Patent · US Expired

Scalable virtual world chat client-server system

US6219045A · kind A · utility

549Cited by
7References
5Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateNov 12, 1996
Grant dateApr 17, 2001
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 12, 2016

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L69/329
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

The present invention provides a highly scalable architecture for a three-dimensional graphical, multi-user, interactive virtual world system. A plurality of users can interact in the three-dimensional, computer-generated graphical space where each user executes a client process to view a virtual world from the perspective of that user. The virtual world shows avatars representing the other users who are neighbors of the user viewing the virtual world. In order that the view can be updated to reflect the motion of the remote user's avatars, motion information is transmitted to a central server which provides position updates to client processes for neighbors of the user at that client process. The client process also uses an environment database to determine which background objects to render as well as to limit the movement of the user's avatar.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.