Virtual environment module bundle

• US 7,882,222 B2
• Filed: 07/31/2008
• Issued: 02/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Activision Publishing Incorporated (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dolbier, George R., Hamilton, II, Rick A., Katz, Neil A., O'Connell, Brian M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dinh, Khanh Q
• Application Number:
  US12/183,655
• Publication Number:
  US 20100030854A1
• Time in Patent Office: 915 Days
• Field of Search: 709/224, 709/227, 709/232, 707/10, 715/757
• US Class Current: 709/224
• 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 13/335 using Internet
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/352 involving special game server arrangements, e.g. regional servers connected to a national server or a plurality of servers managing partitions of the game world
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/77 involving data related to game devices or game servers, e.g. configuration data, software version or amount of memory
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/209 characterized by low level software layer, relating to hardware management, e.g. Operating System, Application Programming Interface
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5526 Game data structure

Abstract

A method for providing virtual world functionality to a user of a base virtual world having base virtual world functionality, includes providing a virtual world layer having virtual world layer functionality beyond the base virtual world functionality, encapsulating the virtual world layer to provide a virtual world module and transmitting the virtual world module to virtual world layer infrastructure to provide a transmitted virtual world module. The transmitted virtual world module is executed to provide user access to the base virtual world functionality and the virtual world layer functionality.

Claims

1. A method for providing virtual world functionality to a user of a base virtual world having base virtual world functionality, comprising:

providing a virtual world layer having virtual world layer functionality beyond said base virtual world functionality;

encapsulating said virtual world layer to provide a virtual world module;

transmitting said virtual world module to virtual world layer infrastructure to provide a transmitted virtual world module; and

executing said transmitted virtual world module to provide user access to said base virtual world functionality and said virtual world layer functionality.

2. The method for providing virtual world functionality to a user of claim 1, further comprising providing a provisioning specification within said virtual world module.

3. The method for providing virtual world functionality to a user of claim 2, further comprising provisioning said virtual world layer infrastructure in accordance with said provisioning specification.

4. The method for providing virtual world functionality to a user of claim 2, further comprising provisioning computing equipment in accordance with said provisioning specification.

5. The method for providing virtual world functionality to a user of claim 2, further comprising provisioning accounting support software within said virtual world module.

6. The method for providing virtual world functionality to a user of claim 1, further comprising networking said virtual world infrastructure in accordance with said virtual world module.

7. The method for providing virtual world functionality to a user of claim 1, further comprising unpacking said virtual world module to provide an unpacked virtual world module and executing said unpacked virtual world module.

8. The method for providing virtual world functionality to a user of claim 1, further comprising transmitting said virtual world module by a content creator.

9. The method for providing virtual world functionality to a user of claim 1, further comprising transmitting said virtual world module by the internet.

10. The method for providing virtual world functionality to a user of claim 1, further comprising encapsulating executable software within said virtual world module.

11. The method for providing virtual world functionality to a user of claim 10, further comprising encapsulating virtual world middleware within said virtual world module.

12. The method for providing virtual world functionality to a user of claim 10, further comprising encapsulating an interpreter within said virtual world module.

13. The method for providing virtual world functionality to a user of claim 10, further comprising encapsulating visual effects software within said virtual world module.

14. The method for providing virtual world functionality to a user of claim 10, further comprising encapsulating an operating system within said virtual world module

15. The method for providing virtual world functionality to a user of claim 1, further comprising:

compressing said virtual world module to provide a compressed virtual world module; and

transmitting said compressed virtual world module.

16. The method for providing virtual world functionality to a user of claim 1, wherein said base virtual world has base virtual world objects and said virtual world layer overrides selected ones of said base virtual world objects and does not override remaining base virtual world objects comprising encapsulating said selected ones of said base virtual world objects in said virtual world module and omitting said remaining base virtual world objects from said virtual world module.

17. The method for providing virtual world functionality to a user of claim 1, wherein said base virtual world operates on base virtual world infrastructure, said virtual world layer operates on virtual world layer infrastructure, and said base virtual world infrastructure is separate from said virtual world layer infrastructure.

18. The method for providing virtual world functionality to a user of claim 1, including a further user coupled to said virtual world layer for accessing said virtual world layer functionality further comprising segregating said user and said further user.

19. The method for providing virtual world functionality to a user of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a further virtual world layer having further virtual world layer functionality beyond said virtual world layer functionality; and

encapsulating said further virtual world layer within said virtual world module.

20. The method for providing virtual world functionality to a user of claim 19, further comprising executing said virtual world module to provide user access to said further virtual world layer functionality.