Systems and methods of object processing in virtual worlds

• US 8,947,427 B2
• Filed: 08/20/2012
• Issued: 02/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/18/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pfaqutruma Research LLC
• Original Assignee: Utherverse Digital, Inc.
• Inventors: Shuster, Brian, Shuster, Gary
• Primary Examiner(s): Tung, Kee M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Du, Haixia
• Application Number:
  US13/590,166
• Publication Number:
  US 20130044106A1
• Time in Patent Office: 897 Days
• Field of Search: 345/419
• US Class Current: 345/419
• 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 arranging objects within a three-dimensional virtual space, the method being performed on a virtual worlds service provider, the method comprising:

maintaining, on a virtual worlds service provider comprising one or more computer processors, an instance of a virtual world scene comprising a plurality of objects in a first spatial arrangement;

identifying a first non-player object of the plurality of objects, the first non-player object having a first spatial position;

receiving an original spatial position for the first non-player object, the original spatial position identifying a default position to which the first non-player object is to be returned to within the virtual world scene across a plurality of instances of the virtual world scene, the plurality of instances including the maintained instance;

comparing the first spatial position of the first non-player object to the original spatial position of the first non-player object, said comparing including determining a distance between the first spatial position and the original spatial position;

computing a transition path for replacing the first non-player object from the first spatial position to the original spatial position, based on the comparison of the first spatial position of the first non-player object and the original spatial position; and

automatically transitioning the first object based on the computed transition path.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically transitioning the first non-player object comprises causing the first non-player object to autonomously transport along the computed transition path.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically transitioning the first non-player object comprises introducing a non-player character to transition the first object based on the computed transition path.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the non-player character is configurable by an operator of the three-dimensional virtual space.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the original spatial position is associated with the virtual world scene.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically transitioning the first non-player object comprises determining a speed for transitioning the first non-player object and transitioning the first non-player object based on the determined speed.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the speed is determined at least in part based on a number of avatars present in the instance of the virtual world scene.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first non-player object further includes a first object state, and

wherein the method further includes:

receiving an original object state for the first non-player object, the original object state identifying a default state to which the first non-player object is to be returned to within the virtual world scene across the plurality of instances of the virtual world scene, the plurality of instances including the maintained instance; and

comparing the first object state of the first non-player object to the original object state of the first non-player object, wherein the transition path is further computed for replacing the first object state to the original object state based on the comparison of the first object state of the first non-player object and the original object state of the first non-player object.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein computing the transition path comprises:

identifying a consensus position for the first non-player object, said consensus position indicating an average position of the non-player object across instances of the virtual world scene; and

comparing the consensus position with the first spatial position, wherein computing said transition path is further based on the comparison of the consensus position with the first spatial position.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising initiating the automatic transitioning for the instance of the virtual worlds scene based on a load for a server hosting the instance of the virtual world scene.

11. A computer system configured to arrange objects within a three-dimensional virtual space, the computer system comprising:

computer-readable storage having stored thereon a plurality of modules implemented as executable instructions;

one or more computer processors configured to execute the plurality of modules;

stored data representing an instance of a virtual world scene comprising a plurality of objects in a first spatial arrangement;

an object identification module configured to identify a first non-player object of the plurality of objects, the first non-player object having a first spatial position;

a position comparison module configured to compare the first spatial position of the first non-player object to an original spatial position associated with the first non-player object, said the original spatial position identifying a default position to which the first non-player object is to be returned to within the virtual world scene across a plurality of instances of the virtual world scene, the plurality of instances including the instance, said comparing including determining a distance between the first spatial position and the original spatial position;

a path computation module configured to compute a transition path for replacing the first non-player object from the first spatial position to the original spatial position, based on the comparison of the first spatial position of the first non-player object and the original spatial position; and

a path execution module configured to automatically transition the first non-player object based on the computed transition path.

12. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the path execution module is configured to automatically transition the first non-player object by causing the first non-player object to autonomously transport along the computed transition path.

13. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the path execution module is configured to automatically transition the first non-player object by introducing a non-player character to transition the first object based on the computed transition path.

14. The computer system of claim 13, wherein the non-player character is configurable by an operator of the three-dimensional virtual space.

15. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the original spatial position is associated with the virtual world scene.

16. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the path execution module is configured to automatically transition the first non-player object by determining a speed for transitioning the first non-player object and transitioning the first non-player object based on the determined speed.

17. The computer system of claim 16, wherein the speed is determined at least in part based on a number of avatars present in the instance of the virtual world scene.

18. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the first non-player object further includes a first object state,

wherein the object identification module is configured to receive an original object state for the first non-player object, the original object state identifying a default state to which the first non-player object is to be returned to within the virtual world scene across the plurality of instances of the virtual world scene, the plurality of instances including the maintained instance, and

wherein the path computation module is configured to compute the transition path for replacing the first object state to the original object state based on a comparison of the first object state of the first non-player object and the original object state of the first non-player object.

19. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the path computation module is configured to compute the transition path by:

identifying a consensus position for the first non-player object, said consensus position indicating an average position of the non-player object across instances of the virtual world scene; and

comparing the consensus position with the first spatial position, wherein computing said transition path is further based on the comparison of the consensus position with the first spatial position.

20. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the path execution module configured to initiate the automatic transitioning for the instance of the virtual worlds scene based on a load for a server hosting the instance of the virtual world scene.