U.S. patent number RE45,132 [Application Number 13/650,071] was granted by the patent office on 2014-09-09 for system and method for control and training of avatars in an interactive environment.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Pea Tree Foundation L.L.C.. The grantee listed for this patent is Pea Tree Foundation L.L.C.. Invention is credited to John L. Caporale, Michael J. Caporale.
United States Patent |
RE45,132 |
Caporale , et al. |
September 9, 2014 |
System and method for control and training of avatars in an
interactive environment
Abstract
A system operative to execute and train at least one avatar for
each user of an interactive environment comprising a knowledge
engine operative to continuously monitor each user's response to
events in the interactive environment while each user controls the
at least one avatar, a knowledge base operative to store each of
the monitored user responses to events in the interactive
environment and an action engine operative to control one or more
actions of the at least one avatar for each user in the interactive
environment based on the stored monitored responses regardless of
each user's control of the at least one avatar.
Inventors: |
Caporale; John L. (Redmond,
WA), Caporale; Michael J. (Redmond, WA) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Pea Tree Foundation L.L.C. |
Wilmington |
DE |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Pea Tree Foundation L.L.C.
(Wilmington, DE)
|
Family
ID: |
39775951 |
Appl.
No.: |
13/650,071 |
Filed: |
October 11, 2012 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
Reissue of: |
11688770 |
Mar 20, 2007 |
7814041 |
Oct 12, 2010 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
706/51;
706/12 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63F
13/355 (20140902); H04L 67/306 (20130101); A63F
13/12 (20130101); G06N 20/00 (20190101); A63F
13/67 (20140902); A63F 2300/535 (20130101); H04L
67/22 (20130101); A63F 2300/538 (20130101); A63F
2300/6027 (20130101); A63F 13/79 (20140902); A63F
2300/5553 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G06F
15/18 (20060101) |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Other References
Shi, Jianping et al.; "Smart Avatars in JackMOO"; 1999; IEEE;
Virtual Reality Proceedings 1999; 8 pages. cited by examiner .
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Science and Engineering, 2009 CSE '09; International Conference on
vol. 4 Digital Object Identifier: 10.1109/CSE.2009.448 Publication
Year 2009; pp. 1174-1179. cited by applicant .
You-Zhi Xu et al.; Research on Intelligent Knowledge Push System
Based on Rule Engine: A Case of Medical Training; Information
Engineering and computer Science, 2009; ICIECS 2009; International
Conference on Digital Object Identifier:
10.1109/ICIECS.2009.5365490 Publication year: 2009; pp. 1-4. cited
by applicant .
Kharazmi, S. et al; Freshness of Web Search Engines: Improving
Performance of Web Search Engines Using Data Mining Techniques;
Internet Technology and Secured Transactions, 2009; ICITST 2009,
International Conference for Publication Year 2009; pp. 1-7. cited
by applicant .
Siddiqui, K.J. et al.; Knowledge Based System for Weather
Information Processing and Forecasting; Geoscience and Remote
Sensing Symposium, 1996; IGARSS '96; "Remote Sensing for a
Sustainable Future"; International vol. 2 Digital Object
Identifier: 10.1109/IGARSS,1996.516580 Publication year 1996; pp.
1099-1101, vol, 2. cited by applicant .
Avatars in Analytical Gaming, Cowell, A.J.; Cowell, A.K.;
Computational Science and Engineering, 2009. CSE '09. International
Conference on vol. 4 Digital Object Identifier:
10.1109/CSE.2009.448 Publication Year: 2009 , pp. 1174-1179. cited
by examiner .
Research on Intelligent Knowledge Push System Based on Rule Engine:
A Case of Medical Training, You-Zhi Xu; Ji-Jiang Yang; Qing Wang;
Hui Pan; Information Engineering and Computer Science, 2009, ICIECS
2009. International Conference on Digital Object Indentifier:
10.1109/ICIECS.2009.5365490 Publication Year: 2009 , pp. 1-4. cited
by examiner .
Freshness of Web search engines: Improving performance of Web
search engines using data mining techniques, Kharazmi, S.; Nejad,
A.F.; Abolhassani, H.; Internet Technology and Secured
Transactions, 2009. ICITST 2009. International Conference for
Publication Year: 2009 , pp. 1-7. cited by examiner .
Knowledge based system for weather information processing and
forecasting, Siddiqui, K.J.; Nugen, S.M.; Geoscience and Remote
Sensing Symposium, 1996, IGARSS '96. `Remote Sensing for a
Sustainable Future.`, International vol. 2 Digital Object
Identifier: 10.1109/IGARSS.1996.516580 Publication Year: 1996 , pp.
1099-1101 vol. 2. cited by examiner.
|
Primary Examiner: Hill; Stanley K
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Stolowitz Ford Cowger LLP
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A system operative to execute and train at least one avatar in
an interactive environment for each of one or more users, the
system comprising: a plurality of client devices coupled to a
network, each client device including at least a first knowledge
engine operative to continuously monitor each user's response to a
plurality of events in the interactive environment, the first
knowledge engine including an event monitoring component, a
response monitoring component and an operational mode management
component; and at least one server device coupled to the network
including a memory, a knowledge base and a second knowledge engine,
the second knowledge engine including a pattern analysis and
recognition component, a categorization component and a knowledge
base interface controller, the at least one server device operative
to receive the monitored user responses from the first knowledge
engine and to cause the at least one avatar to execute one or more
actions in the interactive environment based on pattern analysis of
the monitored user responses.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of client
devices further includes an action engine, the action engine
operative to control the execution of the one or more actions of
the at least one avatar in the interactive environment based on the
monitored user responses.
3. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one server device
further includes an action engine, the action engine .[.control.].
operative to control the execution of the one or more actions of
the at least one avatar in the interactive environment based on the
monitored user responses.
4. The system of claim 1 wherein the interactive environment is a
computer-generated simulation environment.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein the interactive environment is a
computer-generated game environment.
6. The system of claim 1 wherein the event monitoring component is
operative to continuously monitor events in the interactive
environment and to report the monitored events to the second
knowledge engine, the response monitoring component is operative to
continuously monitor each user's responses to the plurality of
events in the interactive environment and to report each monitored
user response to the second knowledge engine, and the operational
mode management component is operative to determine the actions of
the at least one avatar in an operational mode in the interactive
environment, the operational mode being one of a real user mode, an
assisted duality mode, a competitive duality mode and an autonomous
operational mode.
7. The system of claim 1 wherein the second knowledge engine
further includes an action engine .Iadd.interface
.Iaddend.controller, the knowledge base interface controller
operative to communicate between the pattern analysis and
recognition component and the categorization component, the action
engine interface controller operative to communicate requests for
control actions to an action engine.
8. The system of claim 7 wherein the pattern analysis and
recognition component is operative to determine an association
between each of the plurality of events in the interactive
environment and each user's response.
9. The system of claim 7 wherein the categorization component is
operative to categorize each user's response as a decision metric
and a timing measure of each user's response as a performance
metric.
10. The system of claim 7 wherein the knowledge base is operative
to store in the memory one or more associations between each user
response and each of the plurality of events in the interactive
environment.
