Persistent synthetic environment message notification

• US 8,626,863 B2
• Filed: 10/28/2008
• Issued: 01/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Trion World ABC LLC
• Original Assignee: Trion Worlds, Incorporated (Samarion SE)
• Inventors: Huang, Peter Chi-Hao, Turner, Erin
• Primary Examiner(s): Hussain, Imad
• Application Number:
  US12/259,902
• Publication Number:
  US 20100106782A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,897 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 709/207
• US Class Current: 709/207
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1827 Network arrangements for conference optimisation or adaptation

Abstract

Persistent synthetic environment message notification is described, including retrieving synthetic environmental data associated with an event occurring within a synthetic environment, identifying one or more formats to configure the synthetic environmental data and to transmit the synthetic environmental data, generating a message comprising the synthetic environmental data, the message being generated based on at least one of the one or more formats, and sending the message comprising the synthetic environmental data to an endpoint.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

retrieving synthetic environmental data at a first device associated with a first player, a first character account, and a first synthetic environment;

identifying one or more output formats associated with the first character account;

configuring a message notification deliverable to a second player associated with the first character account within the first synthetic environment or within a second synthetic environment, wherein the message notification comprises the synthetic environmental data associated with the first synthetic environment and allows the second player to observe real-time activity of the first player in the first synthetic environment;

determining whether the second player is on an approved list;

determining whether the message notification includes sensitive information, the sensitive information including account information, payment information, user profile information, or any combination thereof; and

in the event that the second player is on the approved list and the message notification does not include sensitive information, sending the message notification comprising the synthetic environmental data associated with the first synthetic environment in the one or more output formats to the second player.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the synthetic environmental data is generated from a platform configured to implement a virtual world.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the synthetic environmental data is associated with a virtual world.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the synthetic environmental data is generated from a shard configured to implement at least a portion of a virtual world.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first character account is associated with a first avatar and the second character account is associated with a second avatar.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more output formats comprise a content syndication format.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the content syndication format is RSS.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the content syndication format is Atom.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more output formats is configured to present data on the World Wide Web.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more output formats is configured to send and receive data using a data transmission protocol.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the data transmission protocol comprises SMTP.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the data transmission protocol comprises TCP/IP.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the data transmission protocol comprises UDP.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring the synthetic environmental data is performed by a message notification system.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring the synthetic environmental data comprises configuring the synthetic environmental data to be transmitted to one or more clients.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more clients comprises a mobile data communication device.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more clients comprises an application configured to access data from the Internet.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more clients comprises an electronic mail application.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more clients comprises an application configured to access the synthetic environment.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the synthetic environment is a virtual world.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the first player is within a first shard of the first synthetic environment and the second player is within a second shard of the first synthetic environment and sending further comprises sending the message notification from the first shard the second shard of the first synthetic environment.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the second player is within the second synthetic environment and the sending further comprises sending the message notification from an arbitrary number of shards within the first synthetic environment to the second player.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining of whether the second player is on the approved list includes:

determining whether an end device used by the second player is approved; and

in the event that the end device used by the second player is unapproved, determining that the second player is not on the approved list.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the second player includes a third player and a fourth player, the third and fourth players receiving the message notification in different output formats.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending of the message notification occurs in the event that a fifth player requests that the second player receive the message notification.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending of the message notification occurs without the second player requesting the message notification.

27. A method, comprising:

retrieving synthetic environmental data associated with an event occurring within a first synthetic environment at a source device, the event relating to online activities of a first user having a first user account;

configuring the synthetic environmental data;

generating a message comprising the configured synthetic environmental data, wherein the message is deliverable a second user in a second synthetic environment and allows the second player to observe real-time activity associated with the first character account in the first synthetic environment;

determining whether the second user is on an approved list;

determining whether the message notification includes sensitive information, the sensitive information including account information, payment information, user profile information, or any combination thereof; and

in the event that the second user is on the approved list and the message notification does not include sensitive information, sending the message comprising the synthetic environmental data to an endpoint device selectable to be within the first synthetic environment and within the second synthetic environment.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein sending the message further comprises transmitting the message across one or more interfaces.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein sending the message further comprises transmitting the message across one or more shards configured to implement the synthetic environment.

