Device and method for detecting and commenting on a game event in the immediate vicinity of a goal

Abstract

A device capable of automatically detecting game actions that take place in the vicinity of a goal for sports or activities in which the objective is to make a projectile enter the goal. The device is suitable for triggering, always in an automatic manner and in real time, audio or visual animations suited to the game situation thus detected. A method for processing information suitable for qualifying a game action according to information gathered from various types of sensors placed in the playing area is also described.

1 . A device for the practice of an activity using a projectile, wherein said device comprises:
 a closed space lit by a source of artificial light, said space comprising a cage whose plan of entrance is delimited by a framework bearing a net;   a projectile of a given color shade;   sensors comprising a vision device capable of detecting the color shade of the projectile in a volume comprising the cage;   the colors of all the elements likely to be in the scene seen by the vision device, when they are lit by the artificial light source, being selected so that none of the mixtures of the aforesaid colors cannot comprise the color shade of the projectile.   
     
     
         2 . The device according to  claim 1 , wherein the color shade of the projectile, when lit by the source of artificial light, is included in an opposite quadrant of the CIELAB disc compared to the color shade of the other elements delimiting and contained in the closed space. 
     
     
         3 . The device according to  claim 1  wherein the saturation of the color shade of the projectile is located in a crown ranging between the outmost part and 80% of the radius of the CIELAB disc. 
     
     
         4 . The device according to  claim 1  wherein the ground of the cage, its framework and the net are selected of white or black color, so that the superposition of the color shade of the projectile with the color of these elements only modifies the saturation of the color shade of the projectile seen by the vision device. 
     
     
         5 . The device according to  claim 1  wherein the ground of the cage is with white and black checkerworks. 
     
     
         6 . The device according to  claim 1  wherein the optical center of the vision device is contained in a plan parallel with the entrance plan and is shifted from this one inside the cage of a distance equal or higher than the radius of the projectile. 
     
     
         7 . The device according to  claim 1 , wherein a light barrier is capable to detect the crossing by the projectile of the entrance plan of the cage 
     
     
         8 . The device according to  claim 1 , wherein a sensor measures the tension of the net of the cage. 
     
     
         9 . The device according to  claim 1 , comprising at least two sensors of impact remote from one of the other on the framework of the cage. 
     
     
         10 . The device according to  claim 1 , comprising identification means by radio frequency and detection means for reading of the aforesaid identification means. 
     
     
         11 . The device according to  claim 1 , comprising audio-visual broadcasting means, the determination of the broadcasted content being a function of the information provided by the sensors. 
     
     
         12 . A method for the detection of the crossing by the projectile of the entrance plan of the cage of the device according to  claim 1 , comprising a step consisting in detecting the presence of the color shade of the projectile in the scene seen by the vision device. 
     
     
         13 . A method for the localization of an impact on the framework of a cage of the device according to  claim 9 , comprising the steps of:
 defining a threshold level on the signals coming from the sensors of impact;   assessing the position of the impact on the framework of the cage by the lag separating the instant of crossing in rising edge of this threshold on the signals coming from the sensors of impact.   
     
     
         14 . A method for broadcasting an audio-visual content by the device according to  claim 11 , comprising the steps of:
 obtaining a data file, designated as the sequence file, comprising pre-recorded audio-visual sequences, associated with triggering keys;   obtaining a data file, designated as the “state file”, putting into a correspondence the aforementioned keys with patterns of combined state of the sensors;   triggering a stopwatch to counting the total time spent since a defined event of play;   scanning the state of the sensors;   triggering the broadcasting of an audio-visual sequence, selected in the “sequence file”, when the combination of the keys corresponds to a identified pattern of combination.   
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 14 , further comprising the steps of:
 -obtaining a data file “history”, associating a key to an event of play, designated as “current event”, and to another event of play, preceding this “current event”;   storing during a given time the events of play detected by scanning and corresponding to an identified pattern in the “state data file”;   triggering the broadcast of an audio-visual sequence selected in the “history” data file when the combination of the state of the scanned sensors with the stored event of play corresponds to an identified combination in the “history” data file.