SYSTEM, METHOD, AND DEVICE FOR PLAYING A DRINKING GAME
20200261805 ยท 2020-08-20
Inventors
Cpc classification
A63F13/218
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A63F13/245
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A63F13/80
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A63F13/42
HUMAN NECESSITIES
International classification
Abstract
The drinking game system includes a device adapted for measuring a time elapsed between taking off and landing of a beverage container therefrom. The device is configured to operate in different phases and continuously feed the time elapsed to a player terminal associated with the players and connected thereto via a network. The player terminal is configured to execute a program product that allows the players to enter into a gaming mode to connect the player terminal to the device, and provide user interfaces to the players for playing the drinking game, and feed device identification codes to the device for the players to identify the device connected to the player terminal associated with them.
Claims
1. A drinking game system, comprising: a device for measuring a time elapsed between taking off and landing of a beverage container therefrom by one or more players, wherein the device is configured to operate in one or more phases of operations and continuously feed the time elapsed to a player terminal associated with the players and connected thereto via a network, wherein the player terminal is configured to execute a program product that allows the players to enter into at least one gaming mode and connect the player terminal to the device, and wherein the execution of the program product the player terminal provide one or more user interfaces to the players, and feed one or more device identification codes to the device for enabling the players to identify the device connected to the player terminal associated therewith.
2. The drinking game system of claim 1, wherein the device comprises: one or more controllers configured to read a status of a switch means at a specific time, and in response to the read status process and continuously feed the time elapsed between take-off and landing of the beverage container to a stop watch, and the player terminal connected thereto via the network, wherein the stop watch is configured to visually display the status and the time elapsed; a plurality of Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs); a power source for powering the controllers, the stop watch and the LEDs; and a top cover, and a base wherein the top cover securely and hingedly covers the base including the switch means, the controller, the stop watch, the power source, and the LEDs.
3. The drinking game system of claim 1, wherein the device identification codes are configured in the form of Red, Green, and Blue (RGB) codes and are used by the controllers of the device for switching on the LEDs.
4. The drinking game system of claim 1, wherein the one or more phases of operations comprise: phase I of operation indicating the drinking game is not initiated; phase II of operation indicating the drinking game is set to begin; phase III of operation indicating the drinking game is undergoing a countdown process; and phase IV of operation indicating an end of a cycle of the drinking game.
5. The drinking game system of claim 1, wherein the user interfaces provided to the players over the player terminal facilitates the players to manage one or more events at which the drinking game can be played, and manage participation of the players in the events.
6. The drinking game system of claim 5, wherein the management of participation of the players comprises at least one of: adding a new player, deleting the players, modifying a first set of information associated with the players, viewing a second set of information associated with the players, selecting the players to participate in the events to compete and play the drinking game.
7. The drinking game system of claim 6, wherein the first set of information comprises at least one of: a name, a personal music, and a profile image associated with each of the players, and wherein the second set of information comprises at least one of: number of times each of the players played the drinking game, statistical information associated with each of the players, a ranking associated with each of the players, and a best performing time of each of the players.
8. The drinking game system of claim 5, wherein the management of the events comprises at least one of: adding a new event, deleting the events, viewing the events, and modifying a third set of information associated with the events.
9. The drinking game system of claim 8, wherein the third set of information comprises at least one of: a name, an event related image, a class identifying size of the beverage container, and the players associated with each of the events.
10. The drinking game system of claim 1, wherein the at least one gaming mode comprises a solo player mode facilitating a player from the players to play the drinking game, and a multi-player mode facilitating at least two players from the players to play the drinking game.
11. The drinking game system of claim 1, wherein the user interfaces provided to the players over the player terminal further facilitates performing at least one of: recording a video, playing back the personal music to the players, and showcasing the time elapsed continuously fed by the controllers.
12. The drinking game system of claim 1, wherein the user interfaces provided to the players over the player terminal further facilitates the players to perform one or more social media activities.
13. The drinking game system of claim 1, further comprising: a program product.
14. The drinking game system of claim 1, wherein the player terminal is selected from the group consisting of: a mobile phone, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a workstation, and a personal digital assistant (PDA).
15. The drinking game system of claim 1, wherein the device comprises: a top cover; a base; a spring provided to uplift the top cover relatively to the base; and switch means connected to the top cover and the base; wherein, when the spring (313) uplifts the cover, the switch means are not activated, wherein, when the spring is compressed, the switch is activated, and wherein the status of the switch means enabling to measure a time elapsed between taking off and landing of a beverage container from push action is provided on the top cover.
