control 752; a keyboard 753; a
mouse 754; a portable entertainment device 755 such as a Sony
Playstation Portable.RTM. (PSP.RTM.) entertainment device; a video
camera such as an EyeToy.RTM. video camera 756; and a microphone
headset 757. Such peripheral devices may therefore in principle be
connected to the system unit 10 wirelessly; for example the
portable entertainment device 755 may communicate via a Wi-Fi
ad-hoc connection, whilst the microphone headset 757 may
communicate via a Bluetooth link.
[0030] The provision of these interfaces means that the Playstation
3 device is also potentially compatible with other peripheral
devices such as digital video recorders (DVRs), set-top boxes,
digital cameras, portable media players, Voice over IP telephones,
mobile telephones, printers and scanners.
[0031] It will therefore be appreciated that the interactive toy
may be readily arranged to communicate with a PS3 via either a WiFi
or Bluetooth wireless link.
[0032] In addition, a legacy memory card reader 410 may be
connected to the system unit via a USB port 710, enabling the
reading of memory cards 420 of the kind used by the
Playstation.RTM. or Playstation 2.RTM. devices.
[0033] In the present embodiment, the game controller 751 is
operable to communicate wirelessly with the system unit 10 via the
Bluetooth link. However, the game controller 751 can instead be
connected to a USB port, thereby also providing power by which to
charge the battery of the game controller 751. In addition to one
or more analogue joysticks and conventional control buttons, the
game controller is sensitive to motion in 6 degrees of freedom,
corresponding to translation and rotation in each axis.
Consequently gestures and movements by the user of the game
controller may be translated as inputs to a game in addition to or
instead of conventional button or joystick commands. Optionally,
other wirelessly enabled peripheral devices such as the Playstation
Portable device may be used as a controller. In the case of the
Playstation Portable device, additional game or control information
(for example, control instructions or number of lives) may be
provided on the screen of the device. Other alternative or
supplementary control devices may also be used, such as a dance mat
(not shown), a light gun (not shown), a steering wheel and pedals
(not shown) or bespoke controllers, such as a single or several
large buttons for a rapid-response quiz game (also not shown).
[0034] The remote control 752 is also operable to communicate
wirelessly with the system unit 10 via a Bluetooth link. The remote
control 752 comprises controls suitable for the operation of the
Blu Ray Disk BD-ROM reader 430 and for the navigation of disk
content.
[0035] The Blu Ray Disk BD-ROM reader 430 is operable to read
CD-ROMs compatible with the Playstation and PlayStation 2 devices,
in addition to conventional pre-recorded and recordable CDs, and
so-called Super Audio CDs. The reader 430 is also operable to read
DVD-ROMs compatible with the Playstation 2 and PlayStation 3
devices, in addition to conventional pre-recorded and recordable
DVDs. The reader 430 is further operable to read BD-ROMs compatible
with the Playstation 3 device, as well as conventional pre-recorded
and recordable Blu-Ray Disks.
[0036] The system unit 10 is operable to supply audio and video,
either generated or decoded by the Playstation 3 device via the
Reality Synthesiser graphics unit 200, through audio and video
connectors to a display and sound output device 300 such as a
monitor or television set having a display 305 and one or more
loudspeakers 310. The audio connectors 210 may include conventional
analogue and digital outputs whilst the video connectors 220 may
variously include component video, S-video, composite video and one
or more High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) outputs.
Consequently, video output may be in formats such as PAL or NTSC,
or in 720p, 1080i or 1080p high definition.
[0037] Audio processing (generation, decoding and so on) is
performed by the Cell processor 100. The Playstation 3 device's
operating system supports Dolby.RTM. 5.1 surround sound, Dolby.RTM.
Theatre Surround (DTS), and the decoding of 7.1 surround sound from
Blu-Ray.RTM. disks.
[0038] In the present embodiment, the video camera 756 comprises a
single charge coupled device (CCD), an LED indicator, and
hardware-based real-time data compression and encoding apparatus so
that compressed video data may be transmitted in an appropriate
format such as an intra-image based MPEG (motion picture expert
group) standard for decoding by the system unit 10. The camera LED
indicator is arranged to illuminate in response to appropriate
control data from the system unit 10, for example to signify
adverse lighting conditions. Embodiments of the video camera 756
may variously connect to the system unit 10 via a USB, Bluetooth or
Wi-Fi communication port. Embodiments of the video camera may
include one or more associated microphones and also be capable of
transmitting audio data. In embodiments of the video camera, the
CCD may have a resolution suitable for high-definition video
capture. In use, images captured by the video camera may for
example be incorporated within a game or interpreted as game
control inputs.
[0039] In general, in order for successful data communication to
occur with a peripheral device such as a video camera or remote
control via one of the communication ports of the system unit 10,
an appropriate piece of software such as a device driver should be
provided. Device driver technology is well-known and will not be
described in detail here, except to say that the skilled man will
be aware that a device driver or similar software interface may be
required in the present embodiment described.
[0040] Referring now to FIG. 2, the Cell processor 100 has an
architecture comprising four basic components: external input and
output structures comprising a memory controller 160 and a dual bus
interface controller 170A,B; a main processor referred to as the
Power Processing Element 150; eight co-processors referred to as
Synergistic Processing Elements (SPEs) 110A-H; and a circular data
bus connecting the above components referred to as the Element
Interconnect Bus 180. The total floating point performance of the
Cell processor is 218 GFLOPS, compared with the 6.2 GFLOPs of the
Playstation 2 device's Emotion Engine.
