System and methods for creating virtual environments

• US 10,062,354 B2
• Filed: 10/08/2015
• Issued: 08/28/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DimensionalMechanics, Inc.
• Original Assignee: DimensionalMechanics, Inc.
• Inventors: Dutt, Rajeev
• Primary Examiner(s): Richer, Joni
• Application Number:
  US14/878,262
• Publication Number:
  US 20160293133A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,055 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/55 Controlling game characters or game objects based on the game progress
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/57 Simulating properties, behaviour or motion of objects in the game world, e.g. computing tyre load in a car race game A63F13/56 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/67 adaptively or by learning from player actions, e.g. skill level adjustment or by storing successful combat sequences for re-use
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6027 using adaptive systems learning from user actions, e.g. for skill level adjustment
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8082 Virtual reality
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/20 Software design
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/38 for implementing user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/00 Arrangements for program control, e.g. control units program control for peripheral devices G06F13/10
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4411 Configuring for operating with peripheral devices; Loading of device drivers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/455 Emulation; Interpretation; Software simulation, e.g. virtualisation or emulation of application or operating system execution engines
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 3/047 Probabilistic or stochastic networks
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 7/01 Probabilistic graphical models, e.g. probabilistic networks
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2370/022 Centralised management of display operation, e.g. in a server instead of locally
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/006 Details of the interface to the display terminal specific for a display terminal using a CRT G09G1/167; using a flat panel G09G3/2096; circuits for interfacing with colour displays G09G5/04
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/083 for increasing network speed
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0886 Fully automatic configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/131 Protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/60 Scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests, e.g. requests for application data transmissions using the analysis and optimisation of the required network resources admission control or resource allocation H04L47/70

Abstract

Systems and methods for creating entities that operate within a virtual environment, where in some embodiments the entities are substantially autonomous in the sense that they are capable of communications and interactions with the environment and other entities. In some embodiments, the entities may be capable of interacting with an environment other than the one in which they were created and originally configured. In some embodiments, the entities may engage in interactions with other entities that operate to enable changes in behavior of one or both of the entities.

Claims

1. A virtual environment system for providing access to virtual entities for multiple users, the system comprising at least one server configured to:

communicatively connect to at least one communication network, the communication network providing communication to user devices for interfacing with virtual entities in the virtual environment system;

support a kernel environment that controls at least one of a physics engine, a gaming engine, a rendering engine, data input and output, a runtime, database access, and storage access;

support a core data structure having modules, wherein each module corresponds to a virtual entity and includes behavior logic and representational data for the corresponding virtual entity;

create a virtual entity by instantiating the core data structure, creating a foundation runtime for the core data structure configured to execute the behavior logic imparted by the module corresponding to an entity to the entity, and communicate with other core foundation runtimes;

support event messaging between a first and a second virtual entity and between a virtual entity and the virtual environment by, responsive to detecting an event message, identifying an instantiated core data structure to which the event message is registered, forward the event message to the identified core; and

process the event message in accordance with logic defined in the core data structure for handling the received event message;

render representational data for the virtual entity for presentation to at least one user external to the virtual environment; and

provide at least one interface for the one user to perceive the virtual entity.

2. The virtual environment system of claim 1, where the system is further configured to provide at least one capability to allow virtual environments originating from different sources or platforms to interact with one another.

3. The virtual environment system of claim 1, where the system is further configured to provide at least one capability to allow a virtual entity to navigate between disparate unrelated virtual environments.

4. The virtual environment system of claim 1, wherein the created virtual entity is associated with an electronically stored data structure, and further, wherein the associated data structure includes an event handler, executable logic, and data storage.

5. The virtual environment system of claim 4, wherein the event handler operates to detect an event emitted by another entity or by the virtual environment, and in response to determine if the detected event is directed to the created virtual entity.

6. The virtual environment system of claim 5, wherein if the detected event is directed to the created virtual entity, then the created virtual entity processes the event by extracting microcode contained within the event.

7. The virtual environment system of claim 6, wherein the extracted microcode is executable by the created virtual entity and operates to alter the executable logic of the created virtual entity.

8. The virtual environment system of claim 7, wherein the extracted microcode functions to correct an error in the current executable logic of the created virtual entity or to alter the functionality of the created virtual entity.

9. The virtual environment system of claim 8, wherein the error is a security flaw within the executable logic.

10. The virtual environment system of claim 5, wherein the detected event is one of a query, a notification, or an executable.

11. The virtual environment system of claim 4, wherein the data structure associated with a created virtual entity includes executable logic that enables the created virtual entity to perform a specified task.

12. The virtual environment system of claim 11, wherein the specified task includes representing the behavior of a real entity external to the virtual environment.

13. The virtual environment system of claim 1, wherein a module is operable to be used to generate one or more virtual entities.

14. The virtual environment system of claim 1, wherein the virtual environment is a representation of one of an economic system, a communications system, a transportation system, or a social group.

15. The virtual environment system of claim 1, wherein the system is configured to cause the dissemination of an event, message, or microcode among a plurality of virtual entities in accordance with a Log (N) behavior, where N is the number of entities.

16. The virtual environment system of claim 1, wherein the kernel environment supports one or more of an executable model of an interaction between a first virtual entity and a second virtual entity or an executable model of an interaction between a virtual entity and a feature of the virtual environment.

17. The virtual environment system of claim 1, wherein the kernel environment supports an executable process to optimize the transfer of data between the virtual environment system and a device operated by a user.

18. The virtual environment system of claim 17, wherein the executable process to optimize the transfer of data includes one or more of a process or sub-process to determine a conditional probability between a plurality of pairs of events occurring within the system for generating the virtual environment, a process or sub-process to generate a prediction of an event or events likely to occur within the system based on the conditional probabilities, and a process or sub-process to pre-compute the expected response or responses to the predicted event or events.