Granted Patent B2

US 11,783,669 · App. 17/697,637 · Granted Oct 10, 2023

Inventor: Gregory Paul Schwartz (Las Vegas, NV)

Assignee: Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Limited

G07F17/3239G07F17/3206

Abstract

Claims (72)

1. A gaming system comprising:

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

receive, from a mobile computing device used by a player, a digital image of the player at a first time identified by a first timestamp associated with the digital image;

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

determine an emotion level of the player by categorizing the emotional state of the player based on the determined emotional state, the categorizing includes a first state representing a positive emotional level and a second state representing another emotional level;

store the emotional state and emotion level with the first timestamp as session data for a game play session of an electronic game;

receive timestamped game play data identifying what is occurring during the game play session; and

store the timestamped game play data as part of the session data for the game play session for time-synchronized analysis of player emotion relative to game play events, thereby allowing developers or operators to evaluate player emotion changes relative to game events occurring during the game play session.

2. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the at least one processor to automatically initiate a game session action during the game play session, the game session action is configured to cause the player to transition to the positive emotional level.

3. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the at least one processor to:

determine an area within the digital image representing a face of the player; and

crop the digital image to include only the determined area.

4. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the at least one processor to:

receive environmental data near the mobile computing device from one or more sensors; and

timestamp and store the environmental data as part of the session data for the game play session.

5. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein when executed, the instructions further cause the at least one processor to:

determine a gaze direction of the player based on the digital image;

determine that the gaze direction of the player is not directed at the mobile computing device;

generate an engagement level of the player based at least in part on the determining that the gaze direction of the player is not directed at the electronic gaming machine; and

timestamp and store one or more of the gaze direction and the engagement level of the player as part of the session data for the game play session.

6. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the at least one processor to:

receive, from the mobile computing device, audio data captured near the mobile computing device;

detect a source of noise not related to the electronic gaming machine from the captured audio data; and

timestamp and store the audio data as part of the session data for the game play session.

7. The gaming system of claim 1 further comprising the mobile computing device, wherein the mobile computing device includes a digital camera device configured to capture digital image data during the game play session.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:

receive, from a digital camera device of a mobile computing device, a digital image of a player at a first time identified by a first timestamp;

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

determine an emotion level of the player by categorizing the emotional state of the player based on the determined emotional state, the categorizing includes a first state representing a positive emotional level and a second state representing another emotional level;

store the emotional state and emotion level with the first timestamp as session data for a game play session of an electronic game;

receive timestamped game play data identifying what is occurring during the game play session; and

store the timestamped game play data as part of the session data for the game play session for time-synchronized analysis of player emotion relative to game play events, thereby allowing developers or operators to evaluate player emotion changes relative to game events occurring during the game play session.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further cause the at least one processor to automatically initiate a game session action during the game play session, the game session action is configured to cause the player to transition to the positive emotional level.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further cause the at least one processor to:

determine an area within the digital image representing a face of the player; and

crop the digital image to include only the determined area.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further cause the at least one processor to:

receive environmental data near the mobile computing device from one or more sensors; and

timestamp and store the environmental data as part of the session data for the game play session.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein when executed, the instructions further cause the at least one processor to:

determine a gaze direction of the player based on the digital image;

determine that the gaze direction of the player is not directed at the mobile computing device;

generate an engagement level of the player based at least in part on the determining that the gaze direction of the player is not directed at the electronic gaming machine; and

timestamp and store one or more of the gaze direction and the engagement level of the player as part of the session data for the game play session.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further cause the at least one processor to:

receive, from a microphone device of the mobile computing device, audio data captured near the mobile computing device;

detect a source of noise not related to the electronic gaming machine from the captured audio data; and

timestamp and store the audio data as part of the session data for the game play session.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further cause the at least one processor to automatically initiate a game session action during the game play session, the game session action includes one of adjusting colors of the electronic game and altering audio presented during the electronic game.

15. A method comprising:

receiving, from a mobile computing device, a digital image of a player at a first time identified by a first timestamp;

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

determining an emotion level of the player by categorizing the emotional state of the player based on the determined emotional state, the categorizing includes a first state representing a positive emotional level and a second state representing another emotional level;

storing the emotional state and emotion level with the first timestamp as session data for a game play session of an electronic game;

receiving timestamped game play data identifying what is occurring during the game play session; and

storing the timestamped game play data as part of the session data for the game play session for time-synchronized analysis of player emotion relative to game play events, thereby allowing developers or operators to evaluate player emotion changes relative to game events occurring during the game play session.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising initiating a game session action during the game play session, the game session action is configured to cause the player to transition to the positive emotional level.

17. The method of claim 15 further comprising:

determining an area within the digital image representing a face of the player; and

cropping the digital image to include only the determined area.

18. The method of claim 15 further comprising:

receiving environmental data near the mobile computing device from one or more sensors; and

timestamping and storing the environmental data as part of the session data for the game play session.

19. The method of claim 15 further comprising:

determining a gaze direction of the player based on the digital image;

determining that the gaze direction of the player is not directed at the mobile computing device;

generating an engagement level of the player based at least in part on the determining that the gaze direction of the player is not directed at the electronic gaming machine; and

timestamping and storing one or more of the gaze direction and the engagement level of the player as part of the session data for the game play session.

20. The method of claim 15 further comprising:

receiving, from the mobile computing device, audio data captured near the mobile computing device;

detecting a source of noise not related to the electronic gaming machine from the captured audio data; and

timestamping and storing the audio data as part of the session data for the game play session.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (13)

Cited By (11)

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