Patent ID: 7445550

Claim:
An interactive play system for simulating magical effects, the play system comprising: a motion-activated toy wand comprising: an elongated body including distal and proximal ends, sensor circuitry configured to detect one or more particular acceleration forces on the elongated body of said motion-activated toy wand, the sensor circuitry being further configured to generate an activation signal when a first acceleration force on the distal end of said elongated body exceeds a first threshold amount and a second acceleration force on the proximal end of said elongated body is less than a second threshold amount, the first threshold amount being different than the second threshold amount, and a light emitting module in communication with said sensor circuitry and configured to selectively output a first signal from at least one of said distal and proximal ends based on said activation signal; a display device capable of receiving the first signal at arbitrary positions on the display device; an image generator configured to cause at least one image to appear on said display device; at least one camera directed toward at least a portion of said display device and configured to output image data indicative of said arbitrary positions of the first signal; and control circuitry in communication with said image generator and said at least one camera, wherein said control circuitry is further configured to process said output image data to recognize the arbitrary positions, and wherein said control circuitry is configured to cause said image generator to modify said at least one image based on the arbitrary positions.