11. The system of claim 8 wherein the association is based on at
least one of a frequency of occurrence measure and a statistical
relevance measure.
12. The system of claim 10 wherein the second knowledge engine is
operative to search the one or more associations stored in the
memory and to determine at least one decision metric and at least
one performance metric to be applied by the at least one avatar in
response to one or more events in the interactive environment.
13. The system of claim 2 wherein the action engine is operative to
control the execution of the one or more actions of the at least
one avatar in response to one or more requests from the second
knowledge engine in at least one of an autonomous mode and a
competitive duality mode of the interactive environment, each
request of the second knowledge engine based on: one or more
associations between each user response and each of the plurality
of events in the interactive environment, and a categorization of
each user response according to a decision metric and a timing
measure of each user response according to a performance
metric.
14. The system of claim 3 wherein the action engine is operative to
control the execution of the one or more actions of the at least
one avatar in response to one or more requests from the second
knowledge engine in at least one of an autonomous mode and a
competitive duality mode of the interactive environment, each
request of the second knowledge engine based on: one or more
associations between each user response and each of the plurality
of events in the interactive environment, and a categorization of
each user response according to a decision metric and a timing
measure of each user response according to a performance
metric.
15. The system of claim 6 wherein the real user mode comprises each
user having exclusive control over the execution of the one or more
actions of the at least one avatar in the interactive
environment.
16. The system of claim 6 wherein the assisted duality mode
comprises each user having shared control with the second knowledge
engine and the action engine for supplemented execution of the one
or more actions of the at least one avatar in the interactive
environment.
17. The system of claim 6 wherein the competitive duality mode
comprises each user having control over the execution of the one or
more actions of a first avatar of the at least one avatar in the
interactive environment and the second knowledge engine and
.[.the.]. .Iadd.an .Iaddend.action engine having control over the
execution of the one or more actions of a second avatar of the at
least one avatar in the interactive environment, the first avatar
and the second avatar having competitive roles in the interactive
environment.
18. The system of claim 6 wherein the competitive duality mode
comprises each user having control over the execution of the one or
more actions of a first plurality of the at least one avatar in the
interactive environment and the second knowledge engine and
.[.the.]. .Iadd.an .Iaddend.action engine having control over the
execution of the one or more actions of a second plurality of the
at least one avatar in the interactive environment, each plurality
comprising a collaborative team having competitive roles in the
interactive environment.
19. The system of claim 6 wherein the autonomous operational mode
comprises the second knowledge engine and the an action engine
having exclusive control over the execution of the one or more
actions of the at least one avatar in the interactive
environment.
20. The system of claim 19 wherein the autonomous operational mode
further comprises a tournament mode in which the second knowledge
engine and the action engine have exclusive control over the
execution of the one or more actions of each of the at least one
avatar for each of the one or more users, each of the at least one
avatar for each of the one or more users having competitive roles
in the interactive environment.
21. The system of claim 19 wherein the autonomous operational mode
further comprises a tournament mode in which the second knowledge
engine and the action engine have exclusive control over the
execution of the one or more actions of each of the at least one
avatar for each of the one or more users, each of the at least one
avatar having at least one of a collaborative role and a
competitive role in the interactive environment.
22. The system of claim 20 wherein the at least one avatar is
operative to communicate to each user.
23. The system of claim 22 wherein the at least one avatar is
operative to communicate to each user using at least one of an
electronic mail emergency action message and a voice message based
on synthetic speech generation.
24. The system of claim 2 wherein the action engine comprises: a
knowledge engine interface operative to receive requests from the
second knowledge engine to control the one or more actions of the
at least one avatar in the interactive environment, a rules
database component operative to maintain a database of rules for
execution control of the one or more actions of the at least one
avatar, and an action execution component operative to execute
requests received from the knowledge engine interface to control
the one or more actions of the at least one avatar in the
interactive environment based on the database of rules for
execution control maintained by the rules database component when
.[.the.]. .Iadd.a .Iaddend.user does not have exclusive control of
the at least one avatar.
25. The system of claim 24 wherein the action engine further
comprises a subscriber registration component and an avatar
activation component, the subscriber registration component
operative to receive registration information from each user and to
designate each user having registration information in a subscriber
database as a registered user, the avatar activation component
operative to activate at least one avatar for each registered user,
the action execution component operative to execute received
requests from the second knowledge engine to control the one or
more actions of the at least one avatar only for each registered
user based on the rules for execution control maintained by the
rules database component.
26. The system of claim 3 wherein the action engine comprises: a
knowledge engine interface operative to receive requests from the
second knowledge engine to control the one or more actions of the
at least one avatar in the interactive environment, a rules
database component operative to maintain a database of rules for
execution control of the one or more actions of the at least one
avatar, and an action execution component operative to execute
requests received from the knowledge engine interface to control
the one or more actions of the at least one avatar in the
interactive environment based on the database of rules for
execution control maintained by the rules database component when
.[.the.]. .Iadd.a .Iaddend.user does not have exclusive control of
the at least one avatar.
27. The system of claim 26 wherein the action engine further
comprises a subscriber registration component and an avatar
activation component, the subscriber registration component
operative to receive registration information from each user and to
designate each user having registration information in a subscriber
database as a registered user, the avatar activation component
operative to activate at least one avatar for each registered user,
the action execution component operative to execute received
requests from the second knowledge engine to control the one or
more actions of the at least one avatar only for each registered
user based on the rules for execution control maintained by the
rules database component.
28. A system operative to execute and train at least one avatar for
each user of an interactive environment, the system comprising:
.Iadd.at least one computing device operative to
implement:.Iaddend. a knowledge engine operative to continuously
monitor each user's response to events in the interactive
environment while each user controls the at least one avatar; a
knowledge base operative to store each of the monitored user
responses to .Iadd.the .Iaddend.events in the interactive
environment; and an action engine operative to control one or more
actions of the at least one avatar for each user in the interactive
environment regardless of each user's control of the at least one
avatar, the one or more actions based on pattern analysis of the
stored monitored .Iadd.user .Iaddend.responses.
29. The system of claim 28 wherein the interactive environment is a
computer-generated simulation environment.
30. The system of claim 29 wherein the interactive environment is a
computer-generated game environment.
31. The system of claim 28 wherein the knowledge engine comprises
an event monitoring component, a response monitoring component, an
operational mode management component, the event monitoring
component operative to continuously monitor events in the
interactive environment, the response monitoring component
operative to continuously monitor each user's responses to the
events monitored by the event monitoring component, the operational
mode management component operative to determine the .Iadd.one or
more .Iaddend. actions of the at least one avatar in an operational
mode of the interactive environment comprising at least one of a
real user mode, an assisted duality mode, a competitive duality
mode and an autonomous operational mode.
32. The system of claim 31 wherein the knowledge engine further
comprises a pattern analysis and recognition component, a
categorization component, a knowledge base interface controller and
an action engine interface controller, the pattern analysis and
recognition component operative to determine an association between
each of the monitored events in the interactive environment and
each user's response, the categorization component operative to
categorize each user's response as a decision metric and a timing
measure of each user's response as a performance metric, the
knowledge base further operative to store in a memory one or more
associations between each user's response and each of the events in
the interactive environment, the knowledge base interface
controller operative to communicate each association between the
monitored events and each user's response, the action engine
interface controller operative to communicate requests for the one
or more actions of the at least one avatar.
