HK1222366B - Two-environment game play system - Google Patents

Description

Dual-environment game system

Technical Field

The present invention relates to systems and methods related to gaming environments.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Patent Application No. 61/841,544 for "Dual Environment Gaming System."

Background Art

Traditional methods of tracking targets (e.g., golf balls, basketballs, baseballs, etc.) employ various types of sensors, including Doppler radar technology, camera-based technology, high-speed 3D camera-based technology, and stereo sensors. These sensors can be configured to track the target and, with computer assistance, recreate the target's motion within a computerized virtual environment. In kinematic applications, these tracking systems have been used to provide training feedback, player development, and other training/improvement applications, focusing on the motion of a virtual target relative to the virtual environment. Existing technologies primarily focus on providing analysis of player technique and the resulting effects on the target's flight path. These systems have found particular interest in the field of golf instruction.

Conventional indoor golf simulators utilize sensors, such as those mentioned above, and present data points within an indoor virtual space. These simulators monitor the ball with sensors that capture XYZ data points and transmit those data points to a computer system that generates a representation of the data points within the virtual space—such as a virtualized hole on a golf course. Existing technology focuses on capturing and integrating data points into a purely virtual environment, with no discernible connection to the physical environment where the golf ball is actually struck.

It is clear that there is a need for a system and method for tracking a ball or other object and representing the flight path of the ball in a virtual gaming environment that is consistent with the physical environment in which the ball is struck. The present invention addresses this need and provides techniques to thereby satisfy this need.

Summary of the Invention

Described herein is a gaming environment comprising a tee box, a range surface, and a monitor. The tee box is configured to allow a player to hit a golf ball onto the range surface. The range surface has a plurality of physical markings. The monitor is positioned so that the player can see the monitor while in the tee box. The monitor depicts a virtual environment corresponding to a desired virtual game. Depending on the particular game selected, a set of virtual components is displayed on the monitor. Some of these virtual components are visual cues corresponding to the physical markings on the range surface. The player can achieve a game objective by aiming at the appropriate physical markings corresponding to the desired visual cues.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 depicts a perspective view of the physical environment used in the game.

FIG2 depicts a side perspective view of a virtual environment showing the path of a ball traveling through that virtual environment.

FIG3 depicts a front perspective view of a first preferred embodiment of a virtual environment.

FIG4 a depicts a top view of a second preferred embodiment of a virtual environment.

FIG. 4 b depicts a top view of the second preferred embodiment of FIG. 4 a , wherein the virtual environment has been adapted for aiming.

FIG. 4 c depicts a top view of the second preferred embodiment of FIG. 4 a and 4 b , wherein the virtual environment has been further adapted for aiming.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a gaming environment 10 includes a teeing area 100 and a range surface 200. The teeing area 100 includes a ball 110 and a monitor 400. The range surface 200 includes a plurality of physical markers 210, 220, 230, and 240. FIG1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the gaming environment 10. A player 300 is shown positioned within the teeing area 100, above the golf ball 110, and facing the monitor 400. It will be appreciated that the player 300's particular position within the teeing area 100 enables the player 300 to view the physical markers 210, 220, 230, and 240 and also to view the monitor 400. It will be further appreciated that while FIG1 depicts a preferred embodiment of the gaming environment 10, other embodiments and configurations of the components of the gaming environment 10 are possible. For example, the monitor 400 may be lifted or mounted on a standard pivot stand for adjustably positioning within the teeing area 100. Similarly, the positioning of the plurality of physical markers on the range surface 200 can be adjusted as desired for a particular implementation. However, preferably, as discussed below, the plurality of physical markers are generally distributed throughout the range surface 200 to facilitate game play. In a preferred embodiment, physical markers are distributed throughout the range surface 200 at distances of approximately 60 yards, 130 yards, 180 yards, and 210 yards from the playing area 100.

Turning to FIG. 2 , a virtual environment is depicted as being displayed to a player 300 on a monitor 400. In a preferred embodiment, the virtual environment 10 is configured for playing a virtual golf game. Thus, the virtual environment shown in FIG. 2 includes a plurality of virtual components suitable for a golf game, including, but not limited to, a golf turf 402, a player scorecard 404, a current player information box 406, a plurality of player position markers 410, 420, and 430, a plurality of visual cues 450, 460, 470, and 480, a virtual golf ball 490, and a golf ball flight path 495.