30. The method of claim 27, wherein sending the message further comprises transmitting the message across one or more games, wherein the one or more games may be implemented using a platform associated with one or more shards.

31. The method of claim 27, wherein the first synthetic environment and the second synthetic environment are virtual worlds.

32. The method of claim 27, wherein the first synthetic environment and the second synthetic environment are persistent.

33. The method of claim 27, wherein each of the first synthetic environment and the second synthetic environment comprises a persistent virtual world implemented using one or more shards configured to process a function associated with an event occurring within or without the persistent virtual world.

34. A system comprising:

a memory configured to store data associated with a first player, a first character account, and a first synthetic environment; and

a logic module configured;

to retrieve synthetic environmental data associated with the first character account and a first synthetic environment,

to identify whether a second player associated with the first character account is within the first synthetic environment or within a second synthetic environment,

to identify one or more output formats associated with the first character account, to select an endpoint within the first synthetic environment if the second player is in the first synthetic environment or an endpoint within the second synthetic environment if the second player in the second synthetic environment,

to transform the synthetic environmental data into the one or more output formats,

to determine whether the second player is on an approved list when an event occurs,

to determine whether the message notification includes sensitive information, the sensitive information including account information, payment information, user profile information, or any combination thereof, and

in the event that the second player is on the approved list and the message notification does not include sensitive information, to send the synthetic environmental data in the one or more output formats to the endpoint allowing the second player to observe real-time activity associated with the first character account in the first synthetic environment.

35. A message notification system, comprising:

a memory configured to store data associated with a first synthetic environment; and

a processor configured;

to retrieve synthetic environmental data associated with an event occurring within the first synthetic environment,

to identify one or more formats to configure the synthetic environmental data and to transmit the synthetic environmental data,

to generate a message comprising the synthetic environmental data, the message being generated based on at least one of the one or more formats,

to determine whether a player is on an approved list,

to determine whether the message notification includes sensitive information, the sensitive information including account information, payment information, user profile information, or any combination thereof, and

in the event that the player is on the approved list and the message notification does not include sensitive information, to send the message comprising the synthetic environmental data to an endpoint selectable to be within the first synthetic environment and within a second synthetic environment, and allowing the player to observe real-time activity associated with the first synthetic environment.

36. A computer program product embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium and comprising computer instructions for:

retrieving synthetic environmental data associated with a first player, a first character account, and a first synthetic environment;

identifying whether a second player associated with the first character account is within or outside the first synthetic environment or within a second synthetic environment;

identifying one or more output formats associated with the first character account;

selecting an endpoint within the first synthetic environment if the second player is in the first synthetic environment, or selecting an endpoint within the second synthetic environment if the second player is in the second synthetic environment;

transforming the synthetic environmental data into the one or more output formats configurable to allow the second player to observe real-time activity associated with the first character account in the first synthetic environment;

determining whether the second player is on an approved list when an event occurs;

determining whether the message notification includes sensitive information, the sensitive information including account information, payment information, user profile information, or any combination thereof; and

in the event that the second player is on the approved list and the message notification does not include sensitive information, sending the synthetic environmental data in the one or more output formats to the endpoint.

37. A computer program product embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium and comprising computer instructions for:

retrieving synthetic environmental data associated with an event occurring within a first synthetic environment, the event relating to online activities of a first user having a first user account;

identifying one or more formats to configure the synthetic environmental data and to transmit the synthetic environmental data;

generating a message comprising the synthetic environmental data, the message being generated based on at least one of the one or more formats and configurable to allow a second user in a second synthetic environment to observe real-time activity associated with the first user account in the first synthetic environment;

determining whether the second user is on an approved list;

determining whether the message notification includes sensitive information, the sensitive information including account information, payment information, user profile information, or any combination thereof; and

in the event that the second user is on the approved list and the message notification does not include sensitive information, sending the message comprising the synthetic environmental data to an endpoint selectable to be within the first synthetic environment and within the second synthetic environment.