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United States Patent5916024
Von KohornJune 29, 1999
Title
System and method of playing games and rewarding successful players
Abstract
A system and method for evaluating responses to broadcast programs, such as television programs, includes an instructional signal modulated onto a signal transmitted concurrently with the television program, or time-multiplexed with television signals. At each of a plurality of remote receiving stations, one or more members of a remote audience has the opportunity to respond to a task or situation presented in the television program by entering a response vocally or on a keyboard. The system may include a video game machine suitable for playing commercially available games such as an NINTENDO game or a SEGA game, and wherein such game may be played back from a recording. The system includes response evaluation circuitry, a memory responsive to the instructional signal for storing acceptable responses, a comparison circuit for comparing responses entered at the keyboard with those stored in the memory, circuitry for scoring responses in accordance with commands from the instructional signal, and a recording device for providing a permanent record of the audience score at the remote station. Electronic circuitry for evaluation and scoring purposes may be located at a remote station and/or a central location. Multiple players at a common game may be ranked in their performance, and games may be interrupted for a sponsor's message, and wherein a response to the message may serve as a basis for an enhanced score.
Inventors:Von Kohorn; Henry (Vero Beach, FL)
Assignee:Response Reward Systems, L.C. (Vero Beach, FL)
Appl. No.:986850
Filed:December 8, 1997
Current U.S. Class:463/40 
Field of Search:463/40,9,16,41,42 364/410,412 273/138.1,139 434/37R,308,322,323
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Primary Examiner: Manuel; George
Attorney, Agent or Firm:Perman & Green, LLP
Parent Case Text


BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/615,472 filed Mar. 8, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,844, which is a continuation-in-part of copending application Ser. No. 08/226,073 filed Apr. 11, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,759,101, which is a continuation-in-part of copending application Ser. No. 08/025,397 filed Feb. 25, 1993, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,508,731, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 07/763,672 filed Sep. 19, 1991, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,283,734, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 07/603,882 filed Oct. 25, 1990, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,057,915, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 07/424,089 filed Oct. 19, 1989, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,034,807, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 07/192,355, filed May 10, 1988, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,926,255, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 06/837,827 filed Mar. 10, 1986, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,745,468. Related material is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,876,592 which is also a continuation-in-part of said application Ser. No. 06/837,827.
Claims

What is claimed is:
1. A method for playing a game sponsored by an advertiser and for rewarding successful players with a prize, comprising the steps of:
transmitting from a central location a first signal group comprising signals conveying a game including a task to which players at their locations are intended to respond, said signals of said first signal group further conveying response criteria defining at least one acceptable response to a task by a successful player and governing a scoring of a response of the successful player, the player responding to a task;
establishing a player identification for each of said players and a game identification for correlating each of said players with a game;
scoring a player's response in accordance with said response criteria to determine a successful player's first prize value;
transmitting information regarding the player's first prize information to the advertiser;
following receipt of said information, the advertiser formatting players' prize enhancing instructions;
transmitting to players' locations a second signal group comprising signals conveying product information of the advertiser and prize enhancing instructions of the advertiser to determine a player's total prize value;
enhancing a player's first prize value in accordance with said instructions to determine the player's total prize value;
providing at a location of the player a recording device programmable by signals of said second signal group;
programming said recording device by said signals; and
said recording device generating a record displaying said product information and the player's total prize information.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein said record is issued with data including identification data identifying the player, the method further comprising the steps of:
scanning the record for each of said players at a sales establishment to obtain the identification data from respective ones of the records;
transmitting said record data to a data clearing facility, said clearing facility having validity criterion and providing a storage for data including said record data and data of any previous records submitted prior to issuance said issued record;
said clearing facility conducting a validity test by comparing said record data to reference data and to the data of said previous records to determine that individual ones of said issued records meet the validity criterion; and
said clearing facility transmitting to the sales establishment authorization to receive issued records meeting the validity criterion for redemption.

3. A method according to claim 1 wherein the method provides for a monitoring of the game by the steps of:
establishing financial accounts for respective ones of the players;
passing all monies of the players relating to the playing of the game through respective ones of the financial accounts;
observing flows of the monies in respective ones of the financial accounts to establish playing patterns among the players;
employing the playing patterns of respective ones of the players identified by their respective identifications to determine an acceptable playing criterion for each of the players; and
terminating a player's playing for any one of the players presenting a play which fails to meet the playing criterion.

4. A game playing system including a player rewarding system at least partially controlled by an advertiser, comprising:
audio-visual means for presenting a recorded video game including a task to which players are intended to respond;
individual player's means for playing the video game and responding to the task;
means for establishing a player identification for each of said players and a game identification for correlating each of said players with a game;
means for formatting response criteria defining at least one acceptable response to the task and for determining a player's response score;
means for storing formatted response criteria;
means for scoring a player's response in accordance with response criteria to determine the value of a successful player's first award;
means controlled by an advertiser for formatting value adding instructions for adding value to a successful player's first award value;
means for adding value to a successful player's first award value in accordance with value adding instructions to determine the player's total award value;
means for communicating the players total award information to token generating means at a location of the player; and
means for generating a successful player's award token indicating the total award value.

5. A method according to claim 4 wherein said token is issued with storage of data including identification data identifying an individual one of the players, the system further comprising:
means for scanning the token for each of said players at a sales establishment to obtain the identification data from respective ones of the tokens;
means for transmitting said token data to a data clearing facility, said clearing facility having validity criterion and providing a storage for data including said token data and data of any previous tokens submitted prior to issuance said issued token;
wherein said clearing facility conducts a validity test by comparing said token data to reference data and to the data of said previous tokens to determine that individual ones of said issued tokens meet the validity criterion; and
said clearing facility transmits to the sales establishment authorization to receive issued tokens meeting the validity criterion for redemption.

6. A method according to claim 4 wherein the system provides for a monitoring of the game, the system further comprising:
means for establishing financial accounts for respective ones of the players, monies of the players relating to the playing of the game being passed through respective ones of the financial accounts;
means for observing flows of the monies in respective ones of the financial accounts to establish playing patterns among the players, identified by their respective identifications, to determine an acceptable playing criterion for each of the players; and
means for terminating a player's playing for any one of the players presenting a play which fails to meet the playing criterion.

7. A method of redemption of coupons issued by sales establishments, comprising:
informing purchasers about an opportunity to purchase merchandise;
providing coupons to respective ones of the purchasers, the coupons having thereon indicia identifying respective ones of the purchasers;
issuing the coupons to the purchasers, issued ones of the coupons enabling respective ones of the purchasers to obtain the merchandise upon presentation of the coupons to the sales establishment;
individual ones of the purchasers presenting their respective coupons to the sales establishment;
scanning the coupons at the sales establishment to obtain coupon data from respective ones of the coupons, the coupon data including data of said indicia;
transmitting said coupon data to a data clearing facility, said clearing facility having validity criterion and providing a storage for data including said coupon data and data of any previous coupons submitted prior to said issued coupons;
said clearing facility conducting a validity test by comparing said coupon data to reference data and to the data of said previous coupons to determine that individual ones of said issued coupons meet the validity criterion; and
said clearing facility transmitting to the sales establishment authorization to receive issued coupons meeting the validity criterion.

8. A method of monitoring a playing of games involving money among numerous players, the method comprising steps of:
establishing financial accounts for respective ones of the players;
passing all monies of the players through respective ones of the financial accounts;
identifying each of the player with an identifying descriptor;
individual ones of the players advancing funds by using monies stored in respective ones of the financial accounts;
storing credit evaluation data of respective ones of the players in a central storage facility;
observing flows of the monies in respective ones of the financial accounts to establish playing patterns among the players;
employing the credit evaluation data and the playing patterns of respective ones of the players identified by their respective descriptors to determine an acceptable playing criterion for each of the players; and
terminating a player's playing for any one of the players for whom a play fails to meet the playing criterion.

9. A method according to claim 8 wherein said descriptor is a PIN number.

10. A game playing system including a player rewarding system at least partially controlled by an advertiser, comprising:
audio-visual means for presenting a recorded video game including a task to which players are intended to respond;
individual players' means for responding to the game and to the task;
means for establishing a player identification for each of said players and a game identification for correlating each of said players with a game;
means for formatting response criteria defining at least one acceptable response to the task, and for determining a player's response score;
means for storing formatted response criteria;
means for scoring a player's response in accordance with the response criteria to determine the value of a successful player's first award;
means controlled by an advertiser for formatting value adding instructions for adding value to the successful players first award value;
means for adding value to the successful player's first award value in accordance with the value adding instructions to determine a player's total award value;
means for storing an advertiser's promotional information suitable for display on a coupon;
a coupon generator at a player's location;
means for communicating promotional information and a player's total award value information to said coupon generator at the player's location; and
wherein said coupon generator generates a successful player's award coupon displaying the advertiser's promotional information and indicating the player's total award value, the coupon having said player identification and said game identification thereon.