[0041] The Power Processing Element (PPE) 150 is based upon a
two-way simultaneous multithreading Power 970 compliant PowerPC
core (PPU) 155 running with an internal clock of 3.2 GHz. It
comprises a 512 kB level 2 (L2) cache and a 32 kB level 1 (L1)
cache. The PPE 150 is capable of eight single position operations
per clock cycle, translating to 25.6 GFLOPs at 3.2 GHz. The primary
role of the PPE 150 is to act as a controller for the Synergistic
Processing Elements 110A-H, which handle most of the computational
workload. In operation the PPE 150 maintains a job queue,
scheduling jobs for the Synergistic Processing Elements 110A-H and
monitoring their progress. Consequently each Synergistic Processing
Element 110A-H runs a kernel whose role is to fetch a job, execute
it and synchronise with the PPE 150.
[0042] Each Synergistic Processing Element (SPE) 110A-H comprises a
respective Synergistic Processing Unit (SPU) 120A-H, and a
respective Memory Flow Controller (MFC) 140A-H comprising in turn a
respective Dynamic Memory Access Controller (DMAC) 142A-H, a
respective Memory Management Unit (MMU) 144A-H and a bus interface
(not shown). Each SPU 120A-H is a RISC processor clocked at 3.2 GHz
and comprising 256 kB local RAM 130A-H, expandable in principle to
4 GB. Each SPE gives a theoretical 25.6 GFLOPS of single precision
performance. An SPU can operate on 4 single precision floating
point members, 4 32-bit numbers, 8 16-bit integers, or 16 8-bit
integers in a single clock cycle. In the same clock cycle it can
also perform a memory operation. The SPU 120A-H does not directly
access the system memory XDRAM 500; the 64-bit addresses formed by
the SPU 120A-H are passed to the MFC 140A-H which instructs its DMA
controller 142A-H to access memory via the Element Interconnect Bus
180 and the memory controller 160.
[0043] The Element Interconnect Bus (EIB) 180 is a logically
circular communication bus internal to the Cell processor 100 which
connects the above processor elements, namely the PPE 150, the
memory controller 160, the dual bus interface 170A,B and the 8 SPEs
110A-H, totaling 12 participants. Participants can simultaneously
read and write to the bus at a rate of 8 bytes per clock cycle. As
noted previously, each SPE 110A-H comprises a DMAC 142A-H for
scheduling longer read or write sequences. The EIB comprises four
channels, two each in clockwise and anti-clockwise directions.
Consequently for twelve participants, the longest step-wise
data-flow between any two participants is six steps in the
appropriate direction. The theoretical peak instantaneous EIB
bandwidth for 12 slots is therefore 96B per clock, in the event of
full utilisation through arbitration between participants. This
equates to a theoretical peak bandwidth of 307.2 GB/s (gigabytes
per second) at a clock rate of 3.2 GHz.
[0044] The memory controller 160 comprises an XDRAM interface 162,
developed by Rambus Incorporated. The memory controller interfaces
with the Rambus XDRAM 500 with a theoretical peak bandwidth of 25.6
GB/s.
[0045] The dual bus interface 170A,B comprises a Rambus FlexIO.RTM.
system interface 172A,B. The interface is organised into 12
channels each being 8 bits wide, with five paths being inbound and
seven outbound. This provides a theoretical peak bandwidth of 62.4
GB/s (36.4 GB/s outbound, 26 GB/s inbound) between the Cell
processor and the I/O Bridge 700 via controller 170A and the
Reality Simulator graphics unit 200 via controller 170B.
[0046] Data sent by the Cell processor 100 to the Reality Simulator
graphics unit 200 will typically comprise display lists, being a
sequence of commands to draw vertices, apply textures to polygons,
specify lighting conditions, and so on.
[0047] Referring now to FIG. 3, the Reality Simulator graphics
(RSX) unit 200 is a video accelerator based upon the NVidia.RTM.
G70/71 architecture that processes and renders lists of commands
produced by the Cell processor 100. The RSX unit 200 comprises a
host interface 202 operable to communicate with the bus interface
controller 170B of the Cell processor 100; a vertex pipeline 204
(VP) comprising eight vertex shaders 205; a pixel pipeline 206 (PP)
comprising 24 pixel shaders 207; a render pipeline 208 (RP)
comprising eight render output units (ROPs) 209; a memory interface
210; and a video converter 212 for generating a video output. The
RSX 200 is complemented by 256 MB double data rate (DDR) video RAM
(VRAM) 250, clocked at 600 MHz and operable to interface with the
RSX 200 at a theoretical peak bandwidth of 25.6 GB/s. In operation,
the VRAM 250 maintains a frame buffer 214 and a texture buffer 216.
The texture buffer 216 provides textures to the pixel shaders 207,
whilst the frame buffer 214 stores results of the processing
pipelines. The RSX can also access the main memory 500 via the EIB
180, for example to load textures into the VRAM 250.
[0048] The vertex pipeline 204 primarily processes deformations and
transformations of vertices defining polygons within the image to
be rendered.
[0049] The pixel pipeline 206 primarily processes the application
of colour, textures and lighting to these polygons, including any
pixel transparency, generating red, green, blue and alpha
(transparency) values for each processed pixel. Texture mapping may
simply apply a graphic image to a surface, or may include
bump-mapping (in which the notional direction of a surface is
perturbed in accordance with texture values to create highlights
and shade in the lighting model) or displacement mapping (in which
the applied texture additionally perturbs vertex positions to
generate a deformed surface consistent with the texture).
