Thermochromic toy for revealing hidden codes

Abstract

A product, comprising a toy; and the toy including a thermochromic region on at least a portion of the toy, where the thermochromic region exhibits a visual change in response to temperature; a code, wherein the thermochromic region reveals a human readable code upon the visual change; and a decoder for decoding the code is provided.

1 . A product, comprising: 
 a toy; and    the toy including a thermochromic region on at least a portion of the toy, where the thermochromic region exhibits a visual change in response to temperature;    a code, wherein the thermochromic region reveals a human readable code upon the visual change; and    a decoder for decoding the code.    
   
   
       2 . The product of  claim 1  wherein the decoder includes a computer program configured to be operated on a computer, and configured to receive said code, where said program produces a computer output based on the code entered, wherein said output includes content dependent upon the code entered.  
   
   
       3 . The product of  claim 1  wherein the decoder is included in instructions on the product.  
   
   
       4 . The product of  claim 1  wherein the decoder is included in instructions on the toy.  
   
   
       5 . The product of  claim 1  wherein the decoder is a book.  
   
   
       6 . The product of  claim 1  wherein the decoder is provided on an unrelated consumer product.  
   
   
       7 . The product of  claim 1  wherein the decoder translates the code to other data.  
   
   
       8 . The product of  claim 7  wherein the other data includes reward points.  
   
   
       9 . The product of  claim 1  wherein the decoder includes a computer program configured to be operated on a computer, and configured to receive said code over the internet, where said program produces a computer output based on the code entered, wherein said output includes reward points dependent upon the code entered.  
   
   
       10 . The product of  claim 1  further comprising a plurality of thermochromic regions on the toy, where each thermochromic region exhibits a visual change in response to temperature, and each thermochromic region reveals a human readable code.  
   
   
       11 . The product of  claim 10  wherein at least two codes are different.  
   
   
       12 . A product, comprising: 
 a toy; and    the toy including a thermochromic region on at least a portion of the toy, where the thermochromic region exhibits a visual change in response to temperature;    a code, wherein the thermochromic region reveals a human readable code upon the visual change; and    an interactive web based decoder for receiving the code and generating a response dependent upon the received code.    
   
   
       13 . The product of  claim 12  wherein the response includes reward points.  
   
   
       14 . The product of  claim 12  wherein the response includes information about a fictional character the toy represents.  
   
   
       15 . The product of  claim 12  wherein the response includes secret information about the toy.  
   
   
       16 . The product of  claim 12  wherein the response includes reward points responsive to a number of codes entered and which codes are entered.  
   
   
       17 . The product of  claim 12  further comprising a plurality of thermochromic regions on the toy, where each thermochromic region exhibits a visual change in response to temperature, and each thermochromic region reveals a human readable code, and at least two codes are different from one another.  
   
   
       18 . The product of  claim 17  wherein different thermochromic regions of the toy are exposed depending on a toy configuration and/or positioning of the toy.  
   
   
       19 . The product of  claim 17  wherein at least one thermochromic region is internally facing in a first configuration of the toy, and externally facing in a second configuration of the toy.  
   
   
       20 . A set of products, comprising: 
 a first toy having a first hidden code revealed in a selected temperature range;    a second toy having a second hidden code revealed in a selected temperature range; and    a decoder for decoding the first and second codes.    
   
   
       21 . The set of  claim 20 , wherein the first hidden code is located in a first position on the first toy, and the second hidden code is located in a second position on the second toy, the second position different relative to the first position.