Photoshop thread: Sony patents a new sort of "emotion engine"

Dehumanized · November 2009

The magical cloud that half the diagrams point to in the first picture is hilarious.

Adus · November 2009

A cloud is pretty much universally used to represent the Internet in network diagrams, so it's not that awkward. That being said, the diagram is still weird and the others have potential for hilarity. Not as much as Laughing Man though.

Khavall · November 2009

Why is it that every concept out of Sony has someone getting kicked in the ass?

How much can we read into the symbolism there?

Khavall · November 2009

Dehumanized wrote: »

The magical cloud that half the diagrams point to in the first picture is hilarious.

I'm too drunk to do it right now, but if no one has by tomorrow I was planning on putting Laughing man right where the magical cloud is.

Morrandir · November 2009

Maybe someone more talented at editing can make this look more plausible.

Spoiler:

THEPAIN73 · November 2009

slash000 wrote: »

lowlycook gave me a .gif to meddle with:

I feel like doing another.. I'll think about it.

What is this from? It looks so festive.

The_Spaniard · November 2009

This is kind of on topic. Remember how we had half a dozen pages discussing "Enigma of Amigara Fault" in this thread and somebody said to take it to another thread? Well I decided to do that for anybody that still wants to talk about it.

http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=105067

fadingathedges · November 2009

Has anyone suggested this material yet?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye_FL0dNB7g

Even if the major hype and motivation here has passed, this is great to watch and imagine what sla-... what someone could do with it.

UncleSporky · March 2010

Hi guys. This is a pretty old thread! I know big bumps are generally frowned upon, but, well...

I found the original ass-kicking patent.

User-operated amusement apparatus for kicking the user's buttocks

An amusement apparatus including a user-operated and controlled apparatus for self-infliction of repetitive blows to the user's buttocks by a plurality of elongated arms bearing flexible extensions that rotate under the user's control.

It was invented by a Joe W. Armstrong and was formally issued shortly after September 11, 2001. I guess they thought people needed some amusement at the time!

Notice how this apparatus goes underneath rather than overhead, meaning it now turns in the right direction to cause real ass-kicking rather than an ineffective overhand slapping effect.

I wonder if this could help find any further leads on whoever originally drew the thing...

joshofalltrades · March 2010

UncleSporky wrote: »

Spoiler:

Hi guys. This is a pretty old thread! I know big bumps are generally frowned upon, but, well...

I found the original ass-kicking patent.

User-operated amusement apparatus for kicking the user's buttocks

An amusement apparatus including a user-operated and controlled apparatus for self-infliction of repetitive blows to the user's buttocks by a plurality of elongated arms bearing flexible extensions that rotate under the user's control.

It was invented by a Joe W. Armstrong and was formally issued shortly after September 11, 2001. I guess they thought people needed some amusement at the time!

Notice how this apparatus goes underneath rather than overhead, meaning it now turns in the right direction to cause real ass-kicking rather than an ineffective overhand slapping effect.

I wonder if this could help find any further leads on whoever originally drew the thing...

Nice find!

This makes me wonder how many other ridiculous patent drawings there are out there.

NovembersChopin · March 2010

THEPAIN73 wrote: »

slash000 wrote: »

lowlycook gave me a .gif to meddle with:

I feel like doing another.. I'll think about it.

What is this from? It looks so festive.

Youtube "SNSD"

chamberlain · March 2010

Gah, this thread is like Deus Ex. Every time it gets bumped I read the whole thing.

Santa Claustrophobia · March 2010

There is a reason I didn't delete my offerings...

UncleSporky · March 2010

chamberlain wrote: »

Gah, this thread is like Deus Ex. Every time it gets bumped I read the whole thing.

It really is well worth it, even if just up to page 6. Or 10. Or yeah screw it the whole thing.

I still feel this is one of the most significant contributions to the thread.

ArcSyn · March 2010

NovembersChopin wrote: »

THEPAIN73 wrote: »

slash000 wrote: »

lowlycook gave me a .gif to meddle with:

I feel like doing another.. I'll think about it.

What is this from? It looks so festive.

Youtube "SNSD"

What, did, I, just, watch......

lowlylowlycook · March 2010

Someone needs to do a ranting Hitler scene where Hitler complains about Laughing man being everywhere.

Santa Claustrophobia · March 2010

Only if, as the video goes on, those remaining in the room slowly become Laughing Man.

Some memes require effort.

xzzy · March 2010

Are the contents of patents public domain?

Because I see no attribution of the image in sony's application, and it's not that I expect anything would happen, I'm just curious if any art found in the patent database is free for anyone to use.

Khavall · March 2010

xzzy wrote: »

Are the contents of patents public domain?

Because I see no attribution of the image in sony's application, and it's not that I expect anything would happen, I'm just curious if any art found in the patent database is free for anyone to use.

I would imagine that in this particular case, fair use parody probably would cover it all.

DeathPrawn · March 2010

Khavall wrote: »

xzzy wrote: »

Are the contents of patents public domain?

Because I see no attribution of the image in sony's application, and it's not that I expect anything would happen, I'm just curious if any art found in the patent database is free for anyone to use.

I would imagine that in this particular case, fair use parody probably would cover it all.

I don't think he's referring to our use of Sony's patents, but rather Sony using the original spinny-boot patent in the art for their emotion-sensing patent. They clearly aren't trying to use someone else's art for massive profits, but it's a bit tougher to argue that their patent application represents a work of parody.

