EP-4735137-A1 - GAMING APPARATUS AND/OR A METHOD OF USE THEREOF

Abstract

Gaming apparatus for playing one or more games is provided. The gaming apparatus includes sensing means for sensing one or more actions and/or parameters of or associated with a user of the apparatus and/or at least one non-virtual item which a user of the apparatus interacts with when participating in or performing at least one activity or sporting activity in use. The gaming apparatus is arranged to allow the user to become a virtual participant in at least one game relating to the at least one activity or sporting activity that can be played by the user via the gaming apparatus in use and use the data relating to the one or more sensed actions and/or parameters of the user and/or the at least one non-virtual item as part of the at least one game in which the user is the virtual participant in use. The gaming apparatus further includes means for allowing data relating to at least one non-virtual event to be communicated to, broadcast and/or utilised by the at least one game in use. The data relating to the at least one non-virtual event is used, at least in part, to affect an outcome of the at least one game being played by the user in use.

Inventors

• MIDDLETON, NICHOLAS

Assignees

• Zen Corporation Limited

Dates

Publication Date

20260506

Application Date

20240628

Claims (20)

1. 1. Gaming apparatus for playing one or more games, said gaming apparatus including: at least one electronic device including micro-processing means via which the one or more games are at least pardy played in use; sensing means for sensing one or more actions and/ or parameters of or associated with a user of the apparatus and/ or at least one non-virtual item which a user of the apparatus interacts with when participating in or performing at least one activity or sporting activity in use; and wherein the gaming apparatus or the at least one electronic device is arranged to allow the user to become a virtual participant in at least one game relating to the at least one activity or sporting activity that can be played by the user in use; the gaming apparatus or the at least one electronic device is arranged to use data relating to the one or more sensed actions and/ or parameters of the user and/ or the at least one non-virtual item as part of the at least one game in which the user is the virtual participant in use; characterised in that the gaming apparatus further includes means for allowing data relating to at least one non-virtual event to be communicated to, broadcast and/ or utilised by the at least one game in use; and wherein the data relating to the at least one non-virtual event is used, at least in part, to affect an outcome of the at least one game being played by the user in use.
2. 2. The gaming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein data relating to, generated and/ or derived from the sensed one or more actions and/ or parameters is used in combination with the data from the non-virtual event to affect an outcome of the at least one game in use.
3. 3. The gaming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the non-virtual event includes or consists of at least one non-virtual participant and wherein: the non-virtual participant forms part of the game and/ or is a player of the game; the non-virtual participant interacts the with same, similar or substantially the same at least one non-virtual item as the user interacts with; and/ or the nonvirtual participant undertakes the same or substantially the same as the at least one activity, motor skill activity or sporting activity being undertaken by the user.
4. 4. The gaming apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the data relating to the at least one non-virtual event is, consists of or includes any or any combination of: live or real-time data; recorded or pre-recorded data, digital data, image data, video data, audio data, sensory data, kinaesthetic data, haptic data and/ or auxiliary data; broadcast data; or data communicated via communication means.
5. 5. The gaming apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the apparatus is arranged such that a game being played via the apparatus allows or requires the user to perform and/or simulate the activity or sporting activity in use as if they are a participant of the at least one non-virtual event.
6. 6. The gaming apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the gaming apparatus and/ or the at least one non-virtual item is or includes an adaptive terrain platform and/ or a 3-dimensional or 4-dimensional performance arena, and wherein one or more conditions, settings, movements and/ or parameters of the adaptive terrain platform and/ or 3-dimensional or 4-dimensional performance arena is controlled or automatically controlled via the gaming apparatus to provide one or more gaming settings for the game.
7. 7. The gaming apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the one or more actions and/ or parameters being sensed by the sensing means in use include any or any combination of interoception, proprioception, haptic, speed, distance, position and/ or direction of movement of at least part of the user and/ or the at least one non-virtual item being used by the user; the environment in which the user and/ or the at least one non-virtual item is being used; the humidity, temperature, terrain, wind speed, weather conditions, and/ or illumination (artificial and/ or natural).
8. 8. The gaming apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the sensing means includes any means, device or mechanism for sensing the one or more actions and/ or parameters of and/ or associated with the user or non-virtual item; or any or any combination of one or more temperature sensors, cameras, image capturing devices, light detection sensors, Global Positioning System (GPS), wind speed measuring devices, humidity sensors, Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs), accelerometers, gyroscopes, microphones, force plates, eye tracking devices, grip pressure sensors, galvanometers, brain computer interfaces (BCI) or ball tracking technology.
9. 9. The gaming apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the apparatus includes and/ or is associated with display means and the gaming apparatus is arranged to allow a virtual or non-virtual image or representation of the user and/ or the at least one non-virtual event or non-virtual participant to be displayed thereon in use.
10. 10. The gaming apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the virtual image or representation of the user and/ or the non-virtual participant is in the form of an avatar and the avatar is arranged to perform the same or substantially the same motor patterns as the user and/ or the non-virtual participant is performing or is sensed to be performing in use.
11. 11. The gaming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the avatar is any or any combination of a digital twin, a homunculus, a sensory homunculus, or an actualised or motor representation of the user.
12. 12. The gaming apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the gaming apparatus is arranged to record and store one or more games played via the gaming apparatus to allow playback of the game in use.
13. 13. The gaming apparatus according to any preceding claim including a plurality of users and/ or a plurality of non-virtual participants of the non-virtual event in use.
14. 14. The gaming apparatus according to any preceding claim including a user interface between the non-virtual event data, the live digital data and/or broadcast data to allow a user to interact with the non-virtual event data, the live digital data and/ or broadcast data in use.
15. 15. The gaming apparatus according to any preceding claim, including microprocessing means, a mobile phone application, artificial intelligence (Al) and/or software for processing data relating to the at least one game, the sensed data, the data being communicated, broadcast and/ or utilised by the at least one game in use.
16. 16. The gaming apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the at least one game is provided to have one or more different levels of complexity, modes or orders of experience for a user, and wherein the one or more different levels, modes or orders of experience are selectable by the user or are determined by the gaming apparatus.
17. 17. The gaming apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the nonvirtual event data and/ or the data sensed by the sensing means is used to form or generate at least a first set of data and the gaming apparatus or microprocessing means is arranged to generate, create and/ or adapt at least one avatar, at least in part, using the at least first set of data, for inclusion in one or more games played via the gaming apparatus.
18. 18. The gaming apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the at least one avatar is used to play or used as a player in one or more further games via the gaming apparatus or further gaming apparatus that are at least partly or entirely virtual in nature.
19. 19. The gaming apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the one or more further games form or generate at least a second set of data, and the at least one avatar that is used in the one or more further games is further adaptable, at least in part, using the at least second set of data, to form at least a second form of the avatar.
20. 20. The gaming apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the at least second form of the avatar can be introduced or reintroduced back into the one or more games or one or more yet further games.

