BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The electronic gaming industry has established itself in a variety of forms.

Electronic games have made their way from the home into arcades. The gaming arcades have expanded into physically and socially interactive entertainment centers with large areas of indoor and outdoor hyperinteractive games where one may challenge one's friends or others in a number of multisensory activities.

A natural extension of this facility is the provision of restaurant or food services which are integrated with the gaming environment. As may be appreciated, it is not a simple matter, particularly in a gaming environment, where the provision of a food service is seen as an interruption of a gaming atmosphere, to integrate food and beverage services, without interrupting or destroying the gaming intensity or atmosphere. Various systems in the prior art have attempted to address these problems with greater or lesser success.

For example, United States Patents 4,553,222 and 4,547,851, both describe an integrated interactive restaurant communication system for food and entertainment processing. The systems describe an interactive restaurant communication system which enables restaurant patrons to accomplish both food selection and select and receive entertainment on a common video monitor located at their table. An intelligent input terminal is also provided which allows the patrons to select food items from a displayed menu and also to play a selected game using the joysticks connected to the terminal. In United States Patent 4,722,053, a similar food service ordering terminal and video game system is described. Once again, this patent describes a system having a central computer with a number of monitors located at each table connected to a central computer. This central computer simply provides programming to each of the monitors which, in turn, gather information from patrons via a keyboard or joystick which is then processed by the central computer to direct a food and beverage order to the kitchen or to present a selected game to the appropriate monitor.

These prior art systems however, offer very rudimentary systems which are unacceptable for use in current high tech gaming environments as described earlier, which require sophisticated order entry, game playing and payment options demanded by patrons. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to mitigate some of the above disadvantages and provide an improved interactive entertainment and food and beverage order entry system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with this invention, there is provided an interactive food service and entertainment system comprising: a display associated with a dining table and seating area; a local processor for driving said display; a user input means coupled to said local processor for receiving a user input from a remote hand held wand; a means for displaying a food and entertainment menu on said display; and a means for displaying each user input from said wand on said menu selection simultaneously by each of said patrons.

A further aspect of the invention provides for each of the wands having a unique identification and wherein the wands are identified on the display by a unique colour and/or symbol.

In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, the system includes a presence detector for initiating said menu item display.

In accordance with a still further aspect of the invention, the system provides for a card swipe input terminal located at the table and coupled to the local computer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other features of the preferred embodiments of the invention will become more apparent in the following detailed description in which reference is made to the appended drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a typical table layout according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the system hardware architecture, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing the logic flow diagram of a typical user input processing control program, according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the software architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 5 is a plan view of a wand according to the present invention; Figures 6 (a), (b) and (c) are schematic plan view of interactive display screens, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to figure 1, a typical table layout for a restaurant implementing a system according to the present invention is indicated generally by 10. The table layout comprises a table, a booth, seating two, four or six, or possibly more, patrons, and is arranged as comprising a pair of opposing benches 12 or rows of seats angled to face a flat screen type video display monitor 14 mounted on a wall at one end of the seats. These displays 14 may be up to 40 inch diagonal screens for large tables and down to 15 inch diagonal screens for smaller tables.

Alternatively, the display may comprise two displays per both wherein the arrangement of the displays is such that one has its major access arranged horizontally and the other has its major access arranged vertically, with the vertical display being a smaller display. This arrangement utilizes the larger display as a primary display and the smaller display as a touch screen for command and control options input by the patrons.

The booth also includes audio speakers 16 mounted in headrests of the seats.

Preferably, these speakers comprise at least four channels in order to provide a real sense of motion for the patrons when playing games. The tables 11 also include occupancy sensors 18 comprised of for example, infrared sensors for detecting the presence of patrons at a particular table or for detecting the reading IR sensitive identification tags worn by staff and the like. The booth is also provided with input devices such as a wand 19 or joystick, for manipulation by the patrons which is the primary input to the system.

These wands may be connected IR or by cable to a local computer 52.

Referring to figure 2, the overall schematic diagram of the system hardware is shown generally by numeral 50. The hardware system comprises local computer 52, preferably a 400 MHz Pentium type system which drives the plasma display 14 and the stereo speakers 6. The local computer 52 may also serve more than one table. The local

processor 52 accesses stored media 58 for display, either from a central database or from its internal hard disk.

The processor 52 receives inputs from a wand receiver 60 and a presence detector 62. The wand receiver 60 communicates with the wands via 19 an infrared link 64 and/or cable. The wand is updatable in accordance with the particular inputs to be described later. The system may also include a card swipe 70 located at each table. The card swipe is a standard input device which is coupled to a central transaction processing server 72.

The card swiper may be used with cash cards, direct debit cards or credit cards and the like. The processor 52 is coupled to the transaction processor 72 via TCP/IP link or other suitable network connection. The transaction processor 72 communicates with a transaction database which may be part of a more general gaming environment for processing cash cards from patrons and such like. The transaction processor 72 further communicates with a receipt generator 76 or a central cash terminal. In the case of a receipt generator, this may also be located at each table for providing instant credit card receipt and cash receipts to the patrons. The processor 52 is also coupled by a suitable link such as a TCP/IP or Local Area Network connection to a display system located in the kitchen for orders placed by the patrons at the individual tables. The kitchen display 78 may be customized in accordance with the requirements of the restaurant and gaming environment.

A menuing database 80 is also coupled to the processor 52 for displaying and updating food and beverage menus 82 for each of the tables. A centralized menuing database allows a system administrator 84 to update the database relatively easily and consistently. The system also includes the facility for payments to be made by credit card or cash to a host or server.