[0050] The render pipeline 208 performs depth comparisons between
pixels to determine which should be rendered in the final image.
Optionally, if the intervening pixel process will not affect depth
values (for example in the absence of transparency or displacement
mapping) then the render pipeline and vertex pipeline 204 can
communicate depth information between them, thereby enabling the
removal of occluded elements prior to pixel processing, and so
improving overall rendering efficiency. In addition, the render
pipeline 208 also applies subsequent effects such as full-screen
anti-aliasing over the resulting image.
[0051] Both the vertex shaders 205 and pixel shaders 207 are based
on the shader model 3.0 standard. Up to 136 shader operations can
be performed per clock cycle, with the combined pipeline therefore
capable of 74.8 billion shader operations per second, outputting up
to 840 million vertices and 10 billion pixels per second. The total
floating point performance of the RSX 200 is 1.8 TFLOPS.
[0052] Typically, the RSX 200 operates in close collaboration with
the Cell processor 100; for example, when displaying an explosion,
or weather effects such as rain or snow, a large number of
particles must be tracked, updated and rendered within the scene.
In this case, the PPU 155 of the Cell processor may schedule one or
more SPEs 110A-H to compute the trajectories of respective batches
of particles. Meanwhile, the RSX 200 accesses any texture data
(e.g. snowflakes) not currently held in the video RAM 250 from the
main system memory 500 via the element interconnect bus 180, the
memory controller 160 and a bus interface controller 170B. The or
each SPE 110A-H outputs its computed particle properties (typically
coordinates and normals, indicating position and attitude) directly
to the video RAM 250; the DMA controller 142A-H of the or each SPE
110A-H addresses the video RAM 250 via the bus interface controller
170B. Thus in effect the assigned SPEs become part of the video
processing pipeline for the duration of the task.
[0053] In general, the PPU 155 can assign tasks in this fashion to
six of the eight SPEs available; one SPE is reserved for the
operating system, whilst one SPE is effectively disabled. The
disabling of one SPE provides a greater level of tolerance during
fabrication of the Cell processor; as it allows for one SPE to fail
the fabrication process. Alternatively if all eight SPEs are
functional, then the eighth SPE provides scope for redundancy in
the event of subsequent failure by one of the other SPEs during the
life of the Cell processor.
[0054] The PPU 155 can assign tasks to SPEs in several ways. For
example, SPEs may be chained together to handle each step in a
complex operation, such as accessing a DVD, video and audio
decoding, and error masking, with each step being assigned to a
separate SPE. Alternatively or in addition, two or more SPEs may be
assigned to operate on input data in parallel, as in the particle
animation example above.
[0055] Software instructions implemented by the Cell processor 100
and/or the RSX 200 may be supplied at manufacture and stored on the
HDD 400, and/or may be supplied on a data carrier or storage medium
such as an optical disk or solid state memory, or via a
transmission medium such as a wired or wireless network or internet
connection, or via combinations of these.
[0056] The software supplied at manufacture comprises system
firmware and the Playstation 3 device's operating system (OS). In
operation, the OS provides a user interface enabling a user to
select from a variety of functions, including playing a game,
listening to music, viewing photographs, or viewing a video. The
interface takes the form of a so-called cross media-bar (XMB), with
categories of function arranged horizontally. The user navigates by
moving through function icons (representing the functions)
horizontally using the game controller 751, remote control 752 or
other suitable control device so as to highlight a desired function
icon, at which point options pertaining to that function appear as
a vertically scrollable list of option icons centred on that
function icon, which may be navigated in analogous fashion.
However, if a game, audio, data or movie disk 440 is inserted into
the BD-ROM optical disk reader 430, the Playstation 3 device may
select appropriate options automatically (for example, by
commencing the game), or may provide relevant options (for example,
to select between playing an audio disk or compressing its content
to the HDD 400).
[0057] In addition, the OS provides an on-line capability,
including a web browser, an interface with an on-line store from
which additional game content, demonstration games (demos) and
other media may be downloaded, and a friends management capability,
providing on-line communication with other Playstation 3 device
users nominated by the user of the current device; for example, by
text, audio or video depending on the peripheral devices available.
The on-line capability also provides for on-line communication,
content download and content purchase during play of a suitably
configured game, and for updating the firmware and OS of the
Playstation 3 device itself. It will be appreciated that the term
"on-line" does not imply the physical presence of wires, as the
term can also apply to wireless connections of various types.
[0058] Referring now to FIG. 4, in an embodiment of the present
invention an interactive toy comprises a wireless transmitter 1010,
a wireless receiver 1020 (typically combined with the transmitter
as a wireless transceiver), a processor 1030 and a memory 1040,
interconnected by a communications bus 1015. In addition, pressure
sensors such as push buttons 1051-1054 (also connected to the bus
1015) are fitted in the paws and feet of the toy. In other form
factors the placement of such sensors, if included, would clearly
depend on the nature of the toy (for example, one or more sensors
may be placed in the torso or face of a toy). Optionally, the toy
may also comprise one or more light or image sensors 1055 such as
photo resistors or CCDs, one or more motion sensors and/or one or
more audio sensors 1066 such as mono or stereo microphones. The toy
may be as a plush toy as shown, but alternatively may be any
suitable form factor such as a toy vehicle.
[0059] The toy is powered by primary (non-rechargeable) or,
preferably, secondary (rechargeable) cells (not shown).
