Attribute building for characters in a virtual environment

• US 8,272,951 B2
• Filed: 04/01/2008
• Issued: 09/25/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GANZ An Ontario Partnership Consisting of SH GANZ Holdings Incorporated and 816877 Ontario Limited
• Original Assignee: Ganz
• Inventors: Ganz, Howard, Borst, Karl Joseph
• Primary Examiner(s): Thai, Xuan
• Assistant Examiner(s): GRANT, MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER
• Application Number:
  US12/060,649
• Publication Number:
  US 20080274805A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,638 Days
• Field of Search: 463/29, 463/40
• US Class Current: 463/29
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/5375 for graphically or textually suggesting an action, e.g. by displaying an arrow indicating a turn in a driving game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/58 by computing conditions of game characters, e.g. stamina, strength, motivation or energy level
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/67 adaptively or by learning from player actions, e.g. skill level adjustment or by storing successful combat sequences for re-use
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/822 Strategy games; Role-playing games A63F13/825, A63F13/828 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/305 for providing a graphical or textual hint to the player
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6027 using adaptive systems learning from user actions, e.g. for skill level adjustment
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/65 for computing the condition of a game character
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/807 Role playing or strategy games
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 3/006 based on simulated virtual individual or collective life forms, e.g. social simulations or particle swarm optimisation [PSO]

Abstract

Systems and method provided herein involve a mechanism that allows users to have more input and influence in customizing their virtual characters'"'"' profile by developing their attributes. By developing and improving attributes of their characters, the social value of their characters can be increased within the virtual environment. Additional attributes that can be developed include, but are not limited to, strength, speed, agility, intelligence, creativity, style, streets-smart, safety-awareness, grooming, cooking, and manners. Jobs, tasks, classes, sessions, and the like, as well as competitions can be created that emphasize one or more attributes to facilitate encouraging users to have their characters learn, master, and test such new skills.

Claims

1. An attribute building system for characters in a virtual environment comprising:

a real-time monitoring component that receives a training request for a training session associated with at least one attribute and that determines whether a minimum real-time threshold value has elapsed since a previous training session in order to permit further processing of the training request, wherein the training request is submitted on behalf of a character and wherein the real-time monitoring component denies the training request when the minimum real-time threshold value has not elapsed since the previous training session and where the real-time monitoring component denies the training request by at least one of preventing participation in a competition that requires completion of said training request and not advancing to a subsequent level, wherein the real-time monitoring component determines upon receipt of the training request how many training sessions the user has participated in within a 24-hour period to determine whether the user has already participated in a permitted number of training sessions allowed within the 24-hour period, and wherein the training request is denied until the 24-hour period has elapsed by at least one of preventing participation in a competition that requires completion of said training request and not advancing to a subsequent level;

a training selection component that determines a level of training for the character based at least in part on a training history of the character, and that selects the training session from among multiple different possible training sessions, based at least in part on the character'"'"'s training history, and wherein said training selection component presents the training session on-screen; and

a performance indicator display that presents at least one of a grade, score and final result indication of the training session on-screen, wherein successful completion of the training session facilitates advancement to more difficult levels of training sessions for the at least one attribute and wherein the at least one attribute increases social status and value of the character in the virtual environment.

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising a request receiving component that receives an incoming training request and initially routes it to at least one of the real-time monitoring component and a health analysis component.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the request receiving component initially routes the incoming training request to the real-time monitoring component and the health analysis component at substantially the same time to determine whether the training request satisfies the real-time threshold value and a health threshold value, respectively.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a health analysis component that evaluates a health status of a character to determine whether the character is able to participate in training, wherein the health analysis component determines that the character is permitted to participate in the training when the health status satisfies a minimum health threshold value.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the health analysis component receives the training request from the real-time monitoring component when the minimum real-time threshold value is satisfied, wherein the minimum health threshold value and the minimum real-time threshold value must both be satisfied before the training request is further processed to permit the training session to proceed.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the health analysis component receives the training request at the same time as the real-time monitoring component, wherein a minimum health threshold value and the minimum real-time threshold value must both be satisfied before the training request is further processed.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the training session comprises at least one of a job, position, class, assignment, practice session, and exercise.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the training request comprises at least one of an application for any one of a job, position, class, assignment, practice session, and exercise.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the training request is denied when at least one of the health threshold value and the real-time monitoring component is not satisfied.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising a profile data storage that stores health status information for one or more characters, wherein a health analysis component accesses the health status information corresponding to the character in real-time from the profile data storage.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one attribute comprises agility, intelligence, creativity, grooming, speed, style, and strength.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the training session teaches or tests at least one of spatial recognition, memory recall, sequence recognition, object comparison, object identification, object matching, and color identification.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the training selection component selects the training session from a determined level out of a range of levels of training sessions associated with the at least one attribute.

14. The system of claim 13 further comprising a performance analysis component that evaluates performance of the training session to determine whether the training session was successfully completed.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the character is a virtual representation of a real product that is registered on a communication network, wherein such registration unlocks access to training sessions to obtain or improve attributes.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the training history comprises at least one of a work history, a resume, and a report card.

17. An attribute building method for characters in a virtual environment comprising:

using a computer to receive a training request for a training session associated with at least one attribute, wherein the training request is submitted on behalf of a character, and determining whether a minimum real-time threshold value has been satisfied relative to previous training requests, in order to permit further processing of the training request, where said training request is not permitted to be further processed if said minimum real-time threshold value has not been satisfied relative to said previous training requests, where said training request is permitted to be further processed if said minimum real-time threshold value has been satisfied and where participation in a competition that requires completion of said training request is not allowed when said training request is not permitted to be further processed;

evaluating a health status of a character using a health status component on the computer to determine whether a minimum health threshold value is satisfied in order to permit further processing of the training request, wherein the real-time monitoring component determines upon receipt of the training request how many training sessions the user has participated in within a 24-hour period to determine whether the user has already participated in a permitted number of training sessions allowed within the 24-hour period, and wherein the training request is denied until the 24-hour period has elapsed by at least one of preventing participation in a competition that requires completion of said training request and not advancing to a subsequent level;

when at least one of the minimum real-time threshold value and the health threshold value is satisfied, determining a level of training for the character based at least in part on the character'"'"'s training history, selecting the training session based at least in part on the character'"'"'s training history, and presenting the training session on-screen; and

when the training session has ended, presenting at least one of a grade, score and final result of the training session on-screen, wherein successful completion of the training session facilitates advancement to more difficult levels of training sessions for the at least one attribute and wherein acquiring and improving the at least one attribute increases social status and value of the character in the virtual environment.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising awarding additional actions or physical movements for the character which were previously unavailable to the character to facilitate expression, when at least one level is reached.

19. The method of claim 17 further comprising providing attribute-specific competitions that allow attribute-trained characters to compete against each other based in part on the one or more attributes trained thereon.