11. A system for playing a game and rewarding successful players with a promotional award coupon, the system comprising:
audio-visual means for presenting a recorded video game including a task to which players are intended to respond;
individual players' means for responding to the game and the tasks;
means for establishing a player identification for each of said players and a game identification for correlating each of said players with a game;
means for formatting response criteria for scoring a player's response to determine a successful player's award;
means for scoring a player's response in accordance with said response criteria to determine a successful player's award;
means for storing at a central location an advertiser's formatted promotional information suitable for display on a coupon;
a central transmitter for transmitting signals conveying the promotional information;
means at players' locations for receiving the promotional information signals;
a coupon generator at a player's location, and means for communicating a successful player's award information to the coupon generator; and
wherein said coupon generator is responsive to the promotional information signals for generating a successful player's award coupon, displaying promotional information and indicating the value of an award, the coupon having said player identification and said game identification thereon.

12. A game playing and player rewarding system, comprising:
means at the locations of a plurality of players for playing back and presenting a recorded video game;
a recording of a video game including at least one task to which players are intended to respond, the recording including response criteria useful for scoring players' responses;
means for establishing a player identification for each of said players and a game identification for correlating each of said players with a game;
means for computing a player's score based on the response criteria and a first award value based on the player's score;
means at a central facility for formatting value adding instructions to add value to a first award of an individual one of said players;
means for adding value to the player's first award in accordance with value adding instructions to determine the value of a players total award;
token generating means at a location of the player, and means for communicating total award information to the token generating means; and
wherein said token generating means generates a player's award token indicating the value of the total award, the token having said player identification and said game identification thereon.

13. A system for playing a game and rewarding successful players with a promotional award coupon, the system comprising:
means for storing formatted promotional information suitable for displaying on a coupon;
a central transmitter for transmitting signals conveying the promotional information;
means for receiving signals carrying the promotional information;
means at players' locations for storing the promotional information;
audio-visual means for presenting a recorded video game including a task to which players are intended to respond;
means for establishing a player identification for each of said players and a game identification for correlating each of said players with a game;
individual players' means for responding to the game and the task;
means for storing formatted response criteria for evaluating and scoring player's responses to determine a successful player's award;
means for evaluating and for scoring a player's response in accordance with said response criteria to determine a successful player's award;
a coupon generator at a player's location, and means for communicating the promotional information and a player's award information to the coupon generator; and
wherein the coupon generator generates a successful player's award coupon displaying the promotional information and indicating the value of the award, the coupon having said player identification and said game identification thereon.

14. A method for dispensing promotional award coupons sponsored by an advertiser, comprising the steps of:
presenting a task to players at their individual locations, to which task the players are intended to respond;
players responding to said task;
formulating at a central location response criteria to determine a successful player's first award for responding to said task;
determining the successful player's first award;
formulating by an advertiser a successful player's additional award to result in a total award;
formulating product information by an advertiser;
providing a coupon generator at a player's location;
communicating award information to said generator;
communicating product information to said generator; and
generating a successful player's promotional award coupon displaying an advertiser's product information and the player's total award, said award coupon being provided by said generator;
wherein said coupon is issued with data including identification data identifying the player, the method further comprising the steps of:
scanning the coupon for each of said players at a sales establishment to obtain the identification data from respective ones of the records;
transmitting said coupon data to a data clearing facility, said clearing facility having validity criterion and providing a storage for data including said coupon data and data of any previous coupons submitted prior to issuance said issued coupon;
said clearing facility conducting a validity test by comparing said coupon data to reference data and to the data of said previous coupons to determine that individual ones of said issued coupons meet the validity criterion; and
said clearing facility transmitting to the sales establishment authorization to receive issued coupons meeting the validity criterion for redemption.

15. A method for dispensing promotional award coupons sponsored by an advertiser, comprising the steps of:
presenting a task to players at their individual locations, to which task the players are intended to respond;
players responding to said task;
formulating at a central location response criteria to determine a successful player's first award for responding to said task;
determining the successful player's first award;
formulating by an advertiser a successful player's additional award to result in a total award;
formulating product information by an advertiser;
providing a coupon generator at a player's location;
communicating award information to said generator;
communicating product information to said generator; and
generating a successful player's promotional award coupon displaying an advertiser's product information and the player's total award, said award coupon being provided by said generator;
wherein the method provides for a monitoring of responses to the task by the steps of:
establishing financial accounts and identifications for respective ones of the players;
passing all monies of the players relating to the responses to the task through respective ones of the financial accounts;
observing flows of the monies in respective ones of the financial accounts to establish response patterns among the players;
employing the response patterns of respective ones of the players identified by their respective identifications to determine an acceptable response criterion for each of the players; and
terminating a player's responding to the task for any one of the players presenting a response which fails to meet the response criterion.

16. A method for playing a game sponsored by an advertiser and for rewarding successful players with a prize, comprising the steps of:
transmitting from a first location a first signal group comprising signals conveying a game including a task to which players at remote locations are intended to respond, and response criteria defining at least one acceptable response to a task and governing the evaluating of a successful player's response;
a player responding to the task;
establishing a player identification for each of said players and a game identification for correlating each of said players with a game;
determining a player's first prize value based on a player's response in accordance with the response criteria;
transmitting information regarding the player's first prize value to a central location communicatively connected to an advertiser's location;
transmitting from a second location communicatively connected to an advertiser's location a second signal group comprising signals conveying an advertiser's product information and an advertiser's instructions governing the enhancing of a successful player's first prize value to determine a total prize value;
providing means for enhancing the player's first prize value in accordance with said product information and said instructions;
enhancing the player's first prize value in accordance with said product information and said instructions to determine the player's total prize value; and
displaying the player's total prize value.

17. A method for playing a game and for rewarding successful players at their locations with a prize, comprising the steps of:
transmitting from a central location a signal group comprising signals conveying a game including a task to which players are intended to respond, and response criteria defining at least one acceptable response to the task and governing evaluation of a successful player's response;
a player responding to the task;
establishing a player identification for each of said players and an identification of each player's location for correlating each of said players with the player's location;
evaluating a player's response to the task in accordance with the response criteria to determine a first prize value;
transmitting toward the players' locations an advertiser's product information and an advertiser's instructions governing an enhancing of the successful player's first prize value to determine a total prize value;
enhancing the players first prize value in accordance with said instructions to determine' the player's total prize value; and
informing the player of said total prize value.

18. A method for playing a game and for rewarding successful players at their locations with a prize, comprising the steps of:
transmitting from a central location a signal group comprising signals conveying a game including a task to which players are intended to respond, and response criteria defining at least one acceptable response to the task and governing the scoring of a successful player's response;
a player responding to the task;
establishing a player identification for each of said players and a game identification for correlating each of said players with a game;
scoring a player's response to the task in accordance with the response criteria to determine a first prize value;
transmitting toward the players' locations an advertiser's product information and an advertiser's instructions governing an enhancing of the successful player's first prize value to determine a total prize value;
enhancing the player's first prize value in accordance with said instructions to determine the player's total prize value; and
creating a record of the player's total prize value, the record having said player identification and said game identification thereon.

19. A method for playing a game and for rewarding successful players at their locations with a prize, comprising the steps of:
transmitting from a central location signals conveying a game including a task to which players are intended to respond, and response criteria defining at least one acceptable response to the task and governing evaluation of a successful player's response;
a player responding to the task;
establishing a player identification for each of said players and an identification of each player location for correlating each of said players with the player's location;
evaluating a player's response to the task in accordance with the response criteria to determine a first prize value;
transmitting toward the players' locations further signals conveying an advertiser's product information and an advertiser's instructions governing an enhancing of the successful player's first prize value to determine a total prize value;
enhancing the players first prize value in accordance with said instructions to determine the player's total prize value; and
making the benefit of said prize available to the player.

20. A method for playing a game and for rewarding successful players at their locations with a prize, comprising the steps of:
transmitting from a central location a first signal group comprising signals conveying a game including a task to which players are intended to respond, and response criteria defining at least one acceptable response to the task and governing the scoring of a successful player's response, said game being a video game or a radio game;
a player responding to the task;
establishing a player identification for each of said players and an identification of each player location for correlating each of said players with the player's location;
scoring a player's response to the task in accordance with the response criteria to determine a first prize value;
transmitting toward the players' locations a second signal group comprising signals conveying an advertiser's product information, and an advertiser's instructions governing an enhancing of the successful player's first prize value to determine a total prize value;
enhancing the players first prize value in accordance with said instructions to determine the player's total prize value;
providing a token generator at the player's location; and
recording by the generator on a token of said generator the product information and the successful player's total prize value, the token having said player identification and said location identification thereon.

