Event simulator, and methods of constructing and utilizing same

Abstract

An event simulator which captures a live or recorded event and selectively incorporates simulator participants therewith. The simulator includes a mechanism for generating a computer graphic representation of an environment in which real events occur; a mechanism for determining the position and orientation of one or more movable objects, such as race cars, in the environment; a mechanism for generating a computer graphic representation of the one or more movable objects in the computer graphic representation of the environment based upon the position and orientation of the one or more movable objects at predetermined time intervals as provided by the position determining mechanism; an interface mechanism for providing data from zero or more simulator participants; a mechanism for generating a computer graphic representation of zero or more participants in the computer graphic representation of the environment in response to participant-supplied data from the interface mechanism; and a mechanism for displaying the computer graphic representation of the environment based upon the position determining mechanism for the one or more movable objects, the computer representation generating mechanism for the one of more movable objects and the computer representation generating mechanism for the zero or more participants.

I claim:  
     
         1 . A computer program product for a race simulator that provides a computer graphic representation of an actual vehicular race, the computer program product including instructions stored on a medium which, when executed by a processor of the simulator, operate to: 
 generate a computer graphic representation of a race track in which the vehicular race is to occur;    receive positioning information of one or more race vehicles participating in the vehicular race;    generate a computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles in the computer graphic representation of the race track based upon the received positioning information of the one or more race vehicles;    receive positioning information from at least one simulator participant relating to positioning thereof within the computer graphic representation of the race track;    generate a computer graphic representation of the simulator participant in the computer graphic representation of the race track; and    display the computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles and the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant in the computer graphic representation of the race track.    
     
     
         2 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein: 
 the positioning information of the one or more race vehicles and the positioning information of the at least one simulator participant comprises positioning information of the one or more race vehicles and the at least one simulator participant at predetermined time intervals; and    the displayed computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles and the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant in the computer graphic representation of the race track is regularly updated.    
     
     
         3 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein display of the computer representation of the one or more race vehicles and the computer representation of the at least one simulator participant in the computer graphic representation of the race track is updated substantially in real time.  
     
     
         4 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions which, when executed by the processor, operate to: 
 determine if the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant overlaps the computer graphic representation of any of the one or more race vehicles in the computer graphic representation of the race track.    
     
     
         5 . The computer program product of  claim 4 , further comprising instructions which, when executed by the processor, operate to: 
 remove the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant upon an affirmative determination that the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant overlaps the computer graphic representation of any of the one or more race vehicles in the computer graphic representation of the race track.    
     
     
         6 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions which, when executed by the processor, operate to: 
 send information corresponding to the computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles and the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant in the computer graphic representation of the race track for display to at least one location geographically remote from the processor.    
     
     
         7 . The computer program product of  claim 6 , wherein the information corresponding to the computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles and the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant in the computer graphic representation of the race track is sent over the Internet for display.  
     
     
         8 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the positioning information of the at least one simulator participant is received from a location that is geographically remote relative to the processor  
     
     
         9 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the positioning information of the at least one simulator participant is received from transmission over the Internet.  
     
     
         10 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions which, when executed by the processor, operate to: 
 selectively alter the size of the computer graphic representation of the race track, relative to the size of the computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles and the size of the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant.    
     
     
         11 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions which, when executed by the processor, operate to: 
 selectively modify the positioning information of the one or more race vehicles so that the display of the computer graphic representation thereof on the computer graphic representation of the race track appears to scale the speed of the computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles on the computer graphic representation of the race track.    
     
     
         12 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions which, when executed by the processor, operate to: 
 selectively replace positioning information of at least one of the one or more race vehicles with positioning information of at least one of the at least one simulator participants so that the computer graphic representation of the at least one of the one or more race vehicles is thereafter based upon the positioning information of the at least one of the at least one simulator participants.    
     
     
         13 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the display is from substantially any perspective on the race track  
     
     
         14 . The computer program product of  claim 13 , wherein at least one of the perspectives is from the position of the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant in the computer graphic representation of the race track.  
     
     
         15 . The computer program product of  claim 13 , wherein the display is selected by the at least one simulator participant.  
     
     
         16 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the display is from any of a plurality of perspectives on the race track.  
     
     
         17 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions which, when executed by the processor, operate to: 
 determine a plurality of statistics of the computer graphic representation of one or more of the at least one simulator participant and the one or more race vehicles, and display the statistics of the simulation of the actual vehicular race.    
     
     
         18 . The computer program product of  claim 16 , wherein the statistics comprise, for the at least one simulator participant, at least one of average speed and laps completed.  
     
     
         19 . The computer program product of  claim 16 , wherein the statistics comprise, for the at least one simulator participant, at least one of fuel level and vehicle speed.  
     
