Handheld Game Controller with a Second Screen Experience
AssigneeBackbone Labs, Inc.
InventorsManeet Khaira, Shawn O’Connor, Andrew Sibert, Timothy Aldridge, Joshua Donlan, Rohan Kapur
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A handheld game controller with a second screen experience is presented. Various embodiments described herein relate to solutions to the problems of: hardware limited controller-specific inputs and outputs, a lack of built-in Bluetooth or Wi-Fi in mobile game controllers, difficulty connecting to TV streaming devices that do not support Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, friction and discoverability around pairing, and a lack of access to game companion app integration. Other embodiments are provided, and each of the embodiments can be used alone or in combination.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- performing in a mobile computing device in communication with a game controller and a game host, wherein the game host displays a game on a first display and wherein the mobile computing device comprises a second display:
- determining an input that the game controller lacks to play the game;
- and
- displaying, on the second display, the input that the game controller lacks to play the game.
A mobile computing device comprising:
- a wired connector configured to communicate with a game controller that lacks an ability to wirelessly communicate with a game host;
- a wireless communication device;
- one or more processors;
- and
- one or more non-transitory computer-readable media having program instructions stored therein that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
- receive, from the game controller via the wired connector, a signal indicative of a user input received via the game controller;
- and
- relay the signal received from the game controller to the game host via the wireless communication device.
A method comprising:
- performing in a mobile computing device in communication with a game controller, wherein a game host does not support a wireless connection with the game controller:
- receiving, from the game controller, a signal indicative of a user input received via the game controller;
- and
- wirelessly relaying the signal received from the game controller to the game host.
A mobile computing device comprising:
- one or more processors;
- and
- one or more non-transitory computer-readable media having program instructions stored therein that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
- display, on a display of the mobile computing device, a plurality of previously-paired game hosts for user selection;
- receive a user selection of one of the plurality of previously-paired game hosts;
- and
- pair a game controller with the one of the plurality of previously-paired game hosts.
A method comprising:
- performing in a mobile computing device in communication with a game controller used to play a game on a game host:
- determining the game being played on the game host;
- retrieving a companion application for the game;
- and
- executing the companion application.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.