21. A system for playing a game, comprising:
a central station and a plurality of stations remote from said central station;
means for establishing an identification of each of said remote stations for correlating each of said players with one of said stations;
two-way communication means interconnecting said central station with each of said remote stations;
data means at said central station for providing data pertaining to the conduct of a game via said communication means to each of said remote stations;
means at each of said remote stations for presenting said data to a player;
entry means at each of said remote stations for an entering of player identification and a response by a player to a game situation described by said data;
processing means including computer means at said central station for updating the game situation based on responses by players at respective ones of said remote stations;
wherein said processing means further comprises:
means responsive to player identifications entered at the entry means of respective ones of said remote stations and to identifications of the remote stations for identifying a player's response;
means for scoring responses of respective ones of the players, and means responsive to player scores for ranking the players; and
means coupled to said scoring means for enhancing the scores of respective ones of said players based on a ranking provided by said ranking means.

22. A method for playing a game sponsored by an advertiser and for rewarding successful players with a prize, comprising the steps of:
transmitting from a central location a first signal group comprising signals conveying a game including a task to which players at their locations are intended to respond, said signals of said first signal group further conveying response criteria defining at least one acceptable response to a task by a successful player and governing a scoring of a response of the successful player, the player responding to a task;
establishing a player identification for each of said players and a game identification for correlating each of said players with a game;
scoring a player's response in accordance with said response criteria to determine a successful player's score;
transmitting information regarding the player's first prize information to the advertiser;
following receipt of said information, the advertiser formatting players' prize enhancing instructions;
transmitting to players' locations a second signal group comprising signals conveying product information of the advertiser and prize enhancing instructions of the advertiser to determine a player's total prize value;
enhancing a player's first prize value in accordance with said instructions to determine the player's total prize value;
providing at a location of the player a recording device programmable by signals of said second signal group;
programming said recording device by said signals; and
said recording device generating a record displaying said product information and the player's total prize information.

23. A method according to claim 22 wherein said record is issued with data including identification data identifying the player, the method further comprising the steps of:
scanning the record for each of said players at a sales establishment to obtain the identification data from respective ones of the records;
transmitting said record data to a data clearing facility, said clearing facility having validity criterion and providing a storage for data including said record data and data of any previous records submitted prior to issuance said issued record;
said clearing facility conducting a validity test by comparing said record data to reference data and to the data of said previous records to determine that individual ones of said issued records meet the validity criterion; and
said clearing facility transmitting to the sales establishment authorization to receive issued records meeting the validity criterion for redemption.

24. A method according to claim 22 wherein the method provides for a monitoring of the game by the steps of:
establishing financial accounts for respective ones of the players;
passing all monies of the players relating to the playing of the game through respective ones of the financial accounts;
observing flows of the monies in respective ones of the financial accounts to establish playing patterns among the players;
employing the playing patterns of respective ones of the players identified by their respective identifications to determine an acceptable playing criterion for each of the players; and
terminating a player's playing for any one of the players presenting a play which fails to meet the playing criterion.
Description
This invention relates to transmission by electronic media including radio and television broadcasting programs, as well as recordings of such programs, to listeners and viewers of the programs and, more particularly, to the provision of signals designating questions or tasks including wagering and game playing situations, to the provision of advertising material and response criteria for evaluating responses of the listeners and viewers of the broadcast or prerecorded programs concurrently with a playing of electronic games, and to the dispensing of awards to individual listeners and viewers having provided answers meeting the response criteria and/or succeeded in an electronic game.

The invention also particularly relates to the transmission of signals conveying scenarios of events about to take place or taking place and to outcome criteria for evaluating predictions of listeners and viewers of the broadcasts of such events, wagering on outcomes of events, and to the dispensing of awards to individual listeners and viewers having provided predictions meeting the outcome criteria.

A common form of program transmitted by the broadcast media is the quiz program. Typically, in such a program, a panel of people provide answers to questions arising from the subject matter of the quiz. Often, the answers are indicated by use of a keyboard with electronic circuitry. The answers may be provided in response to questions which are asked directly, or in response to a situation such as a chess game, or task presented by the program such as in the solving of a puzzle. Other situations such as in sports, call for predictions of outcomes of events.

A characteristic of such quiz programs is the fact that the responses to the questions are limited to participants in the studio audience. The much larger external audience, namely the listeners of radio and viewers of television, are generally excluded from participation except for those few people who, on occasion, may have the opportunity to call in a response via telephone to a situation arising in the program. Letter writing has also been employed as a means of response to questions and other matters raised by the program.

Thus, it is apparent that a problem exists in that a large percentage of the external audience is essentially excluded from active participation in the broadcast programs. In view of the fact that the studio audiences can provide their responses electronically, it is clear that personal involvement, such as conversation among participants, is not necessarily required. It is, therefore, apparent that such programs should be open to participation by the larger external audience in addition to the studio audience. Also, as is well known, it is common practice for such programming to be paid for by advertisers who use a part of the program time for advertising. Today, with the popularity of electronic games, which might be down loaded from a cassette or possibly from a central source such as an electronic bulletin board, it would be desirable to provide an interface between game players and advertisers whereby the game players would have the opportunity to win coupons carrying special features awards based upon a player's response to an advertising situation and the quality of play in the game. This would be mutually beneficial to both the players and the advertisers.

Such programming is not limited to quiz programs only, but that other forms of programs in the areas of education and research might also be conducted in a fashion allowing active public participation if a suitable system were available to make such public participation possible. A desirable feature of such a system would be the capability for evaluating and recording the responses, a feature that would be very useful in the case of educational programs because such a feature would permit a teacher to grade or otherwise evaluate papers and examinations dispensed to students by the broadcast media. Such a system would also be useful in commercial ventures wherein a prize is to be given to a participant providing an acceptable answer. In such a case, the participant would bring the recorded answer, which might be in the form of a coded credit card, to a store or other establishment for receipt of the prize. This would be a great convenience in the implementation of a sales and advertising program. Responses by the listening or viewing audience can also be used in conducting a survey of public opinion. However, in spite of the advantages which would be provided by such a system, for including the listening and viewing audience, and for interfacing with electronic game players by advertisers, existing systems do not provide adequately the desired advantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The foregoing problem is overcome, and other advantages are provided by a system for the evaluation of responses to a broadcast or a prerecorded program wherein a response may include the entry of a wager on a possible outcome of a situation presented in the program. In accordance with the invention, the system provides for the transmission of signals designating conditions of the game playing and, in the case of scenarios, games or other events upon which a person may wish to bet. The system provides questions and response criteria along with a transmission of the broadcast program. In the event of questions or similar tasks, signals may be recorded prior to transmission, and may be transmitted at a fixed predetermined time, or upon request of a person who will respond to the program and/or questions.

Tasks which would be useful by advertisers for sounding out persons having a possible interest in an advertiser's products and services may be transmitted to persons engaged in the playing of electronic games to be presented to the players in concert with a presentation of a game. Such a task, in accordance with a feature of the invention, may be transmitted from a central location to the remote location of a game player, or may be incorporated within prerecorded game material such as may be down loaded from a cassette or from a central facility. The invention includes both method and system aspects which create added interest and excitement among listeners and viewers, and thus tend to increase the audience of stations carrying programs of the type to be described hereinafter.

In accordance with the theory of the invention, two groups of signals are broadcast, wherein each of the two signal groups may be divided in two portions designated as first and second signals. In the first signal group, the first of the two signals includes the program signal itself which may be broadcast from a radio station or television station to the listening or viewing audience. The second signal of the first group is a signal transmission setting forth a task, such as the answering of one or more questions which may be viewed on a television screen and/or listened to over radio or the audio portion of the television transmission. For simplicity in describing the invention, an audience viewing a televised program is presumed. It is understood that the description of the invention in terms of the viewing audience applies also to the listening audience of a radio broadcast.

The second of the two signal groups is in the nature of an instructional signal group identifying the amount of time available for an answer, the proper content and form of an acceptable answer, and a mode of scoring the answers. In one embodiment of the invention, the first signal of the second signal group sets forth the desired acceptable answer or answers, and the second signal provides the mode of scoring responses, such as the parameters, formulas and other response criteria to be employed in the scoring of the answers. Therefore, in this one embodiment of the invention, the two signal groups include at least four sets of signals which are transmitted, each of which can be varied independently of the other, and which may be transmitted concurrently or at different times. It is noted also that the first signal group may include an advertising presentation, and that the second signal group may include special instructions for enhancing a game score for a successful response to an advertiser's task, as well as instructions to a printer, recorder, or other output device, to produce a token or coupon with a special advertising message thereon.

Included at the site of each viewer in the external or remote audience is a television set, plus electronic response equipment having circuitry for reception of the instructional signal group transmitted from a central station, the response equipment also including a keyboard for designating answers or responses to the questions, timing circuitry, circuitry for comparing a response to one or more designated answers to determine acceptability of a response, scoring circuitry, and a recording device for recording answers to the question. The recording device includes preferably a dispenser for dispensing a record such as a printout, or a magnetizable card, or card containing an electric circuit chip, providing a person's responses to the questions and/or a person's score in answering the questions. Such records may be validated electronically at a location for dispensing a prize.

