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US 10,207,192 B2Granted
Instrument game system and method
AssigneeUbisoft Entertainment
InventorsPaul Cross, Nicholas Bonardi, Naomi Higo
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A game system and method that uses an instrument as an input encourages a user to play along with the game's soundtrack on an instrument (e.g. guitar, bass, etc.). The game cues the player to play notes and/or chords on the instrument at an appropriate time and then data is collected from the instrument via a connection between the instrument and the apparatus running the game. The game then scores the user based on note/chord and timing information it receives.
Claims19
A system for instructing a user on playing a musical instrument, comprising:
- a sound input for interfacing with the musical instrument, wherein the sound input for interfacing with the musical instrument takes the form of an amplifier cord for the musical instrument,
- wherein the amplifier cord for the musical instrument includes an analog input for receiving sound data from the musical instrument, a digital signal processing unit configured to convert the sound data into a series of performance notes, the performance notes corresponding to discrete musical notes, and a digital output for transmitting the series of performance notes to a game system;
- one or more computer readable media storing:
- an electronic representation of a song comprising a plurality of phrases, each of said phrases comprising a plurality of arrangement notes;
- and
- instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform a method of instructing the user on playing the musical instrument, the method comprising the steps of:
- based on a first difficulty level, selecting some or all of the arrangement notes of a first phrase as cued notes for the first phrase;
- presenting, to the user, a visual representation of the cued notes of the first phrase;
- receiving, via the sound input from the musical instrument, the series of performance notes, wherein the series of performance notes correspond to the first phrase;
- comparing the performance notes corresponding to the first phrase to the cued notes of the first phrase to obtain a first phrase score;
- based on the first phrase score, determining a second difficulty level;
- based on the second difficulty level, selecting some or all of the arrangement notes of a second phrase as cued notes for the second phrase,
- wherein the arrangement notes of the second phrase are distinct from the arrangement notes of the first phrase;
- and
- presenting, to the user, a visual representation of the cued notes of the second phrase.
12 more elements
A method for of instructing the user on playing the musical instrument, comprising the steps of:
- based on a first difficulty level, selecting some or all of the arrangement notes of a first phrase of a song as cued notes for the first phrase;
- presenting, to the user on an electronic display, a visual representation of the cued notes of the first phrase;
- receiving, via an electronic sound input interfacing with a musical instrument, a series of performance notes corresponding to the first phrase,
- wherein the electronic sound input for interfacing with the musical instrument takes the form of an amplifier cord for the musical instrument,
- wherein the amplifier cord for the musical instrument includes an analog input for receiving sound data from the musical instrument, a digital signal processing unit configured to convert the sound data into the series of performance notes, the performance notes corresponding to discrete musical notes, and a digital output for transmitting the series of performance notes to a game system;
- comparing the performance notes corresponding to first phrase to the cued notes of the first phrase to obtain a first phrase score;
- based on the first phrase score, determining a second difficulty level different from the first difficulty level;
- based on the second difficulty level, selecting some or all of the arrangement notes of a second phrase as cued notes for the second phrase,
- wherein the arrangement notes of the second phrase are distinct from the arrangement notes of the first phrase;
- and
- presenting, to the user on the electronic display, a visual representation of the cued notes of the second phrase.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.