System and method for physically interactive board games

Abstract

A system and method for capturing images of a game space, detecting word or letter tiles added to the game space by a player, calculating a value of the added words or letters and adding the value to the score of the player during whose turn the letters or words were added.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method of automated scoring of a tile game, comprising:
 storing rules of the game in a memory;   associating a tile with a pre-defined value;   capturing an image of a scene of said tile game;   detecting from said image a said tile that was added to said scene of said game during a turn of play; and   calculating a value of said tile in accordance with the rules of said game and in accordance with said pre-defined value.   
     
     
         2 . The method as in  claim 1  wherein:
 said detecting comprises detecting a plurality of tiles added to said scene during said turn of play; 
 said calculating comprises calculating a value of said plurality of tiles added to said scene; 
 
       and comprising:
 comparing said plurality of tiles added to said scene during said turn of play to a stored compilation of combinations of tiles of said tile game; and 
 adding said value to a stored score of a player executing said turn of play. 
 
     
     
         3 . The method as in  claim 1 , wherein said detecting comprises:
 capturing before said turn of play a first image of said tile game;   capturing after said turn of play a second image of said tile game; and   comparing a configuration of tiles in said first image with a configuration of said tiles in said second image.   
     
     
         4 . The method as in  claim 1 , wherein capturing an image of said scene comprises capturing an image of a game board upon which said tile was placed during said turn of play. 
     
     
         5 . The method as in  claim 4 , comprising detecting in said image a location on said board of said tile placed during said turn of play, and wherein calculating said value comprises calculating said value as a function of said detected location of said tile on said board. 
     
     
         6 . The method as in  claim 1 , wherein said detecting comprises detecting a plurality of tiles added to said scene of said game during a turn of play, and adding a value of each of said tiles added to said scene, to a stored score of a player executing said turn of play. 
     
     
         7 . The method as in  claim 1 , comprising:
 capturing an image of a plurality of tiles of a player of said game, said tiles of said player of said game being not in said scene of said game during said turn of game; and   comparing each of a plurality of words stored in a compilation of words to a combination of (i) a first of said plurality of tiles of a player of said game and (ii) a first configuration of tiles in said scene of said game.