U.S. patent application number 13/871307 was filed with the patent office on 2013-09-12 for group licenses for virtual objects in a distributed virtual world.
This patent application is currently assigned to Qurio Holdings, Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is QURIO HOLDINGS, INC.. Invention is credited to James Evans, Richard J. Walsh.
Application Number | 20130239227 13/871307 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 48146151 |
Filed Date | 2013-09-12 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130239227 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Evans; James ; et
al. |
September 12, 2013 |
GROUP LICENSES FOR VIRTUAL OBJECTS IN A DISTRIBUTED VIRTUAL
WORLD
Abstract
A group licensing scheme for validating groups of virtual
objects within a distributed virtual world is provided. Each of a
number of distributed virtual world servers hosts a cell, or
virtual space, of the virtual world. In operation, a first virtual
world server categorizes virtual objects into a number of groups.
Either before or after creating the groups, the first virtual world
server validates each virtual object individually. Once the virtual
objects are validated and the groups are formed, the first virtual
world server generates a group license for each of the groups. When
a group of virtual objects or an avatar associated with one or more
groups of virtual objects moves to a virtual space hosted by a
second virtual world server, the corresponding group licenses are
provided to the second virtual world server, which validates the
one or more groups of virtual objects based on the group
licenses.
Inventors: |
Evans; James; (Apex, NC)
; Walsh; Richard J.; (Raleigh, NC) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
QURIO HOLDINGS, INC. |
Raleigh |
NC |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Qurio Holdings, Inc.
Raleigh
NC
|
Family ID: |
48146151 |
Appl. No.: |
13/871307 |
Filed: |
April 26, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
11762459 |
Jun 13, 2007 |
8433656 |
|
|
13871307 |
|
|
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|
Current U.S.
Class: |
726/27 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 21/30 20130101;
G06F 21/6236 20130101; H04L 63/104 20130101; G06F 21/629 20130101;
G06F 2221/2115 20130101; H04L 63/123 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
726/27 |
International
Class: |
G06F 21/62 20060101
G06F021/62 |
Claims
1. A method of managing avatar access rights to a group of virtual
objects in a distributed virtual world comprising: predicting on a
first network node an avatar will move from a first virtual space
to a second virtual space; and sending from the first network node
to a second network node the avatar access rights wherein the
second network node hosts the second virtual space.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first network node hosts the
first virtual space.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the first network node is a
virtual world authority.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein the virtual world authority
granted the access rights.
Description
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/762,459, entitled "GROUP LICENSES FOR
VIRTUAL OBJECTS IN A DISTRIBUTED VIRTUAL WORLD," which was filed on
Jun. 13, 2007, and which is hereby incorporated herein by reference
in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to a distributed virtual world
and more specifically to validating virtual objects within a
distributed virtual world.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Validation of virtual objects is crucial in preventing
cheating in virtual worlds. More specifically, it is desirable to
validate virtual objects or licenses issued to a user or avatar
representing the user in the virtual world before permitting the
user or avatar to interact with the virtual objects. However, there
may be tens, hundreds, thousands, or even millions of users or
avatars active in a virtual world at a particular point in time and
each of the users or avatars may interact with a large number of
virtual objects. As such, validating each virtual object
individually before permitting a user or avatar to interact with
the virtual object places a large load on the system and more
specifically on a virtual world authority operating to issue and
validate licenses as the number of users or avatars and virtual
objects increases. Thus, there is a need for a system and method
for efficiently validating virtual objects in a virtual world.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The present invention provides a group licensing scheme for
validating groups of virtual objects within a distributed virtual
world. In general, each of a number of distributed virtual world
servers hosts a cell, or virtual space, of the virtual world. In
one embodiment, a first virtual world server categorizes virtual
objects within the virtual space hosted by the first virtual world
server or associated with an avatar within the virtual space hosted
by the first virtual world server into a number of groups. Either
before or after creating the groups, the first virtual world server
interacts with a virtual world authority to validate each virtual
object individually. Once the virtual objects are validated and the
groups are formed, the first virtual world server generates a group
license for each of the groups. When a group of virtual objects or
an avatar associated with one or more groups of virtual objects
moves to a virtual space hosted by a second virtual world server,
the corresponding group licenses are provided to the second virtual
world server. Thereafter, the second virtual world server validates
the one or more groups of virtual objects based on the group
licenses rather than validating each of the virtual objects
individually.
