Toys with connected play
A wirelessly connected ensemble of children's toys with capacitive touch interactivity. The children's toy generally includes a user input overlay panel and one or more capacitive touch sensors. The overlay panel may be formed from a capacitive touch conductive natural organic material such as wood. The toy can be shaped and ornamented to resemble a musical instrument, and configured to play music in response to user input applied to the user input overlay panel and sensed by the capacitive touch sensors. The children's toys are configured for individual and connected play modes. In the connected play mode, the children's toys produce synchronized and/or harmonized sounds and/or melodies.
1. A children's toy, comprising:
a user input panel comprising a substantially continuous cover portion comprising a natural or synthetic wood touch surface and further comprising at least one capacitive touch pad;
a processor configured to receive an input signal corresponding to a user interaction with the at least one capacitive touch pad;
an audio speaker configured to receive an output signal from the processor and to output a sound corresponding to the user interaction with the at least one capacitive touch pad, and
a connectivity device to wirelessly connect the children's toy to other children's toys, and
an actuator configured to allow selective user input to select connected play or to generate coherent or complementary sound outputs when the children's toy is wirelessly connected to one or more of the other children's toys,
wherein the children's toy is configured to receive one or more wireless signals from the one or more other children's toys and generate a secondary responsive output signal in response thereto.
2. The children's toy of claim 1 , wherein the touch surface of the user input panel comprises a wood veneer material and comprises markings applied thereon to present the appearance of a musical instrument.
3. The children's toy of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of different play modes corresponding to different output signals from the processor and configured to produce a plurality of different output sounds from the audio speaker responsive to the user interaction with the at least one capacitive touch pad.
4. The children's toy of claim 3 , wherein the different output sounds corresponding to the different play modes comprise sounds selected from a melody riff, a voice, a backer beat, an instrumental loop, a guitar riff, a musical scale, a sound effect, and an animal sound.
5. The children's toy of claim 3 , wherein the plurality of different play modes comprises a first mode wherein the children's toy produces a first set of sounds or riffs corresponding to user inputs.
6. The children's toy of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of different play modes comprises a second mode wherein the children's toy produces a second set of sounds or riffs corresponding to user inputs, wherein the second set of sounds or riffs are different from the first set of sounds or riffs.
7. The children's toy of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of different play modes comprises a third mode wherein the children's toy produces a third set of sounds or riffs corresponding to user inputs and auto-tuned to a melody backer.
8. The children's toy of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of different play modes comprises a fourth mode wherein the children's toy is wirelessly connected to the other children's toys and the children's toy produces a leading sound or riff mirrored by the other children's toys.
9. The children's toy of claim 1 , wherein the children's toy is a toy guitar, wherein the touch surface corresponds to a simulated fret area and a simulated strum area, and wherein the at least one capacitive touch pad comprises at least one capacitive fret trigger positioned in the simulated fret area, and at least one capacitive string trigger positioned in the simulated strum area.
10. The children's toy of claim 1 , wherein the toy is a toy piano, wherein the touch surface corresponds to a simulated piano keyboard having a plurality of keys, each key associated with a corresponding capacitive touch pad.
11. The children's toy of claim 1 , wherein the toy is a toy drum set, wherein the touch surface corresponds to simulated drum heads, each drum head associated with a corresponding capacitive touch pad.
12. The children's toy of claim 1 , wherein the secondary responsive output signal is synchronized to the one or more wireless input signals.
13. A toy instrument ensemble comprising:
a lead toy instrument; and
one or more non-lead toy instruments configured for wirelessly connecting to the lead toy instrument and one another,
wherein, in response to an output signal from the lead toy instrument, the non-lead toy instruments generate synchronized sounds or riffs corresponding to lead sounds or riffs generated by the lead toy instrument when the non-lead toy instruments are wirelessly connected to the lead toy.
14. The toy instrument ensemble of claim 13 , wherein the one or more non-lead toy instruments are configured to play a melody backer matching the melody backer of the lead toy instrument.
15. The toy instrument ensemble of claim 14 , wherein the one or more non-lead toy instruments are configured to play sounds or riffs synchronized or harmonized to the sounds or riffs generated by the lead toy instrument so as to produce a harmony.
16. The toy instrument ensemble of claim 13 , wherein at least one of the toy instruments comprises a song card.
17. A method of synchronizing two or more interconnected children's toy instruments to generate harmonized music and sounds, the method comprising:
selecting, via an actuator, a connected play mode to initiate a wireless interconnection between two or more children's toy instruments;
establishing the wireless interconnection between the two or more children's toy instruments;
playing one or more melody backers on the two or more children′ toy instruments;
designating one of the two or more interconnected children's toy instruments as a lead instrument and the remainder as a non-lead instrument or instruments;
sending an output signal from the lead instrument, where the output signal is activated by user interaction with the lead instrument; and
generating a combination of synchronized melodies or sounds from the non-lead instruments in response to receiving the output signal from the lead instrument.
18. The method of synchronizing two or more interconnected children's toy instruments of claim 17 , wherein the wireless interconnection utilizes radio technology.
19. The method of synchronizing two or more interconnected children's toy instruments of claim 17 , wherein at least two of the two or more interconnected children's toy instruments play a common melody backer.
20. The method of synchronizing two or more interconnected children's toy instruments of claim 17 , wherein the synchronized melodies or sounds from the non-lead instruments are auto-tuned so as to create an ensemble effect.