33. The system of claim 32 wherein the association is based on at
least one of a frequency of occurrence measure and a statistical
relevance measure.
34. The system of claim 32 wherein the knowledge engine is
operative to search the one or more associations stored in the
memory and to determine at least one decision metric and at least
one performance metric to be applied by the at least one avatar in
response to one or more events in the interactive environment.
35. The system of claim 28 wherein the action engine is operative
to control .[.the.]. execution of the one or more actions of the at
least one avatar in response to one or more requests from the
knowledge engine in at least one of an autonomous mode and a
competitive duality mode of the interactive environment, each
request of the knowledge engine based on: one or more associations
between each user response and each of .[.the.]. .Iadd.a
.Iaddend.plurality of events in the interactive environment, and a
categorization of each user response according to a decision metric
and a timing measure of each user response according to a
performance metric.
36. The system of claim 31 wherein the real user mode comprises
each user having exclusive control over .[.the.]. execution of the
one or more actions of the at least one avatar in the interactive
environment.
37. The system of claim 31 wherein the assisted duality mode
comprises each user having shared control with the knowledge engine
and the action engine for supplemented execution of the one or more
actions of the at least one avatar in the interactive
environment.
38. The system of claim 31 wherein the competitive duality mode
comprises each user having control over .[.the.]. execution of the
one or more actions of a first avatar of the at least one avatar in
the interactive environment and the knowledge engine and the action
engine having control over .[.the.]. execution of the one or more
actions of a second avatar of the at least one avatar in the
interactive environment, the first avatar and the second avatar
having competitive roles in the interactive environment.
39. The system of claim 31 wherein the competitive duality mode
comprises each user having control over .[.the.]. execution of the
one or more actions of a first plurality of the at least one avatar
in the interactive environment and .[.the.]. .Iadd.a
.Iaddend.second knowledge engine and the action engine having
control over .[.the.]. execution of the one or more actions of a
second plurality of the at least one avatar in the interactive
environment, each plurality comprising a collaborative team having
competitive roles in the interactive environment,
40. The system of claim 31 wherein the autonomous operational mode
comprises the knowledge engine and the action engine having
exclusive control over .[.the.]. execution of the one or more
actions of the at least one avatar in the interactive
environment.
41. The system of claim 40 wherein the autonomous operational mode
further comprises a tournament mode in which the knowledge engine
and the action engine have exclusive control over the execution of
the one or more actions of each of the at least one avatar for each
of .[.the.]. one or more users, each of the at least one avatar for
each of the one or more users having competitive roles in the
interactive environment.
42. The system of claim 40 wherein the autonomous operational mode
further comprises a tournament mode in which .[.the.]. .Iadd.a
.Iaddend.second knowledge engine and the action engine have
exclusive control over the execution of the one or more actions of
each of the at least one avatar for each of the one or more users,
each of the at least one avatar having at least one of a
collaborative role and a competitive role in the interactive
environment.
43. The system of claim 40 wherein the at least one avatar is
operative to communicate to each user.
44. The system of claim 43 wherein the at least one avatar is
operative to communicate to each user using at least one of an
electronic mail emergency action message and a voice message based
on synthetic speech generation.
45. The system of claim 28 wherein the action engine comprises: a
knowledge engine interface operative to receive requests from the
knowledge engine to control the one or more actions of the at least
one avatar in the interactive environment, a rules database
component operative to maintain a database of rules for execution
control of the one or more actions of the at least one avatar, and
an action execution component operative to execute requests
received from the knowledge engine interface to control the one or
more actions of the at least one avatar in the interactive
environment based on the database of rules for execution control
maintained by the rules database component when .[.the.]. .Iadd.a
.Iaddend.user does not have exclusive control of the at least one
avatar.
46. The system of claim 43 wherein the action engine further
comprises a subscriber registration component and an avatar
activation component, the subscriber registration component
operative to receive registration information from each user and to
designate each user having registration information in a subscriber
database as a registered user, the avatar activation component
operative to activate at least one avatar for each registered user,
.[.the.]. .Iadd.an .Iaddend.action execution component operative to
execute received requests from the knowledge engine to control the
one or more actions of the at least one avatar only for each
registered user based on .[.the.]. rules for execution control
maintained by .[.the.]. .Iadd.a .Iaddend.rules database
component.
47. A method operative to monitor and evaluate .[.the.]. responses
of a user in an interactive environment, the user controlling at
least one avatar in the interactive environment, the method
comprising: monitoring events in the interactive environment using
a knowledge engine; monitoring each user's response to the
monitored events in the interactive environment using the knowledge
engine while each user controls the at least one avatar;
.Iadd.and.Iaddend. evaluating each of the monitored user responses
using pattern analysis techniques to determine an association
between one or more of the monitored user responses and each
monitored event in the interactive environment, the knowledge
engine operative to apply .[.the.]. one or more pattern analysis
techniques to the monitored user responses and each monitored
event; and storing the determined association for each of the
evaluated user responses.
48. The method of claim 47 wherein the interactive environment is a
computer-generated simulation environment.
49. The method of claim 47 wherein the interactive environment is a
computer-generated game environment.
50. The method of claim 47 further comprising categorizing each
user response according to at least one decision metric, at least
one performance metric and at least one emotion metric.
51. The method of claim 47 wherein the association is based on at
least one of a frequency of occurrence measure and a statistical
relevance measure.
52. The method of claim 47 wherein the knowledge engine comprises a
first engine component and a second engine component, the first
engine component included on a server device for evaluating the
monitored user responses, determining the association and storing
the determined association, and the second engine component
included on a client device for monitoring the events in the
interactive environment and for monitoring each user's response to
the monitored events.
53. The method of claim 47 wherein the knowledge engine is
operative to search one or more of the stored associations and to
determine for each stored association at least one decision metric,
at least one performance metric and at least one emotion
metric.
54. The method of claim 53 wherein the at least one performance
metric is a timing measure of each user response.
55. The method of claim 47 wherein the knowledge engine comprises
an event monitoring component and a response monitoring component,
the event monitoring component operative for the monitoring of
.Iadd.the .Iaddend.events in the interactive environment, the
response monitoring component operative for the monitoring of each
user's response to the monitored events in the interactive
environment while each user controls the at least one avatar.
56. The method of claim 55 wherein the knowledge engine further
comprises a pattern analysis and recognition component and a
categorization component, the pattern analysis and recognition
component operative for determining the association between the one
or more of the monitored user responses and each monitored event in
the interactive environment, the categorization component operative
to categorize each of the monitored user responses based at least
one of a decision metric, a performance metric and an emotion
metric, the performance metric comprising a timing measure of each
of the monitored user responses.
57. The method of claim 53 wherein the at least one emotion metric
is determined in part from the at least one performance metric and
the at least one decision metric.
