Virtual reality universe realized as a distributed location network
First Claim
1. A system for enabling a visitor to access VR representations authored by different authors of locations in a virtual universe via a computer network, the system comprising:
- a plurality of VR data sets, each VR data set defining a VR representation of a location, each data set independently authored by a respective author different from the other authors;
means for receiving and storing a VR data set from the author of the VR data set;
one or more VR data servers adapted to access and transmit the VR data sets, each VR data set associated with a VR data server for access to the VR data set;
domain data, the domain data comprising the location within the universe of each VR representation and the network address of the VR data server associated with the VR representation;
a domain server adapted to access and transmit domain data; and
a client host adapted to communicate with the domain server to receive domain data representing the network address of the VR data server associated with a selected VR representation, the client host further adapted to communicate with that VR data server to access the VR data set defining the VR representation without leaving the virtual universe.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A virtual reality network provides access to a number of virtual reality representations, each virtual reality representation representing a location in a virtual universe and defined by VR data stored on the network. The VR data can be in a simplified data format. A database stores the network address and the location in the universe of each virtual reality representation. A database server provides access to the database. The database server generates a list of locations in response to a location query from a visitor, and provides the network address of the virtual reality representation of a selected location. A visitor connects to the database server with a client host to visit the locations in the virtual universe.
100 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A system for enabling a visitor to access VR representations authored by different authors of locations in a virtual universe via a computer network, the system comprising:
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a plurality of VR data sets, each VR data set defining a VR representation of a location, each data set independently authored by a respective author different from the other authors; means for receiving and storing a VR data set from the author of the VR data set; one or more VR data servers adapted to access and transmit the VR data sets, each VR data set associated with a VR data server for access to the VR data set; domain data, the domain data comprising the location within the universe of each VR representation and the network address of the VR data server associated with the VR representation; a domain server adapted to access and transmit domain data; and a client host adapted to communicate with the domain server to receive domain data representing the network address of the VR data server associated with a selected VR representation, the client host further adapted to communicate with that VR data server to access the VR data set defining the VR representation without leaving the virtual universe. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15)
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12. A method for enabling a visitor utilizing a computer to visit a selected location within a virtual reality universe using virtual reality data authored by different authors, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a plurality of data servers and a domain server interconnected with the data servers, the data servers providing access to sets of VR data of virtual representations of locations within the universe, each set of VR data authored by a respective different author independently of the other authors, the domain server providing access to domain data for selecting the location to visit and the network address of the data server providing access to the VR data for the selected location; (b) receiving data from the visitor representing a selected location in the universe; (c) accessing the domain data in response to step (b) and obtaining therefrom the network address of the data server that provides access to the VR data for the selected location; and (d) transferring the VR data for the selected location from the data server to the visitor'"'"'s computer for generation of a VR presentation of the selected location without leaving the virtual universe. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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16. A virtual reality viewing system for viewing virtual locations in a virtual universe accessed through a computer network, the viewing system comprising:
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means for receiving and storing a plurality of data sets, each data set representing a location in a virtual universe, each data set independently authored by a respective author different from the other authors; means for receiving and storing data representing a map of the locations in the virtual universe represented by the plurality of data sets; means for generating an image of a map from the map data; a display for displaying the image; means for receiving user input for selecting a location displayed on the map; means for selecting one of the plurality of data sets, the selected data set representing the selected map location; means for transmitting the one data set representing the selected location through the network; means for receiving data representing the network address of a network data server providing access to the one data set; means for communicating with the network data server to receive the one data set; and means for generating a virtual reality presentation from the one data set without leaving the virtual universe. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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Specification