Virtual bowling with a bowling ball having an RFID tag

Abstract

A bowling ball tagged with a radio-frequency identification (“RFID”) tag is used to provide information about the bowling ball to a computer. The computer can use this information to generate a more accurate calculation of the onward travel of the ball toward the pins and to present a more accurate image of the bowling ball on the screen in a virtual bowling game.

1 . A virtual bowling system comprising: 
 a bowling lane;    a display device;    at least one sensor operative to sense movement of a bowling ball on the bowling lane;    a radio-frequency identification (RFID) reader operative to read an identifier transmitted by an RFID device in the bowling ball, the identifier identifying information about the bowling ball; and    at least one computer operative to generate a display, on the display device, of a virtual bowling ball traveling down a virtual portion of the bowling lane and interacting with virtual bowling pins based on data from the at least one sensor and based on the information about the bowling ball identified by the identifier transmitted by the RFID device.    
   
   
       2 . The virtual bowling system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one computer is operative to query a database with the identifier to determine the information about the bowling ball.  
   
   
       3 . The virtual bowling system of  claim 1 , wherein the information about the bowling ball comprises one or both of bowling ball weight and bowling ball color.  
   
   
       4 . The virtual bowling system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor is operative to sense one or more of the following: direction of the bowling ball, speed of the bowling ball, and force of the bowling ball.  
   
   
       5 . The virtual bowling system of  claim 1  further comprising: 
 an antenna; and    an antenna tuning module operative to power the antenna to generate a field at a frequency operative to cause the RFID device in the bowling ball to transmit the identifier.    
   
   
       6 . The virtual bowling system of  claim 5 , wherein the antenna is embedded in the bowling lane.  
   
   
       7 . The virtual bowling system of  claim 1  further comprising a lane approach, wherein the lane approach comprises an extension of the bowling lane such that the lane approach and the bowling lane are on a common level.  
   
   
       8 . The virtual bowling system of  claim 1 , wherein the bowling lane is less than 20 metres in length.  
   
   
       9 . The virtual bowling system of  claim 1  further comprising a lane gutter on either side of the bowling lane.  
   
   
       10 . A virtual bowling system comprising: 
 a bowling lane;    a display device;    at least one sensor operative to sense movement of a bowling ball on the bowling lane;    a radio-frequency identification (RFID) reader operative to read an identifier transmitted by an RFID device in the bowling ball, the identifier identifying information about the bowling ball; and    circuitry operative to generate a display, on the display device, of a virtual bowling ball traveling down a virtual portion of the bowling lane and interacting with virtual bowling pins based on data from the at least one sensor and based on the information about the bowling ball identified by the identifier transmitted by the RFID device.    
   
   
       11 . The virtual bowling system of  claim 10 , wherein the circuitry is operative to query a database with the identifier to determine the information about the bowling ball.  
   
   
       12 . The virtual bowling system of  claim 10 , wherein the information about the bowling ball comprises one or both of bowling ball weight and bowling ball color.  
   
   
       13 . The virtual bowling system of  claim 10 , wherein the at least one sensor is operative to sense one or more of the following: direction of the bowling ball, speed of the bowling ball, and force of the bowling ball.  
   
   
       14 . The virtual bowling system of  claim 10  further comprising: 
 an antenna; and    an antenna tuning module operative to power the antenna to generate a field at a frequency operative to cause the RFID device in the bowling ball to transmit the identifier.    
   
   
       15 . The virtual bowling system of  claim 14 , wherein the antenna is embedded in the bowling lane.  
   
   
       16 . The virtual bowling system of  claim 10  further comprising a lane approach, wherein the lane approach comprises an extension of the bowling lane such that the lane approach and the bowling lane are on a common level.  
   
   
       17 . The virtual bowling system of  claim 10 , wherein the bowling lane is less than 20 metres in length.  
   
   
       18 . The virtual bowling system of  claim 10  further comprising a lane gutter on either side of the bowling lane.  
   
   
       19 . The virtual bowling system of  claim 10 , wherein the circuitry comprises at least one computer.  
   
   
       20 . A method for virtual bowling, the method comprising: 
 receiving movement information of a bowling ball on a bowling lane;    receiving an identifier transmitted by a radio-frequency identification (RFID) device in the bowling ball, the identifier identifying information about the bowling ball; and    displaying a virtual bowling ball traveling down a virtual portion of the bowling lane and interacting with virtual bowling pins based on the movement information of the bowling ball on the bowling lane and based on the information about the bowling ball identified by the identifier transmitted by the RFID device.    
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 20  further comprising querying a database with the identifier to determine the information about the bowling ball.  
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the information about the bowling ball comprises one or both of bowling ball weight and bowling ball color.  
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the movement information of the bowling ball comprises one or more of the following: direction of the bowling ball, speed of the bowling ball, and force of the bowling ball.  
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 20  further comprising generating a field at a frequency operative to cause the RFID device in the bowling ball to transmit the identifier.  
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the bowling lane extends onto a lane approach such that the lane approach and the bowling lane are on a common level.  
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the bowling lane is less than 20 metres in length.  
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein there is a lane gutter on either side of the bowling lane.