[0005] Those skilled in the art will appreciate the scope of the
present invention and realize additional aspects thereof after
reading the following detailed description of the preferred
embodiments in association with the accompanying drawing
figures.
[0006] Brief Description of the Drawing Figures
[0007] The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming
a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the
invention, and together with the description serve to explain the
principles of the invention.
[0008] FIG. 1 illustrates a system implementing a distributed
virtual world according to one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0009] FIG. 2 illustrates a process for generating groups of
virtual objects, issuing a group license for the virtual objects,
and validating the group of virtual objects based on the group
license according to one embodiment of the present invention;
and
[0010] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of one of the nodes of FIG. 1
according to one embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0011] The embodiments set forth below represent the necessary
information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the
invention and illustrate the best mode of practicing the invention.
Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying
drawing figures, those skilled in the art will understand the
concepts of the invention and will recognize applications of these
concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood
that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the
disclosure and the accompanying claims.
[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates a system 10 implementing a distributed
virtual world according to one embodiment of the present invention.
In general, the virtual world may be any virtual environment
wherein a user is enabled to control an avatar to move throughout
and to interact with the virtual environment. An avatar may be, for
example, a two-dimensional or three-dimensional graphical
representation of a user or a character controlled by the user. For
example, the virtual world may be a Massively Multiplayer Online
Role Playing Game (MMORPG), a virtual environment such as Second
Life, or the like.
[0013] The system 10 includes a number of network nodes, or nodes,
12-1 through 12-N and a virtual world authority 14 interconnected
via a network 16. The network 16 may be a Local Area Network (LAN),
Wide Area Network (WAN), or the like, or any combination thereof.
The network 16 may include wired components, wireless components,
or a combination thereof. For example, the network 16 may be the
Internet.
[0014] The nodes 12-1 through 12-N may be network devices such as,
for example, a number of distributed gaming servers. Alternatively,
the nodes 12-1 through 12-N may be user devices communicating via a
Peer-to-Peer (P2P) overlay network to provide a distributed P2P
virtual world. For example, each of the nodes 12-1 through 12-N may
be a user device such as a gaming console such as an Xbox.RTM.,
Playstation.RTM., or Nintendo.RTM. Wii; a mobile gaming device such
as a Playstation Portable.RTM. or Nintendo DS.RTM.; a mobile
terminal such as a Personal Digital Assistant or mobile telephone;
a personal computer; or the like.
[0015] The nodes 12-1 through 12-N include virtual world servers
18-1 through 18-N, respectively. The virtual world servers 18-1
through 18-N may be implemented in software, hardware, or a
combination thereof. Each of the virtual world servers 18-1 through
18-N hosts a cell, or virtual space, of the virtual world. Clients
20-1 through 20-M communicate with the virtual world servers 18-1
through 18-N in order to render the virtual world to associated
users and to enable those users to control their avatars to
interact with the virtual world. In this example, clients 20-1 and
20-2 are associated with avatars currently within the virtual space
hosted by the virtual world server 18-1. As such, the clients 20-1
and 20-2 are communicatively coupled to the virtual world server
18-1.
[0016] Likewise, the client 20-M is associated with an avatar
currently within the virtual space hosted by the virtual world
server 18-N. As such, the client 20-M is communicatively coupled to
the virtual world server 18-N.
[0017] The clients 20-1 through 20-M may be implemented in software
and/or hardware and communicate with the virtual world servers 18-1
through 18-N to enable associated users to move their avatars
throughout the virtual world and to interact with the virtual
world. The clients 20-1 through 20-M may be implemented in user
devices such as, for example, personal computers, gaming consoles,
mobile gaming devices, mobile terminals, or the like. In one
embodiment, if the nodes 12-1 through 12-N are user devices and the
virtual world servers 18-1 through 18-N interact to provide a
distributed P2P virtual world, at least some of the clients 20-1
through 20-M may be implemented on the nodes 12-1 through 12-N. The
client devices 20-1 through 20-M may communicate with the nodes
12-1 through 12-N and more specifically the virtual world servers
18-1 through 18-N via the network 16 or via some separate
network.
