Object display system in a virtual world

• US 7,101,284 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2002
• Issued: 09/05/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Computer Entertainment Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Computer Entertainment Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Ohba, Akio, Kake, Tomokazu
• Primary Examiner(s): BROCKETTI, JULIE K
• Application Number:
  US10/286,731
• Publication Number:
  US 20030126035A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,405 Days
• Field of Search: 463 30- 33, 463/1, 463/42
• US Class Current: 463/31
• 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 13/35 Details of game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/45 Controlling the progress of the video game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/52 involving aspects of the displayed game scene
• 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 13/61 using advertising information
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/79 involving player-related data, e.g. identities, accounts, preferences or play histories
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/208 for storing personal settings or data of the player
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/50 characterized by details of game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5506 using advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/64 for computing dynamical parameters of game objects, e.g. motion determination or computation of frictional forces for a virtual car
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/66 for rendering three dimensional images
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

An apparatus for displaying an object such as a billboard in a virtual world is provided. An input history of a user'"'"'s operation for moving a character in the virtual world is obtained. The movement track of the character in the virtual world is also obtained. The position and direction of the billboard are changed according to the input history and the movement track so that the billboard is visible to the user. For instance, on a street where the user is expected to move at a high speed, the direction of the billboard is changed so that its display surface can face the front of the character and the billboard is displayed in a position far away from the user'"'"'s viewing position.

Claims

1. An object display apparatus comprising:

an input history obtaining unit which obtains an input history of a user'"'"'s operation for moving an operational object in a virtual world and stores the input history as a user profile;

a discriminating unit which examines whether or not a current operation of the user for moving the operational object reflect the stored input history and thereby determines whether the user profile needs to be applied or not; and

a display control unit which displays a display object on which information is displayed to be recognized by the user in the virtual world in such a manner that the display object is visible to the user according to speed of movement of the operational object which is judged from the input history, when the discriminating unit determines that the user profile needs to be applied.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the display control unit adjusts a distance between a display position of the display object and a view position of the user according to the speed of movement.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the display control unit adjusts a direction of the display object toward a view direction of the user according to the speed of movement.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the display control unit adjusts a direction of the display object toward a view direction of the user according to the speed of movement.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a selecting unit which selects the information to be displayed on the display object according to a preference of the user.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a selecting unit which selects the information to be displayed on the display object according to a purpose of the user'"'"'s exploring the virtual world.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a selecting unit which selects different information to be displayed on the display object according to areas in the virtual world or according to time when a user explores the virtual world.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a selecting unit which selects same information to be displayed on the display object for each of users who explore the virtual world as a same group.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a visibility range judging unit which judges a range of visibility of a user who sees the virtual world based on a direction of movement and a speed of movement of the operational object which the user operates in the virtual world, and wherein the display control unit displays the display object within the judged visibility range.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a land value setting unit which sets for each user a land value for an area in the virtual world based on the movement track of the operational object of the user.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the land value setting unit sets for each user a temporary land value for the area in the virtual world based on the movement track of the operational object of the user, and then sets a land value to be charged to each user based on the temporary land value and a general land value for the area in the virtual world.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a visibility range judging unit which judges a range of visibility of a user who sees the virtual world based on a direction of movement and a speed of movement of the user in the virtual world, and wherein the land value setting unit sets for each user a land value for an area in the virtual world based on the movement track and the visibility range of the user.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising an advertisement fee setting unit which determines an advertisement fee when a user displays an advertisement in an area by averaging the land values of the area set for respective users.

14. An object display apparatus comprising:

a movement track obtaining unit which obtains a movement track of an operational object which can be operated by a user in a virtual world and stores the movement track as a user profile;

a discriminating unit which examines whether or not the operational object is moving along the stored movement track and thereby determines whether the user profile needs to be applied or not; and

a display control unit which displays a display object on which information is displayed to be recognized by the user in the virtual world in such a manner that the display object is visible to the user based on the movement track of the operational object, when the discriminating unit determines that the user profile needs to be applied.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the display control unit changes a display position of the display object based on the movement track.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the display control unit changes a display direction of the display object based on the movement track.

17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the display control unit changes a display direction of the display object based on the movement track.

18. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising a selecting unit which selects the information to be displayed on the display object according to a preference of the user.

19. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising a selecting unit which selects the information to be displayed on the display object according to a purpose of the user'"'"'s exploring the virtual world.

20. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising a selecting unit which selects different information to be displayed on the display object according to areas in the virtual world or according to time when a user explores the virtual world.

21. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising a selecting unit which selects same information to be displayed on the display object for each of users who explore the virtual world as a same group.

22. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising a visibility range judging unit which judges a range of visibility of a user who sees the virtual world based on a direction of movement and a speed of movement of the operational object which the user operates in the virtual world, and wherein the display control unit displays the display object within the judged visibility range.

23. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising a land value setting unit which sets for each user a land value for an area in the virtual world based on the movement track of the operational object of the user.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the land value setting unit which sets for each user a temporary land value for the area in the virtual world based on the movement track of the operational object of the user, and then sets a land value to be charged to each user based on the temporary land value and a general land value for the area in the virtual world.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising a visibility range judging unit which judges a range of visibility of a user who sees the virtual world based on a direction of movement and a speed of movement of the user in the virtual world, and wherein the land value setting unit sets for each user a land value for an area in the virtual world based on the movement track and the visibility range of the user.

26. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising an advertisement fee setting unit which determines an advertisement fee when a user displays an advertisement in an area by averaging the land values of the area set for respective users.

27. An object display apparatus comprising:

a movement track obtaining unit which obtains a plurality of movement tracks each of which is a movement track of an operational object which each of a plurality of users operates in a virtual world and determines an area where the operational objects operated by the plurality of the users gather;

a visibility range judging unit which judges a range of visibility of a user who sees the virtual world based on a direction of movement and a speed of movement of the operational object which the user operates in the virtual world; and

a display control unit which displays a display object on which information is displayed to be recognized by a user in such a manner that the display object lies within the range of visibility judged for each user who comes into the area in the virtual world where the operational objects gather.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the display control unit moves the display object from a predetermined initial display position to the area in the virtual world where the operational objects gather.

29. The apparatus of claim 27, further comprising an advertisement fee setting unit which sets a fee for an advertisement to be displayed in an area in the virtual world, based on a result of taking statistics of the movement tracks of the operational objects of the respective users.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the advertisement fee setting unit sets a temporary fee for the advertisement to be displayed in the area in the virtual world based on the result of taking statistics of the movement tracks of the operational objects of the respective users, and then sets an advertisement fee to be charged based on the temporary fee and a general advertisement fee of the area in the virtual world.

31. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the advertisement fee setting unit adds a prescribed additional fee to the fee for the advertisement when the display control unit changes a direction of the advertisement so that a display surface of the advertisement can face the area where the operational objects gather.

32. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the advertisement fee setting unit adds a prescribed additional fee to the fee for the advertisement when the display control unit displays the advertisement after moving the advertisement to the area where the operational objects gather.

33. The apparatus of claim 29, further comprising a visibility range judging unit which judges a range of visibility of a user who sees the virtual world based on a direction of movement and a speed of movement of the user in the virtual world, and wherein the advertisement fee setting unit adds a prescribed additional fee to the fee for the advertisement when the display control unit displays the advertisement within the visibility range.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the visibility range judging unit detects a length of time a same visibility range is maintained continuously by a user and obtains the range as a visibility range of the user if the length of time exceeds a prescribed value.

35. An object display system comprising a terminal and a server which are connected to a network, wherein the terminal comprises:

an obtaining unit which obtains data of a user'"'"'s operation for moving an operational object in a virtual world;

a communication unit which sends the data of the operation to the server and receives from the server data of an object in the virtual world corresponding to the operation; and

a display unit which displays an image of the virtual world using the data of the object, and

wherein the server comprises;

an input history obtaining unit which obtains an input history of a user'"'"'s movement operation from the data of the operation received from the terminal and stores the input history; and

a display control unit which displays on the terminal a display object on which information is displayed to be recognized by the user in the virtual world in such a manner that the display object is visible to the user according to speed of movement of the operational object which is judged from the input history.

36. An object display method comprising:

detecting a speed of movement of an operational object which a user can operate in a virtual world;

judging a range of visibility of a user who sees the virtual world based on a direction of movement and the speed of movement of the operational object which the user operates in the virtual world; and

displaying a display object on which information is displayed to be recognized by the user in the virtual world in such a manner that a display position and a display direction of the display object are adjusted within the judged range of visibility according to the detected speed of movement.

37. An object display method comprising:

detecting a movement track of an operational object which a user can operate in a virtual world;

judging a range of visibility of a user who sees the virtual world based on a direction of movement and a speed of movement of the operational object which the user operates in the virtual world; and

displaying a display object on which information is displayed to be recognized by the user in the virtual world in such a manner that a display position of the display object is changed from a predefined initial display position to within the judged range of visibility and a display direction of the display object is changed from a predefined initial display direction according to the detected movement track.

38. An object display method comprising:

detecting a movement track of an operational object which a user can operate in a virtual world;

determining an area in the virtual world where a plurality of the operational objects gather based on the movement tracks of a plurality of users;

judging a range of visibility of a user who sees the virtual world based on a direction of movement and a speed of movement of the operational object which the user operates in the virtual world; and

displaying a display object on which information is displayed to be recognized by a user in such a manner that the display object lies within the range of visibility judged for each user who comes in the area where the plurality of the operational objects gather.

39. A method for setting an advertisement fee in a virtual world comprising:

detecting movement tracks of a plurality of users who explore the virtual world;

taking statistics of the detected movement tracks of the plurality of the users;

setting an advertisement fee of an area in the virtual world based on the statistics of the movement tracks of the plurality of the users; and

judging a range of visibility of each user who sees the virtual world based on a direction of movement and a speed of movement for the user in the virtual world; and

adding a prescribed additional fee to a fee for an advertisement when an advertisement is displayed within the judged visibility range.