Systems and methods of managing virtual world avatars

• US 8,522,330 B2
• Filed: 08/20/2012
• Issued: 08/27/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/18/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pfaqutruma Research LLC
• Original Assignee: Utherverse, Inc.
• Inventors: Neufeld, Ian, Herling, Dirk, Shuster, Brian, Burch, Aaron, Shuster, Gary
• Primary Examiner(s): SIMITOSKI, MICHAEL J
• Application Number:
  US13/590,174
• Publication Number:
  US 20130047217A1
• Time in Patent Office: 372 Days
• Field of Search: 726/7, 726/27, 715/757
• US Class Current: 726/7
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/355 Performing operations on behalf of clients with restricted processing capabilities, e.g. servers transform changing game scene into an encoded video stream for transmitting to a mobile phone or a thin client
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5533 using program state or machine event data, e.g. server keeps track of the state of multiple players on in a multiple player game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5553 user representation in the game field, e.g. avatar
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5586 for enforcing rights or rules, e.g. to prevent foul play
• 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 2300/65 for computing the condition of a game character
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/807 Role playing or strategy games
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8082 Virtual reality
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/444 Spatial browsing, e.g. 2D maps, 3D or virtual spaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04815 Interaction with a metaphor-based environment or interaction object displayed as three-dimensional, e.g. changing the user viewpoint with respect to the environment or object
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0487 using specific features provided by the input device, e.g. functions controlled by the rotation of a mouse with dual sensing arrangements, or of the nature of the input device, e.g. tap gestures based on pressure sensed by a digitiser
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/14 Tree-structured documents parsing G06F40/205; validation G06F40/226
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/003 Navigation within 3D models or images
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/20 Editing of 3D images, e.g. changing shapes or colours, aligning objects or positioning parts
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2219/024 Multi-user, collaborative environment
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2219/2016 Rotation, translation, scaling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 : for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/101 : Access control lists [ACL]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/4015 : where at least one of the additional parallel sessions is real time or time sensitive, e.g. white board sharing, collaboration or spawning of a subconference
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 : Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 : based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/131 : Protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality

Abstract

Systems and methods of virtual world interaction, operation, implementation, instantiation, creation, and other functions related to virtual worlds (note that where the term “virtual world” is used herein, it is to be understood as referring to virtual world systems, virtual environments reflecting real, simulated, fantasy, or other structures, and includes information systems that utilize interaction within a 3D environment). Various embodiments facilitate interoperation between and within virtual worlds, and may provide consistent structures for operating virtual worlds. The disclosed embodiments may further enable individuals to build new virtual worlds within a framework, and allow third party users to better interact with those worlds.

Claims

1. A method of communicating user data between virtual worlds systems, the method being performed on a virtual worlds server, the method comprising:

receiving, at a first virtual worlds server including one or more processors, a request for a transfer of an avatar from a second virtual worlds server;

determining authorization rights of the avatar to access the first virtual worlds server;

completing a transfer protocol with the second virtual worlds server;

converting at least one of a display attribute or a non-monetary object associated with the avatar in the second virtual worlds server to another display attribute or another non-monetary object associated with the avatar in the first virtual worlds server based on one or more conversion rules associated with the first virtual worlds server, wherein said converting the at least one of a display attribute or a non-monetary object associated with the avatar in the second virtual worlds server comprises modifying one or more of the at least one of a display attribute or a non-monetary object based on a previously stored local avatar state, the local avatar state associated with the avatar in the first virtual worlds server, wherein the previously stored local avatar state includes a previous activity in the first virtual worlds server, and wherein said modifying includes applying an effect of the previous activity to the avatar; and

engaging the converted avatar for interaction with one or more worlds on the first virtual worlds server.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein completing the transfer protocol comprises performing a cryptographically secure transfer.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the cryptographically secure transfer is configured to inhibit the avatar from appearing in multiple virtual worlds simultaneously.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said converting comprises matching the at least one of a display attribute or a non-monetary object associated with the avatar in the second virtual worlds server with another comparable display attribute or non-monetary object permitted by the first virtual worlds server.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein converting further comprises determining a difference in value between the at least one of a display attribute or a non-monetary object associated with the avatar in the second virtual worlds server and the another comparable display attribute or non-monetary object, and providing an in-game credit or charging a debit accounting for the difference in value.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein said matching comprises processing one or more local-to-local conversion agreement rules associated with the first virtual worlds server and the second virtual worlds server.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the second virtual worlds server is housed on the same computing device as the first virtual worlds server.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first virtual worlds server comprises a plurality of computing devices in a distributed network system.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said converting comprises modifying a global avatar state associated with the avatar to reflect said conversion.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein converting the characteristics comprises:

