WO2012035352A1

WO2012035352A1 - Dice

Info

Publication number: WO2012035352A1
Application number: PCT/GB2011/051737
Authority: WO
Inventors: John Sprange
Original assignee: John Sprange
Priority date: 2010-09-16
Filing date: 2011-09-15
Publication date: 2012-03-22
Also published as: GB2483793A; GB201015457D0; GB201115993D0; GB2497255A; GB201306069D0

Abstract

A die, one at least of whose faces is adapted to receive a succession of indicia, each of which indicia is adapted to co-operate with the said face sized to remain on the face during normal use of the die but which can be relatively readily removed from the face, and replaced with alternative indicia, when a user of the die so desires. Dice specifically intended to be used in the treatment of dementia, and methods so using them, are specifically described and illustrated.

Description

DICE

Field of the Invention

The invention relates to dice and may be embodied in a die, apparatus comprising a number (including one) of dice and instructions to use the or each such die, and the use of such a die or such an apparatus to improve a subject's perception. The invention is applicable with particular advantage to the treatment of dementia and one presently preferred example of it will be described and illustrated in this specification. The scope of the invention is defined in the numbered claims which follow the Description of the Preferred Embodiments. Review of Relevant Art Known to the Applicant

The word "die" and its more commonly used plural "dice" are familiar terms defining a multiple-faced solid used in game-play. In familiar manner the die or dice are rolled by a player, and the numbered score shown on the face or faces which come to rest uppermost is attributed to the player in what is conventionally referred to as that particular "throw" of the dice. Such dice conventionally have six square faces and each face carries a respective score number permanently inscribed on it. Dice of the kind outlined above are used hitherto exclusively in game play and are overwhelmingly conventionally six-sided with individually square faces constituting each side of the die. Often two such dice are thrown simultaneously and a player is credited with the combined score shown by the respective uppermost face of each die when the two dice come to rest. No further commonly accepted use of these game-playing dice is known to the Applicant.

The Inventive Concept In its broadest aspect the invention provides a die, one at least of whose faces is adapted to receive a succession of indicia, each of which indicia is adapted to co-operate with the said face so as to remain on the face during normal use of the die but which can be relatively readily removed from the face, and replaced with alternative indicia, when a user of the die so desires.

The versatility of such a die will become self-evident although the construction defined in the preceding paragraph is believed to be both new and inventive. The indicia used or supplied with such a die can range far beyond the conventional score-indicating numerals of the known die or dice. Means of attaching the indicia selectively to any one or more faces of the die can be selected from known alternatives by the intended skilled addressee of this specification; the concept, not the precise means of putting it into practice is the inventive step.

A development of this first broad aspect of the invention defined above is embodied in apparatus comprising a number of such dice and instructions to use at least one such die to improve a subject's perception.

The (human) subject could be for example an infant and the apparatus could include instructions setting out the way to use appropriate indicia with the die or dice to aid the infant's learning abilities. Or alternatively or additionally the die, or the apparatus including it, could comprise Braille markings on one or more of the faces of the die with another face, or other faces, being adapted to co-operate with indicia which might itself comprise Braille markings; thereby improving a partially sighted or blind subject's perception. In one particularly presently preferred embodiment of the invention, to be described and illustrated in this specification, a die embodying the invention is used to treat dementia in a human subject. The study of dementia nowadays engages the attention of doctors and psychiatrists increasingly because the occurrence of the illness is distressingly increasingly common. Such well known forms as Alzheimer's disease have affected well known figures including for example the famous 1960s advertising guru David Ogilvy and the former US President Ronald Reagan. For the last few years of their respective lives these men had little or no cognisance of their identity or surroundings. And most distressingly of all, the illness develops only gradually, causing loved ones much distress over a prolonged period.

In this preferred embodiment the invention breaks entirely new ground in the field of dementia study and caring. The dice embodying the invention are used to prompt the sufferer's positive memories, to stimulate conversation, provoke stories, and generally try to trigger responses which can be enjoyed with friends, family and professional carers. Apparatus including such dice with appropriate instruction and optional indicia, used correctly by a carer or relative of the subject, can help overcome the inherent social awkwardness of trying to converse with a person who is prone to memory lapses and inevitable repetition, by providing an effective "window" into the previous life experiences of the subject which might otherwise be hard, if not impossible, to access. Given time it might also provide a potential albeit rudimentary check on the deterioration of memory which is inevitable with dementia as the condition develops.

It is difficult if not impossible to imagine anything farther away from the simple known game-playing use of dice in a conventional context. To connect the two wholly disparate fields in this way involves an original and undoubted inventive step. Nothing in either field suggests combining them or anticipates the synergy which flows from that combination.