[0018] For more details of an exemplary distributed virtual world
wherein each server hosts a virtual space of the virtual world, the
interested reader is directed to U.S. patent application Ser. No.
11/693,152, entitled MESSAGE PROPAGATION IN A DISTRIBUTED VIRTUAL
WORLD, which was filed March 29, 2007 and is hereby incorporated by
reference in its entirety.
[0019] The virtual world authority 14 operates to validate virtual
objects within the virtual world. Validation of the virtual objects
may be desired, for example, to prevent cheating in the virtual
world by gaining access to or otherwise interacting with virtual
objects that one has not legitimately obtained. More specifically,
as discussed below, the virtual world authority 14 operates to
issue licenses enabling users or their avatars to access or
interact with virtual objects, validate licenses, and revoke
licenses when appropriate. Note that while the virtual world
authority 14 is illustrated as a single block, the virtual world
authority 14 may be implemented on a single network device such as
a server or implemented on a number of network devices in a
distributed fashion.
[0020] FIG. 2 illustrates the operation of the system 10 of FIG. 1.
First, when the avatar associated with the client 20-1 enters the
virtual space hosted by the virtual world server 18-1, the client
20-1 establishes communication with the virtual world server 18-1
(step 100). In one embodiment, prior to permitting the avatar to
access or interact with virtual objects, the virtual world server
18-1 validates the virtual objects or licenses issued to the user
represented by the avatar for those virtual objects (step 102).
More specifically, in one embodiment, the avatar or may carry with
it or otherwise be associated with a number of virtual objects such
as, for example, clothing, weapons, maps, or the like. Before
permitting the avatar to access or interact with those virtual
objects, the virtual world server 18-1 validates the virtual
objects or licenses issued to the avatar or the user associated
with the avatar for those virtual objects in order to ensure that
the virtual objects have been legitimately obtained and are
legitimately retained by the avatar or user. In another embodiment,
the virtual world server 18-1 may validate the virtual objects when
the avatar enters the virtual space hosted by the virtual world
server 18-1 or just prior to the time that the avatar enters the
virtual space hosted by the virtual world server 18-1.
[0021] In one embodiment, the virtual world server 18-1 validates
the virtual objects by requesting licenses for the virtual objects
from the virtual world authority 14. The licenses include
information defining the access rights of the avatar or user with
respect to the virtual objects. In another embodiment, the avatar
or user already has licenses for the virtual objects. The licenses
may be stored by the client 20-1, provided to the virtual world
server 18-1 when the avatar enters its virtual space, or the like.
As such, the virtual world server 18-1 validates the virtual
objects by validating the avatar's or user's licenses for the
virtual objects.
[0022] The virtual world server 18-1 may validate the licenses for
the virtual objects in any manner known in the art. For example,
the licenses may be digitally signed by the virtual world authority
14. The virtual world server 18-1 may then validate the licenses
using the digital signature. More specifically, as will be
understood by one of ordinary skill in the art upon reading this
disclosure, a license includes, for example, information defining
the access rights of the avatar or user, information identifying
the issuer of the license which in this case is the virtual world
authority 14, and the like. When issuing a license, the virtual
world authority 14 may process the contents of the license using a
hashing process to generate a message digest. The message digest is
then encrypted using a private key of the virtual world authority
14 to provide the digital signature of the virtual world authority
14 for the license. The digital signature is then appended to the
license. Thereafter, the virtual world server 18-1 may validate the
license by decrypting the digital signature using a public key of
the virtual world authority 14 to obtain the message digest. If the
decryption process was successful, the virtual world server 18-1
knows that the digital signature is that of the virtual world
authority 18-1. The virtual world server 18-1 also processes the
contents of the license to generate its own message digest for the
license. If the message digest resulting from the digital signature
and the message digest generated by the virtual world server 18-1
match, then the license is validated. In addition, the virtual
world server 18-1 may interact with the virtual world authority 14
to further validate the license by, for example, querying the
virtual world authority 14 to determine whether the license is
still valid and has not been revoked. Still further, as will be
apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, additional measures
may be taken for validation such as, for example, using a digital
certificate to validate the public key of the virtual world
authority 14.