16. The drinking game system of claim 15, wherein the device further comprises: a timer and a pressure sensor configured to start/stop the timer.
17. A drinking game device for measuring a time elapsed between taking off and landing of a beverage container therefrom, the device comprising: a top cover; a base; a spring provided to uplift the top cover relatively to the base; and switch means connected to the top cover and the base; wherein, when the spring uplifts the cover, the switch means are not activated, wherein, when the spring is compressed, the switch is activated, and wherein the status of the switch means enabling to measure a time elapsed between taking off and landing of a beverage container from push action is provided on the top cover.
18. The drinking game device of claim 17, further comprising: a timer and a pressure sensor configured to start/stop the timer.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0028] The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the present invention, as to its structure, organization, use and method of operation, together with further objectives and advantages thereof, will be better understood from the following drawings in which a presently preferred embodiment of the invention will now be illustrated by way of various examples. It is expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. Embodiments of this invention will now be described by way of example in association with the accompanying drawings.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0041] As used in the specification and claims, the singular forms a, an and the may also include plural references. For example, the term a player may include a plurality of players, a device may include a plurality of devices and so on. Those with ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated, relative to other elements, in order to improve the understanding of the present invention. There may be additional components described in the foregoing application that are not depicted on one of the described drawings. In the event such a component is described, but not depicted in a drawing, the absence of such a drawing should not be considered as an omission of such design from the specification.
[0042] Before describing the present invention in detail, it should be observed that the present invention utilizes a combination of components, which constitutes a drinking game system and method associated thereof enabled by a program product that provides one or more user interfaces to one or more players playing the drinking game to provide more engaging experience to the players playing the drinking game or competing with each other in the game. Accordingly, the components have been represented, showing only specific details that are pertinent for an understanding of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those with ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein. As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which can be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure. Further, the terms and phrases used herein are not intended to be limiting but rather to provide an understandable description of the invention. For the purpose of this invention, the terms user, player and so on are all interchangeably used in the following description. For the purpose of this invention, the terms game, drinking game, game play and so on are all interchangeably used in the following description.
[0043] References to one embodiment, an embodiment, another embodiment, yet another embodiment, embodiments, an example, another example, yet another example, various embodiment and so on, indicate that the embodiment(s) or example(s) so described may include a particular feature, structure, characteristic, property, element, or limitation, but that not every embodiment or example necessarily includes that particular feature, structure, characteristic, property, element or limitation. Furthermore, repeated use of the phrase in an embodiment does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment.
[0044] The words comprising, having, containing, and including, and other forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items. Unless stated otherwise, terms such as first and second and so on used in this description are used to arbitrarily distinguish between the elements. Thus, these terms are not necessarily intended to indicate temporal or other prioritization of such elements.
[0045] The present invention and various embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, specifically with respect to
[0046] Referring to
[0047] Referring to
[0048] The application server 104 shown in the
[0049] The application server 104 may be realized through various web-based technologies such as, but not limited to, a Java web-framework, a .NET framework, a PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) framework, or any other web-application framework. The application server 104 may operate on one or more operating systems such as Windows, Android, Unix, Ubuntu, Mac OS, or the like. The database server 105 may include suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces, and/or code, executable by the circuitry that may be configured to perform one or more data management and storage operations such as receiving, processing, and storing data or content. In an embodiment, the database server 106 may be a data management and storage computing device that is communicatively coupled to the application server 104 and/or the player terminal 108 using suitable communication network known in the art to perform the one or more operations. In an exemplary embodiment, the database server 106 may be configured to manage and store data related to the players 110, and the events. In an embodiment, the data related to the players 110 may preferably include but not limited to information related to the players 110 such as names of the players 110, personal music related to the players 110, profile images associated with the players 110, number of times the players 110 played the drinking game, statistical information associated with the players 110, rankings associated with the players 110, and best performing time of the players 110 in an event. In an embodiment, the data related to the events may preferably include but not limited to names of the events, events related images, classes identifying sizes of the beverage containers, and names of the players 110 associated with the events. In an embodiment, the database server 105 may be configured to receive a query from the application server 104 for retrieval of the stored information. Based on the received query, the database server 105 may be configured to communicate the requested information to the server 104. Examples of the database server 105 may include, but are not limited to, a personal computer, a laptop, or a network of computer systems.
