Video of a proof of concept:


The idea is to create a board game where anyone can play a game they've never played , even if they don't know the rules. The console will teach them (based on whichever game is played) by providing feedback, audio and video, through the board, around the pieces. The Console will count money, points, show multimedia as things happen on the screen (i.e. explosion, building construction, etc.)

Special storage is made around the board to store physical pieces. Special "hiding cap" can be hooked around the board, allowing for a small portion of the board to only be seen by a given user (i.e. think of scrabble where only the user sees his letters). No need for smartphone, no need for wifi (while we can leverage that, but not mandatory). This is pure social table top games, version 2.0.

My proof of concept is using a multi-touch 27 inches LCD screen with a minix (android tv). I removed the casing of both, stuck the minix in the lcd, replaced back the case. I had to get a special driver modified so the multi-touch worked. The video shows a basic software detecting my metal piece through the 3 touch points, provide the coordinate and move as the piece move.

Below are a few pieces I did. the first one is a hot wheel (made of metal) which i drilled and glued 3 of those cheap tablet pen (rubber prevents scrapping the lcd obviously). The others are 3D printed. My goal is to either use conductive paint or some other mechanism. If I put a battery in my dice, the points can generate the coordinate so the game knows how much a player would roll.

(I obviously don't own Monopoly's right, this is just a screenshot of their board to give you an idea).