Game based on knowledge and taste concerning pictural works, the game being implemented by computer means

Abstract

A game involves obtaining a database of items, each item representing pictural work image data, together with descriptor parameters for the pictural work, with each descriptor parameter being predefined, selecting at least one criterion constituted by one of the descriptor parameters, drawing at least one item randomly from the database, and displaying the pictural work image data represented by the randomly drawn item on a player's terminal.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The invention relates to a game implemented by computer means and serving to bring together pictural art concepts and actions that come from board games.

[0002] The game also seeks to analyze the tastes of players, and on the basis of data it collects, to bring together players presenting mutual affinities in order to enable them to share and make known rare works and little-known artists on the basis of said criteria.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

[0003] The starting point of the invention is the observation that the infrastructure of social networks, such as Facebook to mention the best known, is widely underused, and in particular:

[0004] i) it is possible to obtain an immense database of players;

[0005] ii) it is possible to host images in practically unlimited quantities; and

[0006] iii) because there exists a function for manifesting a liking, implemented by there always being a "like" button, it suffices for the user of a social network merely to click in order to manifest a particular interest with respect to such and such an item of information, in order to share it with other members of the network.

[0007] Numerous games are also known that rely to a greater or lesser extent on chance and also, on the knowledge and learning of the player: there are pure games of chance such as "jackpot" type games or slot machine type games, there are games that combine chance and knowledge such as wagering games, trifecta betting, etc., or indeed games that are based essentially on learning, such as quiz type games.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] One of the objects of the invention is to take advantage of the combined features of social networks and of games implemented by computer means to make the public aware of pictural art and to enrich the knowledge of the public in that field.

[0009] The idea is not only to test a player's knowledge in the pictural field, but also and above all to enable players to enlarge the scope of their knowledge in that field by helping players discover works or artists that are little known but that it is believed correspond to the tastes of any one player, by looking for affinities with other players who are members of the same social network.

[0010] In its most general aspect, the game comprises the following steps:

[0011] a) obtaining a database comprising a plurality of items, each item comprising: a representation of a pictural work in the form of image data, together with a plurality of descriptor parameters for said pictural work, with the value of each of said descriptor parameters being taken from a list of predefined values;

[0012] b) selecting at least one criterion, constituted by one of the descriptor parameters of said plurality of descriptor parameters; and

[0013] c) executing a game involving the criterion selected in step b), the execution of the game including drawing at least one item randomly from the database and displaying the representation associated with the randomly-drawn item on the player's terminal.

[0014] The descriptor parameters of the pictural work may in particular be taken from the group constituted by: the name of the artist; the period; the original school; the original country; the type of scene shown; the technique used; the size; the museum of residence.

[0015] In a first implementation of the invention, the game executed in step c) is a game of the virtual slot machine type, comprising:

[0016] c1) in response to a command issued by the player, drawing N items randomly from the database, where N.gtoreq.2; and

[0017] c2) allocating a bonus to the player if there is a match for the N randomly-drawn items and the criterion selected in step b).

[0018] In a second implementation of the invention, the game executed in step c) is a game of searching for the odd-one-out, comprising:

[0019] c1) randomly drawing N items from a subset of the database, where N.gtoreq.2 and where the subset is constituted by the items that all present the same criterion selected in step b);

[0020] c2) randomly drawing a single item from the database not including said subset;

[0021] c3) displaying on the player's terminal, in random order, the representations associated with the N+1 items drawn at random in steps c1) and c2);

[0022] c4) the player designating one of the representations as being the representation that, in the player's opinion, corresponds to the item drawn at random in step c2), i.e. not included in said subset; and

[0023] c5) allocating a bonus to the player in the event of a match between the representation specified by the player in step c4) and the representation of the item that was indeed drawn at random in step c2) and not included in said subset.

