Apparatus and method to transition between a media presentation and a virtual environment
First Claim
1. A method for associating an interactive virtual universe (VU) and a non-interactive movie, comprisingobtaining metadata pertaining to either said non-interactive movie or said interactive VU, said metadata describing at least a first location in a scene of said non-interactive movie or a second location in a setting of said interactive VU, wherein said non-interactive movie and said interactive VU are accessible through a networked computer including a display;
- when said metadata pertain to said non-interactive movie, conducting a search of said interactive VU or an index therefor for a setting having at least a third location which matches said first location obtained in said obtaining step;
when said metadata pertain to said interactive VU, conducting a search of scenes in said non-interactive movie or an index therefor for a scene with at least a fourth location which matches said second location obtained in said obtaining step; and
while said display is displaying to a user either (i) a view of said scene of said non-interactive movie having said first location or (ii) a view of said setting in said interactive VU having said second location,receiving in said networked computer a transition command from said user,if said display is displaying said view (i) when said transition command is received, toggling said display to a view of said setting in said interactive VU having said third location, andif said display is displaying said view (ii) when said transition command is received, toggling said display to a view of said scene of said non-interactive movie having said fourth location;
wherein said non-interactive movie and said interactive VU are displayed only one at a time, andwherein said steps of obtaining metadata and conducting searches are performed autonomously by one or more networked computers prior to said step of receiving said transition command from said user.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A virtual universe application and a media (e.g. 3-D movie) presentation application communicate with each other to obtain a location of a current activity application and find, using a search engine or a content addressable index developed during use, a corresponding location accessible from the other application to synchronize the location and time of location and time of scenes in both applications. Point of view can optionally be synchronized and additional search criteria or parameters can be applied to find the best match of views presented to a user when the user toggles between the VU location and the media presentation.
-
Citations
16 Claims
-
1. A method for associating an interactive virtual universe (VU) and a non-interactive movie, comprising
obtaining metadata pertaining to either said non-interactive movie or said interactive VU, said metadata describing at least a first location in a scene of said non-interactive movie or a second location in a setting of said interactive VU, wherein said non-interactive movie and said interactive VU are accessible through a networked computer including a display; -
when said metadata pertain to said non-interactive movie, conducting a search of said interactive VU or an index therefor for a setting having at least a third location which matches said first location obtained in said obtaining step; when said metadata pertain to said interactive VU, conducting a search of scenes in said non-interactive movie or an index therefor for a scene with at least a fourth location which matches said second location obtained in said obtaining step; and while said display is displaying to a user either (i) a view of said scene of said non-interactive movie having said first location or (ii) a view of said setting in said interactive VU having said second location, receiving in said networked computer a transition command from said user, if said display is displaying said view (i) when said transition command is received, toggling said display to a view of said setting in said interactive VU having said third location, and if said display is displaying said view (ii) when said transition command is received, toggling said display to a view of said scene of said non-interactive movie having said fourth location; wherein said non-interactive movie and said interactive VU are displayed only one at a time, and wherein said steps of obtaining metadata and conducting searches are performed autonomously by one or more networked computers prior to said step of receiving said transition command from said user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
-
-
6. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform steps of
obtaining metadata pertaining to either a non-interactive movie or an interactive VU, said metadata describing at least a first location in a scene of said non-interactive movie or a second location in a setting of said interactive VU, wherein said non-interactive movie and said interactive VU are accessible through said computer including a display; -
when said metadata pertain to said non-interactive movie, conducting a search of said interactive VU or an index therefor for a setting having at least a third location which matches said first location obtained in said obtaining step; when said metadata pertain to said interactive VU, conducting a search of scenes in said non-interactive movie or an index therefor for a scene with at least a fourth location which matches said second location obtained in said obtaining step; and while said display is displaying to a user either (i) a view of said scene of said non-interactive movie having said first location or (ii) a view of said interactive VU having said second location, receiving in said computer a transition command from said user, if said display is displaying said view (i) when said transition command is received, toggling said display to a view of said setting in said interactive VU having said third location, and if said display is displaying said view (ii) when said transition command is received, toggling said display to a view of said scene of said non-interactive movie having said fourth location; wherein said non-interactive movie and said interactive VU are displayed only one at a time, and wherein said steps of obtaining metadata and conducting searches are performed autonomously by said computer prior to said step of receiving said transition command from said user. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A computer-based apparatus for associating an interactive virtual universe (VU) and a non-interactive movie, comprising:
-
memory for storing metadata pertaining to either said non-interactive movie or said interactive VU, said metadata describing at least a first location in a scene of said non-interactive movie or a second location in a setting of said interactive VU; one or more processors configured to run a search engine, wherein when said metadata pertain to said non-interactive movie, said search engine conducts a search of said interactive VU or an index therefor for a setting having at least a third location which matches said first location, and wherein when said metadata pertain to said interactive VU, said search engine conducts a search of scenes in said non-interactive movie or an index therefor for a scene with at least a fourth location which matches said second location; a display configured to display said non-interactive movie and said interactive VU to a user, wherein said non-interactive movie and said interactive VU are displayed only one at a time; said one or more processors configured to receive a transition command from said user while said display is displaying either (i) a view of said scene of said non- interactive move having said first location or (ii) a view of said setting in interactive VU having said second location; wherein said display and said one or more processors are configured so that if said display is displaying said view (i) when said transition command is received, said display is toggled to a view of said setting in said interactive VU having said third location, and if said display is displaying said view (ii) when said transition command is received, said display is toggled to a view of said scene of said non-interactive movie having said fourth location; wherein said search engine conducts said searches autonomously prior to said one or more processors receiving said transition command from said user. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
Specification