Presently preferred subsidiary features of the invention, each of which is believed to be novel and inventive in itself, are:

• A die embodying the invention and in which one face, only, is adapted to receive indicia. A die in combination with separately formed indicia adapted to be received on the die face in releasable peel-off form.

A die as just outlined and in which the peel-off indicia co-operate with their die face through the action of a touch-to-close fastener.

A die in which different face regions of the die have respectively differing tactile feel.

A die according to any preceding aspect and in which the die takes the form initially of a substantially flat blank foldable into an interconnected series of defined faces and with means to hold the blank in that form when so folded before or after receiving indicia on one at least of the thus-defined faces.

A die as just outlined and in which one at least of whose surfaces, when the die is assembled by folding it up, will be an internal surface, is adapted to receive indicia.

A die substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in any appropriate combination of the accompanying text and drawings.

Apparatus comprising a number of dice according to any of the preceding apects and instructions to use at least one such die to improve a subject's perception.

Use of a die according to any of claims these constructions, or of an apparatus incorporating usage instructions with at least one such die, in the treatment of dementia. A use falling within the scope of claim the preceding paragraph and carried out in any manner substantially as described herein. Description of the Preferred Embodiments

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The scope of the invention, as has been mentioned above, is defined in the claims which follow the description.

Brief Description of the Drawings

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 shows in perspective a die embodying the invention and indicia adapted to cooperate with one face of the die to put the invention into practice;

Figures 2 and 3 show respectively different ways in which alternative indicia are adapted to co-operate with a face of another die embodying the invention; and

Figure 4, drawn like the others in perspective, shows an alternative form of die embodying the invention. Description of the Preferred Embodiments

In Figure 1 a die takes the form of a solid plastics dodecahedron, i.e. a twelve-sided solid with, as shown, equally sized pentagonal faces. One face, only, 1 1 of the die has its periphery, only, edged with the hooks of a filamentary hook-and-eye fastener of the kind sold under the trade mark VELCRO. The co-operating eye-strip of the fastener is used to edge the underside periphery of a tab 13 which, in use, attaches to the face 1 1 of the die in such a way as to remain attached to it during normal use of the die; but to be readily removable when a user so desires, by pulling up a section 14 which protrudes from one edge of the tab 13 and therefore projects from, and is not secured to, the periphery of the face 1 1 in use.

The tab 13 in use bears indicia (not shown) which can comprise any one or more of, for example, words; pictures; numbers; Braille markings; geometric patterns or other desired memory triggers appropriate to the subject on whom the dice are being used as part of a treatment for dementia. In the die illustrated, one face only is so marked with indicia via its tab 13, and this is deliberate; the subject, handling and subsequently rolling the die, must feel or scrabble after it to expose the indicia and the effort of doing this in itself might just trigger his or her memory in the way desired.

Instructions to a professional carer as to the correct way to use a die, or dice, of the kind illustrated will form part of apparatus embodied as a pack for sale or supply to carers, care homes, family members, students or anyone with an appropriate interest in or concern for a dementia sufferer. Following diagnosis, hopefully at early-onset stage, of the condition then appropriately non-public trials could confirm, it is believed, the usefulness of these dice in at least trying to alleviate the subject's frustration.

In Figures 2 and 3 the indicia take the form, respectively, of a preformed and relatively rigid plastics tab (again referenced 13) from whose underside there projects one or more pegs 15, formed integrally with the tab, to locate the tab as a frictional push-fit into cooperating recesses 16 in the pentagonal face of the dodecahedral die body. In Figure 3 the tab is a pre-formed letter and whilst the letter as shown is of course out of scale, the possibility to form words with several such letters on one or more adjacent faces of the die is evident from this disclosure. Similarly a tab of the kind shown in Figure 2 or for that matter Figure 1 could be used on adjacent faces of a die and so require the subject to turn the die over in his hands to absorb a complete message.

