TOY

Abstract

A toy for replaying music or a spoken story, includes a loudspeaker or a loudspeaker terminal, a sensor which within a region of its surroundings can detect a property or a change in a property of said surroundings, and a control unit that can drive the loudspeaker or the loudspeaker terminal to replay music or a spoken story if the sensor senses, within a region of its surroundings, a specific property or a specific change in a property of the surroundings or when the control unit detects a specific change in the property detected by the sensor. The toy also includes a toy identification and a mechanism for transmitting a signal that is dependent on the toy identification.

Claims

1-9. (canceled)

10. A server for providing a plurality of toys with at least one of user-generated image, audio, or video information, comprising: a memory storing the at least one of user-generated image, audio, or video information and stored identification information corresponding to each of the at least one of user-generated image, audio or video information; a processor configured to: receive a request, from one of the plurality of toys, for one of the at least one of user-generated image, audio, or video information, wherein the request includes transmitted identification information corresponding to one of the plurality of toys; identify, based upon the stored identification information, the one of the at least one of user-generated image, audio, or video information corresponding to the transmitted identification information; and transmit, to the one of the plurality of toys, a data packet including all or part of the identified one of the at least one of user-generated image, audio, or video information.

11. The server of claim 10, wherein the stored identification information comprises stored device identification information corresponding to a device identification for each of the plurality of toys and the transmitted identification information comprises transmitted device identification information corresponding to a device identification for one of the plurality of toys.

12. The server of claim 11, wherein the stored identification information further comprises stored identification carrier information corresponding to one or more identification carriers used with each one of the plurality of toys, and wherein the transmitted identification information further comprises identification carrier information corresponding to one identification carrier sensed by the one of the plurality of toys.

13. The server of claim 12, wherein the transmitted identification carrier information corresponds to an identification carrier sensed by a sensor on the toy.

14. The server of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to: perform an authorization check, based upon the transmitted device identification information and the stored device identification information, to determine whether the one of the plurality of toys is authorized to receive the one of the user-generated image, audio, and video information; wherein the data packet is transmitted to the one of the plurality of toys responsive to a determination of authorization.

15. The server of claim 10, wherein the server comprises a cloud server or a home network device.

16. The server of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to: receive, from recording software installed on an external device, the at least one of user-generated image, audio, or video information; receive assignment information for assigning the received user-generated image, audio, or video information to an identification carrier associated with the device identification information for one of the plurality of toys; store, in the memory, the user-generated image, audio, or video information, and store the received assignment information and the device identification information as the stored identification information for the user-generated image, audio, or video information.

17. The server of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to store, in the memory, a user account for each user, wherein each user account is assigned to a device identification corresponding to one of the plurality of toys, wherein the user-generated image, audio, or video information recorded by the recording software is assigned a same device identification as the device identification of the user account used to access the recording software.

18. The server of claim 17, wherein the processor is further configured to store, in the memory, identification carrier information indicative of a plurality of types of identification carrier, wherein one of the types of identification carrier is associated with user-generated image, audio, or video information.

19. The server of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to: receive, from control software installed on the server or on an external device, control information relating to a limitation of use of one of the plurality of toys; and transmit the control information to the one of the plurality of toys.

20. A method for providing a plurality of toys with at least one of user-generated image, audio, and video information, comprising: storing, on a memory of a server, the at least one of user-generated image, audio, or video information and identification information corresponding to each of the at least one of user-generated image, audio or video information; receiving, by a processor of the server, a request, from one of the plurality of toys, for one of the at least one of user-generated image, audio, or video information, wherein the request includes transmitted identification information corresponding to one of the plurality of toys; identifying, by the processor based upon the stored identification information, the one of the at least one of user-generated image, audio, or video information corresponding to the transmitted identification information; and transmitting, by the processor of the server to the one of the plurality of toys, a data packet including all or part of the identified one of the at least one of user-generated image, audio, or video information.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the stored identification information comprises stored device identification information corresponding to a device identification for each of the plurality of toys, and wherein the transmitted identification information comprises transmitted device identification information corresponding to a device identification for one of the plurality of toys.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the stored identification information further comprises stored identification carrier information corresponding to one or more identification carriers used with each one of the plurality of toys, and wherein the transmitted identification information further comprises identification carrier information corresponding to an identification carrier sensed by the one of the plurality of toys.

23. The method server of claim 22, wherein the transmitted identification carrier information corresponds to an identification carrier sensed by a sensor on the toy.

24. The method of claim 21, further comprising: performing, by the processor of the server, an authorization check, based upon the transmitted device identification information and the stored device identification information, to determine whether the one of the plurality of toys is authorized to receive the one of the user-generated image, audio, or video information; wherein transmitting the data packet comprises transmitting the data packet to the one of the plurality of toys responsive to a determination of authorization.

25. The method of claim 20, wherein the server comprises a cloud server or a home network device.

26. The method of claim 22, further comprising: receiving, by the server, from recording software installed on an external device, at least one of user-generated image, audio, or video information; receiving, by the server, assignment information for assigning the received user-generated image, audio, or video information to an identification carrier associated with the device identification information for one of the plurality of toys; and storing, in the memory, the user-generated image, audio, or video information, and storing the received assignment information and the device identification information as the stored identification information for the user-generated image, audio, or video information.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising: storing, by the processor in the memory, a user account for each user, wherein each user account is assigned to the device identification corresponding to one of the plurality of toys, wherein the user-generated image, audio, or video information recorded by the recording software is assigned a same device identification as the device identification of the user account used to access the recording software.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising storing, by the processor, identification carrier information indicative of a plurality of types of identification carrier, wherein one of the types of identification carrier is associated with user-generated image, audio, or video information.

