U.S. patent application number 12/832607 was filed with the patent office on 2011-01-20 for system and method for delivering and managing contents in multiple metaverse.
This patent application is currently assigned to Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute. Invention is credited to Jong Hyun JANG, Noh Sam PARK, Sang Wook PARK.
Application Number | 20110014985 12/832607 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 43465691 |
Filed Date | 2011-01-20 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110014985 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
PARK; Noh Sam ; et
al. |
January 20, 2011 |
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DELIVERING AND MANAGING CONTENTS IN MULTIPLE
METAVERSE
Abstract
Provided are a system and method for delivering and managing
contents in multiple metaverses. The system includes a plurality of
metaverses and a multiverse management platform. The plurality of
metaverses include first and second metaverses providing different
mixed reality environments to allow a user to perform various
business activities using contents. The multiverse management
platform supports a teleport between the first and second
metaverses, converts values of the contents used in the first
metaverse into contents usable in the second metaverse, and
performs integrated management of the plurality of metaverses to
allow the converted contents to be used in the second metaverse
through the teleport.
Inventors: |
PARK; Noh Sam; (Daejeon,
KR) ; PARK; Sang Wook; (Daejeon, KR) ; JANG;
Jong Hyun; (Daejeon, KR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
NELSON MULLINS RILEY & SCARBOROUGH LLP;FLOOR 30, SUITE 3000
ONE POST OFFICE SQUARE
BOSTON
MA
02109
US
|
Assignee: |
Electronics and Telecommunications
Research Institute
Daejeon
KR
|
Family ID: |
43465691 |
Appl. No.: |
12/832607 |
Filed: |
July 8, 2010 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
463/42 ;
463/43 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06N 3/006 20130101;
A63F 13/77 20140902; A63F 13/352 20140902; A63F 2300/5533 20130101;
A63F 13/60 20140902; A63F 2300/8082 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
463/42 ;
463/43 |
International
Class: |
A63F 9/24 20060101
A63F009/24 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jul 16, 2009 |
KR |
10-2009-0064933 |
Claims
1. A system for delivering and managing contents in multiple
metaverses, comprising: a plurality of metaverses comprising first
and second metaverses providing different mixed reality
environments to allow a user to perform various business activities
using contents; and a multiverse management platform supporting a
teleport between the first and second metaverses, converting values
of the contents used in the first metaverse into contents usable in
the second metaverse, and performing integrated management of the
plurality of metaverses to allow the converted contents to be used
in the second metaverse through the teleport.
2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a user client system
downloading the contents comprising game software from the
metaverse and executing the downloaded game software, wherein the
user client system logs onto the first metaverse through the
multiverse management platform and teleports from the first meta
verse to the second metaverse, using the teleport while logging
onto the first metaverse.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the multiverse management
platform comprises: an integrated user database storing user login
information; and a multiverse user management unit searching the
integrated user database to verify validity of the user login
information.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the multiverse management
platform comprises: an integrated content database storing content
addresses of the first and second metaverses; and a multiverse
content management unit receiving the stored content addresses as a
form of Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) and checking information
of the first and second metaverses that is received as the form of
GUID.
5. The system of claim 4, wherein the multiverse content management
unit checks the information of the first and second metaverses
through the identifiers of the first and second metaverses and the
first and second content addresses comprising the first and second
content identifiers, and deliver the content identifiers to a
specific metaverse to deliver contents of the specific metaverse to
the user client system.
6. The system of claim 4, further comprising a content negotiation
rule database storing conversion rules of contents between the
respective metaverses, wherein the multiverse content management
unit inquires contents retained by the user from the integrated
content database and inquires content negotiation rules
corresponding to the contents of the first metaverse stored in the
content negotiation rule database to convert and map the contents
of the first metaverse into contents usable in the second
metaverse.
7. A method for delivering and managing contents in multiple
metaverses, comprising: logging, by a user client system, onto a
specific metaverse among a plurality of metaverses providing a
plurality of mixed reality environments, respectively; delivering
game content information on the specific metaverse to the user
client system; verifying a final game content version by inquiring
a content delivery history from an integrated content database when
the game content information has already been delivered or there
are no game contents in the user client system due to replacement
of a client terminal; and requesting content delivery from the
specific metaverse using the content information and receiving
contents about the final content version to start a game.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the logging of the specific
metaverse comprises delivering, by the user client system, login
information to the specific metaverse using a teleport between the
metaverses.