[0060] Not shown in FIG. 4, in an embodiment of the present
invention the toy comprises one or more actuators for generating
motion in one or more limbs, and/or the head or torso. If
applicable, wheels or further potentially posable elements of the
toy such as a tail, crest or other appendage may also be moved in a
similar manner.
[0061] Likewise, in an embodiment of the present invention the toy
comprises one or more actuators for generating motion of the mouth,
eyes and/or ears.
[0062] In an embodiment of the present invention the toy comprises
a vibration motor, and/or a refillable liquid reservoir and a
liquid release means (for example to generate tears).
[0063] In an embodiment of the present invention the toy comprises
one or more loudspeakers and/or one or more lights.
[0064] Likewise, the processing capabilities of interactive toys
may vary. For example, in addition to sensing audio signals, a toy
may comprise firmware capable of voice recognition and/or speech
recognition, enabling it to identify its owner and/or accept one or
more spoken commands.
[0065] As a similar example, in addition to sensing light levels a
toy may comprise firmware capable of image acquisition or image
compression, or be capable of image recognition (using image
recognition techniques which are, of themselves, known) so as to
recognise its owner or other items that come with it when sold:
[0066] Again, a toy may be capable of reproducing audio samples
and/or comprise a predetermined vocabulary of words, but may also
comprise firmware capable of reproducing MIDI data as music, and/or
of speech synthesis. Other examples of toy modality will be
apparent to a person skilled in the art.
[0067] It will be appreciated that different interactive toys may
be designed for different age ranges. For example, toys suitable
for 1-3 year-olds are likely to have fewer complex or potentially
breakable actuator systems than those suitable for 5-7 year olds,
whilst toys suitable for a teenage or adult audience may be highly
sophisticated.
[0068] In addition, as seen above such interactive toys can be
licensed likenesses of well known children's TV characters (such as
Barney), and it therefore may be desirable to show character
specific behaviour. Likewise toys may have different apparent
genders and therefore it may be desirable to show different gender
behaviour, for example in terms of reaction or in terms of voice
data used.
[0069] Thus in principle a wide range of interactive toys with very
different physical capabilities can be envisaged, depending both on
form factor and on cost.
[0070] A common capability, however, is that these toys interact
with media or software on an entertainment device such as the PS3
in a manner generally similar to the Barney toy discussed
previously. In a simple and non-limiting example, an interactive
toy may make the following interactions:
TABLE-US-00001 On-screen event Interaction by toy Character X
appears Toy says `Hello X!` A box of six eggs is visible Toy says
`Can you see six eggs?` Characters dance to music Toy moves
Programme ends Toy says `Goodbye!`
[0071] It will be appreciated that there is a challenge to enable
such a diverse range of interactive toys to each interact
appropriately with common published media content such as a video
or computer program playable by the PS3.
[0072] In an embodiment of the present invention, when a PS3 is
loaded with a disk 440 such as a DVD or Blu-Ray disk suitably
formatted to comprise both content data (movies/videos, games etc)
and supplementary data such as an interaction track to accompany
the video, the PS3 recognises that the disk provides interactive
capabilities for interactive toy and broadcasts a polling signal
via the Bluetooth link 740, the WiFi link 730 or both, requesting
an acknowledgement from any interactive toy within range.
[0073] An interactive toy in accordance with an embodiment of the
present invention, upon receiving this signal, accesses a list of
characteristics of the toy stored in memory and transmits
descriptive data representing the list back to the PS3. The
transmission of data descriptive of the characteristics of the
interactive toy may be part of the initial handshaking process or
may be a subsequent, separate interrogation by the PS3.
Alternatively, the interactive toy may initiate the communication,
either by periodic signalling or when an appropriate input is given
by the user. However, this latter option may adversely affect
battery life. This discovery process between the PS3 and the toy
may use internet protocols and resemble a client/server or peer to
peer query process, and need not be limited to an initial handshake
and subsequent interaction commands. For example, periodic
connection maintenance signals can be used to determine whether the
toy is still present. Conversely, these signals can be used by the
toy to determine if the PS3 has been switched off or if the toy has
been carried out of range, and so should revert to a stand-alone
mode. A disconnection signal from either the PS3 or toy can be used
to explicitly end communications.
[0074] In an embodiment of the present invention, the discovery
process utilises a query language, for example implemented in XML,
which provides a protocol for the publication and negotiation of
functions and facilities between the PS3 and the toy. Functions
shared between the PS3 and the toy may use a common intermediate
language in a manner similar to Microsoft'.RTM. .NET.RTM.
framework. In this way a standardised query process may be
implemented for a number of different toys.
[0075] In an embodiment of the present invention, the descriptive
data returned to the PS3 by the toy may comprise one or more of the
following characteristics:
[0076] i. physical capabilities of the interactive toy;
[0077] ii. target age-range of a user of the interactive toy, if
any;
[0078] iii. licensing type of the interactive toy, if any;
[0079] iv. personality type of the interactive toy, if any;
[0080] v. the apparent gender of the toy, if any;
[0081] vi. the apparent age of the toy, if any;
[0082] vii. the name of the toy; and
[0083] viii. the physical appearance of the toy.
[0084] The physical capabilities of the toy may be transmitted as a
checklist (e.g. a binary sequence), but may alternatively or in
addition be transmitted as a type code, such as `jointed humanoid`
or `4-wheeled vehicle`, from which certain physical characteristics
can be inferred by looking up data pre-stored on the PS3.
[0085] In addition, physical capabilities can also encompass system
capabilities, such as available RAM and processing power. These may
determine the size and order of any vocabulary (or additional
vocabulary) transmitted to the toy, or the complexity of executable
instructions sent to the toy.
