GB2351547A

GB2351547A - Touch screen display board for computer games

Info

Publication number: GB2351547A
Application number: GB9913158A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Yehouda Harpaz
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1999-06-08
Filing date: 1999-06-08
Publication date: 2001-01-03
Also published as: GB9913158D0

Abstract

A touch board for playing games which are conventionally played on computer, with the moving input done by moving a finger or a pencil-like object on the screen rather than by moving a mouse or a joystick. The main part of the touch board is a screen which is used for display and for getting moving input from the player. The board is controlled by a controller, which is either an on-board CPU+memory or a conventional computer connected to the screen.

Description

2351547 Touch Board For Games This invention relates to conventional

computer games, which are played mainly by entering input which indicates movement (moving input), e.g. joystick or mouse movement, which is related to what happens on the screen. It presents an electronic board for playing these games.

A disadvantage of the conventional devices for these games is that the input to the computer (e.g. the joystick) is in a different place from the output from the computer (the screen). For complex movements, this requires extra mental effort from the player, which is specially a problem for fast moving games. The aim of the Touch board is to solve this problem, by making the display of the state of the game (the board) also the place where the moving input from the players is received.

According to the current invention (the Touch board), the Touch Board is made of a screen of good resolution (comparable to a graphic monitor of a typical home computer or better) which is used both for display and input. The players input to the computer by touching the screen. The touch is done either by a finger, or by a pencil-like object to give higher resolution. A moving input is achieved by moving the finger or the object on the screen. Alternatives to a direct touch include a light-pen, using an object that emits some radiation which is sensed by the screen, or some other means of sensing the finger or the object. For example, the board may be emitting infra-red rays parallel to the screen, and infer the position of fingerlobject by checking which rays are intercepted by it.

The control of the game is done by a controller, which is either CPU+ memory inside the board, or a conventional computer connected to the board. The controller uses the display to display various shapes and images, which can be static or moving, fixed or changing, 2D or 3D. It receives input from the screen, which is coordinates specifying where the player is currently touching the screen, and uses this input as the player moving input to the game, in the same way that input from a mouse or joystick is used.

For example, the controller may move a point on the screen, and declare the player a winner if he succeeds to follow the point (i.e. touch the screen within some threshold of distance) for some period of time. Other possible games include: 1) Displaying a maze and check if the player succeeds to go through it. 2) same as (1), but the maze changes its shape continuously. 3) display various moving objects, and the player has to avoid some of them but get in contact with others. 4) Brief display of some features (e.g. a maze), and the player needs to act accordingly (e.g. follow the maze) from memory. 5) Various combinations of the above, to any level of complexity.

In principle, any game that is played on a computer or a playstation with a screen of similar resolution can be played on the Touch Board. All these games can already be played on existing computers and playstations, but because the difference in input method, and particularly 2 because of the fact that the input is on the display itself, the games will have a very different feel.

The same Touch Board can be used to play less active games, which are still based on some movement. For example, the controller can use the screen to display a chess board and chess pieces, and allow the players to play it by touching a piece and then moving it either by moving the finger on the screen or simply touching the target point. The same method can be used for playing checkers, solitaire and various other games. The main advantages of the Touch Board in this case is that the simplicity of the input make it easy to play these games fast, the Board itself can check for legal moves, and the board performs 'house keeping' operations, including keeping the time and removing pieces off the board.

The Touch Screen can be used in conjunction with other input devices (e.g. keyboard, mouse, buttons, joystick etc.).

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 shows the conceptual structure of the board.

All the components of the Touch Board, which are shown in Figure 1, are standard components. The interactive screen is implemented by mounting a standard touch screen 1 on top of a standard LCD screen 2. The two screens together comprise the top of a flat box, which contains the controller 3 (A single board computer, including CPU, RAM and solid state disk) and the power supply. Both of the screens are connected to the controller 3. The software uses standard graphic routines to perform the display via the LCD screen 2, and reads the coordinates of input from the touch screen 1.

The software is the same software that is used to play these games on conventional computers, except the touch screen driver which is used to read the coordinates that the player touches. In addition to the game, the controller also displays on one side of the board several buttons, and interprets a touch inside any of these buttons as mouse or joystick button press.

S

Claims

1 A Touch Board, made of a good resolution screen which is used for both input and output and a controller, which is either a CPU+mernory, or a conventional computer connected to the screen. The controller uses the screen for displaying various shapes and images, which can be static or moving, fixed shape or changing shape, 21) or 31). The controller also receives from the screen the coordinates that the player currently touches. The controller is programmed to play computer games that are normally played mainly by moving a joystick or a mouse, but uses the input from the screen as the moving input. The player generates the moving input by moving his finger or a pencil-like ob ect on the screen. j

2 A Touch Board as described in claim 1 which also plays less active games like chess, checkers and solitaire.

3 A Touch Board substantially as described here with reference to figure 1.