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AssigneeNearLife, Inc.
InventorsTinsley A. Galyean III, Henry Kaufman, Bruce M. Blumberg, David C. O'connor
Estimating the term…
A three dimensional physical toy that can be manipulated by a user is connected to a computer. Interchangeable accessory parts can be plugged into the toy via mechanisms which identify the accessory parts immediately when they are plugged into the toy body. A software program running in the computer displays a graphical character representation of the toy, including the accessory parts that have been plugged into the toy in a virtual environment on a monitor screen. The toy and the accessory parts interact dynamically with the software program so that the graphical character representation of the toy appears on the screen exactly as it physically appears to the user. The toy interacts with the virtual environment in each stage of construction an as each accessory part is added or removed. Therefore, as various accessory parts are inserted into, or removed from, the toy, the graphical character representation of the toy interacts with the virtual environment in different ways. Some of the accessory parts have physical sensors built in to detect motion, bending, etc. These parts can be physically manipulated by the user causing a predetermined action between the graphic character and the virtual environment.
An interactive game apparatus for use with a computer system having a display screen, the game apparatus comprising:
A method for playing an interactive game for use with a computer system having a display screen, the method comprising:
A computer program product for use with an interactive game apparatus having a plurality of physical parts from which parts can be selected and assembled together to construct a toy assembly and a computer system having a display screen, the computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code thereon, including:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.