Some of these virtual components correspond to physical aspects of range surface 200 and teeing area 100. For example, visual cues 450, 460, 470, and 480 correspond to physical markers 210, 220, 230, and 240, respectively. Importantly, the relative positions and distances between physical markers 210, 220, 230, and 240 are identical to the relative positions and distances between visual cues 450, 460, 470, and 480. It will be appreciated that by depicting multiple visual cues corresponding to the multiple physical markers on range surface 200 in the virtual environment, various desirable features of a golf game are enabled. It will be further appreciated that other games can benefit from the correspondence between these physical markers and visual cues, including but not limited to baseball, football, Frisbee, tennis, and other games.

One such benefit is that after player 300 hits golf ball 110, the location where golf ball 110 will reside on range surface 200 can be depicted in the virtual environment as being at a location and distance from each of a plurality of visual cues corresponding to the location and distance from each of a plurality of physical markers on the range surface that golf ball 110 is located. For example, if golf ball 110 is located 10 feet north of physical marker 220, 15 feet west of physical marker 230, and 40 feet south of physical marker 240, monitor 400 will display virtual golf ball 490 as being 10 feet north of visual cue 450, 15 feet west of visual cue 460, and 40 feet south of visual cue 470.

Another benefit of depicting multiple visual cues in the virtual environment corresponding to multiple physical markers on the range surface 200 is that the actual path that the golf ball 110 travels from the teeing area 110 to the range surface 200 can be depicted in the virtual environment and displayed on the monitor 400. FIG2 depicts such a path 495.

Yet another benefit of depicting multiple visual cues in the virtual environment corresponding to multiple physical markers on the range surface 200 is that the player 300 can use the multiple physical markers as targets corresponding to specific virtual components depicted in the virtual environment. For example, returning to FIG4 a, if, during a particular game in the gaming environment 10, it is desirable to land the virtual golf ball 490 near the visual component 498 (which is depicted as the hole on the hole), the player 300 can adjust their golf shot (by changing the golf club, stroke mechanics, foot position, body position, etc.) to increase the chance that the golf ball 110 will land near the physical marker 210 corresponding to the visual cue 450 that is closest to the visual component 220.

As will be appreciated, the virtual environment can also be adjusted to better align the visual cues 450, 460, 470, and 480 corresponding to the physical markers 210, 220, 230, and 240 with the desired visual component. For example, FIG4 b depicts the same virtual environment as FIG4 a, except that the perspective has been selectively rotated so that the visual cue 460 is now closer to the virtual component 498. FIG4 c shows that the perspective can be further adjusted to bring the visual cue 460 closer to the virtual component 498. Thus, the player 300 can now increase their chances of having the virtual golf ball 490 reside near the visual component 498 by aiming their golf shot at the physical marker 220 corresponding to the visual cue 460.

It will be further understood that other visual components can be displayed to assist the player 300 in aiming. For example, in Figures 4a, 4b, and 4c, a virtual teeing area 499 corresponding to the teeing area 100 is shown, and a direction indicator 500 is displayed to indicate the direction the virtual golf ball 490 will travel if the player 300 hits the golf ball 110 with a heading of 0 degrees (directly straight to the range plane 200).

It will be appreciated that other visual components suitable for golf games may be used in the preferred embodiment if desired, including but not limited to a fairway, sand traps, a virtual teeing area, a water hazard, and an out-of-bounds marker. Furthermore, it may be desirable to include other visual components depicted in the virtual environment that do not necessarily affect the play of the virtual golf game but instead fill in the background of the virtual environment, including but not limited to rivers, lakes, houses and other buildings, mountains, trees, oceans, cliffs, clouds, and other weather-related features. FIG. 3 depicts another preferred embodiment of a virtual environment depicted on a monitor 400, including a fairway 300, a plurality of sand traps 310, 312, 314, 316, an ocean 320, a mountain 330, and other visual components not enumerated.

Returning to FIG. 1 , the preferred golf game begins by having the player 300 observe the monitor 400 to determine where they should aim their first golf shot. The virtual environment depicted by the monitor 400 will initially show a virtual golf ball 490 (corresponding to the actual golf ball 110 on the actual teeing area 100) on the virtual teeing area of the golf hole. Based on the particular shape and length of the fairway of the virtual golf hole depicted in the virtual environment, the player 300 will select a strategy to get their virtual golf ball into the cup on the green of the golf hole using the fewest golf strokes. This strategy may include selecting a specific golf club and hitting the golf ball 110 on the teeing area 100 so that the golf ball 110 flies through the air on a specific path onto the range surface 200. The path 495 will be depicted in the virtual environment and displayed on the monitor 400. The monitor will then redraw the virtual environment to show the new position of the virtual golf ball 490. The game will continue as the player 300 repeatedly aims at the desired physical markers, makes a golf shot, and then watches the monitor depict the path 495 of the virtual golf ball 490, which corresponds to the flight path of the actual golf ball 110 relative to the multiple physical markers.

