Granted Patent B2

US 9,679,437 · App. 13/321,592 · Granted Jun 13, 2017

Inventors: David E. Detlefsen (Northfield, IL); Mark B. Gagner (West Chicago, IL); Brian Gamache (Lake Forest, IL); Damon E. Gura (Chicago, IL)

Assignee: BALLY GAMING, INC.

G07F17/3225A63F13/5255G06K9/00624G06K9/00664G06K9/00671G06T19/006G07F17/323G07F17/3255H04N2201/3245

Abstract

Claims (114)

1. A method of operating a gaming system, said method comprising:

capturing, via an image capture device of a mobile device, an image of media content of a wagering game machine at a wagering game establishment;

determining, via a geographic location tracking device of the mobile device, a geographic location of the mobile device when the image of the media content is captured;

determining, via a compass of the mobile device, a direction that a lens of the image capture device is facing when the image of the media content is captured;

identifying, via one or more electronic processing units of the gaming system, the wagering game machine based on the geographic location and based on the direction that the lens of the image capture device is facing;

in response to the identifying the wagering game machine, determining that a player account is associated with the mobile device based on evaluation of data from the mobile device against contact information in the player account;

determining past wagering game activity of the player account that occurred at the wagering game machine prior to the capturing of the image of the media content;

determining, by at least one of the one or more electronic processing units, overlay imagery derived from analysis of the past wagering game activity;

in response to the determining the overlay imagery, compositing, by at least one of the one or more electronic processing units, the overlay imagery onto the image of the media content to create a composited media content; and

providing, by at least one of the one or more electronic processing units, the composited media content for presentation on a display of the mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the geographic location of the mobile device comprises determining the geographic location of the mobile device with a global positioning system module of the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the geographic location of the mobile device comprises determining the geographic location of the mobile device using a cellular infrastructure to triangulate the geographic location of the mobile device.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining, from electronic data stored in a memory, a winning trend or a losing trend over a time period for a player at the wagering game machine, wherein the determining the winning trend or the losing trend comprises one or more of determining a last time a highest jackpot was awarded for the player at the wagering game machine or a frequency of hitting a jackpot for the player at the wagering game machine; and

using, as the past wagering game activity that occurred at the wagering game machine, either the winning trend or the losing trend.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

initiating, in response to an input indicative of a wager by a user of the mobile device, a wagering game associated with another wagering game machine, the initiating the wagering game including:

receiving the input indicative of the wager, and

displaying, by an electronic display device of the another wagering game machine, an outcome of the wagering game,

wherein the wagering game machine includes a first theme and the another wagering game machine includes a second theme, the second theme being different from the first theme,

wherein the composited media content includes a recommendation of the second theme, and

wherein the initiating is based at least in part on display of the composited media content.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the overlay imagery derived from the analysis of the past wagering game activity of the player account comprises determining a game level yet to be attained via play of a wagering game, and wherein the overlay imagery indicates information regarding one or more of the game level or potential attainment of the game level.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the player account is provided by at least one of the wagering game establishment or a manufacturer of the wagering game machine.

8. One or more non-transitory, machine-readable storage media including instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

capturing, via an image capture device of a mobile device, an image of media content of a wagering game machine at a wagering game establishment;

determining, via a geographic location tracking device of the mobile device, a geographic location of the mobile device when the image of the media content is captured;

determining, via a compass of the mobile device, a direction that a lens of the image capture device is facing when the image of the media content is captured;

identifying the wagering game machine based on the geographic location and based on the direction that the lens of the image capture device is facing;

determining, in response to the identifying the wagering game machine, overlay imagery derived from a monetary amount wagered by a player at the wagering game machine prior to the capturing of the image of the media content;

compositing, in response to the determining the overlay imagery, the overlay imagery onto the image of the media content to create a composited media content;

providing the composited media content to display on a display of the mobile device;

determining, as the monetary amount wagered by the player, a winning trend or a losing trend over a time period for the player associated with the wagering game machine; and

determining that the overlay imagery varies based on either the winning trend or the losing trend and based on whether the player is identified as a high value player to the wagering game establishment.

9. The one or more non-transitory, machine-readable storage media of claim 8 , said operations further comprising determining either the winning trend or the losing trend based on a last time a highest jackpot was awarded for the player at the wagering game machine and a frequency of hitting a jackpot for the player at the wagering game machine.

