Interactive Toy System and Methods

Abstract

An entertainment system, methods and computer software product are provided. In an exemplary embodiment, an entertainment system comprises at least one hand held controller with a plurality of accelerometers and a touch screen interface. The system further includes a base station and an accessory box. The base station routs signals containing data and information from the hand held controllers and the accessory box to a computing apparatus that is in communication with a game portal residing on a server on a network. Game play is enabled by the server on the entertainment system. This Abstract is provided for the sole purpose of complying with the Abstract requirement rules that allow a reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the disclosure contained herein. This Abstract is submitted with the explicit understanding that it will not be used to interpret or to limit the scope or the meaning of the claims.

1 . An entertainment system comprising:
 at least one hand held game controller, the at least one hand held game controller comprising a touch screen interface, a plurality of accelerometers, and a first communication transceiver;   a base station, the base station comprising a second communications transceiver, a first connector capable of connecting the base station to a computing device and a second connector;   an accessory box, the accessory box comprising a third connector, the third connector capable of connecting the accessory box to the base station's second connector; and   an online game portal capable of access from the computing device over a network.   
   
   
       2 . The entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of accelerometers comprises an accelerometer selected from a group consisting of: an orientation accelerometer, a motion accelerometer, and an acceleration accelerometer. 
   
   
       3 . The entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the first and the second communications transceivers comprise transceivers selected from a group consisting of: an optical transceiver, a radio frequency transceiver, an infrared transceiver, a Bluetooth transceiver, a RFID transceiver, a frequency hopping radio frequency transceiver, and an ultra wideband transceiver. 
   
   
       4 . The entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the first, second, and third connectors are connectors selected from a group consisting of: a Universal Serial Bus connector, a FireWire connector, a twisted pair connector, a phone line connector, and a wired medium connector. 
   
   
       5 . The entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the base station routs communication signals between the at least one hand held game controller, the computing device and the accessory box. 
   
   
       6 . The entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the base station is configured to receive communication signals from the at least one hand held game controller from the first communications transceiver and forward a first set of commands to the first connector. 
   
   
       7 . The entertainment system of  claim 6 , wherein the configuration further comprises a configuration to receive a set of second commands from the accessory box through the base station's second connector and forward the set of second commands to the first connector. 
   
   
       8 . The entertainment system of  claim 7 , wherein the communication signals comprise data selected from a group consisting of: data from at least one of the plurality of accelerometers, and data from the touch screen interface, and the second set of commands comprises commands enabling additional functionality to the entertainment system. 
   
   
       9 . The entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the online game portal resides on a server on the network. 
   
   
       10 . The entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein game play is enabled on the touch screen interface. 
   
   
       11 . The entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the touch screen interface comprises textured material identifying game play controls. 
   
   
       12 . The entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the touch screen interface is illuminated to identify game play options. 
   
   
       13 . The entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the touch screen interface comprises a plurality of material deformations indicating controls. 
   
   
       14 . The entertainment system of  claim 13 , wherein the material deformations are selected from a group consisting of recessed portions and raised portions. 
   
   
       15 . The entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the base station comprises a top surface, the top surface containing a recessed section fitted to a similar section on the hand held controller, the recessed section comprising a power connector suitable to recharge the batteries of the hand held controller. 
   
   
       16 . The entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the first connector is connected to a communications component selected from a group consisting of: an antenna, an optical emitter, and an optical detector. 
   
   
       17 . The entertainment system of  claim 16 , wherein the base station further comprises a third communications transceiver connected to the communications component, the communications transceiver selected from a group consisting of: an optical transceiver, a radio frequency transceiver, an infrared transceiver, a Bluetooth transceiver, a RFID transceiver, a frequency hopping radio frequency transceiver, and an ultra wideband transceiver. 
   
   
       18 . The entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the second and third connectors are connected to communications components selected from a group consisting of: antennas, optical emitters, and optical detectors. 
   
   
       19 . The entertainment system of  claim 18 , wherein the accessory box further comprises a fourth communications transceiver, the base station further comprises a fifth communications transceiver, the fourth and fifth communications transceivers selected from a group consisting of: optical transceivers, radio frequency transceivers, infrared transceivers, Bluetooth transceivers, RFID transceivers, frequency hopping radio frequency transceivers, and ultra wideband transceivers. 
   
   
       20 . A method of providing entertainment comprising:
 communicating a first signal from at least one hand held game controller to a base station, the at least one hand held game controller comprising a touch screen interface and a plurality of accelerometers;   communicating a second signal from an accessory box to a base station;   communicating a command from a base station to a computing device;   communicating data from the computing device to a server over a network, the server hosting an online game portal;   communicating a third signal from the server to the computing device; and   enabling game play on the computing device, the game play consistent with a game stored on the server.   
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the plurality of accelerometers comprises an accelerometer selected from a group consisting of: an orientation accelerometer, a motion accelerometer, and an acceleration accelerometer. 
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the first communications signal is transmitted from a transceiver selected from a group consisting of: an optical transceiver, a radio frequency transceiver, an infrared transceiver, a Bluetooth transceiver, a RFID transceiver, a frequency hopping radio frequency transceiver, and an ultra wideband transceiver. 
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the second signal and the command are communicated through connectors selected from a group consisting of: a Universal Serial Bus connector, a FireWire connector, a twisted pair connector, a phone line connector, and a wired medium connector. 
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the base station routs communications signals between the at least one hand held game controller, the computing device, and the accessory box. 
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the base station is configured to receive communication signals from the at least one hand held game controller from the first communications transceiver and forward a first set of commands to the first connector. 
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the configuration further comprises a configuration to receive a set of second commands from the accessory box and forward the set of second commands to server. 
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the first and the second signals comprise data selected from a group consisting of: data from at least one of the plurality of accelerometers, and data from the touch screen interface, and the second set of commands comprises commands enabling additional functionality to the entertainment system. 
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the server further comprises a database, the database comprising information related to a user, and information related to games in the online portal. 
   