A particular advantage of the invention is the capacity for interaction between a person conducting a broadcast program and the external audience. This may be illustrated by way of example wherein a sportscaster is describing a sporting event such as a football game. The questions asked by the sportscaster may pertain to the winning team, to plays that have been accomplished, as well as to questions which may be called in by telephone from the listening/viewing audience. During the program, commercials may be aired, and various products and/or services may be described and offered to the viewing audience.

In the practice of the invention, it is noted that signals of the instructional signal group, Group Two, may be transmitted before, concurrently, or subsequent to the transmission of the program signals in accordance with the nature of the questions and responses required. For example, in the event that the program situation deals with a college professor giving an examination, the correct or acceptable answers to the various questions and the procedure for scoring answers to individual ones of the questions can be transmitted before the lecture in which the professor asks the questions. In the event that a limited period of time is available for response to each of the questions, then, at least a portion of the instructional signals, Group Two, must be sent concurrently with the program data, this portion being a timing signal which the professor would initiate when he asks the question. The timing signal would initiate operation of a timer in the electronic equipment at each of the receiving stations which are tuned to the broadcast program, the timer then clocking a requisite amount of time in accordance with an instructional signal which has been previously transmitted or is concurrently transmitted with the program data. In yet a further example, in the case of an interactive situation wherein the professor is responding to a comment made by a student in the classroom or, possibly in response to a telephoned inquiry, the professor may then ask a question for which the instructional signal designating the nature of the response would be transmitted after the question has been asked.

At a receiving station the electronic equipment includes a response unit having a keyboard by which a viewer of the broadcast program enters a response. The response should be a desirable or correct response, or at least an acceptable response in order to receive credit. The response is stored in a buffer store for comparison with a correct or acceptable response which is stored in a data memory. One or more acceptable responses are provided as a data input to the data memory by the instructional signal group. The comparison is provided by comparison circuitry which outputs a signal via timing circuitry to a score counter to provide a score at the conclusion of responses to a question. The timing circuit, under control of a program memory, is activated upon request from the host of the transmitted program. In one embodiment of the invention, instructional signals transmitted by the host are modulated onto the audio portion of the transmitted signals and, subsequently at a receiving station, are demodulated and decoded to provide the data signals for the data memory, synchronization signals for operation of the timing circuitry, and instructional signals for operation of the program memory. Alternatively, the instructional signals may be transmitted at television frequencies by known methods, such as the use of vertical blanking intervals or other unused parts of a television transmission. The resulting score from the score counter may be recorded in a readout device which, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, provides a printout or a card with an encrypted value of the score in a magnetic strip that is readily read by automatic card readers. According to one embodiment, a register may be included for the storage of responses which are printed or typed out in the form of a message. The message may be passed on to the readout device under instruction of the program memory.

At each of the remote receiving stations, circuitry responsive to the third signals is provided for implementing the response criteria. In particular, provisions are made to evaluate responses to the same question at different difficulty levels. For example, different amounts of credit can be given based on the speed at which a viewer responds to the question. Also, answers showing a more detailed, accurate or comprehensive understanding can be weighted to provide greater credit for responding to the question. If desired, a set of response criteria may include only one difficulty level.

The readout or dispensing device provides a printout having at least two sets of information. The information may be provided on a tape or card in printed lettering and/or in a bar code format to show the value of any award which might be given, and a verification of the fact that the award has been made. The printout may also verify the identity of the person answering the question. The verification may be provided either by a signal transmitted from a central station as part of the instructional group of signals to be stored at the remote location or, alternatively, by use of a validation code taking the form of alphanumeric data and/or other symbols, such as a machine readable code, which the dispenser is capable of printing. The value of the award is printed preferably in alphanumeric form so as to be readily understandable by the participant.

In the event that a two-way cable system is available, such system may be used to advantage in the practice of the invention by providing for transmission of the television program to a remote audience while also enabling members of the remote audience to communicate responses or other commentary back to the broadcasting station.

It is recognized that there may be situations wherein it is impractical to have communication of receiving stations with a studio at the central station at the time when the program is being generated. The invention would then be practiced by use of a further embodiment in which the program and instructional signals, including response criteria and scoring criteria, would be recorded for playback to the receiving stations at a later time. Such a situation might arise in the case of an educational program to be employed in a school, or to a program of general public interest which might be employed in a vehicle for public transportation, such as an aircraft. A further example is the case of electronic games which are to be down loaded from a central facility for playing by players at remote locations. In such a situation, advertising messages and special instructions for the outputting of awards by advertisers may be included with the prerecorded game material. In the event that television is available at the receiving stations, the transmission and receiving equipment would be the same as that employed for the embodiment of the invention as disclosed above. However, in the event that only audio reception is possible, as by the use of earphones in an aircraft, then a verbal description of the task-setting situation would be provided, both the task setting and instructional verbal signals being recorded in an audio tape recording. Each of the receiving stations may be provided with a dispenser of a hard-copy presenting results to responses to the task-setting message or, alternatively, a central dispenser may be used as in a classroom or aircraft. The central dispenser would communicate preferably via a digital communication system to response units at each of the receiving stations.

The transmission of a program, such as the playback of an audio-visual tape, may be initiated by a member of the remote audience though cable communication, including telephone. In such instances, a member of the home audience calls a dedicated number, such as a 900-number, and requests the playing of a tape. Such request may be made through a central operator or by dialing further digits of a dedicated number, associated with a specific tape or program selected by the caller.

In accordance with an important aspect of the invention, participants in the remote audience can designate an area of interest. This is particularly important with respect to an award received by individual ones of the participants, such that the award is related directly to a participants area of interest. Thus, in the case of a game show wherein advertiser's products are displayed in various areas of interest, a participant of the remote audience can select a product area of interest and, subsequently, receive an award in the form of a coupon allowing him to purchase a product in the area of interest. This greatly increases a participant's interest in the game show. This feature of the invention also greatly increases the chance that a participant will employ his coupon, as by visiting the store of an advertiser to redeem his coupon.

A further advantage of this feature of the invention is that it can be implemented using the electronic communication systems employed in various embodiments of the invention, including the use of a central station to broadcast program material with its set of instructional signals and directives on the imprinting of a coupon. Furthermore, this can be employed using the electronic systems of the embodiments of the invention wherein the program and the instructional signals are prerecorded. This includes the prerecorded format in which recording apparatus may be located, for example, in an aircraft, or may be employed with participants in the home interconnected with a central station by means of a telephone network.

In terms of utilization of the foregoing electronic equipment, questions, instructions, and coupon imprinting directives are transmitted from the central station to the remote stations in a plurality of categories of interest. These categories of interest are presented by the host in the communication transmitted from the central station. For example, in the case of a televised program, the categories of interest may be presented directly on the television screen. In cases wherein the program is transmitted by an audio channel only, then the categories of interest would be listed audibly by the host. A participant at the remote station, by use of his response unit, presses a key on the keyboard indicating his selection of a desired category or area of interest. Thereupon, the response unit is responsive only to those questions, instructions, and coupon printing directives pertaining to the selected category of interest, and ignores the remaining questions, instructions, and coupon-printing directives as being irrelevant to the operation of the response unit. This is implemented readily by transmitting to the remote response unit, to be stored in a memory therein, the set of acceptable responses and the accompanying scoring criteria and advertising information for each area of interest. Then a respondent need only signal the response unit as to his desired area of interest, the signal serving to address the corresponding region of the memory. The response unit then operates with the data for the desired area of interest.

Normally, broadcast contests presently conducted are sponsored by manufacturers or retailers of products. Successful respondents may receive prize coupons entitling them to a discount on merchandise promoted by a sponsor. However, winners often receive coupons carrying a discount on merchandise they do not intend to purchase at the time they receive such a coupon. Discount coupons tied in this manner to an unwanted product will not be redeemed and are useless to both the public and the sponsor. It is a weakness of the coupon system presently in use that the overall coupon redemption rate is less than 4%.

The disclosed system and methodology provide for a dispensing of coupons to members of a broadcast audience for redemption, and enable members of the audience who have acceptably responded to a task presented in a broadcast to win a prize coupon carrying a discount deductible from the price of a product selected by such a member for purchase. Local sponsors thereby may promote the sale of products.

The foregoing coupons may be issued in conjunction with a broadcast television and/or radio program and video games requiring an audience response wherein a part or all of the program is conducted in the form of a lottery, or other wagering situation, in which case the coupon identifies the winning entity which may be a lottery number, or the identity of horse in a horse race, or the identity of a player in a sports event. This is accomplished in accordance with a further aspect of the invention in which the aforementioned equipment can be employed for conducting a lottery game in a fashion which is resistant to forgery.