Santa Claustrophobia · March 2010

DeathPrawn wrote: »

Khavall wrote: »

xzzy wrote: »

Are the contents of patents public domain?

Because I see no attribution of the image in sony's application, and it's not that I expect anything would happen, I'm just curious if any art found in the patent database is free for anyone to use.

I would imagine that in this particular case, fair use parody probably would cover it all.

I don't think he's referring to our use of Sony's patents, but rather Sony using the original spinny-boot patent in the art for their emotion-sensing patent. They clearly aren't trying to use someone else's art for massive profits, but it's a bit tougher to argue that their patent application represents a work of parody.

The whole 'Laugh Detected, Smile Detected' and the concept that LM is watching a program called Crazy Inventors would help that argument. Especially since it appears they just sort of flipped the original image. It's almost their own fair use parody.

About the only way the original artist might have any kind of case would be if they could show their work (as an artist, as an inventor, whatever) was harmed by appearing, even altered, in the SONY image. Our thread could conceivably lend ammunition. Probably to both sides of such an argument.

UreshiiAkuma · March 2010

IANAL, but I believe that everything in a USPTO granted patent is public domain. The idea is that in exchange for putting it in the public domain, the US government grants you the exclusive right to produce/sell/etc. your invention for a limited time.

So, I would imagine that any images that appear in patents are public domain and free for use however you like, as long as you are not making the item claimed in the patent.

And now I need to go reread this awesome thread

UreshiiAkuma · March 2010

Ok, did a little research, and here is what the USPTO says:

(d) A copyright or mask work notice may be placed in a design or utility patent application adjacent to copyright and mask work material contained therein. The notice may appear at any appropriate portion of the patent application disclosure. For notices in drawings, see § 1.84(s). The content of the notice must be limited to only those elements provided for by law. For example, "©1983 John Doe"(17 U.S.C. 401) and "*M* John Doe" (17 U.S.C. 909) would be properly limited and, under current statutes, legally sufficient notices of copyright and mask work, respectively. Inclusion of a copyright or mask work notice will be permitted only if the authorization language set forth in paragraph (e) of this section is included at the beginning (preferably as the first paragraph) of the specification.

(e) The authorization shall read as follows:

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to (copyright or mask work) protection. The (copyright or mask work) owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all (copyright or mask work) rights whatsoever.

So, as neither a copyright notice nor the required authorization appear in the patent, the images are not copyrighted and are free for Sony or anyone to use and modify as they please.

xzzy · March 2010

That's pretty awesome, because the patent database has thousands of hilarious line art drawings.

Next time I need something crazy, it's off to google.com/patents and hunting for images that don't have a copyright notice.

TetraNitroCubane · March 2010

Hey, Sony filed a new patent recently, too. This time it's for Degradable Demos. The concept is that you start with a full game, but as time goes on more and more content gets stripped out to encourage you to purchase the game:

I don't think that goes far enough. I think certain kinds of content ought to be added in as time progresses:

Spoiler:

Dehumanized · March 2010

It's a reverse 3D Dot Game Heroes!

Couscous · March 2010

That seems fairly close to the DRM that degrades the game over time.

LewieP · March 2010

That seems stupid as hell.

Santa Claustrophobia · March 2010

Soul Blade did that, sort of. More games just need that shit in general. And besides... How else is SONY going to make any money on their online service if they don't actually charge for it?

jothki · March 2010

If anyone remembers Inner Space, that did that as well. After a few weeks or so, the shareware version went from being completely beatable with a few extra features locked to only letting you use a single ship.

fragglefart · March 2010

TetraNitroCubane wrote: »

Hey, Sony filed a new patent recently, too. This time it's for Degradable Demos. The concept is that you start with a full game, but as time goes on more and more content gets stripped out to encourage you to purchase the game:

I don't think that goes far enough. I think certain kinds of content ought to be added in as time progresses:

Spoiler:

(I'm not all that skilled with GIMP, but I couldn't resist trying.)

Hahahahahaha man where the Hell did this thread come back from?

That picture made me laugh far more than it ought to!

Couscous · March 2010

I see that male bathroom guy got a new job!

Dehumanized · March 2010

That's gotta be a pretty awesome hard game if they played it for 4 hours and are still on level 3.

Santa Claustrophobia · March 2010

Yeah, but the longer they play it, the weaker they get. So level 3 monsters end up being level 31 or something.

Dehumanized · March 2010

It's a good thing Sony patented it before From Software got the idea and started making Demon's Souls 2...

xzzy · March 2010

Santa Claustrophobia wrote: »

Yeah, but the longer they play it, the weaker they get. So level 3 monsters end up being level 31 or something.

I could see play like that actually growing into a contest. People submit scores for how long they survive or what level they get to.

Kind of like Dead Rising's survival mode.

Couscous · March 2010

Dehumanized wrote: »

It's a good thing Sony patented it before From Software got the idea and started making Demon's Souls 2...

You grind for experience points so that you can stay level 1 instead of going down to level 0 or worse. You can't go up to level 2 except on the final level.

joshofalltrades · March 2010

I suppose male refractory period extends to gaming weaponry now

LewieP · May 2010

New sony patent.

For some kind of "Dual Screen" device. I wonder where they got that idea.

New Sony patent means new Sony patent drawings. Sadly, they ain't that funny.

undeinPirat · May 2010

man i thought patent drawings were supposed to be all crazy in depth and such

this basically amounts to "okay it's a foldy thing with two screens, one for input, one for display, maybe some buttons on the side"

Penny Arcade

Photoshop thread: Sony patents a new sort of "emotion engine"

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