maintaining a global avatar state associated with the avatar; and

storing a local avatar state associated with the avatar to reflect said conversion.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the another display attribute or the another non-monetary object associated with the avatar in the first virtual worlds server is a different attribute or non-monetary object than the display attribute or the non-monetary object associated with the avatar in the second virtual worlds server.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the another display attribute or the another non-monetary object associated with the avatar in the first virtual worlds server and the display attribute or the non-monetary object associated with the avatar in the second virtual worlds server each include a property, and

wherein a first property of the another display attribute or the another non-monetary object associated with the avatar in the first virtual worlds server is different than a second property of the attribute of the non-monetary object associated with the avatar in the second virtual worlds server to which the first property is converted.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein one or both of the first virtual worlds server and the second virtual worlds server are operating as virtual machines on a computer also hosting at least one other virtual machine.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions configured to cause a computer system to communicate user data between virtual worlds systems, the communication of user data including:

receiving a request for a transfer of an avatar from a first virtual worlds server to another virtual worlds server;

determining authorization rights of the avatar to access the other virtual worlds server;

completing a transfer protocol with the first virtual worlds server;

converting at least one of a display attribute or a non-monetary object associated with the avatar in the first virtual worlds server to another display attribute or another non-monetary object associated with the avatar in the other virtual worlds server based on one or more conversion rules associated with the other virtual worlds server, wherein said converting the at least one of a display attribute or a non-monetary object associated with the avatar in the first virtual worlds server comprises modifying one or more of the at least one of a display attribute or a non-monetary object based on a previously stored local avatar state, the local avatar state associated with the avatar in the other virtual worlds server, wherein the previously stored local avatar state includes a previous activity in the other virtual worlds server, and wherein said modifying includes applying an effect of the previous activity to the avatar; and

engaging the converted avatar for interaction with one or more worlds on the other virtual worlds server.

15. A method of communicating user data between virtual worlds systems, the method being performed on a virtual worlds server, the method comprising:

receiving, at a first virtual worlds server including one or more processors, a request for a transfer of an avatar from a second virtual worlds server;

determining authorization rights of the avatar to access the first virtual worlds server;

converting a display attribute associated with the avatar in the second virtual worlds server to another display attribute associated with the avatar in the first virtual worlds server based on one or more conversion rules associated with the first virtual worlds server, wherein the display attribute and the another display attribute are different, and wherein the display attribute and the another display attribute each include a common property, and wherein said converting comprises transferring a value for the common property of the display attribute to the common property of the another display attribute based one or more conversion rules associated with the first virtual worlds server; and

engaging the converted avatar for interaction with one or more worlds on the first virtual worlds server.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions configured to cause a computer system to communicate user data between virtual worlds systems, the communication of user data including:

receiving a request for a transfer of an avatar to a first virtual worlds server from a second virtual worlds server;

determining authorization rights of the avatar to access the first virtual worlds server;

converting a display attribute associated with the avatar in the second virtual worlds server to another display attribute associated with the avatar in the first virtual worlds server based on one or more conversion rules associated with the first virtual worlds server, wherein the display attribute and the another display attribute are different, and wherein the display attribute and the another display attribute each include a common property, and wherein said converting comprises transferring a value for the common property of the display attribute to the common property of the another display attribute based one or more conversion rules associated with the virtual worlds server; and

engaging the converted avatar for interaction with one or more worlds on the first virtual worlds server.

17. A virtual worlds user data communication system comprising:

a processor configured to;

receive a request for a transfer of an avatar to a first virtual worlds server from a second virtual worlds server;

determine authorization rights of the avatar to access the first virtual worlds server;

convert a display attribute associated with the avatar in the second virtual worlds server to another display attribute associated with the avatar in the first virtual worlds server based on one or more conversion rules associated with the first virtual worlds server, wherein the display attribute and the another display attribute are different, and wherein the display attribute and the another display attribute each include a common property, and wherein said converting comprises transferring a value for the common property of the display attribute to the common property of the another display attribute based one or more conversion rules associated with the virtual worlds server; and

engage the converted avatar for interaction with one or more worlds on the first virtual worlds server.

18. A communication system configured to communicate user data between virtual worlds systems, the system comprising:

a processor configured to;

receive a request for a transfer of an avatar to a first virtual worlds server from a second virtual worlds server;

determine authorization rights of the avatar to access the first virtual worlds server;

complete a transfer protocol with the second virtual worlds server;

convert at least one of a display attribute or a non-monetary object associated with the avatar in the second virtual worlds server to another display attribute or another non-monetary object associated with the avatar in the first virtual worlds server based on one or more conversion rules associated with the first virtual worlds server, wherein said converting the at least one of a display attribute or a non-monetary object associated with the avatar in the second virtual worlds server comprises modifying one or more of the at least one of display attribute or a non-monetary object based on a previously stored local avatar state, the local avatar state associated with the avatar in the first virtual worlds server, wherein the previously stored local avatar state includes a previous activity in the first virtual worlds server, and wherein said modifying includes applying an effect of the previous activity to the avatar; and

engaging the converted avatar for interaction with one or more worlds on the first virtual worlds server.