MODIFYING VIRTUAL ITEM STATES IN CONJUNCTION WITH DIGITAL BROADCAST

• US 20100125622A1
• Filed: 11/20/2008
• Published: 05/20/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Computer Entertainment Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: White, Payton R., Detwiler, Stephen C.
• Granted Patent: US 9,646,008 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/201
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/437 Administration of user profiles, e.g. generation, initialisation, adaptation, distribution
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/487 using geographical or spatial information, e.g. location
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/489 using time information
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0222 During e-commerce, i.e. online transactions

Abstract

An apparatus and computer implemented method for modifying a state of a virtual item and a corresponding computer-readable medium are disclosed. A receiving device receives information relating to one or more virtual items from a server via a broadcast signal. The information is filtered according to one or more criteria to select a selected virtual item from among the one or more virtual items. The criteria include a physical world location of the receiving device. A state of the selected virtual item is modified from an initial state to a modified state and information relating the modified state back is sent back to the server.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for modifying a state of a virtual item, comprising:

a) receiving information relating to one or more virtual items on a receiving device from a server via a broadcast signal;

b) filtering the information relating to the one or more virtual items according to one or more criteria to select a selected virtual item from among the one or more virtual items, wherein the one or more criteria include a physical world location of the receiving device;

c) modifying a state of the selected virtual item from an initial state to a modified state; and

d) sending information relating the modified state back to the server.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the information relating to one or more virtual items includes a physical world location tag associated with a state of one or more of the virtual items.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein b) includes filtering the information relating to the one or more virtual items based on a proximity of the receiving device to a physical world location associated with the physical world location tag.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein b) includes filtering the information relating to the one or more virtual items based on a state of the one or more virtual items.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein d) includes modifying the one or more virtual items by changing the physical world location tag.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein d) includes changing the physical world location associated with the physical world location tag.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the broadcast signal is a digital broadcast signal.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the digital broadcast signal is formatted according to an ATSC standard.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein a) includes receiving at least a portion of the digital broadcast signal and converting the received portion of the digital broadcast signal into the information relating to the one or more virtual items.

10. An apparatus for modifying a state of a virtual item, comprising:

a tuning device configured to receive a broadcast signal;

a computer processor coupled to the tuning device;

a memory coupled to the processor;

a backchannel communication link coupled to the processor;

a set of computer executable instructions that when executed by the computer processor cause the receiving device to implement a method for modifying a state of a virtual item, the method comprising;

a) receiving information relating to one or more virtual items from a server via a broadcast signal from a broadcast;

b) filtering the information relating to the one or more virtual items according to one or more criteria to select a selected virtual item from among the one or more virtual items, wherein the one or more criteria include a physical world location of the apparatus;

c) modifying a state of the selected virtual item from an initial state to a modified state; and

d) sending information relating the modified state back to the server via the backchannel communication link.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the backchannel includes a network interface configured to transmit the information relating to the modified state over a computer network.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the network interface is a wireless interface.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the backchannel includes a broadcast transmitter configured to transmit the information relating to the modified state via a broadcast transmission.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a position locating device operable to determine a physical world location of the apparatus.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a display coupled to the processor.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising a position locating device coupled to the processor.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein b) includes determining a location of the receiving device using the position locating device and presenting information relating to one or more of the virtual items with the display if the receiving device is located in sufficient proximity to a physical world location associated with one or more of the virtual items.

18. A computer-readable medium having embodied therein a set of computer readable instructions that, when executed by a computer, implement a method for modifying a state of a virtual item, the method comprising:

a) receiving information relating to one or more virtual items on a receiving device from a server via a broadcast signal;

b) filtering the information relating to the one or more virtual items according to one or more criteria to select a selected virtual item from among the one or more virtual items, wherein the one or more criteria include a physical world location of the receiving device;

c) modifying a state of the selected virtual item from an initial state to a modified state; and

d) sending information relating the modified state back to the server.

19. A method for broadcasting information relating to one or more virtual items, comprising:

sending information relating to one or more virtual items to be broadcast by a broadcast unit, wherein the information includes a physical world location associated with the virtual item;

receiving modifications to the virtual item information via a backchannel;

generating modified virtual item information based on the modifications; and

sending the modified virtual item information to the broadcast unit for broadcast.