Video lottery terminal games designed for visually impaired players

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12475761-B2
Application number	US-202318195569-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 10, 2023
Priority date	May 10, 2023
Publication date	Nov 18, 2025
Grant date	Nov 18, 2025

Abstract

The present disclosure relates generally to a gaming system, device, and method supportive of a self-evolving, AI-based player and other behaviors. The gaming system, device, and method receive audio information associated with a current game state of a game during a gaming session; predict a game state based on the audio information; compare the predicted game state with the current game state to determine a set of differences between the predicted game state and the current game state; based on the determined set of differences, select, from a plurality of possible sets of modifications, a set of modifications to an audio output of a game in a gaming session; modify the audio output of the game in accordance with the selected set of modifications; and over successive time intervals, iteratively perform the predict, compare, select and modify operations to provide a game model substantially minimizing the determined set of differences.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A device comprising:
a communication interface; a display; a processor coupled with the display and communication interface; and a computer-readable storage medium coupled with the processor, the computer-readable storage medium storing data thereon that enables the processor to: receive audio information associated with a current game state during a gaming session; predict a game state based on the audio information; compare the predicted game state with the current game state to determine a set of differences between the predicted game state and the current game state; based on the determined set of differences, select, from a plurality of possible sets of modifications, a set of modifications to an audio output of a game in the gaming session; modify the audio output of the game in accordance with the selected set of modifications; and over successive time intervals, iteratively perform the predict, compare, select and modify operations to provide a game model minimizing the determined set of differences.

2 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the game comprises slots, wherein the game state comprises a configuration of one or more reels on the display, wherein the successive time intervals comprise multiple spins of reels, wherein the processor determines, based on the determined set of differences, a reward and, based on the reward, modifies a policy function, wherein the processor applies the policy function to select the selected set of modifications from among the plurality of possible sets of modifications; and wherein the policy function is maximized when the determined set of differences is minimized.

3 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the audio information excludes display information regarding a state of a game display, wherein the determined set of differences is based on a comparison of a predicted game display with a current game display, and wherein the set of modifications comprises altering one or more of an amplitude of sound waves emitted by one or more speakers during the gaming session, a direction of the emitted sound waves, a phase of the emitted sound waves, a frequency of the emitted sound waves, and an azimuth of the emitted sound waves.

4 . The device of claim 2 , wherein the processor uses a Markov decision process in selecting, from a plurality of possible sets of modifications, a set of modifications to an audio output of a game in a gaming session, wherein the policy function comprises neural network algorithm, wherein the audio information is received by one or more microphones and converted from analog form to digital form before predicting the game state, wherein a first game model is associated with a first type of visual impairment and a different second game model is associated with a different second type of visual impairment, and wherein the first game model is executed by the processor in a first gaming session with a first visually impaired player and the second game model is executed by the processor in a second gaming session with a second visually impaired player.

5 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the received audio information is unstructured, wherein the audio information comprises unfiltered background noise to replicate a casino environment, and wherein the game state comprises occurrence of a reel configuration on the display, jackpot amount, winning outcome, losing outcome, credit meter balance, symbol occurrence, bonus award, roll up, and bonus round.

6 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the game model emulates behavior of a visually impaired player, wherein the selected set of modifications comprises altering a color or font size of displayed content, and further comprising a refreshable electromechanical braille display, wherein the game state comprises a state of the refreshable electromechanical braille display.

7 . The device of claim 1 , wherein, during a subsequent gaming session with a visually impaired player, the game model, in response to player input and/or a player profile, causes the processor to implement the selected set of modifications in audio information output by a gaming device and further comprising a haptic feedback device, wherein the game state comprises a state of the haptic feedback device.

8 . A method comprising:
receiving, by a microphone, audio information associated with a current game state during a gaming session; predicting, by a processor, a display state based on the audio information; comparing, by the processor, the predicted display state with a current display state associated with the current game state to determine a set of differences between the predicted display state and the current display state; based on the determined set of differences, selecting, by the processor from a plurality of possible sets of modifications, a set of modifications to an audio output of a game in the gaming session; modifying, by the processor, the audio output of the game in accordance with the selected set of modifications; and over successive time intervals, recursively performing, by the processor, the predicting, comparing, selecting and modifying to provide a game model minimizing the determined set of differences.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the game comprises slots, wherein the display state is associated with a game state, wherein the game state comprises a configuration of one or more reels on a display, wherein the successive time intervals comprise multiple spins of reels and further comprising:
determining, by the processor based on the determined set of differences, a reward; and based on the reward, modifying, by the processor, a policy function, wherein the processor applies the policy function to select the selected set of modifications from among the plurality of possible sets of modifications; and wherein the policy function is maximized when the determined set of differences is minimized.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the audio information excludes display information regarding a state of a game display, wherein the determined set of differences is based on a comparison of a predicted game display with a current game display, and wherein the selected set of modifications comprises altering one or more of an amplitude of sound waves emitted by one or more speakers during the gaming session, a direction of the emitted sound waves, a phase of the emitted sound waves, a frequency of the emitted sound waves, and an azimuth of the emitted sound waves.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the display state is associated with a game state, wherein the received audio information is unstructured, wherein the processor uses a Markov decision process in selecting, from a plurality of possible sets of modifications, a set of modifications to an audio output of a game in a gaming session, wherein a policy function comprises neural network algorithm, wherein the state of the game comprises occurrence of a reel configuration on the game display, jackpot amount, winning outcome, losing outcome, credit meter balance, symbol occurrence, bonus award, roll up, and bonus round, and further comprising:
converting from analog form to digital form before predicting the game state.

12 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the audio information comprises unfiltered background noise to replicate a casino environment, wherein a first game model is associated with a first type of visual impairment and a different second game model is associated with a different second type of visual impairment, and further comprising:
at a first time, executing, by the processor, the first game model in a first gaming session with a first visually impaired pla

Assignees

• Igt Reno Nev

Inventors

• Latifi Soheil
• Keilwert Stefan
• Russ Michael

Classifications

• G07F17/3237

  about the players, e.g. profiling, responsible gaming, strategy/behavior of players, location of players · CPC title

• G06N20/00 Primary

  Machine learning · CPC title

• G06N7/01

  Probabilistic graphical models, e.g. probabilistic networks · CPC title

• G07F17/329

  Regular and instant lottery, e.g. electronic scratch cards · CPC title

• G09B21/007

  using both tactile and audible presentation of the information · CPC title