Gaming machine and method for evaluating player reactions

1. An electronic gaming machine comprising:

a display;

a motion detector camera device oriented to capture motion data of pedestrians near the electronic gaming machine;

a credit input mechanism including at least one of a card reader, a ticket reader, a bill acceptor, and a coin input mechanism, the credit input mechanism configured to receive a credit wager;

a storage medium having instructions stored thereon; and

a game controller configured to execute instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium, which, when executed by the game controller, cause the game controller to at least:

capture, from the motion detector camera device, motion data near the electronic gaming machine;

detect, from the motion data, pedestrian movement in a first area;

identify the first area as a high traffic area near the electronic gaming device based on the detected pedestrian movement; and

transmit an indication of the first area as a high traffic area near the electronic gaming device as environmental data to an analytics server.

2. The electronic gaming machine of claim 1 further comprising a microphone device, wherein the instructions further cause the game controller to at least:

capture, via the microphone device, audio data near the electronic gaming machine during a game play session;

timestamp and store the audio data as environmental data; and

transmit the environmental data to the analytics server.

3. The electronic gaming machine of claim 2 , wherein the instructions further cause the game controller to at least:

determine an ambient noise level near the electronic gaming machine; and

detect noise not originating from the electronic gaming machine based on the ambient noise level.

4. The electronic gaming machine of claim 3 , wherein detecting noise not originating from the electronic gaming machine further includes analyzing a plurality of audio streams from a plurality of microphone devices to differentiate sound origin.

5. The electronic gaming machine of claim 1 further comprising a digital camera device oriented to capture one or more of digital images and digital video of a player playing at the electronic gaming machine, wherein the instructions further cause the game controller to at least:

determine a gaze direction of the player based on camera data of the player from the digital camera device;

timestamp and store the gaze direction as session data; and

transmit the session data to the analytics server.

6. The electronic gaming machine of claim 1 further comprising a digital camera device oriented to capture one or more of digital images and digital video of a field of view near the electronic gaming machine, wherein the instructions further cause the game controller to at least:

capture camera output data from the digital camera device;

detect spectator presence of one or more spectators near the electronic gaming machine based on the camera output data;

timestamp and store the spectator presence as environmental data; and

transmit the environmental data to the analytics server.

7. The electronic gaming machine of claim 1 further comprising a digital camera device oriented to capture one or more of digital images and digital video of a player of the electronic gaming machine, wherein the instructions further cause the game controller to at least:

capture camera output data from the digital camera device;

detect mobile device use of the player during a game play session based on the camera output data;

timestamp and store the mobile device use as environmental data; and

transmit the environmental data to the analytics server.

8. The electronic gaming machine of claim 1 further comprising a digital camera device oriented to capture one or more of digital images and digital video of a player of the electronic gaming machine, wherein the instructions further cause the game controller to at least:

capture camera output data from the digital camera device;

detect player gestures of the player during a game play session based on the camera output data;

timestamp and store the player gestures as session data; and

transmit the session data to the analytics server.

9. The electronic gaming machine of claim 1 further comprising a digital camera device oriented to capture one or more of digital images and digital video of a player of the electronic gaming machine, wherein the instructions further cause the game controller to at least:

capture a digital image of a player of the electronic gaming device during a gaming session;

determine an emotional state of the player by performing facial expression analysis on the digital image;

timestamp and store the emotional state of the player as session data; and

transmit the session data to the analytics server.

10. A method of identifying player distraction sources during a game play session, the method being implemented on an electronic gaming machine, the electronic gaming machine including at least one processor in communication with at least one memory device, a motion detector camera device configured to capture motion data near the electronic gaming device during the game play session of a wagering game, and with a display, the method comprising:

capturing, from the motion detector camera device, motion data near the electronic gaming machine;

detecting, from the motion data, pedestrian movement in a first area;

identifying the first area as a high traffic area near the electronic gaming device based on the detected pedestrian movement; and

transmitting an indication of the first area as a high traffic area near the electronic gaming device as environmental data to an analytics server.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

capturing, via a microphone device of the electronic gaming machine, audio data near the electronic gaming machine during a game play session;

timestamping and storing the audio data as environmental data; and

transmitting the environmental data to the analytics server.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

determining an ambient noise level near the electronic gaming machine; and

detecting noise not originating from the electronic gaming machine based on the ambient noise level.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein detecting noise not originating from the electronic gaming machine further includes analyzing a plurality of audio streams from a plurality of microphone devices to differentiate sound origin.

14. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

determine a gaze direction of the player based on camera data of the player captured by a digital camera device oriented to capture one or more of digital images and digital video of a player playing at the electronic gaming machine;

timestamping and storing the gaze direction as session data; and

transmitting the session data to the analytics server.

15. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

capturing camera output data from a digital camera device oriented to capture one or more of digital images and digital video of a field of view near the electronic gaming machine;

detecting spectator presence of one or more spectators near the electronic gaming machine based on the camera output data;

timestamping and storing the spectator presence as environmental data; and

transmitting the environmental data to the analytics server.

16. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

capturing camera output data from a digital camera device oriented to capture one or more of digital images and digital video of a player of the electronic gaming machine;

detecting mobile device use of the player during a game play session based on the camera output data;

timestamping and storing the mobile device use as environmental data; and

transmitting the environmental data to the analytics server.

17. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

capturing camera output data from a digital camera device oriented to capture one or more of digital images and digital video of a player of the electronic gaming machine;

detecting player gestures of the player during a game play session based on the camera output data;

timestamping and storing the player gestures as session data; and

transmitting the session data to the analytics server.

18. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

capturing a digital image of a player of the electronic gaming device during a gaming session from a digital camera device oriented to capture one or more of digital images and digital video of the player;

determining an emotional state of the player by performing facial expression analysis on the digital image;

timestamping and storing the emotional state of the player as session data; and

transmitting the session data to the analytics server.

19. A game controller of an electronic gaming machine configured to execute instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium, which, when executed by the game controller, cause the game controller to at least:

receive, from a motion detector camera device, motion data near the electronic gaming machine;

detect, from the motion data, pedestrian movement in a first area;

identify the first area as a high traffic area near the electronic gaming device based on the detected pedestrian movement; and

transmit an indication of the first area as a high traffic area near the electronic gaming device as environmental data to an analytics server.

20. The game controller of claim 19 , wherein the instructions further cause the game controller to at least:

receive audio data from a microphone device of audio near the electronic gaming machine during a game play session;

timestamp and store the audio data as environmental data; and

transmit the environmental data to the analytics server.