[0023] In this example, at some point after the virtual objects
have been validated individually, the virtual world server 18-1
categorizes the virtual objects into one or more groups of virtual
objects (step 104). Alternatively, the virtual world server 18-1
may validate the virtual objects individually after creating the
groups. The virtual world server 18-1 may group the virtual objects
in any desired manner. For example, the virtual world server 18-1
may group the virtual objects based on the time of last interaction
or amount of time since the virtual objects were last interacted
with or accessed, frequency of interaction, object location, user
rights and/or security, related content category, and/or object
affinity. These types of groupings are generally predictive in
nature.
[0024] More specifically, grouping based on the time of last
interaction enables virtual objects that are more likely to be
interacted with or accessed in the near future to be grouped
together. For example, virtual objects last interacted with or
accessed within the past 24 hours may be grouped together to form a
first group, virtual objects last interacted with or accessed more
than 24 hours ago but less than 5 days ago may be grouped together
to form a second group, and so on. Note that if grouping of this
type is desired, for each virtual object, information defining the
last time the virtual object was accessed or interacted with is
stored either at the client 20-1 or the node 12-1 hosting the
virtual world server 18-1.
[0025] Grouping based on frequency of interaction enables virtual
objects that are interacted with or accessed most frequently to be
grouped together. As such, as discussed below, one validation
process is used to validate the entire group. Each virtual object
does not need to be validated individually, thereby substantially
reducing the load placed on the system 10 with respect to
validation of virtual objects. As an example, virtual objects
interacted with or accessed over 100 times may be grouped together
to form a first group, virtual objects interacted with or accessed
less than 100 times but more than 50 times may be grouped together
to form a second group, virtual objects interacted with or accessed
less than 50 times but more than 25 times may be grouped together
to form a third group, and so on.
[0026] Grouping based on location in the virtual world allows
virtual objects that are often related or accessed or interacted
with at or near the same time to be grouped together. Further,
grouping based on location enables the virtual world server 18-1 to
validate the group when the avatar is within or near the same
location within the virtual world. Note that the location of a
virtual object may be at a specific location within the virtual
world or within another virtual object within the virtual world.
For example, a house is a virtual object that may contain
additional virtual objects such as furniture or the like. Thus, for
example, all virtual objects within a defined area of the virtual
world, or more specifically within a defined area of the virtual
space hosted by the virtual world server 18-1, may be grouped
together. As another example, the virtual space hosted by the
virtual world server 18-1 may be divided into a number of static or
dynamic areas, where virtual objects within those areas are grouped
together. As another example, all virtual objects within a certain
virtual object may be grouped together.
[0027] With respect to grouping based on user rights and/or
security, virtual object licenses reflect the rights of various
users or avatars to interact with, access, and/or possess the
virtual object. Additionally, the owner of a virtual object, or
user owning or having the right to possess a virtual object, may be
able to assign similar rights. For example, an owner may give his
friends access to use the virtual object. Grouping based on user
rights and/or security can prevent validation operations for
virtual objects that a user or users cannot interact with, access,
or possess. Also, these types of groups can also provide quick
validation for virtual objects shared by a group of users
performing a group activity within the virtual world. For example,
all virtual objects belonging to a certain user or avatar may be
grouped together, all objects belonging to a certain group of users
or avatars may be grouped together, all virtual objects accessible
to a certain user or avatar may be grouped together, all virtual
objects accessible by a certain group of users or avatars may be
grouped together, all virtual objects with which a certain user may
interact may be grouped together, all virtual objects with which a
certain group of users may interact may be grouped together, or the
like. Similarly, all virtual objects not belonging to a certain
user or avatar may be grouped together, all objects not belonging
to a certain group of users or avatars may be grouped together, all
virtual objects not accessible to a certain user or avatar may be
grouped together, all virtual objects not accessible by a certain
group of users or avatars may be grouped together, all virtual
objects with which a certain user may not interact may be grouped
together, all virtual objects with which a certain group of users
may not interact may be grouped together, or the like.