It may be seen that the overall system is designed to be pliant and technologically open so that revisions and updates are relatively easy to accomplish. The back end communications between various systems rely on TCP/IP and SNMP to pass messages.

Each table or booth system communicates with the back end while presenting a media rich experience to the patron.

Referring to figure 3, the patron interaction with the system and the operation of the system is now described. Each of the local computers 52 operate in an attract mode 90 and will display a screen saver or similar on display 54 when there are no patrons present

at the tables. Because the table computers are networked, all vacant tables may present the same screen saver in concert.

Next, patrons may be seated by themselves or by a hostess, at which time the presence detector 92 at the table will sense the presence of the patrons and pass this to the computer 52. Alternatively, a wand click will also serve as a trigger 92. It is assumed that a bus person will have reset the table as need be. Once the patrons are seated, each receives a wand 19 and menu. Each wand has a unique identification which may be a single digit number and a colored chevron or other similar item. The combination of these two symbols allows for clear distinction for all wands by the system. The patrons may then begin by responding to a request by the system for the patrons to register by clicking the wand at block 94. If all wands appear to be functional, the display shows identifiers 95 for all wands. If a wand is defective, the hostess is notified to check the wand and replace, if necessary. It may be noted that system allows simultaneous input from all wands at a table.

Once all the wands have been checked, the user is prompted for a food or entertainment option selection. If the entertainment option is chosen, the process follows path 100 or if a food option is chosen, the system chooses path 102 of the process. For each of the wands, the system follows path 102 until all the wands are processed. Thus, each of the patrons are capable of choosing a food group 107, an item 108, or configure an item 109. For each of these, the display shows options of groups available so that the user may choose from one of these options. The selection of an item on the screen preferably includes a visual acknowledgement and possibly, an internal wand audio cue. This may be achieved by the wand receiver transmitting an infrared signal or similar to the wand based on its identification. The individual prices and totals of many items are generally suppressed unless requested by the patron. The patron has the option of editing items configured or to order something else. The patron has the option of calling a human waiter and discarding all orders and starting over. Once a patron has finished ordering using the wand, the system checks for wands that have not ordered 110. If a wand is detected that has not ordered then the system picks the one that has not yet ordered 106 and it allows the patron to proceed along path 102 as previously. If all wands have ordered 110, then the system then sends the order 112 to the kitchen. At this point, the entertainment options are presented to the patrons. These may include order or re-order food 114, an art server for displaying selected pieces of fine art 116, the choicer of

licensed games 118, a view of merchandise which may be purchased 120, tips and tricks 122, dating tips 124, a fortune teller 126, karaokel28 or plain television 130. All of these options may be loaded from individual databases 129.

Referring to figure 4, the overall software architecture of the system is shown generally by 160. Each of the table systems incorporate a so-called booth presentation logic (BPL) 162 for controlling video 164, audio 166, graphical and text interface elementsl68, in addition to linking to other entertainment elements 170 such as television or NTN games. The booth control logic 163 thus controls all interactions between the table (wand translation 164 and booth presence detection 166) and the local network subsystems available for use and the BPL 162. The point of sale stations located within a restaurant will be able to poll individual tables/booths in order to view status of current orders and payment status. The transaction processor handles the financial aspects of the system and saves each transaction into the SQL server database which may be viewed at a later time.

Referring to figure 5, a general plan view of a wand control is indicated generally by 500. The wand control in this instance includes serial connector 501 for coupling to the local computer however, an IR or other connection may also be used. The wand includes a plurality of input areas with a first area 502 indicating a cursor control section, a second area providing a button input section 504 and a third slider control area 506. The function of these areas may change depending on where the patron is on the interactive display screen.

A feature of the invention includes an animated interactive food ordering system wherein a virtual host or hostess embodying a three dimensional image of a real person is contained in a virtual room which is representative of the real world room occupied by the patrons. In the present embodiment, this real world room is a diner or restaurant. The local processor 52 includes means for loading, running and displaying the animated interactive characters. Figures 6 (a), 6 (b) and 6 (c) indicate schematic plan views of the display during an interactive food ordering session. As indicated in figure 3, once the patrons are seated, the system is activated either by the automatic detection or clicking a wand or similar. At this point, the local processor 52 displays a first animated character or virtual hostess. The virtual hostess introduces the patrons to the functions of the wand figure 6 (a) and provides a brief tutorial on the use of the system. The next step displays a tabular menu showing the food orders as shown schematically in figure 6 (b). As indicated

earlier, each wand is indicated by a unique symbol and/or colour and symbol on the display. Each patron then navigates up or down the menu with inputs from the wand. The menu presents categories as shown schematically in figure 6 (b) and as described earlier.

The patron then selects a particular category at which point the system displays an animation incorporating unique characters which are also displayed as graphical images.

Each menu's item has its own unique character has its own unique physical look and personality, sound, and style. At the end of the animation sequence, the character centers itself on the screen display and its front end opens and the next selection screen appears as shown in figure 6 (c). This screen corresponds to the selected item on the menu shown in figure 6 (b). The screen in figure 6 (c) is generally comprised of a plurality of rectangular regions 62 arranged around the perimeter of a larger rectangular area 64. A central region 66 of the larger rectangular area displays further animation and/or characters. Once again, one or more patrons may move their markers through the various items to make a selection. The rectangular areas containing the items may contain hotspots such that movement of a marker over the item displays the price of the item or other image.

Furthermore, the patrons may interact with the characters displayed in the central region of the rectangle. Thus, it may be seen that the present invention provides a completely animated and interactive food, beverage and entertainment system.

Although the invention has been described with reference to certain specific embodiments, various modifications thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as outlined in the claims appended hereto.