10. A mobile device comprising:

a processor;

a camera;

a compass;

a display;

a global positioning system device; and

one or more memory storage devices configured to store instructions, which when executed by the processor cause the mobile device to

capture, via the camera, an image of media content of a wagering game machine at a wagering game establishment,

determine, via the global positioning system device, a geographic location of the mobile device when the image of the media content is captured,

determine, via the compass, a direction that a lens of the camera is facing when the image of the media content is captured,

identify the wagering game machine based on the geographic location and based on the direction that the lens of the camera is facing,

in response to identification of the wagering game machine, determine overlay imagery derived from past wagering game activity that occurred at the wagering game machine prior to the image of the media content being captured,

after determination of the overlay imagery, composite the overlay imagery onto the image of the media content to create a composited media content,

provide the composited media content for presentation on a display of the mobile device, and

make one or more wagers relative to the past wagering game activity, wherein the one or more wagers comprise at least one of a group consisting of a wager that a jackpot win will be more than a past jackpot, a wager on whether a certain level of win will occur greater than a past level of win, and a wager on whether a certain number of symbols or a certain type of symbol will be part of an outcome of a wagering game based on whether the certain number of symbols or the certain type of symbol occurred as part of an outcome in the past.

11. A gaming system comprising:

one or more processors; and

at least one memory storage device configured to store instructions, which when executed by at least one of the one or more processors cause the gaming system to perform operations to:

capture, via an image capture device of a mobile device, an image of media content of a wagering game machine at a wagering game establishment;

determine, via a global positioning system device of the mobile device, a geographic location of the mobile device when the image of the media content is captured;

determine, via a compass of the mobile device, a direction that a lens of the image capture device is facing when the image of the media content is captured;

identify the wagering game machine based on the geographic location of the mobile device and based on the direction that the lens of the image capture device is facing;

in response to identification of the wagering game machine, determine that a player account is associated with the mobile device based on evaluation of data from the mobile device against contact information in the player account;

determine past wagering game activity of the player account that occurred at the wagering game machine prior to the image of the media content being captured;

determine, based on analysis of the past wagering game activity of the player account, overlay imagery indicating the past wagering game activity of the player account;

composite the overlay imagery onto the image of the media content to create a composited media content; and

provide the composited media content for presentation on a display of the mobile device.

12. One or more non-transitory, machine-readable storage media having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by one or more processors of a gaming system cause the gaming system to perform operations comprising:

capturing, via an image capture device of a mobile device, an image of media content of a wagering game machine at a wagering game establishment;

determining, via a global positioning system device of the mobile device, a geographic location of the mobile device when the image of the media content is captured;

determining, via a compass of the mobile device, a direction that a lens of the image capture device is facing when the image of the media content is captured;

identifying the wagering game machine based on the geographic location of the mobile device and based on the direction that the lens of the image capture device is facing;

in response to the identifying the wagering game machine, determining that a player account is associated with the mobile device based on evaluation of data from the mobile device against contact information in the player account;

determining past wagering game activity of the player account that occurred at the wagering game machine prior to the capturing of the image of the media content;

determining, based on analysis of the past wagering game activity of the player account, a game level yet to be attained via play of the wagering game;

determining overlay imagery that indicates information regarding one or more of the game level or potential attainment of the game level;

in response to the determining the overlay imagery, compositing the overlay imagery onto the image of the media content to create a composited media content; and

providing the composited media content for presentation on a display of the mobile device.

13. A method of operating a gaming system, said method comprising:

capturing, via an image capture device of a mobile device, an image of media content of a wagering game machine at a wagering game establishment;

determining, via a global positioning system device of the mobile device, a geographic location of the mobile device when the image of the media content is captured;

determining, via a compass of the mobile device, a direction that a lens of the image capture device is facing when the image of the media content is captured;

identifying, via one or more electronic processing units of the gaming system, the wagering game machine based on the geographic location of the mobile device and based on the direction that the lens of the image capture device is facing;

in response to the identifying the wagering game machine, determining, by at least one of the one or more electronic processing units, overlay imagery derived from past wagering game activity that occurred at the wagering game machine prior to the capturing of the image of the media content;

in response to the determining the overlay imagery, compositing, by at least one of the one or more electronic processing units, the overlay imagery onto the image of the media content to create a composited media content;

providing, by at least one of the one or more electronic processing units, the composited media content for presentation on a display of the mobile device; and

initiating, in response to an input indicative of a wager by a user of the mobile device, a wagering game associated with another wagering game machine, the initiating the wagering game including receiving the input indicative of the wager and displaying, by an electronic display device of the another wagering game machine, an outcome of the wagering game, wherein the wagering game machine includes a first theme and the another wagering game machine includes a second theme, the second theme being different from the first theme, wherein the composited media content includes a recommendation of the second theme, and wherein the initiating is based at least in part on display of the composited media content.