58. A method operative to control at least one avatar for each user
of an interactive environment, the method comprising: continuously
monitoring events in the interactive environment using a knowledge
engine; evaluating a plurality of stored associations using the
knowledge engine, each association representing one or more user
responses to a monitored event in the interactive environment, the
knowledge engine operative to apply one or more pattern analysis
techniques to the one or more user responses to the monitored
event; controlling one or more actions of the at least one avatar
for each user of the interactive environment in response to one or
more continuously monitored events, the controlling of the one or
more actions performed using an action engine, the one or more
controlled actions based on the plurality of .[.evaluated.].
.Iadd.stored .Iaddend.associations; and displaying on at least one
output device the one or more controlled actions of the at least
one avatar.
59. The method of claim 58 wherein the interactive environment is a
computer-generated simulation environment.
60. The method of claim 58 wherein the interactive environment is a
computer-generated game environment.
61. The method of claim 58 further comprising categorizing the one
or more user responses according to at least one of a decision
metric, a performance metric and an emotion metric, the emotion
metric based in part on the decision metric and the performance
metric.
62. The method of claim 58 wherein the plurality of stored
associations are stored in a knowledge base.
63. The method of claim 58 wherein the knowledge engine comprises
an event monitoring component, a response monitoring component and
an operational mode management component, the event monitoring
component operative for performing the continuous monitoring of
.Iadd.the .Iaddend.events in the interactive environment, the
response monitoring component operative to monitor the one or more
user responses to a monitored event, the operational mode
management component operative to determine the one or more
controlled actions of the at least one avatar in an operational
mode of the interactive environment comprising at least one of a
real user mode, an assisted duality mode, a competitive duality
mode and an autonomous operational mode.
64. The method of claim 63 wherein the knowledge engine further
comprises a pattern analysis and recognition component, a
categorization component, a knowledge base interface controller and
an action engine interface controller, the pattern analysis and
recognition component operative to determine the plurality of
stored associations, the categorization component operative to
categorize each user's response according to a decision metric, a
performance metric and an emotion metric, the knowledge base
interface controller operative to communicate the plurality of
stored associations, the action engine interface controller
operative to communicate requests for the .[.controlled.]. one or
more .Iadd.controlled .Iaddend.actions of the at least one
avatar.
65. The method of claim 58 wherein the controlling of the one or
more actions of the at least one avatar is performed regardless of
each user's control of the at least one avatar using the action
engine in at least one of an autonomous mode, an assisted duality
mode and a competitive duality mode of the interactive
environment.
66. The method of claim 65 wherein the controlling of the one or
more actions is based on one or more requests from the knowledge
engine, each request of the knowledge engine based on the plurality
of stored associations and a categorization of the one or more user
responses according to at least one of a decision metric, a
performance metric and an emotion metric, the emotion metric based
in part on the decision metric and the performance metric.
67. The method of claim 65 wherein the assisted duality mode
comprises each user having shared control with the knowledge engine
and the action engine for supplemented execution of the one or more
actions of the at least one avatar in the interactive
environment.
68. The method of claim 65 wherein the competitive duality mode
comprises each user having control over .[.the.]. execution of the
one or more actions of a first avatar of the at least one avatar in
the interactive environment and the knowledge engine and the action
engine having control over .[.the.]. execution of the one or more
actions of a second avatar of the at least one avatar in the
interactive environment, the first avatar and the second avatar
having competitive roles in the interactive environment.
69. The method of claim 65 wherein the competitive duality mode
comprises each user having control over .[.the.]. execution of the
one or more actions of a first plurality of the at least one avatar
in the interactive environment and .[.the.]. .Iadd.a
.Iaddend.second knowledge engine and the action engine having
control over the execution of the one or more actions of a second
plurality of the at least one avatar in the interactive
environment, each plurality comprising a collaborative team having
competitive roles in the interactive environment.
70. The method of claim 65 wherein the autonomous operational mode
comprises the knowledge engine and the action engine having
exclusive control over .[.the.]. execution of the one or more
actions of the at least one avatar in the interactive
environment.
71. The method of claim 70 wherein the autonomous operational mode
further comprises a tournament mode in which the knowledge engine
and the action engine have exclusive control over the execution of
the one or more actions of each of the at least one avatar for each
of the one or more users, each of the at least one avatar for each
of .[.the.]. one or more users having competitive roles in the
interactive environment.
72. The method of claim 70 wherein the autonomous operational mode
further comprises a tournament mode in which .[.the.]. .Iadd.a
.Iaddend.second knowledge engine and the action engine have
exclusive control over the execution of the one or more actions of
each of the at least one avatar for each of .[.the.]. one or more
users, each of the at least one avatar having at least one of a
collaborative role and a competitive role in the interactive
environment.
73. The method of claim 70 wherein the at least one avatar is
operative to communicate to each user.
74. The method of claim 73 wherein the at least one avatar is
operative to communicate to each user using at least one of an
electronic mail emergency action message and a voice message based
on synthetic speech generation.
75. The method of claim 66 wherein the action engine comprises: a
knowledge engine interface operative to receive requests from the
knowledge engine to control the one or more actions of the at least
one avatar in the interactive environment, a rules database
component operative to maintain a database of rules for the
controlling of the one or more actions of the at least one avatar,
and an action execution component operative to execute requests
received from the knowledge engine interface for the controlling of
the one or more actions of the at least one avatar in the
interactive environment based on the database of rules when
.[.the.]. .Iadd.a .Iaddend.user does not have exclusive control of
the at least one avatar.
76. The method of claim 75 wherein the action engine further
comprises a subscriber registration component and an avatar
activation component, the subscriber registration component
operative to receive registration information from each user and to
designate each user having registration information in a subscriber
database as a registered user, the avatar activation component
operative to activate at least one avatar for each registered user,
the action execution component operative to execute received
requests from the knowledge engine for .Iadd.the
.Iaddend.controlling .Iadd.of .Iaddend.the one or more actions of
the at least one avatar only for each registered user based on the
database of rules maintained by the rules database component.
77. A .Iadd.non-transitory .Iaddend.computer-readable medium having
instructions stored thereon for performing a method comprising:
continuously monitoring each user's response to monitored events in
an interactive environment while each user controls at least one
avatar, the monitoring of each user's response and the monitoring
of the events performed using a knowledge engine; storing an
association between one or more of the continuously monitored user
responses and each of the monitored events in the interactive
environment, the knowledge engine operative to apply one or more
pattern analysis techniques to the monitored user responses and
each of the monitored events; controlling one or more actions of
the at least one avatar for each user in the interactive
environment based on the stored association regardless of each
user's control of the at least one avatar, the controlling of the
one or more actions performed using an action engine; and
displaying the one or more controlled actions of the at least one
avatar for each user in the interactive environment.
78. The .Iadd.non-transitory .Iaddend.computer-readable medium of
claim 77 wherein the interactive environment is a
computer-generated simulation environment.
79. The .Iadd.non-transitory .Iaddend.computer-readable medium of
claim 77 wherein the interactive environment is a
computer-generated game environment.
80. The .Iadd.non-transitory .Iaddend.computer-readable medium of
claim 77 wherein the knowledge engine is operative to store the
association in a knowledge base.
81. The .Iadd.non-transitory .Iaddend.computer-readable medium of
claim 77 wherein the controlling of the one or more actions is
performed using the action engine when .[.the.]. .Iadd.an
.Iaddend.operational mode of the interactive environment is at
least one of an assisted duality mode, a competitive duality mode
and an autonomous mode.
