Granted Patent B2

US 7,918,731 · App. 11/306,735 · Granted Apr 5, 2011

Abstract

Claims (21)

1. A system for providing centralized control of the audio output for one or more gaming machines in a casino gaming network, the system comprising:

one or more noise level detectors positioned in a casino gaming floor environment to obtain noise level data;

a microphone interface connected to each of the one or more noise level detectors, wherein the microphone interface monitors the casino noise level, collects noise level data, and analyzes the collected data;

an ambient interface connected to the microphone interface, wherein the ambient interface monitors, analyzes, and averages the ambient casino noise level by applying normalizing techniques to collected ambient noise level data to average the ambient noise level data;

a system server connected to the ambient interface to receive the obtained noise level data and to determine the appropriate audio output for one or more gaming machines, wherein the appropriate audio output for the one or more gaming machines is determined with respect to the averaged casino noise level that was monitored by the ambient interface, and wherein the system server sends sequential sound files to a group of adjacent gaming machines and enables the group of adjacent gaming machines to produce a Doppler sound effect; and

an audio hub positioned within each gaming machine and connected to the system server, wherein each audio hub receives audio instructions from the system server and adjusts the audio output for one or more gaming machines.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the noise level detectors comprise one or more microphones for capturing the noise level data.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein one or more microphones are positioned on the ceiling of the casino gaming floor environment.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein one or more microphones are positioned on one or more walls of the casino gaming floor environment.

5. The system of claim 2 , wherein one or more microphones are positioned on or near a gaming machine.

6. The system of claim 2 , further comprising a microphone interface connecting each of the one or more microphones to the system server, wherein the microphone interface monitors the casino noise levels.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the received audio instructions relate to an appropriate sound level and the audio hub adjusts the volume level of the gaming machine.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the received audio instructions relate to sound type and the audio hub adjusts the type of sound output from the gaming machine.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the received audio instructions relate to one or more sound effects and the audio hub adjusts the sound effects output from the gaming machine.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system server sends the same audio instructions to more than one audio hub thereby producing the same audio output in more than one gaming machine.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system server sends audio instructions to more than one audio hub.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the system server sends audio instructions to more than one audio hub such that a Doppler sound effect is produced among one or more gaming machines.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the audio hub is in communication with one or more speakers.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the speakers are self-amplified, component speakers, or full-range speakers.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the audio hub is in communication with an amplifier, equalizer, mixer, or a combination thereof

16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the audio hub includes a manual volume control knob.

Assignments (8)