Systems and methods of assessing permissions in virtual worlds

• US 9,046,994 B2
• Filed: 05/24/2013
• Issued: 06/02/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/18/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pfaqutruma Research LLC
• Original Assignee: Brian Shuster, Gary Shuster
• Inventors: Shuster, Brian, Burch, Aaron, Herling, Dirk, Shuster, Gary
• Primary Examiner(s): HOFFMAN, BRANDON S
• Application Number:
  US13/902,456
• Publication Number:
  US 20140007201A1
• Time in Patent Office: 739 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 determining permissibility of actions within a virtual world, the method comprising:

receiving, by a service provider computing system comprising computer hardware, an action request identifying a request by a virtual world entity to take an action upon an object within a virtual world;

selecting, by the service provider, two or more gatekeeper objects each having permission rules associated with the object, the permission rules configured to determine permissibility of the action to be taken by the virtual world entity on the object;

determining, by the service provider, a hierarchy of the two or more selected gatekeeper objects; and

determining, by the service provider, whether the action is permitted based on the permission rules of the two or more gatekeeper objects, wherein conflicts between permission rules between two or more gatekeeper objects are resolved based on the determined hierarchy.

2. A method of determining permissibility of actions within a virtual world, the method comprising:

receiving, by a service provider comprising computing hardware, an action request identifying an attempt by a virtual world entity to take an action upon an object within the virtual world;

selecting one or more gatekeeper objects having permission rules configured to determine permissibility of the action to be taken by the virtual world entity on the object, the permission rules including an avatar matching component, an action matching component, or an object matching component;

iterating through one or more of the gatekeeper objects to identify one or more applicable permission rules based on the virtual world entity, the action to be taken, and the object to be acted upon;

determining whether the action is permitted based on the one or more applicable permission rules; and

transmitting an action response including a result of said determining.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the gatekeeper objects comprise a service provider, a virtual world identifier, and a scene within the virtual world.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the gatekeeper objects include the object being acted upon.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the gatekeeper objects include an object other than the object being acted upon.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the permission rules further include an indication of whether to inherit permissibility from a previous gatekeeper object.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the permission rules further indicate whether each permission rule may be overridden by a subsequent permission rule.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether the action is permitted is based on a plurality of applicable permission rules and a selection algorithm configured to select one of the plurality of applicable permission rules.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the action request is received from a user computer, and the object identified by the action request comprises one of the gatekeeper objects.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the action request identifies an operation to be executed, the operation being associated with one of the gatekeeper objects.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the action request identifies a modification to an element of a document structure associated with one of the gatekeeper objects.

12. A computer system configured to determine permissibility of actions within a virtual world, the computer system comprising:

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

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

a receiver configured to receive an action request identifying an attempt by a virtual world entity to take an action upon an object within the virtual world;

a gatekeeper selection module configured to select one or more gatekeeper objects having permission rules configured to determine permissibility of the action to be taken by the virtual world entity on the object, the permission rules including one or more of an avatar matching component, an action matching component, and an object matching component;

a rule application module configured to iterate through one or more of the gatekeeper objects to identify one or more applicable permission rules based on the virtual world entity, the action to be taken, and the object to be acted upon;

a permission determination module configured to determine whether the action is permitted based on the one or more applicable permission rules; and

a transmitter configured to transmit an action response including the determination of whether the action is permitted.