[0086] The target age range of the toy may take the form of a lower
and upper age value, and/or an age type, such as `baby`, `toddler`,
`pre-school`, `school`, `teenage`, `adult` or `all`. The target age
range can be used by the PS3 to determine different interactive
content for different age groups from the media disk. For example,
if the toy is targeted at toddlers, it would be more appropriate to
use a few simple words and short phrases repetitively and in close
association with on-screen events, whilst a toy targeted at 5
years-olds can use more sophisticated commentary, or perhaps ask
questions or suggest activities that refer to events in a story
from earlier on in a play session. Such alternative interactive
content can be stored on the media disk in parallel if it supports
multiple age groups. Alternatively, some or all of the stored
interactive content may be defined as appropriate for all age
groups.
[0087] Similarly, a target gender for a toy may be used to select
different interactive content for boys and girls, and, where
interaction does not utilise voice data pre-stored on the toy, it
can be used to select appropriate voice data for upload or
streaming to the toy from the PS3.
[0088] The licensing type of the toy informs the PS3 of any
restrictions imposed as a consequence of a licensing deal. For
example, a toy licensed to resemble the appearance of one TV
character may be restricted to only interact with media disks
featuring that character or other characters sharing a common
license, or may be generally free to interact with media disks
except for those a producer whose content the licensing company
does not want associated with their licensed toy, or conversely
only work with disks of a specified producer. Alternatively the toy
may be free to interact with any suitably enabled media disk.
Optionally any or all of the above may be further licensed to a
specified geographical region.
[0089] To provide an open-ended system, in an embodiment of the
present invention the license information comprises keyword based
data for inclusion and/or exclusion entries, and media disks
contain descriptors such as main character, film name, licensing
company, age certificate etc. Where the inclusion keywords
intersect, the toy interacts with the media: Where the exclusion
keywords intersect, the toy does not. A key word such as `all` is
used to indicate that there is no license restriction in a
particular category.
[0090] Alternatively or in addition, digital certificates may be
used, wherein one or more certificates of the toy and on the media
disk are compared to see if the toy is licensed to interact with
the disk (or vice versa).
[0091] As a further option, where a toy is not licensed to interact
fully with a media disk, the PS3 can issue generic interaction
instructions that follow the spirit of the interactive content on
the disk, allowing the toy for example to give generic positive and
negative comments as appropriate. This avoids frustration by the
user, who as a child is likely to be unaware of and unconcerned by
licensing issues.
[0092] Thus alternatively or in addition, rather than sending a
specific instruction to perform a specific action, the PS3 could
send a more abstract instruction such as `act surprised` that is
interpreted by the toy according to the resources it has
available--for example, the ability to throw up its arms, or to
select an appropriate phrase from a built in vocabulary. More
generally, such a layer of abstraction can simplify and reduce the
amount of supplementary data needed, as it allows each type of toy
to react in character without the need for different supplementary
data tracks. A number of such basic responses could be codified and
pre-programmed within suitably enabled toys.
[0093] The so-called `personality type` of the toy allows toys that
have otherwise similar characteristics to be differentiated in use.
This reduces the potential for a chorusing effect where two or more
toys interacting with the same video output an identical response.
Such behaviour is likely to be seen as creepy or mechanical by a
child.
[0094] The personality type can simply be an identifying number
(such as a make/model or serial number) transmitted to the PS3 that
serves to differentiate devices. A challenge/response protocol may
thus be used to confirm that the intended toy has received the
interactive command by associating the command with the identifying
number. Alternatively or in addition, such a protocol could
associate several identifying numbers with an interaction command
to deliberately orchestrate a chorusing effect where this would be
appropriate or amusing, for example making otherwise differently
behaving toys act together if the media programme invites the
viewers to all sing a song together. Other deliberate
orchestrations could include toys acting as conscience and devil's
advocate suggesting different courses of action for the user. In
this way, the PS3 can act as puppeteer for more than one toy at the
same time.
[0095] Alternatively or in addition, a value corresponding to a
more human concept of personality may be used. In this latter case,
the personality type can be used by the PS3 to select or deselect
interactive commands according to personality type. For example, a
fluffy toy may be defined as "timid and shy", and so react in a
different way to a soldier-style toy in response to the same film,
despite similar physical capabilities and target age groups. The
personality type and gender type may be combined as a range of
personality options.
[0096] In any event, in an embodiment of the present invention the
PS3 can assign an interaction to one of a plurality of connected
toys rather than all, or assign different interactions to each
where available, optionally according to their personality or
gender type if this provides an indication of the type of
interaction appropriate to the toy, as noted above. Alternatively,
in an embodiment of the present invention the PS3 includes a
personality code along with interaction signals, allowing the
interactive toy to determine whether to carry out that interaction
according to its own personality. This may be an absolute decision,
or bias a probability of carrying out the interaction. In the case
where the toy determines whether to respond according to
personality or gender, when an interaction does not contain a
personality or gender aspect, the code may be omitted or may be a
neutral code, depending on implementation.
[0097] Optionally, an interactive toy can be configured to express
a different personality, for example by appropriate use of the
input sensors 1051-1056 or via a configuration menu provided by the
PS3. This allows the user to configure the toy to suit their mood,
and/or to better differentiate an otherwise identical pair of toys.
For example, a profile can be generated by the selection of
different traits by the user (such as age, gender, happiness,
assertiveness etc). In this latter case, the PS3--or the toy--can,
where available, select one from among a set of parallel
interaction instructions that best fits the user's selected
personality profile.