[0024] In a third implementation of the invention, the game executed in step c) is a game of searching for the odd-one-out, comprising:

[0025] c1) randomly drawing N items from a subset of the database, where N.gtoreq.2 and where the subset is constituted by the items that all present the same criterion selected in step b);

[0026] c2) randomly drawing a single item from the database not including said subset;

[0027] c3) displaying on the player's terminal, in random order, the representations associated with the N+1 items drawn at random in steps c1) and c2);

[0028] c4) the player designating one of the representations as being the representation that, in the player's opinion, corresponds to the item drawn at random in step c2), i.e. not included in said subset; and

[0029] c5) allocating a bonus to the player in the event of a match between the representation specified by the player in step c4) and the representation of the item that was indeed drawn at random in step c2) and not included in said subset.

[0030] In a fourth implementation of the invention, the game executed in step c) is a quiz game comprising:

[0031] c1) drawing an item at random from the database;

[0032] c2) displaying the representation associated with the randomly-drawn item on the player's terminal;

[0033] c3) presenting to the player said list of predefined values corresponding to the criterion selected in step b);

[0034] c4) the player designating one of said predefined values presented in step c3) as being the value that, in the player's opinion, corresponds to the item drawn at random in step c2); and

[0035] c5) allocating a bonus to the player in the event of a match between the predefined value designated by the player in step c4) and the actual predefined value of the item drawn at random in step c2).

[0036] In an advantageous and particularly characteristic aspect of the invention, execution of the game comprises, after displaying the representation associated with at least one randomly-drawn item on the player's terminal:

[0037] i) displaying on said terminal a field for manifesting a liking of the player for the pictural work associated with the displayed representation, by means of a binary evaluation of the type "like" or "like"/"dislike";

[0038] ii) the player optionally inputting said manifestation of liking;

[0039] iii) the manifestation of liking as input being sent to the game site; and

[0040] iv) the manifestation of liking sent in step iii) being entered into the database as an additional descriptor parameter of said pictural work.

[0041] The game executed in step c) may in particular include a prior stage comprising: [0042] for each player in a population of players: [0043] i) displaying on the player's terminal a representation associated with an item drawn at random from the database, together with said field for manifestation of liking; [0044] ii) the player optionally inputting said manifestation of liking; and [0045] iii) the manifestation of liking as input being sent to the game site; [0046] statistically processing the manifestations of liking as sent, in order to classify the items of the database with a classification ranking that is a function of the number of players who have provided a manifestation of liking; and [0047] storing said classification ranking as a descriptor parameter for each of the classified items.

[0048] Said prior stage is preferably executed over a limited time period, in particular a daily period.

[0049] In a fifth implementation of the invention, the game executed in step c) is a game of the wager type, comprising:

[0050] c1) the player designating at least one item of the database that the player considers as being the item(s) possessing the highest classification ranking from among the items corresponding to the criterion selected in step b); and

[0051] c2) allocating a bonus to the player in the event of a match between the item(s) actually possessing the highest classification ranking and the designation made by the player in step c1).

[0052] In a particular implementation of the game: [0053] step c1) provides for the player designating a plurality of items, and a relative order for said items; and [0054] the bonus allocated in step c2) is modulated as a function of the match or mismatch between the relative order of the items as designated by the player and the actual classification ranking as determined during the prior stage.

[0055] In another particular implementation, the game comprises:

[0056] i) displaying on the player's terminal a plurality of representations associated with respective items of the database, each associated with said field for manifestation of liking;

[0057] ii) the player optionally inputting said manifestation of liking for each displayed representation;

[0058] iii) the game site collecting the manifestations of liking as input;

[0059] iv) on the basis of the collected manifestations of liking, defining a profile of the player's likings; and

[0060] v) the game site selecting at least one item of the database for which the representation has not yet been displayed on the player's terminal, the selection being made as a function of the liking profile as determined in step iv).

[0061] Under all circumstances, the game is advantageously implemented within an exchange application on a social network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0062] There follows a more detailed description of two implementations of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0063] FIG. 1 shows the various elements of a computer network enabling the invention to be implemented.

[0064] FIG. 2 shows an example of the display presented to a player in a game of the virtual slot machine type.

[0065] FIG. 3 shows an example of the display presented to a player in another game, of the odd-one-out type.

[0066] FIG. 4 is a theoretical flow chart setting out the principal steps of searching for affinities between a plurality of players, with the possibility of making them discover new pictural works that they did not know, but that it is believed correspond to their tastes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0067] The invention is implemented by computer means implementing a network organized around a game site 10 connected by wired or wireless transmission means to user terminals such as a computer 12, a digital tablet 14, or a smartphone 16. The game site is also interfaced with a database 18 for managing all of the data needed for executing the game.