82. The .Iadd.non-transitory .Iaddend.computer-readable medium of
claim 80 wherein the knowledge engine is further operative to
search the knowledge base for one or more stored associations.
83. The .Iadd.non-transitory .Iaddend.computer-readable medium of
claim 77 wherein the action engine controls the one or more actions
of the at least one avatar in response to at least one request from
the knowledge engine.
84. The .Iadd.non-transitory .Iaddend.computer-readable medium of
claim 80 wherein the knowledge engine is further operative to
categorize the continuously monitored user responses according to
at least one of a decision metric, a performance metric and an
emotion metric, the emotion metric based in part on the decision
metric and the performance metric.
85. The .Iadd.non-transitory .Iaddend.computer-readable medium of
claim 81 wherein the assisted duality mode comprises each user
having shared control of the one or more actions of the at least
one avatar with .[.a.]. .Iadd.the .Iaddend.knowledge engine and the
action engine.
86. The .Iadd.non-transitory .Iaddend.computer-readable medium of
claim 81 wherein the competitive duality mode comprises each user
controlling the one or more actions of a first avatar of the at
least one avatar in the interactive environment and .[.a.].
.Iadd.the .Iaddend.knowledge engine and the action engine
controlling the one or more actions of a second avatar of the at
least one avatar in the interactive environment, the first avatar
and the second avatar having competitive roles in the interactive
environment.
87. The .Iadd.non-transitory .Iaddend.computer-readable medium of
claim 81 wherein the competitive duality mode comprises each user
controlling the one or more actions of a first plurality of the at
least one avatar in the interactive environment and .[.the.].
.Iadd.a .Iaddend.second knowledge engine and the action engine
controlling the one or more actions of a second plurality of the at
least one avatar in the interactive environment, each plurality
comprising a collaborative team having competitive roles in the
interactive environment.
88. The .Iadd.non-transitory .Iaddend.computer-readable medium of
claim 81 wherein the autonomous mode comprises .[.a.]. .Iadd.the
.Iaddend.knowledge engine and the action engine exclusively
controlling the one or more actions of the at least one avatar in
the interactive environment.
89. The .Iadd.non-transitory .Iaddend.computer-readable medium of
claim 88 wherein the autonomous mode further comprises a tournament
mode in which the knowledge engine and the action engine
exclusively control the one or more actions of each of the at least
one avatar for each user, each of the at least one avatar for each
user having competitive roles in the interactive environment.
90. The .Iadd.non-transitory .Iaddend.computer-readable medium of
claim 88 wherein the autonomous mode further comprises a tournament
mode in which the second knowledge engine and the action engine
have exclusive control over .[.the.]. execution of the one or more
actions of each of the at least one avatar for each of the one or
more users, each of the at least one avatar having at least one of
a collaborative role and a competitive role in the interactive
environment.
91. The .Iadd.non-transitory .Iaddend.computer-readable medium of
claim 88 wherein the at least one avatar is operative to
communicate to each user.
92. The .Iadd.non-transitory .Iaddend.computer-readable medium of
claim 91 wherein the at least one avatar is operative to
communicate to each user using at least one of an electronic mail
emergency action message and a voice message based on synthetic
speech generation.
93. The .Iadd.non-transitory .Iaddend.computer-readable medium of
claim 77 wherein the one or more controlled actions are displayed
on at least one of a mobile device, a handheld device, a
television, a portable computer and a desktop computer monitor.
94. The .Iadd.non-transitory .Iaddend.computer-readable medium of
claim 93 wherein the mobile device is at least one of a mobile
telephone, a smart phone and a personal digital assistant.
95. The .Iadd.non-transitory .Iaddend.computer-readable medium of
claim 93 wherein the handheld device is a handheld computer gaming
console.
96. The system of claim 8 wherein the pattern analysis and
recognition component is further operative to apply one or more
pattern analysis techniques to each of the continuously monitored
user responses to the plurality of events in the interactive
environment, and wherein the association is determined from the one
or more applied pattern analysis techniques.
97. The system of claim 32 wherein the pattern analysis and
recognition component is further operative to apply one or more
pattern analysis techniques to each of the continuously monitored
user responses to the plurality of events in the interactive
environment, and wherein the association is determined from the one
or more applied pattern analysis techniques.
.Iadd.98. A server, comprising: a memory device configured to store
instructions corresponding to a server knowledge engine; and a
processing device configured to execute the instructions stored in
the memory device to: receive, from a client knowledge engine
executing on a client, at least one response to at least one of a
plurality of events occurring in an interactive environment; and
cause at least one avatar to execute at least one action in the
interactive environment based at least in part on pattern analysis
of the at least one response received from the client knowledge
engine; wherein the client knowledge engine comprises an event
monitoring component configured to continuously monitor the
interactive environment for a response to any of the plurality of
events, a response monitoring component, and an operational mode
management component; and wherein the server knowledge engine
comprises a pattern analysis and recognition component, a
categorization component, and a knowledge base interface
controller..Iaddend.
.Iadd.99. The server of claim 98, wherein the interactive
environment is a computer-generated simulation
environment..Iaddend.
.Iadd.100. The server of claim 98, wherein the interactive
environment is a computer-generated game environment..Iaddend.
.Iadd.101. The server of claim 98, wherein the server knowledge
engine is further configured to store an association between the at
least one response and the at least one of the plurality of events
in a database..Iaddend.
.Iadd.102. The server of claim 101, wherein the server knowledge
engine is further configured to store the association based at
least in part on a frequency of occurrence measure or a statistical
relevance measure corresponding to the at least one
response..Iaddend.
.Iadd.103. The server of claim 98, wherein the pattern analysis and
recognition component is configured to recognize at least one
pattern in the at least one response..Iaddend.
.Iadd.104. The server of claim 98, wherein the categorization
component is configured to categorize the at least one response
based at least in part on a decision metric, a performance metric,
or an emotion metric..Iaddend.
.Iadd.105. The server of claim 98, wherein the pattern analysis and
recognition component is configured to recognize at least one
pattern in the at least one response based at least in part on a
search of associations between the at least one response to the at
least one of the plurality of events stored in a knowledge
base..Iaddend.
.Iadd.106. A method, comprising: receiving, from a client knowledge
engine executing on a client device, at least one response to at
least one of a plurality of events occurring in an interactive
environment; and causing, using server knowledge engine executing
on a server device, at least one avatar to execute at least one
action in the interactive environment based at least in part on
pattern analysis of the at least one response received from the
client knowledge engine; wherein the client knowledge engine
comprises an event monitoring component configured to continuously
monitor the interactive environment for a response to any of the
plurality of events, a response monitoring component, and an
operational mode management component; and wherein the server
knowledge engine comprises a pattern analysis and recognition
component, a categorization component, and a knowledge base
interface controller..Iaddend.
.Iadd.107. The method of claim 106, wherein the interactive
environment is a computer-generated simulation
environment..Iaddend.
.Iadd.108. The method of claim 106, wherein the interactive
environment is a computer-generated game environment..Iaddend.
