Sigils for use with apparel

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9597598-B2
Application number	US-201514848631-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 9, 2015
Priority date	Oct 30, 2002
Publication date	Mar 21, 2017
Grant date	Mar 21, 2017

Abstract

Apparel is disclosed that can be worn to assist an interactive game in tracking the movement of the wearer. More particularly, the apparel may include one or more tracking marks formed of designs, patterns, or reflective materials that can be easily tracked by an interactive game employing one or more cameras or other detectors for detecting a change in position of an object. The apparel may take the form of, for example, hats, shirts, jackets, pants, gloves, and shoes. By providing tracking marks on apparel, rather than using a special-purpose device that must be separately worn, a player may enjoy a more natural feel when playing the interactive game. Further, the player need not don any special equipment to play the game. Instead, a user can wear the apparel for everyday purposes, and then simply begin playing the game wearing the apparel without having to put on any additional equipment. The apparel may use reflective materials, and the interactive game can employ a camera and a light source configuration where the camera is located within the observation angle of a player employing retroreflective materials reflecting light from the light source.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system configured to recognize tracking marks, comprising:
an interactive activity device comprising:
a processor;
a computer operated recognition device including a camera; and
a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to at least:
capture images of a tracking mark on an article of wear worn by a user during movement by the user within a field of view of the camera, and wherein the movement by the user induces movement of the tracking mark;
recognize with the processor, the tracking mark displayed on the article of wear from the images provided by the camera;
perform at least one computer function based on the recognition of the tracking mark,

wherein the article of wear comprises a corrugated structure having a plurality of alternating surfaces with a first subset of the plurality of alternating surfaces including a plurality of first surfaces including the tracking mark and a second subset of the plurality of alternating surfaces including a plurality of second surfaces which do not include the tracking mark, the corrugated structure configured to compress and expand to convert between a concealed configuration and an exposed configuration of the tracking mark on the article of wear.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein when the tracking mark is in the concealed configuration, the plurality of first surfaces is not visibly exposed at an exterior of the article of wear such that the tracking mark is not recognizable from the images, and wherein, when the tracking mark is in the exposed configuration, the plurality of first surfaces is visibly exposed at an exterior of the article of wear such that the tracking mark is recognizable from the images.

3. The system of recognizing tracking marks recited in claim 1 , wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises computer-executable instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
associate qualitative information with the tracking mark; and,
interpret the qualitative information as an instruction.

4. The system of recognizing tracking marks recited in claim 3 , wherein the instruction is selected from the group consisting of: an instruction to turn off the interactive activity device, an instruction to change a type or characteristic of the interactive activity device, and an instruction to input alphanumeric information into the interactive activity device.

5. The system of recognizing tracking marks recited in claim 1 , wherein the tracking mark is incorporated into a structure of the article of wear by a technique selected from the group consisting of: silk screening, pad printing, heat transfer, dye sublimation, dyeing, stitching, adhering with an adhesive, impregnation, etching, stapling riveting, and combinations thereof.

6. The system of recognizing tracking marks recited in claim 1 , wherein the article of wear is selected from the group consisting of: footwear, a shirt, pants, a jacket, shorts, a sock, a hat, a band, and combinations thereof.

7. The system of recognizing tracking marks recited in claim 1 , wherein the tracking mark has a color that can be recognized by a tracking recognition module in operative communication with the processor.

8. The system of recognizing tracking marks recited in claim 7 , wherein the tracking mark has a shape that can be recognized by the tracking recognition module.

9. The system of recognizing tracking marks recited in claim 7 , wherein the tracking mark has a reflectivity that can be recognized by the tracking recognition module.

10. The system of recognizing tracking marks recited in claim 7 , wherein the tracking recognition module can recognize at least two different kinds of tracking marks.

11. The system of recognizing tracking marks recited in claim 10 , wherein the camera is located in a place for a sports event.

12. The system of recognizing tracking marks recited in claim 11 , wherein each of the two different kinds of tracking marks is associated with each team for the sports event and the tracking marks are displayed on articles or wear being worn by a plurality of spectators.

13. The system of recognizing tracking marks recited in claim 1 , wherein the interactive activity device is configured to provide an interactive activity that includes a computer game.

14. The system of recognizing tracking marks recited in claim 13 , wherein the performing of a computer function includes opening a new game based on the recognition of the tracking mark.

15. The system of recognizing tracking marks recited in claim 13 , wherein the performing of a computer function includes invoking game preferences associated with the user based on the recognition of the tracking mark.

16. The system of recognizing tracking marks recited in claim 13 , wherein the computer game allows the user to access game play with a second user over a network.

17. A system configured to recognize tracking marks, comprising:
an interactive activity device comprising:
a processor;
a computer-operated recognition device including a camera; and
a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to at least:
capture images of a tracking mark on an article of wear worn by a user during movement by the user within a field of view of the camera, and wherein the movement by the user induces movement of the tracking mark;
recognize with the processor, the tracking mark displayed on the article of wear from the images provided by the camera;
associate qualitative information with the tracking mark;
perform at least one computer function based on the recognition of the tracking mark by a tracking mark recognition module and the qualitative information associated with the tracking mark; and
the article of wear comprises a corrugated structure, wherein the corrugated structure includes a plurality of alternating surfaces with a first subset of the plurality of alternating surfaces including a plurality of first surfaces including the tracking mark and a second subset of the plurality of alternating surfaces including a plurality of second surfaces which do not include the tracking mark,
wherein the corrugated structure is configured to convert between a first configuration and a second configuration of the tracking mark on the article of wear,
wherein when the tracking mark is in the first configuration, it is not recognizable from the images, and wherein when the tracking mark is in the second configuration, the tracking mark is recognizable from the images.

18. The system of recognizing tracking marks recited in claim 17 , wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises computer-executable instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to interpret the qualitative information as an instruction.

19. The system of recognizing tracking marks recited in claim 18 , wherein the instruction is selected from the group consisting of: an instruction to turn off the interactive activity device, an instruction to change a type or characteristic of the interactive activity device, and an instruction to input alphanumeric information into the interactive activity device.

Assignees

• Nike Inc

Inventors

• Shum Albert
• Foxen Thomas
• Meschter James C
• Behar Yves

Classifications

• A63F2300/1093

  using visible light · CPC title

• A41D13/0015

  Sports garments other than provided for in groups A41D13/0007 - A41D13/088 · CPC title

• A43B3/0078

  provided with logos, letters, signatures or the like decoration (A43B23/24 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A41D2600/10

  for sport activities · CPC title

• A43B1/0036

  with fluorescent or phosphorescent parts · CPC title