[0068] The game may advantageously be implemented in the context of an application attached to a social network of the Facebook type, in particular via a mini-application of the widget type.

[0069] The database contains a certain number of "items" or entries each corresponding to a pictural work (referred to more simply below as a "picture") stored in the form of image data containing a representation of the work, accompanied by a certain amount of metadata constituted by descriptor parameters that describe the pictural work, and in particular: [0070] the name of the artist who authored the work: Manet, Rembrandt, Picasso, . . . ; [0071] period: 17.sup.th century, 20.sup.th century, . . . ; [0072] original school: Flemish, impressionist, Fauve, . . . ; [0073] original country: France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, . . . ; [0074] type of work: portrait, landscape, still life, nude, mythological scene, . . . ; [0075] technique used: oil on canvas or on wood, watercolor, acrylic, etching, . . . ; [0076] dimensions; and [0077] museum of residence: Orsay, Tate Gallery, Offices, Prado, . . . .

[0078] These various descriptor parameters are stored in coded form, with the various possible values being taken from predefined lists that can be indexed.

[0079] The database also includes information concerning the title of the picture, which is not used as a parameter for implementing the invention, but which may be presented to the player together with a representation of the picture at one moment or another in the game.

[0080] Finally, for each picture, the database stores various identifiers of players who have manifested a particular liking for the work in the manner that is explained in greater detail below, in particular by clicking on a button of the "like" type of the same kind as that which is well known and widely used in social networks for making known and sharing a particular interest for a subject displayed at a given instant on the screen of the terminal.

[0081] For a given picture, it is thus possible to identify all of the players who had manifested a particular partiality for the picture.

[0082] Execution of the game implies a particular criterion being selected (by the player or the site, depending on circumstances), which criterion is one of the descriptor parameters in the above-specified list: artist, period, etc.

[0083] Execution of the game also implies a random factor, resulting from one or more random draws of an item in the database, i.e. randomly drawing one or more pictures from amongst all of those that are listed in the database.

[0084] Starting from these basic concepts, various types of game can be envisaged.

[0085] The first game implementing the principles of the invention, the simplest game, is a game of pure chance of the virtual slot machine or "jackpot" type.

[0086] To this end, the game site presents a display 20 on the player's screen of the kind shown in FIG. 2. The player selects a criterion (artist, period, . . . ) by clicking on one of the buttons 22 . . . 28 that are presented by the display 20. For example the player clicks on the "artist" button.

[0087] Three panels 30, 32, 34 then start revolving about an imaginary axis 36, slowing down and stabilizing in order to present the player with three corresponding pictures. If all three pictures were painted by the same artist, then the player has won.

[0088] Naturally, the pictures may be presented in other ways, for example on drums carrying images of the pictures, like a slot machine. In a variant, the buttons 22 . . . 28 may be replaced by virtual sliders or drop-down menus, enabling the player to select a particular artist (e.g. "Picasso") and/or a particular period (19.sup.th century), etc.

[0089] The combination of two or other criteria enables the player to modulate the potential winnings as a function of the greater or lesser scarcity of the combination: thus if the player selects "Picasso and 19.sup.th century", then the wining will be much greater than if the player had selected "Picasso and 20.sup.th century", because of the scarcity of works that satisfy the first criterion.

[0090] The player's winnings may advantageously be proposed in the form of virtual money of the "Facebook credit" type, for example. However winnings may also be made concrete in the form of real prizes, e.g. in the form of purchase vouchers for works of art, etc.

[0091] The winnings may also depend on the number of pictures satisfying the same criteria on display after the draw, e.g. a result "two Picassos among the three pictures" will attract small winnings to the player, whereas "three Picassos among the three pictures" will attract much greater winnings.

[0092] Very many variants and combinations may also be imagined and proposed to the player in order to make the game more attractive.