[0028] With respect to grouping based on related content
categories, the system 10 may maintain an ontology, taxonomy, or
the like that describes virtual objects or types of virtual objects
and their relationships with other virtual objects or other types
of virtual objects. This information may be stored by the virtual
world authority 14, stored by each of the nodes 12-1 through 12-N,
distributed among the nodes 12-1 through 12-N, stored by one or
more other network nodes associated with the system 10, or the
like. Based on this information describing relationships between
virtual objects or types of virtual objects, the virtual world
server 18-1 may categorize the virtual objects into groups of
related virtual objects. For example, all clothing virtual objects
may be grouped together, all weapons may be grouped together, and
the like.
[0029] Once the one or more groups are formed, the virtual world
server 18-1 generates a group license for each of the groups (step
106). Preferably, the group licenses are temporary. However, the
present invention is not limited thereto. More specifically, each
of the group licenses is similar to the licenses issued by the
virtual world authority 14 but is for the associated group of
virtual objects and the issuer of the group license is the virtual
world server 18-1 rather than the virtual world authority 14. In
addition, the group licenses are preferably digitally signed by the
virtual world server 18-1 using the private key of the virtual
world server 18-1. Note that while the digital signature is
discussed herein, other techniques may be used to authenticate the
source of the group licenses and to validate the contents of the
group licenses.
[0030] It should be noted that in an alternative embodiment, the
one or more groups may be formed by the virtual world authority 14
based on, for example, validation requests from the virtual world
server 18-1. For example, if the virtual world authority 14
receives requests to validate multiple virtual objects associated
with an avatar, the virtual world authority 14 may group the
virtual objects or instruct the virtual world server 18-1 to group
the virtual objects. In addition, whether or not the one or more
groups are formed by the virtual world authority 14 or the virtual
world server 18-1, the one or more group licenses may alternatively
be generated by the virtual world authority 14 rather than the
virtual world server 18-1. The group licenses may be temporary or
permanent. More specifically, if the virtual world server 18-1
forms the one or more groups, the virtual world server 18-1 may
then request a group license for each of the one or more groups
from the virtual world authority 14.
[0031] Thereafter, in this example, the avatar associated with the
client 20-1 moves from the virtual space hosted by the virtual
world server 18-1 to the virtual space hosted by the virtual world
server 18-2. As such, the client 20-1 establishes communication
with the virtual world server 18-2 (step 108). In this example, at
some point after the avatar has moved to the virtual space hosted
by the virtual world server 18-2, the virtual world server 18-1
provides the one or more temporary group licenses associated with
the avatar to the virtual world server 18-2 (step 110).
Alternatively, the group licenses may be stored by the client 20-1,
and the client 20-1 may provide the group licenses to the virtual
world server 18-2. As another alternative, the virtual world server
18-1 or the client 20-1 may provide the group licenses to the
virtual world server 18-2 in a predictive fashion. More
specifically, based on the location and possible previous
activities of the avatar, the virtual world server 18-1 or the
client 20-1 may predict that the avatar will soon enter the virtual
space hosted by the virtual world server 18-2. As such, the virtual
world server 18-1 or the client 20-1 may provide the group licenses
associated with the avatar to the virtual world server 18-2 in
advance. The virtual world server 18-2 may then validate the groups
in the manner described below prior to or at some point after the
avatar enters its virtual space.
[0032] As yet another alternative, the virtual world server 18-2
may request the group licenses from the virtual world server 18-1
or the client 20-1 when desired.
[0033] After receiving the one or more group licenses, the virtual
world server 18-2 validates the one or more groups of virtual
objects based on their associated group licenses (step 112). As
such, for each group, the group of virtual objects is validated
using a single validation operation. Each virtual object in the
group does not need to be validated individually, thereby reducing
the load on the system 10 with respect to validation of virtual
objects. Note that group licenses may include an explicit time-out
period or similar information defining when the group licenses are
to expire.
[0034] In one embodiment, in order to validate a group of virtual
objects, the virtual world server 18-2 first decrypts a digital
signature appended to the group license to obtain a message digest
for the group license using a public key of the issuer of the group
license, which in this example is the virtual world server 18-1.