29. The method of claim 26, further comprising receiving, by the processor of the server, from control software installed on the server or on an external device, control information relating to a limitation of use of the user-generated image, audio, or video information on one of the plurality of toys; and transmitting the control information to the one of the plurality of toys.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0118] The invention is explained in greater detail below with reference to drawings that illustrate embodiments of the invention.

[0119] In the drawings:

[0120] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the device according to the invention for replaying audio information, and

[0121] FIG. 2 shows a frontal view of a system according to the invention consisting of a device according to the invention in accordance with FIG. 1 and an identification carrier.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0122] FIG. 1 shows the device according to the invention for replaying audio information. The device 1 comprises a loudspeaker, which is not illustrated in more specific detail in the perspective view in FIG. 1. Furthermore, the device 1 comprises a depression 3 at its top side 2. A sensor (not illustrated in more specific detail) is arranged in the interior of the device 1, below the depression 3, which sensor can detect within the region of the depression 3 a property or a change in a property of these surroundings, namely can read a passive RFID transponder (cf. FIG. 2). Furthermore, the device comprises a control unit (not illustrated in more specific detail) that can drive the loudspeaker for replaying audio information if the sensor detects within the region of its surroundings a specific property or a specific change in a property of said surroundings or the control unit detects a specific change in the property detected by the sensor.

[0123] The sensor is arranged within the housing of the device 1 in such a way that the region of the surroundings of the sensor in which the sensor can detect a property or a change in a property of said surroundings extends no further than 100 mm upwards beyond the base surface 4 of the depression 3.

[0124] The device according to the invention comprises a first operating element 5 embodied in the shape of an ear, and a second operating element 6 likewise embodied in the shape of an ear. The operating element 5 is configured such that it is larger than the operating element 6. Both the operating element 5 and the operating element 6 can perform a tilting movement relative to the rest of the housing of the device 1 and pivot back into the basic position illustrated in FIG. 1.

[0125] Furthermore, the device 1 comprises a display 7.

[0126] The system illustrated in FIG. 2 comprises, besides the device illustrated in FIG. 1, an identification carrier 8 embodied in the form of a figure. The identification carrier 8 embodied as a figure has legs 9 and feet and no pedestal to which the feet 9 would be fixedly connected. Magnets (not illustrated in more specific detail) are provided in the feet of the identification carrier 8 embodied as a figure. Said magnets can interact with magnets or metal objects arranged directly below the base surface 4 of the depression 3, such that the identification carrier 8 can be fixedly held releasably on the baseplate 4 of the depression 3.

[0127] The operation of the system according to the invention is performed as follows:

[0128] FIG. 1 shows the device according to the invention in a basic state in which, in the embodiment illustrated here, it does not replay audio information. The sensor permanently or periodically monitors the region of the depression 3 to determine whether said region has a specific property or a specific change in a property. In the embodiment illustrated here, the sensor monitors the region of the depression 3 to determine whether a specific RFID transponder is brought into the region of the depression. This is not the case in the operating situation illustrated in FIG. 1, and so the device 1 does not replay audio information.

[0129] FIG. 2 shows the operating situation in which the system according to the invention has been completed by addition of the identification carrier 8. The identification carrier 8 is placed onto the baseplate 4 of the depression 3 and adheres there by means of the magnets provided in the feet of the identification carrier 8. The identification carrier 8 has an RFID transponder (not illustrated in more specific detail). By virtue of the fact that the identification carrier 8 has now been brought into the region of the surroundings of the sensor that is monitored by the sensor, said region now has a specific property detectable by the sensor. The sensor recognizes the presence of the RFID transponder in the identification carrier 8 and conveys this to the control unit (not illustrated in more specific detail) by means of a signal. The control unit thereupon drives the loudspeaker for replaying audio information, without the need for actuation of a further operating element.

[0130] The sensor reads out an identification from the RFID transponder of the identification carrier 8 and conveys said identification to the control unit. On the basis of an assignment table stored in the control unit, the control unit assigns the identification read out by the sensor to a specific data set containing a specific item of audio information in a memory (not illustrated in more specific detail) of the device 1. The control unit thereupon drives the loudspeaker in order to replay the audio information contained in the specific data read out from the memory by the control unit. Said audio information is a piece of music whose replay lasts at least 10 s.

[0131] If the control unit detects that the data set corresponding to the identification is not yet stored in the memory of the device, the control unit, over a device not shown in further detail, creates a connection to the server. On this server, the control unit identifies itself in that it communicates to the server a device identification of the device, specifically in this embodiment the processor identification of the processor of the control unit. In addition, the control unit informs the server which data packet is to be loaded from an external memory into the memory of the device. If, after checking the device identification, the server determines that the device is authorised to load the data packet from the external memory into a memory of the device, the server releases this data packet for transmission and transmits the data packet from the external memory to a memory of the device.