     
         20 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions which, when executed by the processor, operate to: 
 determine at least one statistic of the computer graphic representation of each of the at least one simulator participant and each of the one or more race vehicles, and display the at least one statistic of the simulation of the actual vehicular race.    
     
     
         21 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles and the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant comprise three dimensional polygonal renditions of actual race vehicles.  
     
     
         22 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the positioning information of the one or more race vehicles comprise orientation information of the one or more race vehicles during the actual vehicular race.  
     
     
         23 . The computer program product of  claim 20 , wherein the orientation information includes at least one of pitch, roll and yaw of the one or more race vehicles during the actual vehicular race.  
     
     
         24 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the positioning information of the at least one simulator participant comprises acceleration information and steering information.  
     
     
         25 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions which, when executed by the processor, operate to: 
 send information corresponding to the computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles and the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant in the computer graphic representation of the race track for display to a plurality of locations geographically remote from the processor.    
     
     
         26 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions which, when executed by the processor, operate to: 
 selectively modify the positioning information of at least one of the one or more race vehicles    
     
     
         27 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions which, when executed by the processor, operate to: 
 selectively scale the speed of at least one of the one or more race vehicles on the computer graphic representation of the race track.    
     
     
         28 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the positioning information of the one or more race vehicles comprise orientation information of the one or more race vehicles during the actual vehicular race, and the computer program product further comprises instructions which, when executed by the processor, operate to selectively modify the orientation information of at least one of the one or more race vehicles.  
     
     
         29 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , further including instructions which, when executed by the processor, operate to: 
 change a performance of at least one of the one or more race vehicles.    
     
     
         30 . A method for presenting a computer graphic representation of an actual race involving one or more race vehicles, comprising: 
 generating a computer graphic representation of a race track in which the vehicular race is to occur;    receiving positioning information of one or more race vehicles participating in the vehicular race,    generating a computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles in the computer graphic representation of the race track based upon the received positioning information of the one or more race vehicles;    receiving positioning information from at least one simulator participant relating to positioning thereof within the computer graphic representation of the race track;    generating a computer graphic representation of the simulator participant in the computer graphic representation of the race track; and    displaying the computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles and the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant in the computer graphic representation of the race track.    
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein: 
 the positioning information of the one or more race vehicles and the positioning information of the at least one simulator participant comprises positioning information of the one or more race vehicles and the at least one simulator participant at predetermined time intervals; and    the displayed computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles and the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant in the computer graphic representation of the race track is regularly updated.    
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein display of the computer representation of the one or more race vehicles and the computer representation of the at least one simulator participant in the computer graphic representation of the race track is updated substantially in real time.  
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising: 
 determining if the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant overlaps the computer graphic representation of any of the one or more race vehicles in the computer graphic representation of the race track.    
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33 , further comprising: 
 removing the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant upon an affirmative determination that the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant overlaps the computer graphic representation of any of the one or more race vehicles in the computer graphic representation of the race track.    
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising: 
 sending information corresponding to the computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles and the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant in the computer graphic representation of the race track for display to at least one location geographically remote from the processor.    
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein the information corresponding to the computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles and the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant in the computer graphic representation of the race track is sent over the Internet for display.  
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the positioning information of the at least one simulator participant is received from a location that is geographically remote relative to the processor.  
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the positioning information of the at least one simulator participant is received from transmission over the Internet.  
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising: 
 selectively altering the size of the computer graphic representation of the race track, relative to the size of the computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles and the size of the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant.    
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising: 
 selectively modifying the positioning information of the one or more race vehicles so that the display of the computer graphic representation thereof on the computer graphic representation of the race track appears to scale the speed of the computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles on the computer graphic representation of the race track.    
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising: 
 selectively replacing positioning information of at least one of the one or more race vehicles with positioning information of at least one of the at least one simulator participants so that the computer graphic representation of the at least one of the one or more race vehicles is thereafter based upon the positioning information of the at least one of the at least one simulator participants.    
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the display is from substantially any perspective on the race track.  
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 42 , wherein at least one of the perspectives is from the position of the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant in the computer graphic representation of the race track.  
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 42 , wherein the display is selected by the at least one simulator participant.  
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the display is from any of a plurality of perspectives on the race track.  
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising: 
 determining a plurality of statistics of the computer graphic representation of one or more of the at least one simulator participant and the one or more race vehicles, and displaying the statistics of the simulation of the actual vehicular race.    
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 45 , wherein the statistics comprise, for the at least one simulator participant, at least one of average speed and laps completed.  
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 45 , wherein the statistics comprise, for the at least one simulator participant, at least one of fuel level and vehicle speed  
     
     
         49 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising: 
 determining at least one statistic of the computer graphic representation of each of the at least one simulator participant and each of the one or more race vehicles, and displaying the at least one statistic of the simulation of the actual vehicular race.    
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles and the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant comprise three dimensional polygonal renditions of actual race vehicles.  
     