[0050] The network 106 or 107 may include suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces, and/or code, executable by the circuitry that may be configured to transmit messages and requests between various entities, such as the application server 104, the database server 105, the player terminals 108, and the devices 102. Examples of the network 106 or 107 include, but are not limited to, a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) network, a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) network, a satellite network, the Internet, a fiber optic network, a coaxial cable network, an infrared (IR) network, a radio frequency (RF) network, and combinations thereof. Various entities in the system environment 100 or 200 may connect to the network 106 or 107 in accordance with various wired and wireless communication protocols, such as Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), Long Term Evolution (LTE) communication protocols, or any combination thereof.
[0051] In accordance with an example implementation, as shown in
[0052] The processor 32 may be communicably coupled with the transceiver 36 to receive signals from the server 104. Further, the transceiver 36 may be configured to transmit signals generated by the processor 32. The processor 32 is in communication with the memory 34, wherein the memory 34 includes program modules such as routines, programs, firmware, objects, components, data structures and the like, which perform particular tasks to be executed by the processor 32.
[0053] The player terminal 108 may be connected to other information processing devices by using the I/O interface 40. The display 38 may be utilized to receive inputs (over user interfaces) from the player 110 using the player terminal 108 or may be utilized for displaying various user interfaces to the player 110. The I/O interfaces 40 may include a variety of software and hardware interfaces, for instance, interface for peripheral device(s) such as a keyboard, a mouse, a scanner, an external memory, a printer, LCD tv screens and the like. In an embodiment, the processor 32 may include different types of processors known in the art including neural network-based algorithms that are effectively used in several applications.
[0054] The player terminals 108 may include but not limited to a mobile phone, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a workstation, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or other device that may communicate data via the network 106 or 107 and may display information to the players 110 over the user interfaces (UIs).
[0055] Referring to the
[0056] The device 102 further includes a plurality of Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) 312 such as ws2812b. Although, in the embodiment described herein there are four LEDs 312 used, it should be understood that any number of LEDs 312 can be used. The device 102 further includes a power source 308 such as for example batteries for powering various electronic components, such as the controllers 306, the stop watch 310, and the LEDs 312. The LEDs 312 are switched on or off based upon the operation of the program product installed on the player terminal 108 of the players 110.
[0057] The device 102 further includes the top cover 302, and a base 304. The top cover 302 is configured to securely and hingedly cover the base 304. The device 102, particularly the top cover 302 and the base 304 are made using suitable material that can provide greater strength and durability to the device 102. In an example, the top cover 302 and the base 304 may be provided with a plurality of ribs 322 distributed internally thereon to provide added strength and stability to the device 102 against any accidental smashing of the beverage container on the device 102 when the participating players land the beverage glass all of a sudden over the device 102. According to an embodiment, the device 102 is configured in a way such that there is a small gap formation between the top cover 302 and the base 304 when the device 102 is in closed state. Further, the top cover 302 may be provided with reflecting tape or spray internally covering the inner surface in order to reflect the light of the LEDs 312 such that the optimum amount of light from the LEDs 312 can come out of the device 102 through the small gap in the form of a shiny rim 310a on an under surface of the device 102 as shown in the
[0058] According to the embodiment, the display window 320 configured on the top cover 302 is sealed by an acrylic glass plate to prevent any splashing liquids over the device 102 to get into the device 102 that may in turn damage the electronics contained therein.
[0059] The controllers 306 housed inside the device 102 would feed the time elapsed to the stop watch 310, and the player terminal 108 at different phases/modes of operations using the network 106 or any other networks known in the art. Referring to the
[0060] Phase I: Technically, at this stage, the device 102 remains closed in a relaxed state/a reset state. At this stage, a nose 316 configured internally on the top cover 302 of the device 102 remain at a close proximity to the switch means 314 without activating the switch means 314. Also, at this phase, a spring 313 actually provided to uplift the top cover 302 (by push action on a stud 310 provided on the top cover 302) during the game remain in a relaxed state without experiencing any tension. At this phase, the stop watch 310 displays READY. It is the phase at which the beverage glass/container 103 is not placed over the device 102 and the game is not initiated.
[0061] Phase II: Technically, at this stage, the device 102 remains closed with the switch means 314 activated. At this stage, the nose 316 gently pushes the switch means 314 to activate the switch means 314. Also, at this phase, the spring 313 is compressed with the weight of the beverage container 103 containing the alcoholic beverage thereby creating the tension. At this phase, the stop watch 310 displays 0,000. It is the phase at which the drinking game is about to begin or SET to go.