In accordance with the invention, there is provided a central data storage facility in which all player responses and, when desired, the winning response(s) are stored. Player entries can be authenticated electronically prior to storage at the central facility, and are transmitted either electronically (as by two-way cable, or by modem over a telephone line) from remote sites of players to the central facility. Authentication is accomplished by comparing numbers or names assigned to players, including serial numbers of player entry devices, with reference data previously stored in the central facility. Further authentication is provided by storing at the central facility data, such as the player's response and the winning number(s), which appears also on the coupon presented for redemption. At a redemption center, an electronic communication link with the central facility permits instant comparison of the two sets of data to verify the authenticity of the coupon and prevent fraud. The central facility may be connected to the remote stations and to a credit agency by means of a telephone network which permits verification of a player's line of credit, and a charging of lottery fees against a preestablished credit limit.

In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, numerous central stations, such as television and/or radio stations, may be linked together with a common base station and numerous telephone hubs by a communications system to form a network of broadcast stations serving a much enlarged audience wherein members of the audience are located at their respective remote receiving stations. The network is ideally suited for presentation of network programs of general interest, such as a sweepstakes and other prize events, to the enlarged audience by interspersing relatively short programs in time slots between segments of regularly scheduled disparate broadcast programs from the central stations. The base station provides program material for retransmissions via the central stations of the network. The network program, for any one time slot, may be in any one of a number of forms, particularly a contest having a duration in a range of time extending from less than one minute up to possibly several minutes for presentation on television or radio. The network broadcast may take the form of a well-known network communication commonly employed today for news programs communicated across the country from the base station simultaneously to local broadcasting stations for retransmission to home radios and televisions.

The individual programs are transmitted one after the other from the base station in a sequence extending for the duration of a program, or throughout the day. Each of the network programs occupies a predetermined time slot within a program sequence wherein the times of occurrence of the various programs as well as, possibly, the contents of programs, have been made known previously to the manager of the central station. Each central station is free to select specific ones of the network programs for rebroadcast in accordance with the program scheduling of the individual central station. This provides freedom for the host of the central station to employ network program material which may be live or previously prepared.

A great advantage of the invention is that the use of the network program material interspersed among local programming material allows people across the country to participate simultaneously in a common contest, or a common learning experience, or in a common national survey, by way of example. The use of alternative network programs inserted in opportune time slots allows the central stations to insert the network programs within the regular broadcasting schedules of the respective central station in a manner similar to that of the usual interruption of a broadcast program for a message from an advertiser or sponsor. Thereby, the invention allows for the simultaneous participation of people from across the country to be accomplished without need for any significant rescheduling of local programming.

Many people in the broadcast audience can participate by responding to tasks or questions set forth in the network program by use of electronic or telephone hubs which facilitate entry of the large number of responses, as well as to evaluate and authenticate the responses. Furthermore, valid responses meeting response criteria may also be communicated by telephone link from each electronic hub to a central station for conduction of a sweepstakes. Responses can be evaluated at one or more central sites by use of evaluation equipment which may be located in the electronic hubs or, alternatively, evaluation can be accomplished at the individual receiving stations by a response unit. The use of the central evaluation is particularly advantageous because a common evaluation facility allows the sweepstakes or other form of network program to be conducted without need for specialized equipment, other than a radio or television and a telephone, at a participant's receiving station.

In accordance with a feature in the practice of the invention, it is noted that equipment provided for evaluating and/or scoring a task may be provided at the remote location of a respondent or, alternatively, may be provided partly at the remote location and partly at a central station. In the case wherein a fully equipped response unit is provided at the remote location, the equipment of the response unit includes a keyboard, a comparator, scoring circuitry, a memory, as well as other circuitry which may include a computer, and circuitry for applying point credits and displaying information, the equipment including also a printer as well as a modem for communicating via a telephone line. However, it is acknowledged that such equipment may represent an excessive expense to participants at remote locations, in which case the complexity and expense of the equipment at the remote locations can be reduced by placing some of the equipment, such as circuitry involved in comparing and scoring participants' answers at a central facility remote from the respondents' locations. Thus, response criteria and scoring criteria which are transmitted via a communications link to the remote receiving locations, in the case of a fully equipped response unit, would be diverted, in the case of a partially equipped remote station, to a central evaluation facility to enable circuitry within the facility to identify acceptable answers, to score the answers, and to credit or weight the answers with additional points appropriate to a difficulty level.

There are other reasons for which equipment, employed in responding to a task, may be located partially at the central evaluation facility. For example, it may be desired to score responses in the order in which responses are received, or it may be desired to alter programming of comparison and scoring circuitry in accordance with the amount of traffic in responses coming in to the evaluation facility. Also, it may be desirable to insure that there can be no tampering with equipment used in evaluating responses, in which case the equipment, for security reasons, is best located at the central facility. Also, it is noted that it may be desirable to rank the scores of the participants, as by time of response, or by magnitude of score, or by geographical region of the respondent, or upon some other basis, in which case ranking can be accomplished best by use of comparison and scoring circuitry at the central evaluation facility. Also, it is noted that a printing facility, for printing coupons, tokens, or other indicia of a proper response may be located at the central evaluation facility or at the response unit at the remote respondent's location. Thus, in the general sense of the invention, the various circuits and equipment can be located as required at either the remote locations or the central evaluation facility. Communication between a central studio, the remote response equipment and the central evaluation facility may be accomplished by dedicated communication lines, by a telephone system, via a television and radio transmission, via satellite communication, or a plurality of different forms of communication systems as may be convenient.

In the situation wherein advertising material is presented to players of electronic games in concert with a presentation of a game scenario, or game status, upon a display by the game apparatus, which display may be a television screen also employed for viewing television programs, there are various modes of presenting the advertising material. These modes include use of a split screen technique, use of a window technique, superposition of a message of an advertiser directly upon a game scene, and momentarily interrupting presentation of the game material for a brief showing of the advertising material. It is anticipated that the advertising material would include a task ranging from a simple task such as selecting a choice of color for a gift to a complex task which might involve a mathematical calculation. Two scores would then evolve, one for playing the game and one for responding to the task. The invention provides for an enhancement of the game score by virtue of a player's participation in the advertiser's task. Accordingly, instructional signals provided by the advertiser provide for the outputting of a token or coupon including the enhanced game score with an increased award to the player, which award may be utilized by the player in obtaining goods and services from the advertiser.

The invention is practiced preferably in a television environment providing both audio and visual presentation of a scenario, but may be practiced also via radio, telephone, or via computers linked for communication by a network. Frequently, in the practice of the invention, a game is prerecorded on a tape or disk for subsequent play back and transmission from a central location to players at remote locations distant from the central location. At a remote location having a game machine, it is convenient to employ a memory into which one or more games which are downloaded from transmissions of the central station for playing on the game machine. Games may be played on home computers with the aid of game material provided by on-line operation with computers of the central station, and/or with game material stored on various forms of storage media including the storing optically on CD-ROMs (compact disk read only memory), by way of example. Alternatively, numerous players at their remote locations may participate concurrently in games via television, as by use of converters and adapters frequently employed by TV sets operating with transmission by cable. A game may be used as a task presented to a participating player, in which case the player's reaction time to action on the TV screen or the player's answer is evaluated and scored. Coupons awarded to players for their participation in a game may be provided at a printer conveniently by use of a paper roll or other matrix from which the coupon is severed, and upon which an advertisement may be written. Coding of coupons by the players' printers permits a tracing of coupons to the respective players to prevent forgeries and unauthorized redemptions.

Messages from advertisers may be incorporated with the coupons by providing, in the aforementioned second signal group, an additional signal set for conveying an advertiser's discount information of a general or specific nature, by way of example. Such discount information may include statements as to the amount of a discount as well as stating situations wherein the coupon may be used to obtain a further monetary bonus, thereby to facilitate special promotions. Marketing strategy may be implemented by signals of the additional signal set instructing the printers at the remote locations to issue coupons with an increased amount of a bonus at some time of day. The printers may even be used to print a bonus coupon to be used with a previously issued coupon to encourage participation in promotions of an advertiser. Thereby, an advertiser can replace or enhance an award, or substitute a new award for a previous award. Enhancement may be by a fixed amount or by a percentage increase from the previous award. Alternatively, additional responses of a player need not result in receipt of an additional award, but may result only in an additional advertising message, this depending on the marketing strategy of the advertiser. Instead of printing a coupon, some other form of hard copy may be employed such as a sheet of paper correcting a student's response to a problem solving situation. On the other hand, in the case of a child's participation, it may suffice to provide a message on an electronic display. These alternatives may be combined with transmission of players' responses to a central crediting facility for immediate crediting of an award to the players' respective accounts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The aforementioned aspects and other features of the invention are described in the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a simplified diagrammatic view of a system incorporating the invention and configured to show two embodiments of receiving stations, one receiving station employing simulcast radio and television signals of a program produced in a studio, and the second receiving station employing a television receiver system modified to receive an instructional signal from the studio;

