FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to games using physical game playing pieces in conjunction with tablet computers, mobile phones and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Graphic displays incorporating touch screens have become an extremely convenient and popular means of human interaction with machines. In particular, the last decade has seen the popularisation of touch-activated mobile phones and tablet computers, such as the iPhone, iPad and similar Android devices.

Touch activated devices are now widely used for playing games. While very simple to use and extremely flexible, touch screens suffer the limitation that it is generally necessary to look at them to use them effectively. This is obviously a huge problem for people with vision problems. Touch screen input also lacks the enjoyment and satisfaction of manipulating physical objects. They also limit the ability of games to provide fine motor training for children's fingers.

Touch screens have their own advantages over conventional games, such as the ability to instantly re-label a piece if its function changes.

Certain game systems have been developed which combine physical pieces with graphic displays. For example, US patent publication 2007/0062852 describes a system using capacitive sensing to identify playing pieces and track their position and orientation. This system however suffers certain limitations, for example it cannot be used with any conventional projected capacitance touch screen device, requiring some customisation of the touch sensor.

For use in mass-market consumer goods, there is a need for a low cost and reliable system of providing physical game pieces which can be dynamically labeled by an electronic display device, which can be used with the majority of standard mobile touch devices and tablet computers. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved, low cost and reliable system of providing physical game pieces which can be dynamically labeled by an electronic display device which can be used with the majority of standard mobile touch devices and tablet computers.

According to a first aspect, the present invention provides at least one game playing piece which can permanently or temporarily be brought into contact with a transparent capacitive touch sensor mounted on a display device. The game piece comprises electrically conductive material and, optionally, some electrically insulating material. The display device is preferably an LCD or similar image producing panel, although any other display device including, for example, rear-projection screen or LED display can be used. The game piece is constructed so that it at least provides an electrically conductive path between the touch sensor and a human operator's fingers.

In some embodiments of the invention, the game piece has no moving parts, its function being solely to provide a tangible input device which connects the user's finger to the touch screen so that the location of the touch can be computed as an input signal.

In other embodiments of the invention, the game piece has one or more moving parts which offer the user experiences such as clicking a button or moving something such as a miniature car, for example.

In some embodiments the invention is further extended so that the identity of the game piece can be read electronically via the touch screen by providing a distinctive pattern or number of contact areas, a distinctive shape of contact area or a combination of these.

In other embodiments the orientation of the game piece can be read by the touch sensor. For example the invention can be practised as a cube shaped die. The die is thrown onto the touch screen- and the side facing down can be sensed by a distinctive pattern of conductors. The invention. also comprises the combination of at least one game piece as described above with a capacitive touch screen.

The invention also comprises the combination of at least one game piece as described above with a capacitive touch screen and a display screen.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates a die according to the invention;

Fig. 2 illustrates a chess piece according to the invention;

Fig. 3 illustrates playing cards according to the invention; and

Fig. 4 illustrates a puzzle game according to the invention;

Referring now to Fig. 1 , a die is constructed of a cube of insulating material fitted with dots of conductive material corresponding to the conventional layout of a game die. The conductive dots are connected together inside the cube. When the die is thrown onto the face of a touch screen, it comes to rest with a certain pattern of conductive dots in contact with the touch screen. When the player then touches any of the conductive dots of the die, for example by pressing the top surface, the touch screen registers a multiplicity of touches according to the number which is in contact with the touch screen. A simple conversion by the connected controlling computer then yields the number which is uppermost as the result of the throw.

Many alternative construction methods can be utilised to achieve the same inventive result. For example, the cube can be made of conductive material and an insulating mask applied to the outside faces, leaving exposed conductive dots.

Referring now to Fig. 2, a chess piece 20 is shown. The view from underneath the piece is shown at 21. Conductive dots such as 23 are set out in distinctive patterns, areas such as 22 are positions which could be conductive dots on other pieces. The distinctive pattern of dots allows the touch screen on which the piece sits to be uniquely identified by the touch screen controller. The touch screen on which the game piece sits is preferably, although not essentially, of the projected capacitance type which can detect multiple points of touch (well-known in mobile phones or tablet computers). Note that it is highly fortuitous in some applications that such touch sensors are not activated by the mere presence of conductive materials, relying instead on charge transfer to a large body or ground for activation. This means that the number of game pieces employed in this invention can exceed the number of touch points which the touch screen and its associated controller can detect simultaneously - any conductive devices on the screen which are not being touched by the operator are effectively ignored by the touch screen controller. The touch screen controller can calculate the identity of each game piece, its position on the screen, and its orientation (if required).