.Iadd.109. The method of claim 106, further comprising storing an
association between the at least one response and the at least one
of the plurality of events on a memory device..Iaddend.
.Iadd.110. The method of claim 109, further comprising storing the
association based at least in part on a frequency of occurrence
measure or a statistical relevance measure corresponding to the at
least one response..Iaddend.
.Iadd.111. The method of claim 106, further comprising recognizing,
using the server device, at least one pattern in the at least one
response based at least in part on a decision metric, a performance
metric, or an emotion metric..Iaddend.
.Iadd.112. The method of claim 106, further comprising recognizing,
using the server device, at least one pattern in the at least one
response based at least in part on a search of associations between
the at least one response to the at least one of the plurality of
events stored in a knowledge base..Iaddend.
.Iadd.113. A memory device having instructions stored thereon
defining a server knowledge engine that, in response to execution
by a processing device on a server device, cause the processing
device to perform operations comprising: receiving, from a client
knowledge engine executing on a client device, at least one
response to at least one of a plurality of events occurring in an
interactive environment; and causing at least one avatar to execute
at least one action in the interactive environment based at least
in part on pattern analysis of the at least one response received
from the client knowledge engine; wherein the client knowledge
engine comprises an event monitoring component configured to
continuously monitor the interactive environment for a response to
any of the plurality of events, a response monitoring component,
and an operational mode management component; and wherein the
server knowledge engine comprises a pattern analysis and
recognition component, a categorization component, and a knowledge
base interface controller..Iaddend.
.Iadd.114. The memory device of claim 113, wherein the interactive
environment is a computer-generated simulation
environment..Iaddend.
.Iadd.115. The memory device of claim 113, wherein the interactive
environment is a computer-generated game environment..Iaddend.
.Iadd.116. The memory device of claim 113, wherein the operations
further comprise storing an association between the at least one
response and the at least one of the plurality of events in a
database..Iaddend.
.Iadd.117. The memory device of claim 116, wherein the operations
further comprise storing the association based at least in part on
a frequency of occurrence measure or a statistical relevance
measure corresponding to the at least one response..Iaddend.
.Iadd.118. The memory device of claim 113, wherein the operations
further comprise recognizing at least one pattern in the at least
one response based at least in part on a decision metric, a
performance metric, or an emotion metric..Iaddend.
.Iadd.119. The memory device of claim 113, wherein the operations
further comprise recognizing at least one pattern in the at least
one response based at least in part on a search of associations
between the at least one response to the at least one of the
plurality of events stored in a knowledge base..Iaddend.
.Iadd.120. A client, comprising: a memory device configured to
store instructions; and a processing device configured to execute
the instructions stored in the memory device; wherein the
instructions comprise: a knowledge engine operative to continuously
monitor each user in an interactive environment for responses to at
least one of a plurality of events occurring in the interactive
environment and operative to store the responses to the at least
one of the plurality of events in the interactive environment in a
knowledge base; and an action engine operative to control at least
one of a plurality of avatars in the interactive environment
without regard to a corresponding user's control of the at least
one of the plurality of avatars based at least in part on pattern
analysis of the stored responses in the knowledge
base..Iaddend.
.Iadd.121. The client of claim 120, wherein the knowledge engine
further comprises: an event monitoring component operative to
continuously monitor the plurality of events in the interactive
environment; a response monitoring component operative to
continuously monitor a plurality of responses to the plurality of
events; and an operational mode management component operative to
determine at least one action of the at least one of the plurality
of avatars in an a real user mode, an assisted duality mode, a
competitive duality mode, or an autonomous operational
mode..Iaddend.
.Iadd.122. The client of claim 121, wherein the knowledge engine
further comprises: a pattern analysis and recognition component
operative to determine an association between each of the plurality
of events in the interactive environment and the plurality of
responses; a categorization component operative to categorize each
of the plurality of responses based at least in part on a decision
metric, a performance metric, or an emotion metric; and wherein the
knowledge engine is operative to store in the knowledge base the
association between each of the plurality of events in the
interactive environment and the plurality of
responses..Iaddend.
.Iadd.123. The client of claim 122, wherein the association is
based at least in part on a frequency of occurrence measure, a
statistical relevance measure, or a combination
thereof..Iaddend.
.Iadd.124. The client of claim 120, wherein the knowledge engine is
operative to search the memory device to determine at least one
decision metric or at least one performance metric to be applied by
the at least one of the plurality of avatars in response to the at
least one of the plurality of events in the interactive
environment..Iaddend.
.Iadd.125. The client of claim 120, wherein the action engine is
operative to control the at least one of the plurality of avatars
in response to a request from the knowledge engine in an autonomous
mode or a competitive duality mode of the interactive
environment..Iaddend.
.Iadd.126. The client of claim 120, wherein the at least one of the
plurality of avatars is operative to communicate with at least
another of the plurality of avatars..Iaddend.
.Iadd.127. The client of claim 126, wherein the at least one of the
plurality of avatars is operative to communicate with the at least
another of the plurality of avatars using an electronic mail
emergency action message or a voice message based on synthetic
speech generation..Iaddend.
.Iadd.128. The client of claim 120, wherein the action engine
further comprises: a knowledge engine interface operative to
receive requests to control the at least one of the plurality of
avatars in the interactive environment; a rules database component
operative to maintain a database of rules corresponding to the
control; and an action execution component operative to execute the
requests to the at least one of the plurality of avatars in the
interactive environment based at least in part on the database of
rules..Iaddend.
.Iadd.129. The client of claim 120, wherein the action engine
further comprises: a subscriber registration component operative to
receive registration information; and an avatar activation
component operative to activate the at least one of the plurality
of avatars based at least on the registration
information..Iaddend.
.Iadd.130. A method, comprising: continuously monitoring, using a
client computing device, each user in an interactive environment
for responses to at least one of a plurality of events in the
interactive environment; storing, in a knowledge base, the
responses to the at least one of the plurality of events in the
interactive environment; and controlling, using the client
computing device, at least one of a plurality of avatars in the
interactive environment without regard to a corresponding user's
control of the at least one of the plurality of avatars based at
least in part on receiving, from a server computing device, pattern
analysis of the stored responses in the knowledge
base..Iaddend.
.Iadd.131. The method of claim 130, further comprising:
continuously monitoring, using the client computing device, the
plurality of events in the interactive environment; continuously
monitoring, using the client computing device, the responses to the
plurality of events; storing the plurality of events monitored by
the client computing device; storing the plurality of responses
monitored by the client computing device; and determining at least
one action of the at least one of the plurality of avatars in a
real user mode, an assisted duality mode, a competitive duality
mode, or an autonomous operational mode..Iaddend.
.Iadd.132. The method of claim 130, further comprising: determining
an association between each of the plurality of events in the
interactive environment and the plurality of responses;
categorizing each of the responses based at least in part on a
decision metric, a performance metric, or an emotion metric; and
storing in the memory device the association between each of the
plurality of events in the interactive environment and the
responses..Iaddend.
.Iadd.133. The method of claim 132, wherein the association is
based at least in part on a frequency of occurrence measure, a
statistical relevance measure, or a combination
thereof..Iaddend.
