Touch screen controller system and method for a gaming machine

A gaming machine comprising:

• a game controller;
• and
• a touch screen system comprising:
• touch screen device hardware;
• and
• a touch screen controller in data communication with the game controller of the gaming machine, the touch screen controller being configured to:
• receive video data signals from the game controller;
• drive the touch screen device hardware to render and display the received video data;
• detect and interpret touch inputs received via the touch screen device hardware during display of the video data to generate touch data for each touch input, wherein the touch data indicates, for each touch input, that the touch input is valid when the touch input is determined to be intentional and that the touch input is invalid when the touch input is determined to be unintentional;
• and
• output touch data to the game controller, wherein the touch data output to the controller for each touch input includes:
• (i) data indicative of an interpretation of the touch screen input including an indication that the touch input is valid or invalid;
• and (ii) data representative of one or more attributes of the detected touch input;
• store a mapping of locations of touch inputs indicated as being invalid over a period of time;
• identify (i) at least one persistent invalid touch input location based on the mapping, and (ii) at least one instruction for remediation associated with the at least one persistent invalid touch input location;
• and
• cause the touch screen device hardware to display the at least one instruction,
• wherein
• where the data indicative of an interpretation of the touch screen input is indicative of a player input, the game controller controls game play responsive to the player input,
• where the data indicative of an interpretation of the touch screen input is indicative of an input other than a player input, the game controller determines a response action based on the data indicative of the interpretation of the touch screen input and data representative of one or more attributes of the detected touch input.

A computer-implemented method of operating a gaming machine, the gaming machine comprising:

• a game controller;
• and
• a touch screen system comprising:
• touch screen device hardware;
• and
• a touch screen controller in data communication with the game controller of the gaming machine,
• the method comprising:
• the touch screen controller:
• receiving video data signals from the game controller;
• driving the touch screen device hardware to render and display the received video data;
• detecting and interpreting touch inputs received via the touch screen device hardware during display of the video data to generate touch data for each touch input, wherein the touch data indicates, for each touch input, that the touch input is valid when the touch input is determined to be intentional and that the touch input is invalid when the touch input is determined to be unintentional;
• and
• outputting touch data to the game controller, wherein the touch data output to the game controller for each touch input includes:
• (i) data indicative of an interpretation of the touch screen input including an indication that the touch input is valid or invalid;
• and (ii) data representative of one or more attributes of the detected touch input;
• storing a mapping of locations of touch inputs indicated as being invalid over a period of time;
• identifying (i) at least one persistent invalid touch input location based on the mapping, and (ii) at least one instruction for remediation associated with the at least one persistent invalid touch input location;
• and
• causing the touch screen device hardware to display the at least one instruction.