9. A method for delivering and managing contents in multiple
metaverses, comprising: building a plurality of metaverses
comprising a first metaverse and a second metaverse providing mixed
reality environments, respectively; requesting, by a user client
system, a teleport from the first metaverse to the second metaverse
from a multiverse platform; inquiring, by a multiverse content
management unit, game contents retained by a user from the
multiverse content database; inquiring, by the multiverse content
management unit, content negotiation rules corresponding to the
game contents of the first metaverse to convert and map the game
contents of the first metaverse into game contents usable in the
second metaverse; and requesting, by the multiverse content
management unit, the second metaverse to deliver the converted and
mapped game contents of the second metaverse to the user client
system.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising building a content
negotiation rule database storing the content negotiation rules to
inquire the content negotiation rules by the multiverse content
management unit.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.119
to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2009-0064933, filed on Jul. 16,
2009, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of
which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The following disclosure relates to a system and method for
delivering and managing contents in multiple metaverses, and in
particular, to a system and method for delivering and managing game
contents such as avatars and characters in a multiverse environment
including multiple metaverses that are virtual spaces such as
SecondLife.
BACKGROUND
[0003] A core megatrend of forthcoming future society lies in
establishing social networks in which users directly participate,
thereby allowing users to engage in an all-encompassing field of
activities including educational, economic, and cultural
activities, and enabling creative users to freely create, sell,
develop and share characters and spaces in a mixed reality
environment.
[0004] A metaverse is a representative service that provides the
mixed reality environment described above. The metaverse denotes a
three-dimensional virtual world that is a compound of two words,
`meta` indicative of processing and abstraction and `universe`
indicative of the real world. The metaverse, which is a more
advanced concept than the term `virtual reality environment`,
provides the above mixed reality environment in which a virtual
world such as the World Wide Web and Internet has been integrated
with the real world.
[0005] The metaverse may be infinitely expanded according to user
participation, where characters, environments, and spaces may be
freely selected. However, users are heavily burdened by extensive
setup procedures, and only one virtual world of the same form
exists. Accordingly, the development of service infrastructure that
supports unlimited content scalability, enables creation of simple
but high-level contents, and supports sharing of multiple virtual
worlds is a growing requirement.
[0006] With regard to existing metaverses, management and
transmission standards of contents are limited to a single
metaverse environment, and are optimized for specific metaverse
environments. Also, there are difficulties in management and
transmission of contents in multiple metaverse environments in
which users use different metaverse environments seamlessly.
SUMMARY
[0007] In one general aspect, a system for delivering and managing
contents in multiple metaverses includes: a plurality of metaverses
including first and second metaverses providing different mixed
reality environments to allow a user to perform various business
activities using contents; and a multiverse management platform
supporting a teleport between the first and second metaverses,
converting values of the contents used in the first metaverse into
contents usable in the second metaverse, and performing integrated
management of the plurality of metaverses to allow the converted
contents to be used in the second metaverse through the
teleport.
[0008] In another general aspect, a method for delivering and
managing contents in multiple metaverses includes: logging, by a
user client system, onto a specific metaverse among a plurality of
metaverses providing a plurality of mixed reality environments,
respectively; delivering game content information on the specific
metaverse to the user client system; verifying a final game content
version by inquiring a content delivery history from an integrated
content database when the game content information has already been
delivered or there are no game contents in the user client system
due to replacement of a client terminal; and requesting content
delivery from the specific metaverse using the content information
and receiving contents about the final content version to start a
game.
[0009] In still another general aspect, a method for delivering and
managing contents in multiple metaverses includes: building a
plurality of metaverses including a first metaverse and a second
metaverse providing mixed reality environments, respectively;
requesting, by a user client system, a teleport from the first
metaverse to the second metaverse from a multiverse platform;
inquiring, by a multiverse content management unit, game contents
retained by a user from the multiverse content database; inquiring,
by the multiverse content management unit, content negotiation
rules corresponding to the game contents of the first metaverse to
convert and map the game contents of the first metaverse into game
contents usable in the second metaverse; and requesting, by the
multiverse content management unit, the second metaverse to deliver
the converted and mapped game contents of the second metaverse to
the user client system.
