Position tracking in a virtual world
US9203880B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 12, 2013 |
| Grant date | Dec 1, 2015 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 27, 2034 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L67/61
- WIPO fieldFurniture, games
- WIPO sectorOther fields
Abstract
Positions of avatars in a virtual world may be communicated to clients using multiple bitcode resolutions to minimize required communication bandwidth between a virtual world server and virtual world clients, thereby allowing transmission of all avatars' positions to every other player. Lower resolution bitcodes may be based on a lower resolution grid overlaid on the virtual world, whereas higher resolution bitcodes may be based on a higher resolution grid overlaid on the virtual world. In one example, a virtual world server may determine the bitcode resolution to use based on a distance between an avatar to which the position information is to be sent and other avatars in the virtual world. Resolution may include spatial resolution, where nearer avatars' locations are provided with higher resolution bitcodes, or temporal resolution, where the transmission frequency of position information is greater for nearer avatars. Position information in a transmission stream may further be condensed by using run length encoding.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.