.Iadd.134. The method of claim 130, further comprising searching a
memory device to determine at least one decision metric or at least
one performance metric to be applied by the at least one of the
plurality of avatars in response to the at least one of the
plurality of events in the interactive environment..Iaddend.
.Iadd.135. The method of claim 130, further comprising controlling
the at least one of the plurality of avatars in response to a
request from the knowledge engine in an autonomous mode or a
competitive duality mode of the interactive
environment..Iaddend.
.Iadd.136. The method of claim 130, wherein the at least one of the
plurality of avatars is operative to communicate with at least
another of the plurality of avatars..Iaddend.
.Iadd.137. The method of claim 136, wherein the at least one of the
plurality of avatars is operative to communicate with the at least
another of the plurality of avatars using an electronic mail
emergency action message or a voice message based on synthetic
speech generation..Iaddend.
.Iadd.138. The method of claim 130, further comprising: receiving
requests to control the at least one of the plurality of avatars in
the interactive environment; maintaining a database of rules
corresponding to the control; and executing the requests to control
the at least one of the plurality of avatars in the interactive
environment based at least in part on the database of
rules..Iaddend.
.Iadd.139. The method of claim 130, further comprising: storing
registration information in a registration database; and activating
the at least one of the plurality of avatars based at least on the
registration information..Iaddend.
.Iadd.140. A memory device having instructions stored thereon that,
in response to execution by a processing device on a client device,
cause the processing device to perform operations comprising:
continuously monitoring each user in an interactive environment for
responses to at least one of a plurality of events in the
interactive environment; causing storage of the responses to the at
least one of the plurality of events in the interactive
environment; and controlling at least one of a plurality of avatars
in the interactive environment without regard to a corresponding
user's control of the at least one of the plurality of avatars
based at least in part on receiving, from a server device, pattern
analysis of stored responses in the interactive
environment..Iaddend.
.Iadd.141. The memory device of claim 140, wherein the operations
further comprise: continuously monitoring, using the computing
device, the plurality of events in the interactive environment;
continuously monitoring, using the computing device, a plurality of
responses to the plurality of events; storing the plurality of
events monitored by the client device; storing the plurality of
responses monitored by the client device; and determining at least
one action of the at least one of the plurality of avatars in a
real user mode, an assisted duality mode, a competitive duality
mode, or an autonomous operational mode..Iaddend.
.Iadd.142. The memory device of claim 140, wherein the operations
further comprise: determining an association between each of the
plurality of events in the interactive environment and the
plurality of responses; categorizing each of the responses based at
least in part on a decision metric, a performance metric, or an
emotion metric; and storing in the memory device the association
between each of the plurality of events in the interactive
environment and the responses..Iaddend.
.Iadd.143. The memory device of claim 142, wherein the association
is based at least in part on a frequency of occurrence measure, a
statistical relevance measure, or a combination
thereof..Iaddend.
.Iadd.144. The memory device of claim 140, wherein the operations
further comprise searching the memory device to determine at least
one decision metric or at least one performance metric to be
applied by the at least one of the plurality of avatars in response
to the at least one of the plurality of events in the interactive
environment..Iaddend.
.Iadd.145. The memory device of claim 140, wherein the operations
further comprise controlling the at least one of the plurality of
avatars in response to a request indicating an autonomous mode or a
competitive duality mode of the interactive
environment..Iaddend.
.Iadd.146. The memory device of claim 140, wherein the at least one
of the plurality of avatars is operative to communicate with at
least another of the plurality of avatars..Iaddend.
.Iadd.147. The memory device of claim 146, wherein the at least one
of the plurality of avatars is operative to communicate with the at
least another of the plurality of avatars using an electronic mail
emergency action message or a voice message based on synthetic
speech generation..Iaddend.
.Iadd.148. The memory device of claim 140, wherein the operations
further comprise: receiving requests to control the at least one of
the plurality of avatars in the interactive environment;
maintaining a database of rules corresponding to the control; and
executing the requests to control the at least one of the plurality
of avatars in the interactive environment based at least in part on
the database of rules..Iaddend.
.Iadd.149. The memory device of claim 140, wherein the operations
further comprise: storing registration information in a
registration database; and activating the at least one of the
plurality of avatars based at least on the registration
information..Iaddend.
Description
FIELD
The present disclosure relates generally to information processing,
and in particular but not exclusively, relates to a system and
method for control, training and autonomous execution of one or
more avatars in an interactive environment.
BACKGROUND
In recent years, the development of new and powerful computing
platforms has enabled more powerful computer simulations and
computer games to be developed which enable users to engage a wide
variety of simulated activities. These computing platforms have
also begun to incorporate various forms of artificial intelligence
that can enhance a user's experience in an interactive computer
environment. Among the range of applications provided by advanced
computing platforms are those that include the use of one or more
automated personas and intelligent agents. These personas or agents
have come to be referred to in certain instances as "avatars"
because they may be portrayed in interactive environments with
various human-like features.
Research directed to the control and autonomous of operation of
intelligent agents in an interactive environment has produced mixed
results. A significant degree of research work has been performed
to thoroughly understand the mechanics of human motion that can be
rendered in a computer generated environment, but such research has
provided little assistance in defining the features, methods or
techniques to be used to enable these intelligent persona to
effectively operate autonomously within an interactive environment
regardless of a human user's direct control of the personas.
Indeed, research into the most pioneering forms of artificial
reasoning is still very much in a nascent stage and little is
understood about how to effectively capture, analyze, build
associative networks based on a user's past and present behaviors,
and apply stored knowledge that is organized in the form of content
and related meta-data associative networks to enable the rapid
organization, searching and application of such knowledge to the
real-time autonomous operation of intelligent personas in an
interactive environment.
Thus, there is a current and pressing need for systems and methods
that can provide continuous monitoring of events, actively monitor
user responses to those events, and apply controlled actions to
intelligent persona in a variety of interactive environments
regardless of a user's direct involvement in controlling such
persona in these environments.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments are described with
reference to the following figures, wherein like reference numerals
refer to like parts throughout the various views unless otherwise
specified.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating network connectivity between
servers and a various client devices in an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a standalone client device
in an embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the components of an action
engine in an embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the components of a
knowledge engine in an embodiment.
FIG. 5A is a block diagram illustrating the components of a server
device in an embodiment.
FIG. 5B is a block diagram illustrating the components of a client
device in an embodiment.
FIG. 6A is a block diagram illustrating the components of a server
device in an embodiment.
FIG. 6B is a block diagram illustrating the components of a client
device in an embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for monitoring,
categorizing and storing user responses in an embodiment.
FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for evaluating user
responses and controlling the actions of an avatar based on
evaluated user responses in an embodiment.
FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for applying pattern
analysis to user responses in an embodiment.
FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for alerting a user
and monitoring user responses in an embodiment.
FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for controlling the
operational mode of an interactive environment in an
embodiment.
FIG. 12 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for autonomous
operation of avatars in an interactive environment in an
embodiment.
FIG. 13 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for determining
actions for execution of avatars in a competitive operational mode
of an interactive environment in an embodiment.