FIG. 2 shows the audio spectrum and a portion thereof designated for an instructional signal;

FIG. 3 is a detailed diagram of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an electronic response unit in each remote receiving station of FIGS. 1 and 3;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing details of a dispenser of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of the invention, similar to that of FIG. 3, the system of FIG. 6 employing the transmission of two signal groups each having plural sets of signals, wherein first and second signals of the first signal group are transmitted by video and audio portions of a television program, the first and the second signals presenting respectively a studio scene and a task for respondents, and wherein two sets of signals of the second group, an instructional group, are combined with an audio signal of the first group;

FIG. 7 is an alternative embodiment of the system of FIG. 6 wherein the signals of the second group are interleaved with the video signal of the first group by use of the vertical retrace time slot of a television transmission;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a response unit for use with either of the systems of FIGS. 6 and 7;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a timing unit of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 shows the audio spectrum and a portion thereof designated for instructional signal bands of the second signal group utilized, respectively, for answers and criteria for evaluating answers;

FIG. 11 is a diagrammatic view of receiving stations of the invention installed, as a further embodiment of the invention, in an aircraft with separate receiving stations located at each passenger seat, this embodiment employing a recording of a game situation with instructions for response, each receiving station being equipped for both audio and video;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing interconnection of electric components of the system of the invention for the installation of FIG. 11, the system of FIG. 12 employing response units having components disclosed in FIG. 8;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a modification of the central station of FIG. 6 to provide for an audio-only recording of the game program for use by the receiving stations of FIG. 11;

FIG. 14 is an alternative embodiment of FIG. 12 for use of an audio recorder, the system of FIG. 14 employing a recording provided by the system of FIG. 13, the system of FIG. 14 employing response units having components disclosed in FIG. 8;

FIGS. 15 and 16 show a modification of the systems of FIGS. 13 and 14, respectively, wherein the central station and the response units of the receiving stations have been modified to be operative with response-criteria and scoring signals transmitted as unintelligible audio signals in the same audio band employed by the recorded audio description of a task-setting program and the audio instructions for response to the task;

FIG. 17 is a simplified diagrammatic view of the invention showing both the central station and a receiving station in which an audio recorder having four separate channels is employed, the channels communicating audio signals for task and instructions, for synchronization, for response criteria, and for scoring criteria;

FIG. 18 shows additional equipment which may be incorporated in the response units of FIGS. 11, 12, 14, and 16 for communication of scoring results by a digital communication system to a central dispenser for a hard-copy output of game results;

FIG. 19 is a timing diagram showing burst transmissions of response and scoring criteria between voice signals for an audio-only recording employing a single recording track;

FIG. 20 is a timing diagram showing simultaneous transmission of voice, synchronization, response and scoring criteria signal in an audio-only system employing a multiple track recording medium;

FIG. 21 shows schematically an alternative embodiment of the invention wherein the tape recorder is provided with five channels to allow separate and independent recordation of a verbal description of a scene and verbal instructions for responding to tasks presented in the scene;

FIG. 22 shows diagrammatically a further embodiment of the invention wherein a respondent can activate a prerecorded program by use of a telephone, the prerecorded program including a task, questions, instructions for responding, response criteria, and signals enabling automatic comparing of answers to predetermined responses and a scoring of responses by a response unit;

FIG. 23 shows diagrammatically a further embodiment in the transmission of an instructional signal from a central station to a remote receiving station by use of an optical link in combination with the video portion of a television transmission;

FIG. 24 is a diagram explaining operation of a telephone system of FIG. 22 for use in debiting and crediting a respondent;

FIG. 25 shows diagrammatically the storage of information in two of the memories of the response unit of FIGS. 8 and 26;

FIG. 26 is a block diagram of a response unit which is a modification of the response unit of FIG. 8;

FIG. 27 is a flow chart for operation of a computer in the response unit of FIG. 26;

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a sequence of steps in the practice of the method of the invention;

FIG. 29 is block diagram of a further embodiment of the invention wherein a central station and a set of remote playing stations are employed to conduct a wagering game including the issuance of coupons, or other form of wagering record, in a forgery proof system;

FIG. 30 is a block diagram of a playing station of the system of FIG. 29;

FIG. 31 is a flow chart showing method steps employed at various components of the system of FIG. 29 for practicing the forgery proof wagering game;

FIG. 32 shows diagrammatically a network of central stations and telephone hubs connected via a communications system to a base station with facilities for conduction of a sweepstakes;

FIG. 33 shows diagrammatically a transmission via satellite of a network program from the base station to the central stations of FIG. 32;

FIG. 34 is a timing diagram showing the generation of tasks of a base station network program in a sequence of time slots for interposition between regularly scheduled programs broadcast by central stations of FIG. 32;

FIG. 35 is a timing diagram showing the generation of network programs at the base station of FIG. 32 in synchronized time slots of differing lengths;

FIG. 36 is a block diagram of record playback and transmission equipment for use in the base station of FIG. 32;

FIGS. 37-40 are flow charts showing different configurations in a process of utilizing the equipment of the network of FIG. 32;

FIG. 41 shows diagrammatically a generalized system concept of the invention incorporating various embodiments of the preceding figures;

FIG. 42 shows diagrammatically a telephone incorporating circuitry of a response unit to accomplish various functions set forth in FIG. 41;

FIG. 43 shows diagrammatically a system for studying and selecting merchandise combined with receipt of awards, the system employing equipment and techniques of the preceding embodiments;

FIG. 44 is a block diagram showing components and functions of a polling system;

FIG. 45 is a block diagram summarizing various modes of communication between a central station and a remote station for the playing of a game;

FIG. 46 is a block diagram showing a modification of a portion of FIG. 45 to accommodate evaluation of a player's response by equipment at a central evaluation facility;

FIG. 47 is a block diagram showing details in the construction and interconnection of a game machine and a television of FIG. 45; and

FIG. 48 is a block diagram of a system for playing games wherein players, including both individual players and team players, are ranked by relative performance.

Identically labeled elements appearing in different ones of the figures refer to the same element in the different figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, FIGS. 1-5 disclose embodiments of the invention useful for programs to be conducted with participation from remote audiences. In the disclosure of FIGS. 6-10, the system is adapted for a greater selection of, and modification of, parameters in criteria for evaluating answers to questions. The criteria are controllable from a central station. A level of difficulty in the questions may be selected by a contestant. The embodiment of the system of FIGS. 1-5 is described in terms of two signal groups, namely, a radio/television signal group, Group One, and an instructional signal group, Group Two. The embodiment of the system of FIGS. 6-10 is described with reference to at least four types of signals, namely, a television signal presenting a studio scene (TV program), a television signal presenting a task such as a set of questions (task signal), a signal setting forth acceptable answers to questions (response criteria), and a signal setting forth criteria to be employed in the evaluation of the answers (scoring mode). In FIGS. 11-22, there is shown a set of embodiments of the invention wherein an event, scenario, presentation, situation or other scene having a task to be performed is recorded for subsequent playback to respondents. The system of FIGS. 1-5 will be described first, this being followed by a description of the system of FIGS. 6-10 and the system of FIGS. 11-23. The systems of the various embodiments will now be described primarily in the context of responses to tasks and questions; it being understood that the practice of the invention is applicable to the making, evaluation and rewarding of predictions. Methods and systems employed in the context of predictions of the outcome of events are more particularly described in connection with FIGS. 22 and 24. The remaining figures show still further embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 1 presents a simplified description of a system 10 wherein a central station 12 includes a studio 14, such as a television studio which broadcasts programs to many external or remote receiving stations, two such receiving stations 16 and 18
being shown by way of example. In accordance with the invention, each of the receiving stations 16 and 18 includes means for observing the broadcast program, such as a television screen 20, and means by which persons in the external viewing audience can respond to situations presented in the studio, the response means being a response unit 22 which evaluates and records responses entered by persons in the viewing audience.

Two signals are broadcast by the central station 12 to each of the receiving stations 16 and 18. One of these two signals is a program signal for presenting on the television screen 20 a program generated in the studio 14. The second of the two signals is an instructional or command signal for operation of the response unit 22, the instructional signal providing appropriate commands to the response unit 22 for evaluating, rejecting or accepting, and scoring audience responses to questions raised in the televised program.

Two modes of transmission are provided for the two signals. In the case of the receiving station 18, both of the signals are carried by a single television channel carrier radiated from an antenna 24 of the central station 22, and received by an antenna 26 at the receiving station 18. The antenna 26 connects with a television system 28 which includes the foregoing television screen 20 and, furthermore, includes circuitry 30 for the separation of the instructional signal from the program signal. The instructional signal is then applied via line 32 to the response unit 22. In the case of the receiving station 16, the two signals are processed separately. The instructional signal is broadcast by a radio channel employing a radio antenna 34 at the central station 12, and received by an antenna 36 at the receiving station 16. Thus, at the receiving station 16, a standard television set 38 including the screen 20 receives the televised program via antenna 26 and presents the program on the screen 20. A separate radio receiver 40 and demodulator 42 are employed for receiving the instructional signal and for applying the instructional signal to the response unit 22.