14. A method of operating a mobile device comprising:

capturing, via a camera of the mobile device, an image of media content of a wagering game machine at a wagering game establishment;

determining, via a global positioning system device of the mobile device, a geographic location of the mobile device when the image of the media content is captured;

determining, via a compass of the mobile device, a direction that a lens of the camera is facing when the image of the media content is captured;

identifying, via at least one of one or more processors of the mobile device, the wagering game machine based on the geographic location of the mobile device and based on the direction that the lens of the camera is facing;

in response to identification of the wagering game machine, determining, via at least one of the one or more processors of the mobile device, overlay imagery derived from past wagering game activity that occurred at the wagering game machine prior to the image of the media content being captured;

after determining the overlay imagery, compositing, via at least one of the one or more processors of the mobile device, the overlay imagery onto the image of the media content to create a composited media content;

providing the composited media content for presentation on a display of the mobile device; and

making, via at least one of the one or more processors of the mobile device, one or more wagers relative to the past wagering game activity, wherein the one or more wagers comprise at least one of a group consisting of a wager that a jackpot win will be more than a past jackpot, a wager on whether a certain level of win will occur greater than a past level of win, and a wager on whether a certain number of symbols or a certain type of symbol will be part of an outcome of a wagering game based on whether the certain number of symbols or the certain type of symbol occurred as part of an outcome in the past.

15. A gaming system comprising:

one or more processors; and

at least one memory storage device configured to store instructions, which when executed by at least one of the one or more processors cause the gaming system to perform operations to:

capture, via an image capture device of a mobile device, an image of media content of a wagering game machine at a wagering game establishment;

determine, via a global positioning system device of the mobile device, a geographic location of the mobile device when the image of the media content is captured;

determine, via a compass of the mobile device, a direction that a lens of the image capture device is facing when the image of the media content is captured;

identify the wagering game machine based on the geographic location of the mobile device and based on the direction that the lens of the image capture device is facing;

in response to identification of the wagering game machine, determine overlay imagery derived from past wagering game activity that occurred at the wagering game machine prior to the image of the media content being captured;

in response to determination of the overlay imagery, composite the overlay imagery onto the image of the media content to create a composited media content;

provide the composited media content for presentation on a display of the mobile device; and

initiate, in response to an input indicative of a wager by a user of the mobile device, a wagering game associated with another wagering game machine, wherein initiation of the wagering game includes receiving the input indicative of the wager and displaying, by an electronic display device of the another wagering game machine, an outcome of the wagering game, wherein the wagering game machine includes a first theme and the another wagering game machine includes a second theme, the second theme being different from the first theme, wherein the composited media content includes a recommendation of the second theme, and wherein the wagering game is initiated based at least in part on display of the composited media content.

16. A gaming system comprising:

one or more processors; and

at least one memory storage device configured to store instructions, which when executed by at least one of the one or more processors cause the gaming system to perform operations to:

capture, via an image capture device of a mobile device, an image of media content of a wagering game machine at a wagering game establishment;

determine, via a global positioning system device of the mobile device, a geographic location of the mobile device when the image of the media content is captured;

determine, via a compass of the mobile device, a direction that a lens of the image capture device is facing when the image of the media content is captured;

identify the wagering game machine based on the geographic location of the mobile device and based on the direction that the lens of the image capture device is facing;

determine, in response to identification of the wagering game machine, overlay imagery derived from a monetary amount wagered by a player at the wagering game machine prior to the image of the media content being captured;

composite, in response to determination of the overlay imagery, the overlay imagery onto the image of the media content to create a composited media content;

provide the composited media content to display on a display of the mobile device;

determine, as the monetary amount wagered by the player, a winning trend or a losing trend over a time period for the player associated with the wagering game machine; and

determine that the overlay imagery varies based on either the winning trend or the losing trend and based on whether the player is identified as a high value player to the wagering game establishment.

Assignments (11)

Continuity (2)