[0098] Alternatively or in addition, an interactive toy can
transmit a suppression signal when it is about to interact with a
video, preventing another toy from making the same response. Such a
signal may prompt a return signal overriding the first, for
example, where one toy has responded more frequently than another.
However, such an approach will have a negative impact on battery
life. Alternatively, a toy may require a user to interact with it
at least once in order to remain in communication with the PS3; a
consequence of this is that a second toy will fall silent unless
actively engaged with. Conversely, where two toys attempt to
handshake with the PS3; the second toy to respond may be excluded,
unless it is interacted with during playback of the media disk. At
this point the second toy may join in the interactions or replace
the first toy as the main focus of interaction.
[0099] It will be appreciated that the predictability of
interactions by the toy is generally configurable, as outlined
above. Consequently in some circumstances it may be appropriate for
interaction instructions to be obeyed apparently at random (for
example in a popular film with a high density of interactions
available), whilst in other circumstances they should be obeyed
reliably and repeatedly (for example in an educational
context).
[0100] The name of the toy can be transmitted from the interactive
toy to the PS3 as a keyword, to provide flexibility with future
published media disks. This enables the PS3 to identify any
additional available interactive content provided that is specific
to the corresponding character on screen (so that, for example, the
first time the character appears on screen the toy can say `Look,
that's me!`). Such content may be limited to the character itself,
or to comments about other aspects of the video that are uniquely
`in character`, such as `I think [character X] likes me`.
[0101] In addition, a popular character toy may have its own voice
data included on the disk so that additional comments transferred
or streamed to the toy use the appropriate sounding voice.
[0102] To limit the scope for so-called `hacking` of the toys, for
example to subvert the use of such well known character voices in a
manner that may harm the reputation of a product or license, the
data included in the toy and transmitted to and from the toy may be
encrypted.
[0103] It will be appreciated from the above disclosure that media
disks can comprise multiple supplementary data tracks, for example
directed to different personalities, abilities, license models and
appearances of toys. Moreover, any or all of this supplementary
data could include a high density of interactive comments and
movements. Therefore, optionally the PS3 could select whether to
actually use any particular one on a probabilistic basis so as to
provide some variation in response over repeated viewings.
Moreover, the toy or PS3 could have a setting to vary this
probability to control the level of interaction generated--for
example if the whole family are watching a movie they may only want
the occasional comment from a toy, whereas if the child is watching
alone they may want a high density of comment. This could be set by
suitable interaction with the toys' sensors or via an on-screen
menu generated by the PS3. Alternatively or in addition if a lower
level of interaction is selected, the PS3 could inhibit the toy
from making any interactive comment or action for, say, a period of
N seconds or minutes after the last interaction. This level of
interaction could be determined as a total for all toys present if
there is more than one.
[0104] Alternatively or in addition, a mute command may be
provided, rendering the toy passive. This may take the form of a
remote control (typically held by a parent) that directly
communicates with the toy, or a suitably enabled Sony Playstation
Portable.RTM. device, or alternatively a remote control or gamepad
of the PS3 used for such a purpose, causing the PS3 to either no
longer issue interaction commands or to send a mute command to one
or more toys.
[0105] The physical appearance of the toy can be provided as one or
more graphical images stored in the toy's memory and transmitted to
the PS3. This enables the PS3 to display the toy on screen (for
example for on a menu page or in a tutorial), even if the toy is
manufactured after the current media disk was published.
Optionally, an image map may also be provided tagging portions of
one or more images with corresponding data about
sensors/movement/outputs, so that a tutorial can be configured to
the toy, for example correctly highlighting the limbs that have
pressure sensors whilst not making reference to light sensors if
these do not exist on the toy. In addition, the apparent age of the
toy may also be transmitted if appropriate; for example, the toy
may resemble an infant, a child or an adult, so affecting the
appropriate comments and interactions it makes. This can also be
included as part of a personality profile along with personality
type and gender.
[0106] Using the data descriptive of the characteristics of the toy
transmitted from the interactive toy to the PS3, the PS3 can
generate a mapping of sensor activation signals from the toy to
controls for controlling one or more aspects of the PS3 (for
example control of software run on the PS3 and the content of the
media disk).
[0107] Alternatively, the PS3 could transmit this mapping as
configuration data to the toy, so that the toy stores in memory a
mapping from its sensor activations to appropriate command signals
and then transmits the actual command signals, thereby for example
mimicking appropriate key presses of game controller 751 and/or
remote control 752.
[0108] In either case, such a mapping could prioritise functions
according to available sensors. For example, a simple toy
comprising only one pressure sensor could still be used as a
play/pause control. By contrast, a toy with pressure sensors in all
four limbs and the torso could be used to play/pause,
fast-forward/rewind and to chapter skip in both directions or to
turn the volume of the video up or down. Thus the PS3 maintains a
list of functions in priority order and maps them in this order.
The order may be global and/or by sensor-type, thereby giving
preference to assignment of orders according to the most
appropriate sensor.
[0109] A tutorial utilising a graphic image of the toy may
consequently be of help in identifying for the user how the
controls map onto the toy. Alternatively, the toy could give
instructions itself, such as `press my tummy to pause the film`, by
concatenating the sensor action (`press my tummy`) with the
associated action (`pause the film`).
[0110] It will be appreciated that a toy can therefore also control
the playback of the media content as part of its own interactive
play; for example pausing playback to point out a particular
feature, or rewinding the media to repeat a scene as part of a
game. Similarly, media appropriately structured into chapters could
be accessed selectively to form an interactive story controlled by
the toy.