In the practice of the invention, the instructional signal may be transmitted to a remote receiving station in any convenient manner such as via a cable transmission or by a specially broadcast transmission (not shown) or by combining the instructional signal with the audio signal in a radio broadcast or television broadcast. The combination of the instructional signal with the audio spectrum is demonstrated in the graph of FIG. 2 which shows a typical relationship of amplitude versus frequency in a transmitted audio spectrum. In that spectrum, a relatively narrow frequency band is set aside for transmission of the instructional signal, the narrow frequency band being at the upper frequency edge of the audio spectrum.

For example, the bandwidth of the instructional signal may be approximately 1% of the audio bandwidth, this being sufficient to enable a relatively slow transmission of instructional data to the response units 22 in the respective receiving stations. By maintaining the amplitude of the instructional signal well below that of the audio signal, the instructional signal does not introduce more than a negligible amount of interference with the audio signal. Also, it is noted that the instructional signal is not continuously present but, rather, appears only for a momentary burst of time, typically less than a few seconds duration, when necessary to instruct each response unit 22. In the case of the receiving station 16, a simulcast of radio and television is employed while, in the case of the receiving station 18, only the television program is broadcast, as has been described above. However, in both cases, the audio spectrum is the same, and the mode of combining the instructional signal with the audio transmission is the same. Typically, the system 10 would be implemented with only one of the transmissions, either the television transmission with the instructional signal combined therewith, as demonstrated by the receiving station 18, or by the simulcast of both the television and the radio transmissions as demonstrated by the receiving station 16. In the case of the simulcast, the instructional signal need not be combined with the television signal, the instructional signal appearing only in the radio broadcast from the antenna 34 as described above.

The receiver 40 and the demodulator 42 operate in a manner similar to that of the separation circuitry 30, and will be described in detail hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 3.

In both of the receiving stations 16 and 18, the response unit 22 includes a keyboard 44 whereby a person in the remote viewing audience enters a response. The response unit 22 includes a dispenser 46 which dispenses a record of the score and/or responses in a permanent recording medium such as a card 48 of plastic, or similar material, and including a well-known strip of magnetizable material (not shown) upon which the score and/or responses have been recorded. Alternatively, by way of example, the dispenser 46 may be constructed in a form (not shown) for outputting a tape which has been imprinted or punched with the desired information. Easily recognizable indicia may also be imprinted on the tape or card.

The system described lends itself well to multi-part questions and/or to multiple choice answers, for any of which special forms can be provided, to be filled in or otherwise marked. The response recording and/or data entering means can have provisions for the insertion of special forms or blanks, which can be made available or mailed to participants. For example, a school may mail to students forms specially prepared for a particular examination or assignment. The response unit 22 may therefore be configured to hold a recording medium such as a paper blank to which markings are applied. Alternatively, the medium, such as paper tape, discontinuous or continuous forms, may be inserted by the respondents.

Examination papers, whether taking the shape of forms to be filled in, or the result of a free hand composition or narrative, may also be graded by the comparator means, which is capable of identifying key phrases and words that are expected to appear on the completed examination paper. In similar fashion, comparator means to be described hereinafter is designed so as to be able to recognize and accept any one or more of a plurality of predetermined key words, symbols or phrases.

Dispenser 46 can be adapted to reward children who have provided answers meeting the predetermined response criteria by dispensing gold stars or other tokens. In another embodiment, the dispenser combines the coupons issued to winners with advertising material or shopping hints.

The records created pursuant to the present invention may be used as tokens, coupons, certificates and general proof of participation in the broadcast transmission program. Coupons may be redeemed by mail or in retail establishments for cash, prizes or discounts.

The following terms are useful in describing the system of the invention.

The term "task-setting" is intended to include the meaning of interrogative, opinion-eliciting and statement-eliciting, as well as the soliciting of creative endeavors and all kinds of functions capable of being performed by an entry in a data entering device.

The term "tasks" includes tasks of a mental or physical nature, and includes also a statement or a choice to be made, a question to be answered, an invitation or opportunity or challenge to predict an outcome of an event, an express of implied offer or opportunity or expectation or challenge or request or command to take an action, to perform an act or to take steps to bring about or create or cause or achieve certain specific effects as well as objectives or results including discrete or partial or complete or final effects and objects and results in the playing of or the participation in a test or contest or competition or game such as a video game. In particular, in a video game, the term "task" is intended to include the performance of mental and physical functions capable of being performed by or through an entering or guidance or direction or control device conveying the acts of a player or the reactions of a player to a game machine scenario. Such devices include keyboards, handled devices, joysticks, infrared entering devices such as shooting-scopes, rotating walls, finger-operated devices and other devices. The performance of "task" thus may require mental and/or manual skills.

The term "comparing" relates to one or more possible established responses which may be established prior to or subsequent to a contestant's response (the previously known color of a golf ball, or during a game, a prediction of how close the ball will come to the hole), and a comparing of an actual response to an established response to determine if an actual response is acceptable. An acceptable response may be based on one or more words or phrase or alphanumeric symbol or selection of designated objects, by way of example.

The terms "evaluating" and "scoring" are intended to refer to and include the meanings of sorting, counting, screening, evaluating, analyzing and processing information, data and responses in accordance with predetermined criteria, ranging from simple comparing tasks to computerized processing and analyses.

The term "interactive system" refers to a system for communicating from a sender to a respondent and having the capacity for allowing the sender to respond to a communication, when desired, from the respondent whether by manual or electronic means.

The term "response" is intended to include answers, elicited opinions and statements, text and narrative provided by contestants, respondents, students and other participants in broadcasts calling for interaction, reaction and responses.

The term "response" is intended also to include all of the functions capable of being performed by, an entering or a guidance or a directing or a control device conveying the acts of a player or the reactions of a player to a game machine scenario. Thus, a response in a video game can be the desired movement of a figure or an icon or a symbol, or the attaining of desired effects, objectives and results, such as the earning of points and credits, or the attaining of certain levels and generally achieving the objectives of a game. Responses can be of a mental and/or a physical nature.

The term "response criteria" is intended to refer to descriptive words, key words, key phrases, parameters, equations, formulas, symbols and definiens describing or defining responses that have been determined by the producer of a program to be acceptable in the context of a task so as to qualify for a reward. The term "response criteria" is intended to include one or more acceptable answers. As an example, in response to a question having four multiple-choice answers, the answers 1 and 2 can be stipulated as acceptable, so that no comparison or evaluation per se is required. Response criteria may also define acceptable physical, including manual, acts and manipulations. Similarly, the terms "compare" and "evaluate" are intended to include determinations of the acceptability of responses in which an acceptable response is specifically prescribed without requiring a comparing or evaluation step.

The terms "outcome criteria" and "success criteria" are intended to include alphanumeric symbols and data by which the outcome of an event can be described, measured or identified, such as key and descriptive words, coordinates, grid, pinpointed and other locations, pictorial, diagrammatic and graphic presentations, results, scores, counts, records, distances, rates and other measurements.

The term "processed response" is intended to refer to and include the results produced by screening, sorting, scoring, evaluating, massaging, statistically analyzing, or otherwise machine-processing responses, data and information provided by participants at the receiving stations.

The term "hard copy" is intended to refer to and include any kind of permanent record capable of being visually read, scanned or machine read. The term "matrix" may be used to refer to the source or origin from which something originates, takes form or develops, such as a cellulosic or plastic strip capable of being provided with printed markings or magnetic recordings so as to create a hard copy record. The term "simulcast" is intended to refer to the simultaneous, but separate transmission from different propagating sources of the video and audio portions of a program.

In the context of formulating response criteria, the terms "formulate", "generate", "format" and "reformat" are intended to refer to and include the selection and determination of all factors affecting the evaluation and scoring of responses.

In the case of a task requiring a prediction of the outcome of an event which has not yet occurred or been completed, such as the completion of a forward pass in a football game, or winning a hand at a card game such as bridge, the response criteria may be referred to as outcome criteria. The outcome criteria is to be transmitted to contestants at remote stations at a time after the prediction has been made.

In the context of transmitting response criteria,for example, on an audio frequency, the use of the term "encoding" is intended to include various forms of signal coding as well as a transmission of signals at an increased speed which would render the signals unintelligible to the human ear. The term "encoding", as used by way of example for transmitting response criteria, is intended to include other modes of communication such as various forms of color signal coding and transmission of signals to television stations capable of being read by sensors of devices for receiving signals outside the audible frequency range. Messages can be conveyed in an encoded form by encrypting them in the video portion of a program, such as the vertical blanking intervals. The transmission of encoded information, whether within the audio spectrum or within the visual spectrum, is to be accomplished preferably in a fashion which is essentially unnoticed by a contestant and cannot be perceived as conveying information. In this sense, the encoding is perceptually unintelligible.

