METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR RECORDING EVENTS IN VIRTUAL WORLDS

• US 20100124360A1
• Filed: 11/13/2009
• Published: 05/20/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hou, Jun, Wang, Jian, Ye, Meng, Zhu, Zi Yu, Lan, Dong Jun, Lu, Sheng
• Granted Patent: US 8,355,535 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/103
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/173 face re-identification, e.g. recognising unknown faces across different face tracks
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/76 Television signal recording

Abstract

A method and an apparatus for recording an event in a virtual world. The method includes acquiring camera view regions of avatars joining the event; identifying one or more key avatars and/or key objects based on information about the targets in the camera view regions of the avatars; setting one or more recorders for the identified one or more key avatars and/or key objects for recording the event such that the one or more key avatars and/or key objects are located in the camera view regions of the one or more recorders. The apparatus includes devices configured to perform the steps of the method.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for recording an event in a virtual world, comprising the steps of:

acquiring camera view regions of avatars joining in the event;

identifying at least one key target based on information about the targets in the camera view regions of the avatars; and

setting at least one recorder for the identified at least one key target for recording the event such that the at least one key target is located in the camera view regions of the at least one recorder.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

grouping the key targets based on distances between them so the key targets, separated by distances which are less than a predefined threshold, are grouped into a same group;

wherein the step of setting at least one recorder includes setting the recorders for each group such that the key targets in each group are located in respective camera view regions of the recorders.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of setting at least one recorder includes setting the recorders such that the key targets are located in central positions of the camera view regions of the recorders.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of setting at least one recorder includes setting the recorders such that faces of the key targets are located in the camera view regions of the recorders.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the information about the targets in the camera view regions comprises at least one of frequencies, times and length of duration that the targets appear in the camera view regions.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

setting a secondary recorder such that its camera view region is identical to the camera view regions of the avatar identified as the key target.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

setting a secondary recorder such that its camera view region includes targets that are not key targets.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

setting one or more overall scene recorders to record the overall scene of the event from different points of view.

9. Apparatus for recording an event in a virtual world, comprising:

an acquisition device configured for acquiring camera view regions of avatars joining in the event;

an identification device configured for identifying at least one key target based on information about the target in the camera view regions of the avatars; and

a setting device configured for setting for the identified key targets one or more recorders for recording the event such that the at least one key target is located in the camera view regions of the at least one recorder.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising:

a grouping device configured for grouping the key targets based on distances between them so the key targets, the distances between which are less than a predefined threshold, are grouped into a same group;

wherein the setting device is further configured for setting the recorders for each group such that the key targets in the each group are located in the respective camera view regions of the recorders.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the setting device is further configured for setting the recorders such that the key targets are located in central positions of the camera view regions of the recorders.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the setting device is further configured for setting the recorders such that faces of the key targets are located in the camera view regions of the recorders.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the information about the targets in the camera view regions comprises at least one of frequencies, times and length of duration that the target appears in the camera view regions.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the setting device is further configured for setting a secondary recorder such that its camera view region is identical to the camera view region of the avatar identified as the key target.

15. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the setting device is further configured for setting a secondary recorder such that its camera view region comprises non-key targets.

16. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the setting device is further configured for setting one or more overall scene recorders so as to record the overall scene of the event from different points of view.