US 11,541,322 B1Granted

Mat controllable by remote computing device

AssigneeAmazon Technologies, Inc.

InventorsMartin Peter Aalund, Ana Sande do Vale Pinto da Silva, Jiayi Liang, Babak Amir Parviz, Kevin Charles Flick, James Merton Tidman

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

patentgrep

Loading patent…

Abstract

A smart block can include a plurality of displays and configurable magnet components to selectively attract or repel other smart blocks. The smart block can include proximity sensors to identify a surface of another smart block close to the smart block to determine if the smart blocks are correctly oriented based on an application or game associated with the operation of the smart blocks. A plurality of smart blocks can be configured to display a portion of a picture (as a puzzle), such that when the smart blocks are oriented correctly they collectively display the complete picture. The smart blocks can be used in conjunction with a smart mat that is configured to move the smart blocks in response to commands received from a remote computing device. The smart blocks and the smart mat can facilitate interactivity with other, remote users, such as between a caregiver and a child.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A first computing device comprising:

a plurality of elements including at least:
a configurable electromagnetic element having a plurality of configurable elements configurable to selectively generate a magnetic field;
a display;
and
a cushion;
one or more processors;
and
one or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
identify a first object on a surface of the first computing device based at least in part on a marking associated with the first object, the surface representing a top surface of the plurality of elements;
determine a first location of the first object on the surface;
receive, from a second computing device remote from the first computing device, first data indicative of a movement of a second object from a second location to a third location;
determine a fourth location on the top surface of the first computing device that corresponds to the third location;
determine a first magnetic field associated with the first object;
apply an electrical current to a configurable element of the plurality of configurable elements to generate a second magnetic field at the top surface of the first computing device, the second magnetic field configured to apply a force to the first object at the first location in a direction of the fourth location, the force based at least in part on the first magnetic field and the second magnetic field;
determine that the first object is within a threshold distance of the fourth location on the top surface of the first computing device based at least in part on the marking;
and
send, to the second computing device, second data associated with the first object being within the threshold distance of the fourth location on the top surface of the first computing device.

14 more elements

A first computing device comprising:

at least one configurable element configurable to selectively generate an electromagnetic field at a top surface of the first computing device;
one or more processors;
and
one or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
identify an object on the top surface of the first computing device based at least in part on a marking associated with the object,
determine that the object is at first location on the top surface of the first computing device;
receive, from a second computing device that is remote from the first computing device, a command to cause the object to move to a second location on the top surface;
determine a magnetic state associated with the object;
cause the at least one configurable element to generate the electromagnetic field to move the object in a direction of the second location;
determine that the object is within a threshold distance of the second location on the top surface of the first computing device based at least in part on the marking;
and
send, to the second computing device, data associated with the object being within the threshold distance of the second location on the top surface of the first computing device.

9 more elements

A method comprising:

identifying an object on a top surface of a first computing device based at least in part on a marking associated with the object, wherein the first computing device includes at least one configurable element to selectively generate a magnetic field at the top surface of the first computing device;
determining that the object is at a first location on the top surface of the first computing device;
receiving, from a second computing device that is remote from the first computing device, a command to cause the object to move to a second location on the top surface;
determining a magnetic state associated with the object;
causing the at least one configurable element to generate the magnetic field to move the object in a direction of the second location;
determining that the object is within a threshold distance of the second location on the top surface based at least in part on the marking;
and
transmitting, to the second computing device, data indicative of the object being within the threshold distance of the second location on the top surface of the first computing device.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.