     
         51 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the positioning information of the one or more race vehicles comprise orientation information of the one or more race vehicles during the actual vehicular race.  
     
     
         52 . The method of  claim 49 , wherein the orientation information includes at least one of pitch, roll and yaw of the one or more race vehicles during the actual vehicular race.  
     
     
         53 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the positioning information of the at least one simulator participant comprises acceleration information and steering information.  
     
     
         54 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising: 
 sending information corresponding to the computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles and the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant in the computer graphic representation of the race track for display to a plurality of locations geographically remote from the processor.    
     
     
         55 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising: 
 selectively modifying the positioning information of at least one of the one or more race vehicles.    
     
     
         56 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising: 
 selectively scaling the speed of at least one of the one or more race vehicles on the computer graphic representation of the race track.    
     
     
         57 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the positioning information of the one or more race vehicles comprise orientation information of the one or more race vehicles during the actual vehicular race, and the computer program product further comprises instructions which, when executed by the processor, operate to selectively modify the orientation information of at least one of the one or more race vehicles.  
     
     
         58 . The method of  claim 30 , further including: 
 changing a performance of at least one of the one or more race vehicles    
     
     
         59 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising, prior to the step of detecting the position information of the one or more race vehicles, including performing at least one of data reduction, extrapolation and filtering.  
     
     
         60 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the one or more race vehicles comprise one or more race cars.  
     
     
         61 . A simulation system that provides a computer graphic representation of an actual vehicular race, comprising: 
 at least one memory device having computer software instructions stored therein;    at least one computing device, coupled to the at least one memory device and adapted to execute the computer software instructions stored on the at least one memory device so as to be operable to: 
 obtain a computer graphic representation of a race track in which the vehicular race is to occur,  
 receive positioning information of one or more race vehicles participating in the vehicular race,  
 generate a computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles in the computer graphic representation of the race track based upon the received positioning information of the one or more race vehicles;  
 receive positioning information from at least one simulator participant relating to positioning thereof within the computer graphic representation of the race track; and  
 generate a computer graphic representation of the simulator participant in the computer graphic representation of the race track; and  
   at least one monitor device, coupled to the at least one computing device, for displaying the computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles and the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant in the computer graphic representation of the race track.    
     
     
         62 . The simulation system of  claim 61 , wherein: 
 the positioning information of the one or more race vehicles and the positioning information of the at least one simulator participant comprises positioning information of the one or more race vehicles and the at least one simulator participant at predetermined time intervals; and    the displayed computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles and the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant in the computer graphic representation of the race track is regularly updated.    
     
     
         63 . The simulation system of  claim 61 , wherein display of the computer representation of the one or more race vehicles and the computer representation of the at least one simulator participant in the computer graphic representation of the race track is updated substantially in real time.  
     
     
         64 . The simulation system of  claim 61 , wherein the at least one computing device, when executing the computer software instructions, is further operable to: 
 determine if the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant overlaps the computer graphic representation of any of the one or more race vehicles in the computer graphic representation of the race track.    
     
     
         65 . The simulation system of  claim 64 , wherein the at least one computing device, when executing the computer software instructions, is further operable to: 
 remove the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant upon an affirmative determination that the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant overlaps the computer graphic representation of any of the one or more race vehicles in the computer graphic representation of the race track.    
     
     
         66 . The simulation system of  claim 61 , wherein the at least one computing device, when executing the computer software instructions, is further operable to: 
 send information corresponding to the computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles and the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant in the computer graphic representation of the race track for display to at least one location geographically remote from the processor.    
     
     
         67 . The simulation system of  claim 66 , wherein the information corresponding to the computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles and the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant in the computer graphic representation of the race track is sent over the Internet for display.  
     
     
         68 . The simulation system of  claim 61 , wherein the positioning information of the at least one simulator participant is received from a location that is geographically remote relative to the processor.  
     
     
         69 . The simulation system of  claim 68 , wherein the positioning information of the at least one simulator participant is received from transmission over the Internet.  
     
     
         70 . The simulation system of  claim 61 , wherein the at least one computing device, when executing the computer software instructions, is further operable to: 
 selectively alter the size of the computer graphic representation of the race track, relative to the size of the computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles and the size of the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant.    
     