Figure 4 shows another form of die embodying the invention and intended again to help dementia sufferers. In this embodiment the die is a pyramid whose three sides are initially folded up from a pre-formed flat blank around lines of weakness scored into the blank and with means (which can be selected from known alternatives) to bring adjacent edges together, as shown, to form a hollow pyramid. One way of doing this is the co-operating tabs and eyes illustrated at 19. Indicia 17, 18 are written respectively onto the inside and outside surfaces of the die shown in Figure 4. In this particular instance they are inscribed using a felt tip marker pen of known kind and each inside and outside surface of the Figure 4 die is adapted so as to receive such markings and subsequently to allow them to be erased, and written over with future markings in known manner. In all these described and illustrated embodiments the method of treatment is essentially the same. A carer or other user of the die gives it to a subject suffering from dementia. The carer, the subject, or both then attach indicia to one or more faces of the die. The indicia are dictated by the carer reading for example a booklet, summarising the subject's past, concentrating on known highlights which might trigger memory. The subject turns the die in his or her hands, studying the indicia, in the hope that appropriate ones of the indicia may indeed trigger a memory burst which starts a conversation along a theme. The carer, throughout the time spent with the subject in this way, notes responses and reactions with a view to using the information so gathered to dictate subsequent use of the die in attempting at least to alleviate the progress of the condition.

Pre-printed indicia in the form of, for example, peel-off strips or tabs could be used with the die forms illustrated. These could be removable as blanks from a single sheet in which individual blanks, readily removed by for example separating them from an adhesive backing, are ready to be printed and then fixed to a respective one of the die faces. Such blanks could be sized and shaped to overlie deliberately two adjacent pentagonal faces of the die and with a single message or memory trigger phrase running from one face to the other, thus obliging the user to turn the die in his hand in order to grasp the whole memory trigger message. Anything of this kind involving simultaneous physical manipulation of the die as well as reading its message or messages could trigger memory associations beneficially. One such peel-off tab, carrying in this instance the trigger message "MIAMI 97", is shown in broken line in Figure 1. The particular form of the invention described above and illustrated in the drawings may be identified by a trade mark such as MIND DICE in indirect reference to both its partial form and its intended use. Other uses of dice embodying the invention are apparent once the invention has been revealed in the claims which follow. For example a soft-surface die, designed easily to be pressed by an infant, could emit sounds triggering a learning response in the infant's mind and the indicia on the face could link that response visually with the audible stimulus just emitted by the die.

Whilst the die shown in Figure 1 is a solid body, and the tab 13 of Figure 1 is a flexible tear-off strip, one inventive modification would be to make the tab as a solid and relatively inflexible lid to a hollow dodecahedron. The interior of the dodecahedron (or of course any other suitably shaped body) could then contain for example electronic circuitry, further mementoes which might trigger memory bursts, or other appropriate content. Alternatively the dodecahedron or other solid could comprise a framework to whose framework members a succession of respective pentagonal (in the Figure 1 instance) sides could be selectively and detachably fixed by the subject, the carer conversing with the subject, or other appropriate handler of the die. In practical embodiments it is currently envisaged that any die embodying the invention will have a minimum overall diameter of, say, approximately 10cm because this is large enough to be a talking point whilst being generally too big to go into the pocket of a user's jacket or trousers. In practical embodiments also the edges of the die may be radiused in generally known manner to make it easier for the die to be rolled if desired. Other modifications within the scope of the invention will become apparent to the skilled reader. In that context, the VELCRO-style tab fastening of Figure 1 could be replaced by any other suitable touch-and- close fastening mechanism including a peel-off adhesive as outlined above.

The use of a filamentary hook and eye fastening mechanism is nevertheless particularly advantageous and is thought to involve an inventive step, because the well known

"ripping" sound which such fasteners make, when their halves are separated, could prove an aural memory trigger in its own right.

Claims

1. A die, one at least of whose faces is adapted to receive a succession of indicia, each of which indicia is adapted to co-operate with the said face so as to remain on the face during normal use of the die but which can be relatively readily removed from the face, and replaced with alternative indicia, when a user of the die so desires.

2. A die according to claim 1 and in which one face, only, is adapted to receive indicia.

3. A die according to claim 1 or claim 2 in combination with separately formed indicia adapted to be received on the die face in releasable peel-off form.

4. A die according to claim 3 and in which the peel-off indicia co-operate with their die face through the action of a touch-to-close fastener.

5. A die according to any preceding claim and in which different face regions of the die have respectively differing tactile feel.

6. A die according to any preceding claim and in which the die takes the form initially of a substantially flat blank foldable into an interconnected series of defined faces and with means to hold the blank in that form when so folded before or after receiving indicia on one at least of the thus-defined faces.

7. A die according to claim 6 one at least of whose surfaces which, when the die is assembled by folding it up, will be an internal surface, is adapted to receive indicia.

8. A die substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in any appropriate combination of the accompanying text and drawings.

9. Apparatus comprising a number of dice according to any of the preceding claims and instructions to use at least one such die to improve a subject's perception.

1 1. Use of an apparatus according to claim 9 in the treatment of dementia.

12. A use falling within the scope of claim 10 or claim 1 1 and carried out in manner substantially as described herein.