[0093] Another essential aspect of the invention is the fact that the pictures displayed are all accompanied by a clickable field of the "like" button type, such as the buttons 40, 42, and 44 associated respectively with the pictures 30, 32, and 34 presented to the player after the random draw. The player is thus invited to click on the "like" button associated with a picture if the player considers that the picture is of particular interest given the player's own tastes.

[0094] If the player clicks on this button, the player's identity is stored in the database in association with the corresponding picture.

[0095] This makes it possible to build up in memory a general file concerning the tastes of the players, and the description below includes a way in which use can be made of that file.

[0096] A second game implementing the principles of the invention is a game of the "odd-on-out" type, illustrated with reference to FIG. 3.

[0097] For this purpose, the game site draws a certain number, N, of pictures randomly from its database, e.g. N=5 pictures, in such a manner that N-1 of them correspond to a given criterion that has been selected (secretly so far as the player is concerned) by the game site, e.g. N-1=4 pictures by the same artist, while the N.sup.th picture is drawn at random from those that do not satisfy the criterion.

[0098] For example, amongst the five pictures, four are by Renoir and the last one, the odd-one-out, is by Degas.

[0099] Naturally, the pictures are not drawn in a manner that is completely random, but rather in a manner that is weighted so that the odd-one-out corresponds to a period or to a school that is comparable to that of the first artist, so as to avoid making the odd-one-out immediately identifiable (e.g. one cubist amongst impressionists).

[0100] The display 48 presented to the player shows representations 50 . . . 58 of five pictures as selected in this way by the game site.

[0101] The player is invited to identify the odd-one-out by clicking on one of the buttons 60 . . . 68, each of which is associated with the picture under which it is located.

[0102] As in the preceding game, each picture 50 . . . 58 is associated with a "like" button 70 . . . 78 on which the player may click in order to manifest a particular partiality for one of the pictures that are on display.

[0103] A third game implementing the concept of the invention is a game of the "quiz" type.

[0104] In such a game, a picture drawn at random is displayed on the player's screen, together with a list of criteria: artist, period, original school, . . . . The player selects a criterion, e.g. "artist", and the game site presents a list of artists (Picasso, Braque, Gaugin, . . . ) in the form of a drop-down list from which the player selects the artist who the player believes to be the author of the picture that has been presented.

[0105] This selection may be performed on one or more criteria, with winnings naturally being modulated as a function of the difficulty in finding the correct response when there are multiple criteria.

[0106] A fourth game on the principles of the invention is a wager game.

[0107] The idea is then to designate one or more pictures that, in the player's opinion, is/are the picture(s) preferred by the entire population of players during a given period, e.g. over the last week.

[0108] In other words, the player designates the picture for which the greatest number of players have clicked on the "like" button during the past week, or the three pictures that satisfy this definition, possibly in order of importance (in a game of the "trifecta" type, optionally in order).

[0109] This wager or classification is performed on the basis of a criterion selected by the player such as artist, museum, . . . .

[0110] The wager thus relates for example to "the Renoir picture most preferred by players" or "the picture in the Prado museum most preferred by players", etc.

[0111] The game relies on using statistics previously collected from the population of players whose opinions have been collected in the context of the various games in which they have participated and during which they have been asked on each occasion to click on a "like" button associated with one of the pictures being presented to them.

[0112] Thus, at the end of a given period, e.g. at the end of a week, the game site can determine, for each work, the number of players who clicked on the "like" button when that particular work was presented to them, thereby defining a hit list or classification of the pictures as a function of the number of times players have clicked on the "like" button associated with the work.

[0113] The game consists specifically in guessing the hit list (unknown to the player but known to the site) for some given criterion.

[0114] In other words, the player is asked not to express the player's own opinion (i.e. the player is not being asked at this stage to demonstrate any particular liking), but rather to indicate what, in the player's opinion, the majority of other players prefer.

[0115] The response formulated by the player is compared with the reference response, and winnings are allocated to the player if the two responses match or are close.

[0116] This type of game, in which the player is asked to guess what other players think, is described in detail in particular in US 2006/0281510 A1 (Moreno), to which reference may be made for more ample details.

[0117] In the present circumstances, the originality lies in applying the game to pictural works and in using the "like" function that is omnipresent in social networks for statistical purposes in order to evaluate the likings of the population of players.