[0010] Other features and aspects will be apparent from the
following detailed description, the drawings, and the claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a content delivery
and management system in multiple metaverse environments according
to an exemplary embodiment.
[0012] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a game content management
structure based on a multiple metaverse for managing contents of
the respective metaverses according to an exemplary embodiment.
[0013] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for delivering
contents of a metaverse when a user logs onto a specific metaverse,
in content delivery based on multiple metaverses according to an
exemplary embodiment.
[0014] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for managing
game contents according to teleports between metaverses according
to an exemplary embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0015] Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments will be described in
detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Throughout the
drawings and the detailed description, unless otherwise described,
the same drawing reference numerals will be understood to refer to
the same elements, features, and structures. The relative size and
depiction of these elements may be exaggerated for clarity,
illustration, and convenience. The following detailed description
is provided to assist the reader in gaining a comprehensive
understanding of the methods, apparatuses, and/or systems described
herein. Accordingly, various changes, modifications, and
equivalents of the methods, apparatuses, and/or systems described
herein will be suggested to those of ordinary skill in the art.
Also, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions may be
omitted for increased clarity and conciseness.
[0016] There may be various vendors such as SecondLife and OpenSim,
providing metaverse servers for managing various activities in a
virtual space. Integrated implementation methods for content
management and delivery in a mixed reality environment in which the
metaverse servers exist in plurality are provided.
[0017] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a content delivery
and management system in multiple metaverse environments according
to an exemplary embodiment.
[0018] Referring to FIG. 1, a content delivery and management
system 500 in a multiple metaverse environment (hereinafter,
referred as content delivery and management system) may include a
user client system 100, a plurality of metaverse servers 200, and a
multiverse management platform 300.
[0019] The user client system 100 may allow a user to perform
business activities using entertainments such as games and shopping
and various contents by connecting to the plurality of metaverse
servers 200 through the multiverse management platform 300. For
example, the user client system 100, which is a network-capable
terminal, may download game-related data from the metaverse servers
200 to execute a game, and may perform a game engine function such
as graphic rendering.
[0020] The metaverse servers 200 may provide a plurality of mixed
reality environment services in a virtual reality space such as
SecondLife, based on multiple metaverses. In the present
embodiment, although a game content delivery and management system
500 based on multiverse is described as including two metaverses,
the game content delivery and management system 500 may include
three or more metaverses.
[0021] Specifically, the metaverse server may include a
communication channel unit 305 connected to the user client system
100 through a wire/wireless channel, a user server 210, an asset
server 220, and an inventory server 230, and a metaverse database
240. The user server 210 may take charge of a login process
including user authentication for accessing the metaverse. The
asset server 220 and the inventory server 230 may manage game data
necessary for game execution and game contents such as user's
avatars and user-created items.
[0022] The multiverse management platform 300, which is a system
for managing a plurality of metaverses, may support teleports
between the respective metaverse servers 200, and may manage and
deliver contents. For this, the multiverse management platform 300
may include, but not limited to, a multiverse user management unit
310 and a multiverse content management unit 330. The multiverse
management platform 300 may further include a grid manager system
for managing a plurality of metaverse as a separate management
module.
[0023] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a game content management
structure based on a multiple metaverse for managing contents of
the respective metaverses according to an exemplary embodiment. For
convenience of explanation, a game content management structure
using a metaverse A shown in FIG. 1 may be described in FIG. 2.
[0024] Referring to FIG. 2, a multiverse user management unit 310
may manage an integrated user DB 320. A multiverse content
management unit 330 may manage an integrated content DB 340. Also,
the multiverse content management unit 330 may manage a content
negotiation rule DB 350 for content conversion in teleports between
respective metaverses.
[0025] The multiverse content management unit 330 may grant a
globally unique identifier GUID1 that is unique in a multiverse, to
identify contents managed by the metaverse A in the multiverse
management platform 300 based on multiple metaverses.
[0026] A unique identifier UID shown in FIG. 2 may be utilized as a
unique identifier in the metaverse server 200. However, the unique
identifier UID may not have uniqueness in an environment including
a plurality of metaverses. Accordingly, the globally unique
identifier GUID1 may be newly introduced to identify the plurality
of metaverses as described above.