     
         71 . The simulation system of  claim 61 , wherein the at least one computing device, when executing the computer software instructions, is further operable to: 
 selectively modify the positioning information of the one or more race vehicles so that the display of the computer graphic representation thereof on the computer graphic representation of the race track appears to scale the speed of the computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles on the computer graphic representation of the race track.    
     
     
         72 . The simulation system of  claim 61 , wherein the at least one computing device, when executing the computer software instructions, is further operable to: 
 selectively replace positioning information of at least one of the one or more race vehicles with positioning information of at least one of the at least one simulator participants so that the computer graphic representation of the at least one of the one or more race vehicles is thereafter based upon the positioning information of the at least one of the at least one simulator participants.    
     
     
         73 . The simulation system of  claim 61 , wherein the display is from substantially any perspective on the race track.  
     
     
         74 . The simulation system of  claim 73 , wherein at least one of the perspectives is from the position of the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant in the computer graphic representation of the race track.  
     
     
         75 . The simulation system of  claim 73 , wherein the display is selected by the at least one simulator participant.  
     
     
         76 . The simulation system of  claim 61 , wherein the display is from any of a plurality of perspectives on the race track.  
     
     
         77 . The simulation system of  claim 61 , wherein the at least one computing device, when executing the computer software instructions, is further operable to: 
 determine a plurality of statistics of the computer graphic representation of one or more of the at least one simulator participant and the one or more race vehicles, and display the statistics of the simulation of the actual vehicular race.    
     
     
         78 . The simulation system of  claim 76 , wherein the statistics comprise, for the at least one simulator participant, at least one of average speed and laps completed.  
     
     
         79 . The simulation system of  claim 76 , wherein the statistics comprise, for the at least one simulator participant, at least one of fuel level and vehicle speed.  
     
     
         80 . The simulation system of  claim 61 , wherein the at least one computing device, when executing the computer software instructions, is further operable to: 
 determine at least one statistic of the computer graphic representation of each of the at least one simulator participant and each of the one or more race vehicles, and display the at least one statistic of the simulation of the actual vehicular race.    
     
     
         81 . The simulation system of  claim 61 , wherein the computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles and the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant comprise three dimensional polygonal renditions of actual race vehicles.  
     
     
         82 . The simulation system of  claim 61 , wherein the positioning information of the one or more race vehicles comprise orientation information of the one or more race vehicles during the actual vehicular race.  
     
     
         83 . The simulation system of  claim 60 , wherein the orientation information includes at least one of pitch, roll and yaw of the one or more race vehicles during the actual vehicular race  
     
     
         84 . The simulation system of  claim 61 , wherein the positioning information of the at least one simulator participant comprises acceleration information and steering information.  
     
     
         85 . The simulation system of  claim 61 , wherein the at least one computing device, when executing the computer software instructions, is further operable to: 
 send information corresponding to the computer graphic representation of the one or more race vehicles and the computer graphic representation of the at least one simulator participant in the computer graphic representation of the race track for display to a plurality of locations geographically remote from the processor.    
     
     
         86 . The simulation system of  claim 61 , wherein the at least one computing device, when executing the computer software instructions, is further operable to: 
 selectively modify the positioning information of at least one of the one or more race vehicles.    
     
     
         87 . The simulation system of  claim 61 , wherein the at least one computing device, when executing the computer software instructions, is further operable to: 
 selectively scale the speed of at least one of the one or more race vehicles on the computer graphic representation of the race track.    
     
     
         88 . The simulation system of  claim 61 , wherein the positioning information of the one or more race vehicles comprise orientation information of the one or more race vehicles during the actual vehicular race, and the computer program product further comprises instructions which, when executed by the processor, operate to selectively modify the orientation information of at least one of the one or more race vehicles.  
     
     
         89 . The simulation system of  claim 61 , further including instructions which, when executed by the processor, operate to: 
 change a performance of at least one of the one or more race vehicles.    
     
     
         90 . The simulation system of  claim 61 , further comprising one or more detection devices for sensing the position of the one or more race vehicles on the race track, generating the positioning information of the race vehicles and sending the positioning information to the at least one computing device.  
     
     
         91 . The simulation system of  claim 90 , wherein the one or more detection devices comprises at least one of the following an on-board sensor and radar.  
     
     
         92 . The simulation system of  claim 61 , further comprising at least one driver station manipulated by the at least one simulator participant, comprising at least one of a steering device, an acceleration device, and a deceleration device  
     
     
         93 . The simulation system of  claim 61 , wherein the at least one computing device, when executing the computer software instructions, is further operable to perform at least one of data reduction, filtering and extrapolation on the positioning information of the one or more race vehicles.  
     
     
         94 . The simulation system of  claim 61 , wherein the one or more race vehicles comprise one or more race cars.