   
       29 . The method of  claim 20 , further comprising communicating a fourth communications signal to the hand held device, the fourth communications signal enabling game play on the hand held controller. 
   
   
       30 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the touch screen of the hand held game controller comprises textured material indicating controls. 
   
   
       31 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the touch screen interface comprises a plurality of material deformations indicating controls. 
   
   
       32 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the material deformations are selected from a group consisting of recessed portions and raised portions. 
   
   
       33 . The method of  claim 20 , further comprising communicating a fifth communications signal to the hand held game controller, the fourth communications signal comprising data to illuminate game play options on the hand held controller. 
   
   
       34 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the second communications signal is transmitted from a communications transceiver selected from a group consisting of: an optical transceiver, a radio frequency transceiver, an infrared transceiver, a Bluetooth transceiver, a RFID transceiver, a frequency hopping radio frequency transceiver, and an ultra wideband transceiver. 
   
   
       35 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the command is communicated from a communications transceiver selected from a group consisting of: an optical transceiver, a radio frequency transceiver, an infrared transceiver, a Bluetooth transceiver, a RFID transceiver, a frequency hopping radio frequency transceiver, and an ultra wideband transceiver. 
   
   
       36 . A computer software product comprising:
 a computing apparatus readable medium, the medium comprising a set of processor executable instructions, the instructions sufficient to, when executed by a processor configure the computing apparatus to:   receive a first communications signal from a base station, the first communications signal comprising information received from at least one hand held game controller, the game controller comprising a touch screen interface and a plurality of accelerometers;   send a second communications signal to a server on a network, the server hosting an online game portal;   receive a third communications signal from the server on the network; and   enable game play on the computing device, the game play related to a game on the online game portal.   
   
   
       37 . The computer software product of  claim 36 , wherein the first communications signal further comprises information received from an accessory box, the information from the accessory box comprising information to enable game play. 
   
   
       38 . The computer software product of  claim 36 , wherein the plurality of accelerometers comprises an accelerometer selected from a group consisting of: an orientation accelerometer, a motion accelerometer, and an acceleration accelerometer. 
   
   
       39 . The computer software product of  claim 36 , wherein the information received from the at least one hand held game controller is received by a transceiver selected from a group consisting of: an optical transceiver, a radio frequency transceiver, an infrared transceiver, a Bluetooth transceiver, a RFID transceiver, a frequency hopping radio frequency transceiver, and an ultra wideband transceiver. 
   
   
       40 . The computer software product of  claim 36 , wherein the first signal is received from a connector selected from a group consisting of: a Universal Serial Bus connector, a FireWire connector, a twisted pair connector, a phone line connector, and a wired medium connector. 
   
   
       41 . The computer software product of  claim 36 , wherein the base station routs communications signals between the at least one hand held game controller, the accessory box and the computing device. 
   
   
       42 . The computer software product of  claim 36 , wherein the base station is configured the base station to receive communication signals from the at least one hand held game controller and forward a first set of commands to the computing device. 
   
   
       43 . The computer software product of  claim 42 , wherein the configuration further comprises a configuration to receive a set of second commands from the accessory box and send the set of second commands to the computing device. 
   
   
       44 . The computer software product of  claim 43 , wherein the communication signals comprise data selected from a group consisting of: data from at least one of the plurality of accelerometers, and data from the touch screen interface, and the second set of commands comprises commands enabling additional functionality to the entertainment system. 
   
   
       45 . The computer software product of  claim 36 , wherein the server comprises a database, the database comprising information related to a user, and information related to games in the online portal. 
   
   
       46 . The computer software product of  claim 36 , further comprising a configuration for communicating a fourth communications signal to the hand held device, the fourth communications signal enabling game play on the hand held controller. 
   
   
       47 . The computer software product of  claim 36 , wherein the touch screen of the hand held game controller comprises textured material indicating controls. 
   
   
       48 . The computer software product of  claim 36 , wherein the touch screen interface comprises a plurality of material deformations indicating controls. 
   
   
       49 . The computer software product of  claim 48 , wherein the material deformations are selected from a group consisting of recessed portions and raised portions. 
   
   
       50 . The computer software product of  claim 36 , further comprising communicating a fifth communications signal to the hand held game controller, the fifth communications signal comprising data to illuminate game play options on the hand held controller. 
   
   
       51 . The computer software product of  claim 36 , wherein the first communications signal is communicated by a transceiver selected from a group consisting of: an optical transceiver, a radio frequency transceiver, an infrared transceiver, a Bluetooth transceiver, a RFID transceiver, a frequency hopping radio frequency transceiver, and an ultra wideband transceiver.