Description

Gaming Apparatus and/ or a Method of Use Thereof This invention relates to gaming apparatus and/ or to a method of use thereof. Although the following description refers almost exclusively to gaming apparatus relating to playing a game of golf, it will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the gaming apparatus of the present invention could be used to play or participate in any activity or sporting activity, such as for example, a non-sporting activity (i.e. dance or yoga), or a sporting activity such as football, basketball, netball, hockey, cricket, cycling, running and/ or the like. The concept of providing electronic gaming apparatus that uses live broadcast video and/ or audio data to provide a gaming scenario for a player of the electronic gaming apparatus is already known. For example, US2019/0070508 discloses a gaming system that allows for the contemporaneous viewing of a golf broadcast showing a non-virtual player and the virtual playing of the same golf course by a virtual player of the gaming system. US9210473 discloses a system for integrating video games into live sporting events, or the converse, in an interactive manner. A viewer of the broadcast sporting event can elect to become a phantom participant in the event. The viewer controls the phantom participant using conventional gaming controls provided on the electronic gaming console. Although the above examples of gaming apparatus including a broadcast sporting event provides an additional layer of interest to a user of the apparatus and allows a user to feel partly involved in the broadcast event, the interaction between the user and the broadcast event is still limited. Furthermore, in the conventional gaming apparatus the user is a virtual player that is controlled using conventional gaming controls, such as for example using a joystick or cursor keys. It is also known to provide virtual training aids for use in sporting activities that can act as a type of an electronic game for a user. For example, the virtual sporting app ZWIFT® allows a non- virtual turbo trainer and bicycle to be linked to a computer. A user cycles their bike on their turbo trainer in their home environment and the data recorded from the turbo trainer is used with data recorded from other remotely located cyclists in a virtual environment to allow a group of non-virtual cyclists to undertake training rides and races together in real time within the virtual environment. Although the software App allows a plurality of remotely located nonvirtual sports users to interact together within a virtual environment, the non-virtual users are represented as virtual avatars within the gaming environment, thereby limiting the realism and/ or interest of the game to a user. In addition, the appearance of the virtual avatars is fixed or is only capable of representation in a limited predetermined manner (i.e. a stationary avatar or a moving avatar). It is therefore an aim of the present invention to provide gaming apparatus and/ or a method of use thereof that overcomes the abovementioned problems. It is a further aim of the present invention to provide gaming apparatus and/ or a method of use thereof that provides a more interactive and/ or realistic experience between a user and an event being shown, output and/ or broadcast via the gaming apparatus. It is a further aim of the present invention to provide gaming apparatus that uses real world data obtained from the one or more games played by the user, and use at least part or all of this real world data in an entirely virtual setting to allow one or more virtual electronic games to be played by the user and/ or a third party. It is a yet further aim of the present invention to provide gaming apparatus that allows data taken from an entirely virtual game setting to be used in, modify, and/ or enhance one or more games being played by the user or a third party via the gaming apparatus. It is a yet further aim of the present invention to provide gaming apparatus and/ or a method of use thereof that provides the user with a training aid for an activity, event, or sporting activity. It is a yet further aim of the present invention to provide gaming apparatus and/ or a method of use thereof that allows a user to play and/ or simulate a non-virtual or real sport or activity, and for this play and/ or simulation of the real sport or activity to be incorporated into a game played on the gaming apparatus. It is a yet further aim of the present invention to provide gaming apparatus that includes a non-virtual item for use by a user in a non-virtual sport or activity and one or more parameters relating to the use of the non-virtual item by the user are measured for use by the gaming apparatus as part of a virtual game to be played by the user. It is a further aim of the present invention to provide an avatar that can be used with gaming apparatus, in one or more electronic games and/ or a method of use and/ or formation th