[0111] Alternatively or in addition, a toy could also simply signal
that an interruption has occurred due to an interaction by the
user. In this case, the user is not necessarily wishing to control
playback, but just to interact with the toy. Following the
interruption, the PS3 may wait for a resumption signal from the toy
before resuming the transmission of interaction commands, or may
respond by informing the toy about the likely mood of the user so
it can select its own behaviour (for example, if it is a sad part
of a film, the user may simply wish to hold the toy's hand, and not
to trigger a jolly `let's play a game!` type of response). More
generally, this interruption signal allows the PS3 to determine
what to do in response rather than being a direct control per
se.
[0112] In addition to transmitting instructions to the interactive
toy enabling it to interact with video or game content currently
being shown on by the PS3, it can also transmit data for use when
the toy is no longer in ongoing communication with the PS3.
[0113] As noted previously, an interactive toy can provide
stand-alone functionality such as games, spoken phrases, songs and
movement. Typically a variety of such games, songs, etc., will be
built in at manufacture.
[0114] In an embodiment of the present invention, the interactive
toy stores additional data transmitted from the PS3 in its memory
that provides additional functionality for stand-alone behaviour.
This data may include any or all of audio data, motion control
data, and executable data. The memory used for the additional data
may be volatile or non-volatile memory.
[0115] For example, audio data may be used to extend the toy's
repertoire of spoken phrases in stand-alone mode and to include
catchphrases from a recently viewed video, questions or commentary
about the video or requests to play the video again. Alternatively
or in addition, the audio data may comprise music from the video
such as a signature theme.
[0116] Likewise, motion control data may be used to extend the
toy's repertoire of actions, and may include instructions to mimic
a pose or action associated with a character in the video, express
an emotion applicable to the video or a subsequent activity, and/or
dance moves to accompany music from the video.
[0117] Similarly, executable data may be used to extend the toy's
repertoire of functions, for example associating dance moves with a
certain tune or playing a new game using new speech data. Thus in
some circumstances audio or motion data can be used as resources
for new executable software on the toy, or it can be used as
additional resources for existing executable software on the toy,
or can be used by both types of executable software.
[0118] In an embodiment of the present invention, the data sent to
the toy is responsive to the data descriptive of the
characteristics of the toy previously transmitted by the
interactive toy to the PS3. For example, in addition to audio
samples, MIDI data could be transmitted to a toy that has indicated
that it comprises a MIDI synthesiser. Similarly a larger set of
vocabulary may be sent to a toy that has indicated it has a larger
memory capacity or is capable of speech synthesis.
[0119] By this mechanism, the interactive toy can give the
impression that it has remembered one or more videos that it has
recently watched, and can engage the child with its recollections
and themed games.
[0120] Optionally, this data can be overwritten or deleted each
time the interactive toy enters into a communication mode with the
PS3. Alternatively or in addition, the toy can be set to `forget`
the data after a predetermined period of time. This time limit may
be in-built or may be defined by a retention duration value also
transmitted by the PS3 along with the data itself. Optionally the
retention duration may be different for different aspect of the
data, so that for example the toy stops playing games themed on the
video relatively quickly but may occasionally say catch phrases
from it for a week or more after. This may also encourage the child
to watch the video again to `refresh` the toy's functionality.
[0121] In another embodiment of the present invention, the PS3
transmits a default range of interactive data that is tagged with
information about the capabilities required to use individual
interactive elements or sections in the data, and the processor
1030 of the toy compares the required capabilities with the list of
characteristics of the toy stored in memory 1040 in order to
determine whether any given interactive element can be used by the
toy. If it cannot then the toy does not respond to that respective
element.
[0122] Whilst reference has been made herein to physical toys, the
above principles similarly apply to virtual toys; for example a
persistent character resident on a user's Playstation Portable, in
the form of a pet or companion, may operate in a similar manner to
the physical toys described herein. In this case, it will of course
be appreciated that the communication means, processing power and
virtual physical abilities of the virtual toy arise from the
facilities and software of the PSP. Likewise, the physical sensors
of the toys would instead be input devices of the PSP user
interface.
[0123] As noted previously, for existing DVD, Blu-ray and other
media disks 440 that do not have supplementary data tracks
built-in, in an embodiment of the present invention an interactive
toy can be accompanied by a data disk providing such supplementary
data for popular existing titles.
[0124] Typically the data disk will install software and data on
the PS3 so that the disk drive is vacated for use by media
disks.
[0125] The installed software allows the PS3 to compare a media
disk identification number with a list of supported media disks.
Potentially several numbers may correspond with one film.
[0126] Alternatively or in addition, the PS3 can access an on-line
server to identify the media disk in a similar manner, and
optionally download the relevant data if not supplied on the
disk.
[0127] The identification number may be a serial number if
available, or may be generated from characteristics of the media
disk. For example, a code may be generated based upon the number of
chapters in the media disk and their respective durations; this
tends to be different for different films and programmes, and is
the basis of the Compact Disk Database (CDDB) system used to
identify compact disks in applications such as Microsoft.RTM. Media
Centre. Optionally the code can be augmented by one or more byte
values take from predetermined positions on the media disk.
Alternatively or in addition, a hash code for a media disk can be
constructed; some or all of the disk data can be used to generate a
hash code, which can be used to identify the media disk.
[0128] Clearly, any metadata on the media disk that serves to
identify it, such as in an MP4 tag, may also act as identification
data.
