INTRODUCING SELECTIVE ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN A VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT

• US 20100050004A1
• Filed: 08/20/2008
• Published: 02/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Wisniewski, Robert, Hamilton, Rick A. II, Pickover, Clifford A., Karidis, John P.
• Granted Patent: US 9,268,385 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/320
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3234 Power saving characterised by the action undertaken
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3265 Power saving in display device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/329 by task scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

In some embodiments, a method comprises hosting a virtual universe in which one or more avatars interact with one or more virtual objects. The method can also include presenting energy conservation options that reduce amounts of power consumed in rendering the avatars and virtual objects in the virtual universe, detecting a selection of the energy conservation options, and configuring logic for rendering the avatars and virtual objects according to the selected energy conservation options. The method can also comprise rendering, according to the selection of energy conservation options, the avatars and virtual objects in the virtual universe.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

hosting a virtual universe in which one or more avatars interact with one or more virtual objects;

presenting energy conservation options that reduce amounts of power consumed in rendering the avatars and virtual objects in the virtual universe;

detecting a selection of the energy conservation options;

configuring logic for rendering the avatars and virtual objects according to the selection of the energy conservation options; and

rendering, according to the selection of energy conservation options, the avatars and virtual objects in the virtual universe.

2. The method of claim 1 comprising:

providing virtual universe (VU) rewards to users associated with the avatars, wherein the virtual universe rewards are determined based on reductions in power consumption.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the virtual universe rewards include one or more of VU currency, game scores, avatar functions, special avatar privileges, and virtual goods.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the rendering includes:

determining power costs at different locations;

reducing, based on the power costs, the quality of images sent to one or more of the different locations;

offloading, based on the power costs, certain computations to certain of the different locations.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the logic for rendering the avatars and virtual objects includes a server and clients, and wherein the method further includes:

determining specifications of one or more clients; and

offloading virtual universe computation to the one or more clients.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the specifications include any one or more of CPU power, memory, graphics card configuration, number of applications running on the client, and resources consumed by applications running on the client.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein energy conservation options include one or more of reducing graphics resolution, reducing fields of view associated with the avatars, representing three-dimensional objects in their two dimensional form, reducing special effects, obfuscating distant objects, presenting static objects instead of dynamic ones, offloading computations to one or more alternate servers and/or the client machine, and implementing voltage scaling techniques.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the presenting the energy conservation options occurs in response to any one of avatar creation, log-in of users associated with the avatars, and requests from users associated with the avatars.

9. An apparatus comprising:

a virtual universe simulation agent configured to host a virtual universe in which one or more avatars interact with one or more virtual objects, and

an energy conservation agent configured to present energy conservation options that reduce amounts of power consumed in rendering the avatars and virtual objects in the virtual universe, to detect a selection of the energy conservation options;

to configure logic for rendering the avatars and virtual objects according to the selection of the energy conservation options, and to render, according to the selection of energy conservation options, the avatars and virtual objects in the virtual universe.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 comprising:

the energy conservation agent configured to provide virtual universe (VU) rewards to users associated with the avatars, wherein the virtual universe rewards are determined based on reductions in power consumption.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the rendering includes:

the energy conservation agent configured to determine power costs at different locations, to reduce, based on the power costs, the quality of images sent to one or more of the different locations, and to offload, based on the power costs, certain computations to certain of the different locations.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the logic for rendering the avatars and virtual objects includes a server and clients, and wherein the method further includes:

the energy conservation agent configured to determine specifications of one or more clients, and to offload virtual universe computation to the one or more clients.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the energy conservation agent is configured to present the energy conservation options in response to any one of avatar creation, log-in of users associated with the avatars, and requests from users associated with the avatars.

14. One or more machine-readable media having stored therein a program product, which when executed a set of one or more processor units causes the set of one or more processor units to perform operations that comprise:

hosting a virtual universe in which one or more avatars interact with one or more virtual objects;

presenting energy conservation options that reduce amounts of power consumed in rendering the avatars and virtual objects in the virtual universe;

detecting a selection of the energy conservation options;

configuring logic for rendering the avatars and virtual objects according to the selection of the energy conservation options; and

rendering, according to the selection of energy conservation options, the avatars and virtual objects in the virtual universe.

15. The one or more machine-readable media of claim 14 comprising

providing virtual universe (VU) rewards to users associated with the avatars, wherein the virtual universe rewards are determined based on reductions in power consumption.

16. The one or more machine-readable media of claim 15, wherein the virtual universe rewards include one or more of VU currency, game scores, avatar functions, special avatar privileges, and virtual goods.

17. The one or more machine-readable media of claim 14, wherein the rendering includes:

determining power costs at different locations;

reducing, based on the power costs, the quality of images sent to one or more of the different locations;

offloading, based on the power costs, certain computations to certain of the different locations.

18. The one or more machine-readable media of claim 14, wherein the logic for rendering the avatars and virtual objects includes a server and clients, and wherein the method further includes:

determining specifications of one or more clients; and

offloading virtual universe computation to the one or more clients.

19. The one or more machine-readable media of claim 18, wherein the specifications include any one or more of CPU power, memory, graphics card configuration, number of applications running on the client, and resources consumed by applications running on the client.

20. The one or more machine-readable media of claim 14, wherein energy conservation options include one or more of reducing graphics resolution, reducing fields of view associated with the avatars, representing three-dimensional images in their two dimensional form, reducing special effects, obfuscating distant objects, presenting static objects instead of dynamic ones, offloading computations to one or more alternate servers and/or the client machine, and implementing voltage scaling techniques.