US 2011/0218022 A1Published application

Methods and apparatus for stringed controllers and instruments

Assignee745 LLC

InventorsBernard Chiu, Stephen Paul Webster, Paul Fransoza, Andrea Gaiter, Wendy Mittelstadt, Ilissa Schild, Craig Small, Gabriel Viani, David Yiu

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Abstract

Stringed instruments, game controllers, and related structures and methods are described. A game controller having one or more strings is described for a computer gaming application. A plurality of frets can be disposed on a fingerboard and underlying the strings. The frets may include electrically conductive zones that can be electrically insulated from each other, and each zone corresponds to a different string. A polyphonic pickup having a plurality of wire-wound coils coupled to corresponding magnetic returns can be included, and can be adapted to detect striking of at least one of the strings by a user of the game controller. Output signals may be sent from the controller to the gaming application indicative of fingering of the game controller and the time at which the strings of the game controller are struck. Multi-mode apparatus are also described. A stringed apparatus may be used as both a game controller and an instrument.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A game controller comprising:

a musical instrument having a fingerboard and a plurality of strings extending along the fingerboard;
a plurality of frets disposed on the fingerboard and underlying the plurality of strings, at least one of the frets having a plurality of electrically conductive zones that are electrically insulated from each other and each zone corresponds to a different string in the plurality of strings;
at least one first sensor adapted to detect fingering of the fingerboard by a user of the game controller, at least in part, by detecting contacts between the strings and the frets;
at least one second sensor comprising a polyphonic pickup having a plurality of wire-wound coils coupled to corresponding magnetic returns, each coil and corresponding magnetic return being associated with a particular string in the plurality of strings, the second sensor adapted to detect striking of at least one of the plurality of strings by the user of the game controller;
and
at least one control module that is coupled to the at least one first sensor and the at least one second sensor and that provides at least one electrical signal indicating the fingering of the fingerboard by the user and indicating the striking of at least one of the plurality of strings by the user.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.