Successful decryption validates that the group license is from the
virtual world server 18-1. Note that the public key may be obtained
from the virtual world server 18-1. Alternatively, the public key
may be provided by or authenticated by a trusted authority such as,
for example, the virtual world authority 14 or a certificate issued
by the trusted authority. The virtual world server 18-2 also
generates its own message digest from the contents of the group
license and compares this message digest to the message digest
resulting from the decryption of the digital signature. If the two
message digests match, the contents of the group license are
validated. If the group license includes an explicit time-out
period, then the virtual world server 18-2 determines whether the
group license has expired. If so, the virtual world server 18-2
then proceeds to validate each virtual object in the group
individually in the manner described above with respect to step
102. If the group license has not expired, the virtual world server
18-2 may interact with the virtual world server 18-1 to ensure that
the group license has not been revoked and is still valid and may
further interact with the virtual world authority 14 to ensure that
the virtual world server 18-1 is a valid issuer of the group
license. At this point, the group license is validated.
[0035] Once the group license is validated, the avatar or user
associated with the avatar is enabled to access or interact with
the virtual objects in the group as permitted by the group
license.
[0036] In order to illustrate the principals of the invention, the
following exemplary scenario is provided. However, this example is
not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. First, an
avatar acquires a number of virtual objects such as, for example,
clothes, jewelry, weapons, and the like. The avatar may acquire the
virtual objects by, for example, completing specified tasks within
the virtual world or as a result of an e-commerce transaction
wherein the associated user purchases the virtual objects. The
virtual world authority 14 issues licenses for the virtual objects
giving the avatar the right and permission to possess, access,
interact with or otherwise use the virtual objects as applicable.
The virtual objects and the licenses may be stored by the
associated client, which in this example is the client 20-1. At
some point thereafter, the avatar enters the virtual space hosted
by the virtual world server 18-1. Assuming that the licenses of the
virtual objects need to be validated, the virtual world server 18-1
validates the licenses for the virtual objects individually. Either
before or after validating the licenses, the virtual world server
18-1 categorizes the virtual objects associated with the avatar
into one or more groups. Once the virtual objects are validated
individually, the virtual world server 18-1 issues a group license
for each of the groups of virtual objects. Thereafter, when the
avatar moves to the virtual space hosted by the virtual world
server 18-2, the group licenses are provided to the virtual world
server 18-2 either from the virtual world server 18-1 or the client
20-1. At some point such as, for example, an initial attempt of the
avatar to access or interact with a virtual object in one of the
groups, the virtual world server 18-2 validates the group license
for the associated group. As a result, each virtual object in the
group is validated, and the avatar is free to access or interact
with all of the virtual objects in the group as permitted by the
group license.
[0037] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the node 12-1 of FIG. 1
according to one embodiment of the present invention. This
discussion is equally applicable to the other nodes 12-2 through
12-N. In general, the node 12-1 includes a control system 22 having
associated memory 24. In this example, the virtual world server
18-1 is implemented in software and stored in the memory 24.
However, the present invention is not limited thereto. The virtual
world server 18-1 may be implemented in software, hardware, or a
combination thereof. The node 12-1 also includes one or more
communication interfaces 26 communicatively coupling the node 12-1
to the network 16 and the clients 20-1 and 20-2 (FIG. 1). Note that
the node 12-1 may communicate with the other nodes 12-2 through
12-N, the virtual world authority 14, and the clients 20-1 and 20-2
via a single communication interface or via separate communication
interfaces. The node 12-1 also includes a user interface 28, which
may include, for example, one or more user input devices, a
display, speakers, and the like.
[0038] The present invention provides substantial opportunity for
variation without departing from the spirit or scope of the present
invention. For example, while the present invention has been
discussed above with respect to a distributed virtual world, the
present invention is applicable to any distributed architecture
including a number of distributed network nodes wherein it is
desirable to validate the same virtual object at different network
nodes over time. In addition, while much of the discussion above
focuses on validating virtual objects associated with an avatar,
the present invention is not limited thereto.
[0039] For example, the present invention may be used to validate
any virtual objects that may be accessed or interacted with from
the virtual spaces of multiple virtual world servers in a
distributed virtual world architecture.
[0040] Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and
modifications to the preferred embodiments of the present
invention. All such improvements and modifications are considered
within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein and the claims
that follow.
* * * * *