METHODS OF EFFICIENTLY RECORDING AND REPRODUCING ACTIVITY HISTORY IN VIRTUAL WORLD

• US 20090150357A1
• Filed: 12/04/2008
• Published: 06/11/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Iizuka, Shinji
• Granted Patent: US 8,271,491 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/10 Control of the course of the game, e.g. start, progess, end
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/12 involving interaction between a plurality of game devices, e.g. transmisison or distribution systems protocols for networked virtual reality, networked games H04L29/06034
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/30 Interconnection arrangements between game servers and game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/45 Controlling the progress of the video game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5533 using program state or machine event data, e.g. server keeps track of the state of multiple players on in a multiple player game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/554 by saving game or status data
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5553 user representation in the game field, e.g. avatar
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 3/006 based on simulated virtual individual or collective life forms, e.g. social simulations or particle swarm optimisation [PSO]

Abstract

An apparatus and method for recording activities of an avatar in a virtual world by means of a computer including: means for dividing the virtual world into a plurality of blocks each provided with a unique ID; means for recording a movement history in a storage area of the computer, the movement history including the ID of each block which an avatar acting in the virtual world enters and a time point at which the avatar enters the block; means for deleting the movement history between the first and the last blocks of a plurality of blocks which the avatar enters if the plurality of blocks are continuous in a straight line in one direction; and activity record DB recording means for recording, as an activity dataset in an activity record DB, an event content, the movement history and a repetition count of an event.

Claims

1. An activity recording apparatus for recording activities of an avatar in a virtual world by means of a computer, comprising:

block dividing means for dividing the virtual world into a plurality of blocks each provided with a unique ID;

movement history recording means for recording a movement history in a storage area of the computer, the movement history including an entered block ID for each block into which an avatar acting in the virtual world enters, and a time point at which the avatar enters the block;

movement history deleting means for deleting the movement history between the first and last blocks of a plurality of blocks which the avatar enters if the plurality of blocks are continuous, in a straight line and in one direction; and

activity record database (DB) recording means for recording, as an activity dataset in an activity record DB, an event content, the movement history and a repetition count of an event when the event occurs with an activity of the avatar;

wherein the activity record DB recording means is means for recording an activity dataset together with the repetition count of the activity and, when there is an already existing activity dataset having the same entered block ID and event content as a new activity dataset, the activity record DB recording means increments by one and records the repetition count of the already existing activity dataset.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the block dividing means is means for performing the block division such that each of the blocks can overlap all the adjacent blocks on the left, right, front, back, top and bottom sides partially by a predetermined distance and it is determined that the avatar enters a block at a time point when the avatar enters the block and moves the predetermined distance inside from the boundary of the block.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the movement history recording means includes movement history deleting means that, when the avatar enters a block for the second time, deletes the movement history between the first entrance to the block and the second entrance thereto.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, in a case where the computer is a client computer and shares the virtual world with other client computers through communications with a server, the activity record DB recording means further includes transmitting means for transmitting the activity dataset to the server through a communication interface and the activity dataset transmitted to the server by the transmitting means is also recorded in the server.

5. A memory recall assistance apparatus for providing memory recall assistance to a user by a computer, the user operating an avatar in a virtual world divided into a plurality of blocks each provided with a unique ID, the apparatus comprising:

search means of searching an activity record DB, including recorded activity datasets, to find an activity dataset containing an entered block ID of the avatar, the activity datasets each obtained by recording data on an activity of an avatar including an event content, a movement history and a repetition count of the activity;

determination means for determining whether the found activity dataset is appropriate for the memory recall assistance; and

display means for displaying, on a display of the computer, the activity dataset determined as appropriate for the memory recall assistance;

wherein the determination means includes means for calculating an importance score of the activity dataset from the event content and the repetition count and means for determining that the activity dataset is appropriate for the memory recall assistance if the importance score is greater than a predetermined value; and

wherein the display means includes means for displaying the movement history of the activity dataset near the avatar and means for displaying the event content of the activity dataset near the avatar.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the means for displaying the movement history is means for successively displaying graphic images of the avatar from the avatar to a location where the event occurred.

7. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the means for displaying the event content is means for displaying the event content near either the avatar or the location where the event occurred.

8. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the virtual world is shared by a server computer and a plurality of client computers, the activity record DB is recorded in the server computer, and each of the means operates by using activity datasets of the activity record DB to assist the user to recall memory according to an activity dataset of another client computer.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the memory recall assistance based on activity datasets of the other client computers is distinctively displayed with an attribute different from that of the memory recall assistance based on its own activity dataset.

10. An activity recording method for recording activities of an avatar in a virtual world by means of a computer, the method comprising:

a step of dividing the virtual world into a plurality of blocks each provided with a unique ID;

a step of recording a movement history in a storage area of the computer, the movement history including the ID of each block which an avatar acting in the virtual world enters, and a time point at which the avatar enters the block;

a step of deleting the movement history between the first and the last blocks of a plurality of blocks which the avatar enters if the plurality of blocks are continuous, in a straight line and in one direction; and

an activity record DB recording step of recording, as an activity dataset, an event content, the movement history and a repetition count of an event when the event occurs with an activity of the avatar;

wherein the activity record DB recording step is a step of recording an activity dataset together with the repetition count of the activity and, in the activity record DB recording step, when there is an already existing activity dataset having the same entered block ID and event content as a new activity dataset, the repetition count of the already existing activity dataset is incremented by one and then recorded.

12. A computer readable article of manufacture tangibly embodying computer readable instructions for executing the steps of a method according to claim 10, said method comprising:

a step of dividing the virtual world into a plurality of blocks each provided with a unique ID;

a step of recording a movement history in a storage area of the computer, the movement history including the ID of each block which an avatar acting in the virtual world enters, and a time point at which the avatar enters the block

a step of deleting the movement history between the first and the last blocks of a plurality of blocks which the avatar enters if the plurality of blocks are continuous in a straight line in one direction; and

an activity record DB recording step of recording, as an activity dataset, an event content, the movement history and a repetition count of an event when the event occurs with an activity of the avatar, wherein

the activity record DB recording step is a step of recording an activity dataset together with the repetition count of the activity, and

in the activity record DB recording step, when there is an already existing activity dataset having the same entered block ID and event content as a new activity dataset, the repetition count of the already existing activity dataset is incremented by one and then recorded.

11. A memory recall assistance method for assisting a user to recall memory by a computer, the user operating an avatar in a virtual world divided into a plurality of blocks each provided with a unique ID, the method comprising:

a step of searching an activity record DB including recorded activity datasets to find an activity dataset containing an entered block ID of the avatar, the activity datasets each obtained by recording data on an activity of an avatar including an event content, a movement history and a repetition count of the activity;

a determination step of determining whether the found activity dataset is appropriate for the memory recall assistance; and

a display step of displaying, on a display of the computer, the activity dataset determined as appropriate for the memory recall assistance;

wherein the determination step includes a step of calculating an importance score of the activity dataset from the event content and the repetition count and a step of determining that the activity dataset is appropriate for the memory recall assistance if the importance score is greater than a predetermined value; and

wherein the display step includes a step of displaying the movement history of the activity dataset near the avatar and a step of displaying the event content of the activity dataset near the avatar.

13. A computer readable article of manufacture tangibly embodying computer readable instructions for executing the steps of a method according to claim 11, said method comprising:

a step of searching an activity record DB including recorded activity datasets to find an activity dataset containing an entered block ID of the avatar, the activity datasets each obtained by recording data on an activity of an avatar including an event content, a movement history and a repetition count of the activity;

a determination step of determining whether the found activity dataset is appropriate for the memory recall assistance; and

a display step of displaying, on a display of the computer, the activity dataset determined as appropriate for the memory recall assistance;

wherein the determination step includes a step of calculating an importance score of the activity dataset from the event content and the repetition count and a step of determining that the activity dataset is appropriate for the memory recall assistance if the importance score is greater than a predetermined value; and

wherein the display step includes a step of displaying the movement history of the activity dataset near the avatar and a step of displaying the event content of the activity dataset near the avatar.