[0118] In general, a particularly advantageous application of the database made up in the manner specified above consists in searching for affinities between players, and in using those affinities in order to enable a player to discover an artist or a work that is little known, but that there is a good chance the player will like since the player's own taste profile, as estimated in the manner described below, is close to the profile of another player who has listed this artist or work amongst that other player's favorites.

[0119] Reference is now made to FIG. 4 which sets out the main stages in an algorithm for searching for affinities between a plurality of players.

[0120] It is assumed, by way of example, that the database 18 contains the items listed in Table 1 below.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 2 Renoir Umbrellas A B 9 Renoir La dame au chapeau rouge A B 23 Renoir Luncheon of the boating party A B 25 Renoir Dance at le Moulin de la A B Galette 26 Renoir Girls at the piano A 29 Goya Le 3 mai B 32 Poussin Arcadian Shepherds B 36 Courbet The Bather B 36 Courbet The Sleepers B C 36 Courbet Winter B F 36 Courbet The wave B D 41 Vinci Annunciation B 44 Vinci Mona Lisa A B 50 Vinci St. John the Baptist B 59 Van Gogh Chambre de Vincent A B 66 Van Gogh Starry night A B 108 Van Gogh Portrait of Dr. Gachet A B F 111 Van Gogh Wheatfields A C 112 Van Gogh Cafe terrace at night A G 119 Van Gogh Sunflowers A D

[0121] The number in the first column is the unique identifier specific to a given picture. The mentions A, B, C, . . . refer to players who have manifested a particular liking for the corresponding picture, in the context of various games in which they have previously participated. This extract retains only the pictures to which at least one player has manifested a liking (i.e. for which at least one player has clicked at least once on the "like" button).

[0122] The first step (block 80) consists in determining, for each of the artists P.sub.i, the "taste" of each player A, B, . . . , written G(P.sub.i,A), G(P.sub.i,B), . . . .

[0123] The "taste" G(P.sub.i,X) of player X is quantified by the number of occasions on which the player in question has manifested a liking for artist P.sub.i: using Table 1 as an example, we have: G(Renoir, A)=5, G(Van Gogh, A)=6, G(Renoir, B)=4, etc.

[0124] In this example it can be seen that if consideration is given to the two players A and B, then they share a common taste for Renoir (four common occurrences) and for Van Gogh (three common occurrences), and indeed a large number of other correspondences, not shown in this example.

[0125] However the system also easily detects a marked taste of player B for Courbet (four occurrences). In contrast, this artist is never been specified by A. Given the proximity of the tastes of A and B, it is probable that, quite simply, A has never specified this artist because A has not heard of him.

[0126] The object of the algorithm is to detect this situation and to propose discovering Courbet to A by asking whether A would like to explore Courbet's works. If so, then a slideshow of works by Courbet is displayed and if A was completely unaware of them, that may constitute a discovery.

[0127] For this purpose, the algorithm calculates (block 82) for each artist P.sub.i the degree of correlation for each pair of players {A, B}, {A, C}, {A, D} . . . {B, C}, {B, D}, etc.

[0128] This degree of correlation is given by the number of common likings manifested by A and B for a given artist (in the above example: 4 for Renoir, 3 for Van Gogh, etc.).

[0129] The following step (block 84) consists in detecting the pairs of players {A, B} for which the degree of correlation exceeds a first given threshold, i.e. for which a pronounced taste for a given artist P.sub.i is observed for both of the players A and B.

[0130] If found, a search is then made (block 86) to see whether there exists at least one artist P.sub.j for which i) one of the players presents a marked taste (i.e. for which G(P.sub.j, B) is greater than a second threshold, while ii) the other player has never mentioned liking that artist (G(P.sub.j, A)=0). In the example given above, this situation exists for Courbet: G(Courbet, B)=4 and G(Courbet, A)=0.

[0131] Under such circumstances, this means that the artist P.sub.j is probably unknown to one of the two players, and the site therefore suggests to that player (block 88) to present works of that artist in order to enable the player to discover them.