[0062] Phase III: Technically, at this stage, the device 102 remains closed with the switch means 314 deactivated again. At this phase, the spring 313 relaxes again and pushes the top cover 302 upward. At this stage, the nose 316 again comes in the close proximity to the switch means 314 without actually activating the switch means 314. At this phase, the time starts running until the player lands the beverage container back on the device 102. Although, the stop watch 310 is shown displaying 0:235 as time, it can actually be any time before the player 110 lands back the beverage container 103 over the device 102. It is the phase at the drinking game is in action (countdown is going) and the player 110 is consuming beverage from the beverage container 103.
[0063] Phase IV: Technically, at this stage, the device 102 remains closed with the switch means 314 activated again just like the Phase I. At this stage, the nose 316 gently pushes the switch means 314 to again activate the switch means 314. Also, at this phase, the spring 313 is compressed again with the weight of the beverage container 103 alone or with the weight of the beverage container 103 containing leftover alcoholic beverage thereby creating the tension again in the spring 313. Although, the stop watch 310 is shown displaying 1:358 as time, it can actually be any time based on how soon the player 110 lands back the beverage container 103 over the device 102 after consumption of the beverage. It is the phase at which a cycle of the drinking game comes to an end and the players if want can either save the outcome results or retry the game.
[0064] The device 102 can be made to enter into the phase I to start the game again, by pressing the top cover 302 twice that makes the nose 316 push/click on the switch means 314 twice.
[0065] Although, according to the embodiment, the device 102 alone can be used by the players 110 to play the game, where that the players 110 can view the time lapsed or different phases of the game play on the stop watch 310 directly, it is preferred that the players 110 with the player terminal 108 connect to the device 102 using the network 106 such as BLE or wifi to get an engaging experience of playing the game using the player terminal 108.
[0066] In operation, once the players 110 have the program product (in the form of the client app) installed on the player terminal 108, the players 110 are provided with a user interface 600 as shown in the
[0067] Once the players 110 enter into one of the gaming modes 602 or 604, the players 110 are then provided with various other user interfaces over the player terminal 108 that would allow the players 110 to manage various events at which the drinking game can be played. Different types of events may include but not limited to college parties, beach house parties and other festive occasions and so on at which alcoholic beverages, such as beer are consumed by people. The various user interfaces that would allow the players 110 to manage the various events are shown in the
[0068] As seen in the
[0069] Referring to the
[0070] Referring to the
[0071] Referring to the
[0072] Referring to the
[0073] Referring to the
[0074] According to the embodiments, the recorded videos could be shared by the players 110 over various social media platforms. Besides that, the program products installed on the player terminal 108 would facilitate the players 110 to perform many other social media activities such as for example, organizing of various pubs/party events or online drinking game competitions among social friends and so on. Another to other embodiments, the wirelessly connectable app configured on the player terminals 108 would serve to act as advertising platform that could be used by various beverage manufacturers to advertise their beverages online.
[0075] Referring to the
[0076] In order to play the game, the players are needed to reach the phase II (SET phase) at the same time, thus if the players are found to be in other phases, all the participating players wait for all of the players to be in the phase II, and once the participating players are in the phase II (SET phase) as shown in the
[0077] In another embodiment, alternatively to or in combination with using the mechanical components (top cover 302, base 304, spring 313a, switch 314) to check the lift off and landing of the beverage, the device comprises a pressure sensor 314a triggering the switch 314.
[0078] In particular, the device has a waterproofed/robust box with the electronics (microcontroller, batteries, wireless modules) inside, a pressure sensor 314a on top of the box and preferably a cover/rubber layer 314b to protect the sensor from mechanical damage (by smashing a beverage on it). The pressure sensor 314a reacts on mechanical pressure (e.g. caused by placing a beverage on it) by changing the electrical resistance.
[0079] Alternatively to or in combination with activating the timer/stop watch 310, the pressure sensors also allows to measure the weight of a beverage, depending on the amount of force/resistance performed to it, which offers more possibilities of playing the game . . . like checking how much liquid remains in the beverage.
[0080] The preceding description has been presented with reference to various embodiments. Persons skilled in the art and technology to which this application pertains will appreciate that alterations and changes in the described structures and methods of operation can be practiced without meaningfully departing from the principle, spirit and scope of the present invention.