Decomposition of displayed elements using gaze detection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10896573-B2
Application number	US-201715720337-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 29, 2017
Priority date	Sep 29, 2017
Publication date	Jan 19, 2021
Grant date	Jan 19, 2021

Abstract

A method of operating an electronic gaming machine includes detecting a gaze direction of an operator of the electronic gaming machine; identifying a location on the electronic gaming machine towards which the gaze of the operator is directed; identifying an element of the electronic gaming machine corresponding to the location on the electronic gaming machine towards which the gaze of the operator is directed; determining if additional information regarding the identified element is available; and displaying the additional information on a display device that is visible to the operator.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of operating an electronic gaming machine, comprising:
detecting a gaze direction of an operator of the electronic gaming machine;
identifying a location on the electronic gaming machine towards which the gaze of the operator is directed;
identifying an element of the electronic gaming machine corresponding to the location on the electronic gaming machine towards which the gaze of the operator is directed;
determining that additional information regarding the element is available; and
displaying the additional information as a three-dimensional element on a three-dimensional display device that is visible to the operator,
wherein the element comprises a three-dimensional object displayed by the display device, and
wherein displaying the additional information comprises displaying the additional information as a three-dimensional object in front of the element.

2. A method of operating an electronic gaming machine, comprising:
detecting a gaze direction of an operator of the electronic gaming machine;
identifying a location on the electronic gaming machine towards which the gaze of the operator is directed;
identifying a first element of the electronic gaming machine corresponding to the location on a first display device of the electronic gaming machine towards which the gaze of the operator is directed, wherein the first display device comprises a first three-dimensional display device, and wherein the first element of the electronic gaming machine comprises a three-dimensional element displayed by the first three-dimensional display device as having an apparent spatial position;
determining that additional information regarding the first element is available;
detecting a location of at least a portion of a hand of the operator;
determining that the location of the at least one portion of the hand of the operator corresponds to the apparent spatial position of the three-dimensional element; and
displaying the additional information on a second display device that is separate from the first display device and visible to the operator in response to the location of the at least one portion of the hand of the operator corresponding to the apparent spatial position of the three-dimensional element.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
after identifying the first element of the electronic gaming machine, determining if at least one other condition has been fulfilled,
wherein displaying the additional information is performed only after the at least one other condition has been fulfilled.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first element of the electronic gaming machine comprises an item displayed on the first three-dimensional display device.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first element of the electronic gaming machine comprises an information item that is based on a combination of sub-information items that are hidden from the operator, and wherein the additional information comprises the sub-information items.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the additional information comprises one selected from the group consisting of current information about a game being played on the electronic gaming machine and historical information about previous games played on the electronic gaming machine.

7. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
starting a timer in response to identifying the first element, wherein displaying the additional information is performed in response to the timer exceeding a predetermined threshold while the operator's gaze continues be directed toward the first element.

8. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
determining a number of times within a predetermined time period that the operator's gaze is directed toward the first element,
wherein displaying the additional information is performed in response to the number of times within the predetermined time period that the operator's gaze is directed toward the first element exceeding a predetermined threshold value.

9. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first element comprises a second element, the method further comprising:
determining that the operator's gaze was directed toward first element prior to being directed toward the second element,
wherein displaying the additional information is performed in response to the operator's gaze being directed to the first element followed by the second element.

10. A method of operating an electronic gaming machine, comprising:
detecting a gaze direction of an operator of the electronic gaming machine;
identifying a location on the electronic gaming machine towards which the gaze of the operator is directed;
identifying a first element of the electronic gaming machine corresponding to the location on a first display device of the electronic gaming machine towards which the gaze of the operator is directed;
determining that additional information regarding the first element is available; and
displaying the additional information as a three-dimensional element having an apparent spatial position on a three-dimensional display device that is separate from the first display device and visible to the operator;
detecting a location of at least a portion of a hand of the operator;
determining that the location of the at least one portion of the hand of the operator corresponds to the apparent spatial position of the three-dimensional element; and
removing the three-dimensional element that displays the additional information in response to the location of the at least one portion of the hand of the operator corresponding to the apparent spatial location of the three-dimensional element.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
after identifying the first element of the electronic gaming machine, determining if at least one other condition has been fulfilled,
wherein displaying the additional information is performed only after the at least one other condition has been fulfilled.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the first element of the electronic gaming machine comprises an item displayed on the first three-dimensional display device.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the first element of the electronic gaming machine comprises an information item that is based on a combination of sub-information items that are hidden from the operator, and wherein the additional information comprises the sub-information items.

14. The method of claim 10 , further comprising detecting a selection gesture by the operator, wherein removing the three dimensional element is performed in response to the selection gesture and the location of the at least one portion of the hand of the operator corresponding to the apparent spatial location of the three-dimensional element.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the additional information comprises one selected from the group consisting of current information about a game being played on the electronic gaming machine and historical information about previous games played on the electronic gaming machine.

16. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
starting a timer in response to identifying the first element, wherein displaying the additional information is performed in response to the timer exceeding a predetermined threshold while the operator's gaze continues be directed toward the first element.

17. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
determining a number of times within a predetermined time period that the operator's gaze is directed toward the first element,
wherein displaying the additional information is performed

Assignees

• Igt Reno Nev

Inventors

• Nelson Dwayne

Classifications

• G06F3/04815

  Interaction with a metaphor-based environment or interaction object displayed as three-dimensional [3D], e.g. changing the user viewpoint with respect to the environment or object · CPC title

• G06F3/011

  Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality (blind teaching G09B21/00) · CPC title

• G06F3/017

  Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures (interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883) · CPC title

• G06F3/016

  Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user · CPC title

• G07F17/3206

  Player sensing means, e.g. presence detection, biometrics · CPC title