Referring now to Fig. 3, a playing card according to the invention is shown. The card comprises 2 layers, an insulating layer 32 and a conductive layer 31. Insulating layer 32 has a pattern of holes, such as 33, which allow conductive layer 31 to be selectively exposed to the touch screen. When the player touches the top

(conductive) surface of the card, multiple touch points are registered by the touch screen. The distinctive pattern of touch points can be used to identify a large number of unique cards. Another optional feature of this embodiment of the invention is that the cards can be stacked and when the user touches the topmost card, the identity of the card at the bottom of the pile can be read by the touch screen controller. In any of the embodiments of the invention, transparent, translucent or opaque conductive or insulating materials can be used, so that, for example, the identifying dots of the playing card of fig. 3 can be made invisible.

Referring now to fig 4, application of the invention to a jigsaw puzzle will be described. In this embodiment, transparent pieces of interlocking shapes can be fitted together and placed on the touch screen. The pieces are coded with unique identifiers, following the inventive techniques as described above in relation to playing cards, for example. One simple construction technique for providing the coded pieces uses conductive transparent polymer with an insulating layer applied to one face of the pieces, the insulating layer being perforated at certain places to form a distinctive pattern of capacitive touch screen contact points. Another viable construction technique uses pieces made from clear insulating material onto which a pattern of clear conductive polymer is printed, comprising large 'touch' zones (say 5mm to 20mm wide) connected by conductive traces which are fine enough not to be detected by the capacitive touch sensor. The whole of the top surface of the game piece is also coated with conductive material and connected to the touch zones on the underside. Of course, any sort of conductive material can be used, opaque or transparent, clear polymers being mentioned only as one attractive alternative. As the pieces are placed on the touch screen, suitable software causes a fragmented image to appear behind the pieces. In this way, the invention provides a game wherein a single set of pieces can construct an unlimited range of pictures. In another variant, again, each set can result in a different image appearing. Many other variations are of course possible, for example the game can include an app which identifies the game pieces and automatically downloads corresponding images from a server. Other variants include a multiplayer game where players in the same or different locations compete to complete a task, or an app which speaks "hotter" or "colder" as a piece is moved around and gets closer to or further from its correct place. The piece could look like a metal detector and the app could produce a beep which gets louder or higher in pitch as it approaches the virtual buried treasure.

OTHER EMBODIMENTS

The inventive concept is also not restricted to use with games, it can also be usefully adapted to other fields such as:

Promotional coupons bearing invisible codes - a coupon issued at point of sale is printed with an invisible code on the read such that when pushed onto the screen of a smartphone running an appropriate app a reward can be offered, for example the phone could announce "You have won a five dollar discount".

Lotteries or games of chance - similarly, a ticket could be sold and the win or loss can be announced immediately.

Scratch cards - visible or invisible conductive ink can be selectively scratched off a card which can then be read by a smartphone. The foregoing list and preferred embodiments are exemplary only and does not limit the scope of the invention and those skilled in the art will see ample opportunity to vary the practising of the invention without departing from its scope.

In the simplest embodiment of the invention, the game piece is not coded in any way, simply comprising a game piece made of conductive material such that when the player touches it, the touch screen registers a touch point below the piece.

Whereas the preferred embodiments of the invention are described as utilising playing pieces which move freely on the touch screen surface, the invention can also be usefully practised using game pieces which are fixed to the touch screen by permanent or temporary adhesive, by suction, gravity, loop-and-hook fastener, magnetism or any other method.

The game pieces can also be independent or interlocking. For example, pieces can be adapted to that they click together.

It will also be understood that the game pieces of the invention can be transparent, translucent, opaque or any combination. If the piece is transparent, images generated by the display device can be used to impart an interesting and useful image into the game piece. If translucent, the display can be used to illuminate the piece with colour.