Claims

1. A game implemented by computer means comprising a terminal accessible to a player and a remote game site, the game comprising the following steps: a) obtaining a database comprising a plurality of items, each item comprising: a representation of a pictural work in the form of image data, together with a plurality of descriptor parameters for said pictural work, with the value of each of said descriptor parameters being taken from a list of predefined values; b) selecting at least one criterion, constituted by one of the descriptor parameters of said plurality of descriptor parameters; and c) executing a game involving the criterion selected in step b), the execution of the game including drawing at least one item randomly from the database and displaying the representation associated with the randomly-drawn item on the player's terminal.

2. The game of claim 1, wherein the descriptor parameters of the pictural work of which the values are taken from a list of predefined values are parameters of the group constituted by: the name of the artist; the period; the original school; the original country; the type of scene shown; the technique used; the size; the museum of residence.

3. The game of claim 1, wherein the game executed in step c) is a game of the virtual slot machine type, comprising: c1) in response to a command issued by the player, drawing N items randomly from the database, where N.gtoreq.2; and c2) allocating a bonus to the player if there is a match for the N randomly-drawn items and the criterion selected in step b).

4. The game of claim 1, wherein the game executed in step c) is a game of searching for the odd-one-out, comprising: c1) randomly drawing N items from a subset of the database, where N.gtoreq.2 and where the subset is constituted by the items that all present the same criterion selected in step b); c2) randomly drawing a single item from the database not including said subset; c3) displaying on the player's terminal, in random order, the representations associated with the N+1 items drawn at random in steps c1) and c2); c4) the player designating one of the representations as being the representation that, in the player's opinion, corresponds to the item drawn at random in step c2), i.e. not included in said subset; and c5) allocating a bonus to the player in the event of a match between the representation specified by the player in step c4) and the representation of the item that was indeed drawn at random in step c2) and not included in said subset.

5. The game of claim 1, wherein the game executed in step c) is a quiz game comprising: c1) drawing an item at random from the database; c2) displaying the representation associated with the randomly-drawn item on the player's terminal; c3) presenting to the player said list of predefined values corresponding to the criterion selected in step b); c4) the player designating one of said predefined values presented in step c3) as being the value that, in the player's opinion, corresponds to the item drawn at random in step c2); and c5) allocating a bonus to the player in the event of a match between the predefined value designated by the player in step c4) and the actual predefined value of the item drawn at random in step c2).

6. The game of claim 1, wherein execution of the game comprises, after displaying the representation associated with at least one randomly-drawn item on the player's terminal: i) displaying on said terminal a field for manifesting a liking of the player for the pictural work associated with the displayed representation, by means of a binary evaluation of the type "like" or "like"/"dislike"; ii) the player optionally inputting said manifestation of liking; iii) the manifestation of liking as input being sent to the game site; and iv) the manifestation of liking sent in step iii) being entered into the database as an additional descriptor parameter of said pictural work.

7. The game of claim 6, wherein the game executed in step c) includes a prior stage comprising: for each player in a population of players: i) displaying on the player's terminal a representation associated with an item drawn at random from the database, together with said field for manifestation of liking; ii) the player optionally inputting said manifestation of liking; and iii) the manifestation of liking as input being sent to the game site; statistically processing the manifestations of liking as sent, in order to classify the items of the database with a classification ranking that is a function of the number of players who have provided a manifestation of liking; and storing said classification ranking as a descriptor parameter for each of the classified items.

8. The game of claim 7, wherein said prior stage is executed over a limited time period, in particular a daily period.

9. The game of claim 7, wherein the game executed in step c) is a game of the wager type, comprising: c1) the player designating at least one item of the database that the player considers as being the item(s) possessing the highest classification ranking from among the items corresponding to the criterion selected in step b); and c2) allocating a bonus to the player in the event of a match between the item(s) actually possessing the highest classification ranking and the designation made by the player in step c1).

10. The game of claim 9, wherein: step c1) provides for the player designating a plurality of items, and a relative order for said items; and the bonus allocated in step c2) is modulated as a function of the match or mismatch between the relative order of the items as designated by the player and the actual classification ranking as determined during the prior stage.

11. The game of claim 6, comprising: i) displaying on the player's terminal a plurality of representations associated with respective items of the database, each associated with said field for manifestation of liking; ii) the player optionally inputting said manifestation of liking for each displayed representation;