It will be appreciated that various embodiments of the game have different goals and objectives. In a first preferred embodiment, the objective is to hit a virtual golf ball 490 into a hole on a golf green 498 in the fewest possible golf strokes. In an alternative embodiment of the game, points are awarded to the player 300 over successive rounds of the game based on how closely the virtual golf ball 490, as depicted in the virtual environment, resides within virtual concentric rings. In yet another preferred embodiment, the player's objective is to score exactly 21 points per round by making the path 495 of the virtual golf ball 490 intersect virtual playing cards, each of which has a specific value.

It is understood that although the various features and advantages of various embodiments of the present invention have been described in the foregoing description in conjunction with the structural and functional details of the various embodiments of the present invention, the present disclosure is illustrative only and that changes may be made in details, especially in the structure and construction of components within the scope of the inventive concept to the maximum extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms used in the appended claims. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the teachings of the present invention can be applied to other systems without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

Claims (4)

1. A game environment system, comprising: A physical tee box (100) equipped with a monitor (400); A physical range surface (200) extending from the teeing area and having multiple physical markers (210, 220, 230, 240); and Physical golf ball (110); The monitor (400) depicts a virtual environment (10), which includes multiple virtual golf holes, each of which includes a virtual tee box, a virtual fairway, and a virtual green. The virtual environment further includes: A virtual golf ball (490) corresponds to the physical golf ball (110); Multiple visual cues (450, 460, 470, 480) correspond to multiple physical markers (210, 220, 230, 240) on the physical range surface (200), wherein the relative positions and distances between the multiple physical markers (210, 220, 230, 240) are the same as the relative positions and distances between the multiple visual cues (450, 460, 470, 480) depicted. Multiple visual components (498), wherein at least one of the visual components corresponds to a feature of the virtual golf hole, such that the feature of the virtual golf hole does not exist on the physical range surface (200); wherein at least one of the visual components does not correspond to the physical markers (210, 220, 230, 240) of the physical range surface (200); and The virtual golf ball flight path (495) of the virtual golf ball (490) corresponds to the actual flight path of the physical golf ball (110) from the teeing area (100) to the range surface (200); The virtual environment (10) is configured to depict repeated aiming and playing of the virtual turf from the virtual tee box to the virtual fairway and/or the virtual grass corresponding to the desired physical markers (210, 220, 230, 240) of the visual cues (450, 460, 470, 480), and the virtual environment (10) is further configured to describe each virtual golf ball flight path (495) corresponding to the actual flight path of the physical golf ball relative to the desired physical markers (210, 220, 230, 240) during the repeated aiming and playing from the virtual tee box to the virtual fairway and the virtual grass; and the monitor (400) is further configured to redraw the virtual environment (10) to depict the new position of the virtual golf ball after each successive repeated aiming and playing along each virtual golf hole from the virtual tee box to the virtual fairway and/or the virtual grass; The relative positions and distances between the desired physical markers (210, 220, 230, 240) are the same as the relative positions and distances between the depicted visual cues (450, 460, 470, 480); and The selective adjustment of the plurality of visual cues (450, 460, 470, 480) relative to the plurality of visual components, wherein such adjustment changes the proximity of one of the plurality of visual cues (450, 460, 470, 480) to one of the plurality of visual components. 2. The game environment system of claim 1, wherein the monitor (400) depicts a virtual final dwell position of a virtual golf ball (490) corresponding to the relative position and distance from each of the plurality of visual cues (450, 460, 470, 480), the relative position and distance from each of the plurality of visual cues (450, 460, 470, 480) corresponding to the relative position and distance of the physical golf ball (110) from each of the plurality of physical markers (210, 220, 230, 240) of the range surface (200). 3. The game environment system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one visual component not corresponding to the physical markers (210, 220, 230, 240) further includes a virtual direction indicator, a virtual sand barrier, a virtual water obstacle zone, a virtual out-of-bounds marker, or a virtual background feature. 4. The game environment system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one visual component comprises a game card or a concentric ring.