The term "keypad" is understood to include other forms of data entry devices, the keyboard being presented by way of example.

The term "print-out" is intended to include printed, embossed, punched, stamped, and other types of hard copy, paper, cardboard and plastic in the form of coupons, certificates, tokens, cards, forms and matrices. The printing of the print-out includes the foregoing forms of marking including the creation of three-dimensional configurations.

The term "central" as used, for example, in "central station", is intended to refer to a broadcast station or network serving a country, a time zone or a region, and also is intended to include discrete local broadcast stations operating independently and serving a town or other smaller geographic area, always provided that such "central" station serves a multiplicity of remote receiving stations. It need not be at the geographic center of the region served.

The terms "remote" or "external" as used for example in "external audience", are intended to include all television viewers and radio listeners tuned into an electronic transmission station, irrespective of the distance from such central station; as such, a "remote" audience includes, for example, students or other respondents positioned in close proximity to the source of a program, as in the case of a closed circuit transmission.

The term "interval" is intended to mean time interval or period of time.

The terms "code", "encoding", and "encryption" are intended to include alphanumeric codes, color codes, bar codes and symbols, including those readable, recognizable or conveyable by humans and machines.

The terms "acceptable response" or "acceptable answer" are intended to include all answers to a question, which answers meet or exceed a minimum standard or degree of accuracy, comprehensiveness or responsiveness; such "acceptable answers"specifically including partially correct answers. Answers may be defined as "acceptable" irrespective of a level of difficulty or a scoring mode.

The term "commercial message" as used herein includes sponsored, paid-for and other messages intended for commercial purposes.

The term "user" of a recording medium as used herein includes viewers, listeners, and buyers of a recording medium such as video tapes, and the target audience intended to be reached by the commercial message.

The term "intelligible" is intended to mean intelligible to a human without machine intervention, for example, without decoding, demodulation, change of transmission or receiving speed, or other manipulations to make a signal intelligible to humans. The term "intelligible" includes material which can be seen or heard such as written material or speech. The term "unintelligible", as applied to various signals which may be transmitted by equipment employed in the practice of the invention, is intended to include signals which can be made intelligible only be machine intervention.

The terms "multipart task" or "multipart question" are intended to include any situations, such as questions, tasks and puzzles, in which a contestant is required to provide chronologically spaced responses related to a common question, task, puzzle, or subject matter requiring an action by the contestant. Such a task may include so-called umbrella or omnibus questions comprising sub-groups, contingent questions (e.g. "if the answer is "true", then proceed to . . . ) and sub-questions derived from a parent question.

The term "reward" is intended to include in its scope discounts, prizes, free merchandise, monetary awards and other rewards having monetary or symbolic value. A "sweepstakes award" may be a special award of extra value beyond the value of a typical award.

The term "host" is intended to include an on-stage and an off-stage announcer, master of ceremonies, program director, guest host and celebrities, announcers of commercials and any other individual associated with the program or appointed to carry out one or more of the activities enumerated herein. It also is intended to include the individuals engaged in the operation of formulating a message or program for broadcasting on behalf of an advertiser, manufacturer, store or sponsor.

The term "difficulty level" is intended to include difficulty levels set by the host and inherent in the task or question, as reflected by possible answers, as well as difficulty levels inherent in a response or answer set by a respondent based on the speed, accuracy, comprehensiveness or responsiveness of the response and reflecting respondent's confidence in his or her knowledge of the subject matter. Similarly, a "difficulty level" may apply to the outcome of an event, as reflected by possible predictions.

In the formulation of a response to a question by a member of the external television audience, in the ensuing description reference will be made to a response in terms of recognition of key words as well as responses which require several words as in a phrase, sentence, formula and the like. It is to be understood that, in the generation of such responses, the term "word" includes also alphanumeric characters and other symbols such as pictorial representations which may be required as a proper response to a question.

With respect to various embodiments of the invention, the response unit 22 may be configured to provide the foregoing functions of evaluating and scoring, as well as the processed response.

In FIG. 3 the studio 14 is shown, by way of example, to include a television host 50, conducting a quiz program or game 52 in front of a television camera 54 which views both the game 52 and the host 50, and, also including when required, display means on stage (not shown) to provide an image thereof, which image is televised or only visible to the studio audience. Words spoken by the host 50, as well as other sounds in the studio 14, are converted by a microphone 56 to electric signals.

Also included within the studio 14 is a keyboard 58 by which the host 50 or another person, may enter commands and instructions to be communicated via the instructional signal. The central station 12 further comprises an encoder 60 a modulator
62, an oscillator 64, a band-pass filter 66, a summer 68, a combiner 70, a radio transmitter 72, a television transmitter 74, and a switch 76. The switch 76 connects an input terminal of the combiner 70 to either an output terminal of the summer 68 on line 78 or an output terminal of the microphone 56 on line 80.

The instructional signals may be prerecorded and then propagated from a central transmission station to remote locations. In such a case, the host uses the keyboard (or other such device) to initiate the transmission of the instructional signal message.

In operation, the pressing of keys on the keyboard 58 activates the encoder 60 to output digital signals representing the keys which have been pressed. The oscillator 64 outputs a carrier signal which is modulated by the modulator 62 with the digital signals outputted by the encoder 60. The modulator 62 applies the modulated carrier signal to the filter 66 which narrows the bandwidth of the modulated signal to equal the instructional bandwidth shown in FIG. 2. The filtered signal is coupled from the filter 66 to one input terminal of the summer 68, a second input terminal of the summer 68 receiving the output electrical signal from the microphone 56 via line 80. An output signal of the camera 54 is connected to one input terminal of the combiner 70, either directly or via a video mixing unit (to be described with reference to FIG. 23). To facilitate the explanation of this embodiment of the invention, it is presumed now that the camera 54 is connected directly to the combiner 70. A second input terminal of the combiner 70 is connectable via the switch 76 in line 78 to an output terminal of the summer 68. In the alternative position of the switch 76, the second input terminal of the combiner 70 is connected via line 80 to receive the output electric signal of the microphone 56 rather than the output signal of the summer 68. An output terminal of the combiner 70 is connected to the television transmitter 74. Signals outputted by the summer 68 are connected via line 78 also to the radio transmitter 72.

The signal outputted by the band-pass filter 66 is the instructional signal which is to be transmitted via either the transmitter 72 or 74 to a remote receiving station. The signal outputted by the microphone 56 is the audio signal component of the signals transmitted in the television channel via the transmitter 74, and is also transmitted via the radio transmitter 72 to the remote receiving stations when a radio transmission of the audio portion of the activity in the studio 14 is desired. The summer 68 performs the function of combining the instructional signal with the audio signal whereby the instructional signal shares a small fraction of the audio spectrum as shown in FIG. 2. This is accomplished by adding the output signals of the microphone 56 and the filter 66 to output the sum signal on line 78. The combiner 70 functions, in a well-known fashion, to combine the video portion of the television channel signal from the camera 54 with either the microphone signal on line 80 or the composite signal of the summer 68 depending on the position of the switch 76.

In the event that the simulcast of both the radio and the television transmissions is to be provided by the transmitter 72 and 74, the switch 76 connects the combiner 70 to line 80 in which case the television signal transmitted by the transmitter 74 has the standard format of video and audio portions without the instructional signal, the latter being transmitted via the radio transmitter 72. In the event that the switch 76 is connected to line 78, then the television signal transmitted by the transmitter 74 includes the instructional signal within the audio portion of the television signal.

The circuitry of FIG. 3 demonstrates two possible embodiments of the invention wherein the receiving stations may have either of the two forms shown for the remote receiving stations 16 and 18. If all of the receiving stations have the form of the station 16, then the switch 76 may be placed in the position for connection of the line 80 to the combiner 70, in which case the transmitter 74 transmits a normal television signal while the instructional signal is transmitted by the transmitter 72. In the event that all of the receiving stations are in the form of the station 18 then the switch 76 connects a line 78 to the combiner 70 for providing a modified form of the transmitted television signal wherein the instructional signal is included within the television signal. In such case, the radio transmitter 72 is not used by the invention, but may, nevertheless, transmit a radio program to remote radios which do not form a part of the system of the invention.

The television system 28 comprises a receiver 82, a demodulator 84, and a speaker 86. The separation circuitry 30 comprises a narrow-band filter 88 and a demodulator 90. The passband of the filter 88 is equal to the bandwidth of the instructional signal shown in FIG. 2.

In the operation of the receiving station 16, the receiver 40 functions in the manner of a well-known radio receiver for receiving the radio transmission incident upon the antenna 36. In addition, the receiver 40 includes a narrow-band filter 92
having a passband equal to that of the filter 88. Thereby, the filter 92 extracts from the audio spectrum the portion of the spectrum, shown in FIG. 2 designat