[0027] The globally unique identifier GUID1 may be a form of adding
metaverse IDs to content identifiers in existing individual
metaverses. The multiverse content management unit 330 may manage a
globally unique identifier regarding contents delivered to a user.
This may reduce limitations such as duplicate data management
according to integrated content management and system load
according to large-capacity data management.
[0028] The multiverse content management unit 330 may receive
content addresses of a specific metaverse server from the
integrated content DB 340 as a form of globally unique identifier
GUID. Here, the content addresses may include a metaverse
identifier and a content identifier. The multiverse content
management unit 330 may first check metaverse information, i.e.,
information for distinguishing metaverses through the content
address, and may deliver corresponding content ID to the metaverse
server to allow the contents to be delivered to the user client
system.
[0029] The content negotiation rule DB 350 may be a storage
including conversion rules about contents between the respective
metaverses. For example, the content negotiation rule DB 350 may
include rules about what an item that is purchased in the metaverse
A is converted into in the metaverse B and what value of item may
be purchased. According to the conversion rules described herein,
for example, when the currency unit of the metaverse A is dollar
($), and the currency unit of the metaverse B is won (), 300 unit
value of the metaverse A may become 300.times.1200 unit value in
the metaverse B. That is, negotiation rules are determined
regarding different values between the metaverses, and thus the
values of contents such as game items may be converted according to
the negotiation rules.
[0030] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for delivering
contents of a metaverse when a user logs onto a specific metaverse,
in content delivery based on multiple metaverses according to an
exemplary embodiment.
[0031] Referring to FIG. 3 along with FIG. 2, the user client
system 100 may also log onto a specific metaverse through the
multiverse management platform 300. That is, the user client system
100 may log onto one of the metaverse A and the metaverse B. When a
user logs onto a specific metaverse, the user may teleport to
another metaverse.
[0032] In operation S301, the user client system 100 may deliver
login information to a specific metaverse using a metaverse login
function or a metaverse teleport function of the multiverse
management platform 300.
[0033] In operation S302, validity of the login information (user
information) may be verified in the integrated user DB 320 by the
multiverse user management unit 310.
[0034] When the login information is verified as being valid in
operation S303, the user client system 100 having the valid login
information may receive content information about a corresponding
metaverse to which the user client system intends to connect in
operation S303.
[0035] In operation S304, the multiverse content management unit
330 may check whether the received content information about the
corresponding metaverse exists.
[0036] If there is no received content information, the content
delivery history of the integrated content DB 340 may be inquired
in operation S306.
[0037] If there is no delivery history from the metaverse, in
operation S307, content delivery is newly requested from the
metaverse.
[0038] If there is a content delivery history, or there are no
contents in a client-side system due to replacement of client
terminal, in operation S305, the content delivery history is
inquired from the integrated content DB 340 to check the final
content version.
[0039] In operation S307, the content delivery is requested from
the metaverse using the content information, and contents are
delivered to start game, e.g., by checking whether the latest
version has been delivered.
[0040] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for managing
game contents according to teleports between metaverses according
to an exemplary embodiment.
[0041] Referring to FIG. 4 along with FIG. 2, when a user intends
to move from the metaverse A to the metaverse B, contents of the
metaverse A may be converted into contents of the metaverse B
through negotiation between the respective metaverses.
[0042] In operation S401, a user-side system may request a teleport
function from the metaverse A to the metaverse B from the
multiverse management platform 300 (see FIG. 2).
[0043] In operation S402, the multiverse content management unit
330 may inquire game contents retained by a user from the
multiverse content DB 340 according to the request described above.
In operation S403, the multiverse content management unit 330 may
search the content negotiation rule DB 350 corresponding to the
game contents of the metaverse A, and may convert/map the searched
game contents into game contents usable in the metaverse B.
[0044] In operation S404, the multiverse content management unit
330 may request the metaverse B to deliver the converted/mapped
contents of the metaverse B to the user.
[0045] A number of exemplary embodiments have been described above.
Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may
be made. For example, suitable results may be achieved if the
described techniques are performed in a different order and/or if
components in a described system, architecture, device, or circuit
are combined in a different manner and/or replaced or supplemented
by other components or their equivalents. Accordingly, other
implementations are within the scope of the following claims.
* * * * *