[0129] The data installed from the data disk also comprises
interactive commands and resources for the supported films
associated with timestamps for the relevant film. Thus for example,
a film such as `Finding Nemo`.TM. could have a comment such as
`Look out for the shark!` for use, say, 28 minutes and 32 seconds
into the film.
[0130] Commentary may use copyrighted names and material relevant
to the film, or may use generic comments (such as `Look out for the
shark`) depending on whether such names and material have been
released or licensed for use with the toy.
[0131] By using such a disk, an interactive toy can launch with an
instant back-catalogue of popular children's films and programmes
with which it can interact and which the child is likely to already
own. In the future, disks with supplementary interaction data can
be purchased in preference to those without. Such toy-enabled disks
may provide a richer variety and greater amount of interaction as
described previously herein when compared with that provided on a
data disk, thereby providing a premium content for the
purchaser.
[0132] Conversely, a market can also be created for data disks. For
example, providing a disk giving a high density of commentary and
interaction for the Tellytubby.TM. back catalogue would breathe
life into an existing collection and may be popular.
[0133] Thus two types of disk are envisaged for the same purpose; a
media disk comprising video material and supplementary data
providing interaction with that video material, and a data disk
comprising data to identify a plurality of other, standard media
disks, and for each supported standard media disk interaction data
associated with respective time stamps.
[0134] Alternatively or in addition in an embodiment of the present
invention, similar identity code lists and sequence data can be
held on a server and accessed by the PS3 via a network connection.
A range of titles may be enabled for interaction in this way for
free, whilst other titles may be enabled following a payment via an
on-line purchase scheme. Likewise, actual media content may be
provided in this manner.
[0135] Corresponding methods of operation of the entertainment
device and interactive toy are now disclosed with reference to
FIGS. 5, 6 and 7.
[0136] Referring to FIG. 5, a method of interaction between an
entertainment device and an interactive toy comprises a first step
s501 of establishing a wireless communication link between the
entertainment device and the interactive toy. Either the toy or the
entertainment device can initiate the link. In a second step s502,
a data request is sent from the entertainment device to the
interactive toy via the communication link. In a third step s503,
data descriptive of characteristics of the interactive toy is
provided for transmission. In a fourth step s504, data descriptive
of characteristics of the interactive toy is sent from the
interactive toy to the entertainment device via the communications
link. In a fifth step s505, the entertainment device generates one
or more interaction control signals for transmission to the
interactive toy via the communication link in which the one or more
interaction control signals are responsive to the characteristics
of the interactive toy.
[0137] It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that
variations in the above method correspond to operation of the
various embodiments of the apparatus disclosed herein are
considered within the scope of the present invention, including but
not limited to selecting characteristics from one or more selected
from the list consisting of: physical capabilities of the
interactive toy; target age-range of a user of the interactive toy;
licensing type of the interactive toy; personality type of the
interactive toy; the apparent gender of the toy; and the name of
the toy.
[0138] Referring to FIG. 6, a method of modifying the behaviour of
an interactive toy comprises a first step s601 of establishing a
wireless communication link between the entertainment device and
the interactive toy followed in a second step s602, by the
entertainment device obtaining supplementary data associated with
media content mounted on the entertainment device. In a third step
s603, the supplementary data is sent to the interactive toy via the
communication link. In a fourth step s604, the supplementary data
is stored in a memory means of the interactive toy. In a fifth step
s605, the communication link is closed. In a sixth step s606,
stored data is processed to generate behaviours of the interactive
toy in which the supplementary data received by the interactive toy
affects subsequent behaviour of the interactive toy.
[0139] It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that
variations in the above method correspond to operation of the
various embodiments of the apparatus disclosed herein are
considered within the scope of the present invention, including but
not limited to transmitting data descriptive of the characteristics
of the interactive toy from the interactive toy to the
entertainment device prior to transmitting supplementary data to
the interactive toy, in which the supplementary data transmitted by
the entertainment device is responsive to the data descriptive of
the characteristics of the interactive toy previously transmitted
to the entertainment device.
[0140] Referring to FIG. 7, a method of controlling an
entertainment device using an interactive toy comprises a first
step s701 of detecting one or more interactions of a user with the
interactive toy through one or more sensors of the interactive toy.
In a second step s702 the detected interactions are interpreted
(either by the toy, or by the device, or partly by each) as one or
more commands corresponding to functions or the entertainment
device. In a third step s703, the entertainment device is
controlled in accordance with the one or more commands.
[0141] It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that
variations in the above method correspond to operation of the
various embodiments of the apparatus disclosed herein are
considered within the scope of the present invention, including but
not limited to: [0142] initially transmitting data descriptive of
the characteristics of the interactive toy previously to the
entertainment device from the interactive toy and mapping sensor
activations to control commands in a manner responsive to the data
descriptive of the characteristics of the interactive toy; and
[0143] performing such mapping in the entertainment device; or
[0144] performing such mapping in the interactive toy.
[0145] It will be appreciated that in embodiments of the present
invention, elements of the various methods of operation of the
entertainment device and the interactive toy may be implemented by
for example reprogramming one or more processors therein. As such
the required adaptation may be implemented in the form of a
computer program product comprising processor implementable
instructions stored on a data carrier such as a floppy disk,
optical disk, hard disk, PROM, RAM, flash memory or any combination
of these or other storage media, or transmitted via signal on a
network such as an Ethernet, a wireless network, the Internet or
any combination of the these or other networks.
* * * * *
References