FIG. 14 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for determining
actions for execution of avatars in an assisted operational mode of
an interactive environment in an embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In the description to follow, various aspects of embodiments will
be described, and specific configurations will be set forth. These
embodiments, however, may be practiced with only some or all
aspects, and/or without some or these specific details. In other
instances, well-known features are omitted or simplified in order
not to obscure important aspects of the embodiments.
Various operations will be described as multiple discrete steps in
turn, in a manner that is most helpful in understanding each
disclosed embodiment; however, the order of description should not
be construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily
order dependent. In particular, these operations need not be
performed in the order of presentation.
The description repeatedly uses the phrases "in one embodiment",
which ordinarily does not refer to the same embodiment, although it
may. The terms "comprising", "including", "having", and the like,
as used in the present disclosure are synonymous.
FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 comprised of a plurality of client
devices 104a-104d, a network 106 and a plurality of servers
102a-102d. Various client devices 104a-104d may be included in the
system for interactive computing and communications between and
among the server devices 102a-102d. Client device 104a represents a
personal computer, client device 104b represents a video gaming
station, such as a Microsoft Xbox, Microsoft Xbox 360 or Nintendo
play station. Client device 104c represents a handheld device such
as a personal digital assistant or any of a variety of handheld
gaming devices, such as a Sony PlayStation or Nintendo Game Boy,
and client device 104d represents a portable computer. Network 106
included in the system 100 may be any of a number of networks
including a local area network, a wide area network, the Internet,
a wireless network or a combination of networking systems including
wired, wireless and optical communication channels and devices.
FIG. 2 illustrates a client device 104 in a standalone embodiment.
As shown, client device 104 includes one or more input devices 202,
a communication interface 204, a Read Only Memory 206, a storage
device 208, a central processing unit 214, one or more output
devices 210 and a program memory 212. The one or more output
devices 210 can be desktop computer monitors, the displays of
laptop computers, the displays of mobile and handheld devices, or
the cathode ray tube displays of televisions that are coupled to
computer gaming devices (e.g., Xbox, Xbox 360, etc.). Each of these
modules is communicatively coupled to communication bus 216 for
inter-module communication. Program memory 212 includes several
program components, which components comprise a
software-implemented system to be used for monitoring user
responses and events in an interactive environment and for
controlling the actions of one or more avatars in the interactive
environment. As shown in this figure, the program memory 212
includes a knowledge base 218, a knowledge engine 220, an action
engine 222, an interactive computer-generated environment 224, and
an operating system 226. Central processor 214 interacts with
program memory 212 by sending commands and receiving data from
program memory 212 over communication bus 216.
In a stand-alone embodiment such as the one depicted in FIG. 2, a
game station such as a Sony PlayStation.RTM. or Nintendo
GameBoy.RTM. (client device 104b) includes knowledge engine 220 to
continuously monitor events in the interactive environment 224 and
to monitor the user responses to those events in the interactive
environment 224. Knowledge engine 220 actively analyses, associates
and categorizes the user responses and stores those categorized
associations among user responses in knowledge base 218. In the
software-implemented system, one or more avatars may be controlled
by a human user in the interactive environment 224. However, the
knowledge engine 220 actively monitors each user's response in
order to build a knowledge base of associations between responses
and events which represent the range of user responses to the
myriad events occurring in the interactive environment 224. The
actual control of an avatar's action in the interactive environment
224 is performed by action engine 222 upon issuance of requests by
knowledge engine 220.
FIG. 3 illustrates several components comprising action engine 222.
These components are common to each of the alternative embodiments
of the software-implemented system. In the specific instance of the
standalone alone, as shown, subscriber registration component 302
is used for registering each new subscriber or user to enable a
registered user to activate and use one or more avatars in the
interactive environment 224. Avatar activation component 304 is
used to activate each new avatar to be used in the in the
interactive environment 224 by a registered user. Only registered
users are permitted to activate avatars for operations in the
interactive environment 224. Action execution component 306 is
responsible for controlling the actions of avatars in the
interactive environment 224 based on one or more requests from
knowledge engine 220. The actions performed by action execution
component 306 are based on one or more control rules stored in
avatar control rules database 308. Database 308 represents a
repository of rules for controlling the actions of avatars in the
interactive environment 224. Knowledge engine interface 310 is the
communication interface between knowledge engine 220 and the action
engine 222 and it is used to receive requests from knowledge engine
220 for execution by action execution component 306. These requests
are implemented by one or more control rules stored in the avatar
control rules database 308.
A particularly important aspect of the software-implemented system
is that the action engine may be implemented as an artificial
intelligence engine relying upon one or more expert systems, neural
networks or other forms of computational intelligence. However,
such artificial intelligence engines are necessarily directed by
the issuance of requests by the knowledge engine 220. Knowledge
engine 220 is integrated with and actively searches the repository
of stored associations between events and user responses to
determine what actions should be implemented by an avatar when
operating in an autonomous operational mode in the interactive
environment 224. Requests are issued by the knowledge engine 220 to
ensure that the action execution component 306 in the action engine
222 implements actions based on requests which are ultimately based
upon previously determined patterns of user responses to events in
the interactive environment 224. In this manner, the autonomous
actions of one or more of a user's avatars in the interactive
environment 224 will most accurately mimic the user's responses
with the user is not actively controlling the one or more avatars
in the interactive environment 224.
FIG. 4 represents the components provided in knowledge engine 220.
Although reference is made to the knowledge engine 220 in the
standalone embodiment, each such component may be included along
with all of the other components, or in various operational
combinations including fewer of the specified components. In the
present embodiment, knowledge engine 220 includes event monitoring
component 402, response monitoring component 404, avatar mode
management component 406, pattern analysis component 408,
categorization component 410, knowledge based controller 412 and
action engine controller 414. Event monitoring component 402
continuously and actively monitors events occurring in the
interactive environment 224. More specifically, event monitoring
component 402 monitors events in the interactive environment 224
and interoperates with response monitoring component 404 to enable
pattern analysis component 408 to form associations between events
and user responses as well as categories of user responses
according to one or more metrics. These associations among events
are stored in knowledge base 218 for later searching and a
generation of action requests. Response monitoring component 404
continuously monitors user responses to the monitored events in the
interactive environment 224.
The following is a representative listing of metrics that can be
applied by categorization component 410 to the monitored user
responses. This list is not exhaustive and is provided herein
solely for the purpose of illustrating a representative sample of
metrics for application by a knowledge engine in the various
embodiments discussed herein. In alternative embodiments, subsets
of the listed metrics may be used for user response
categorizations, while in other embodiments different or additional
metrics may be applied.
TABLE-US-00001 PERFOR- EMO- USER RESPONSE MANCE DECISION TION jump
over object X go around object X use stealth X choice of weapons X
use of tactical options X help a team member X X disregard for
personal safety X X rude behavior unrelated to game play X
navigation skill X ability to understand choices X X ability to
perceive best route to X X objective marksmanship X steering X
completing a jump X time to make a decision X time to push
necessary button X time to respond to stimuli X sportsmanship X X
moral decision making X X height of jump or leap X average number
of successful jumps X average number of kills X use of speed X
driving skills X punching skills X swordsmanship X learn rate X
unusual choices against known data X X unusual choices against
known X X stimuli sacrifice to further team objectives X X
Interactive environment 224 is a computer-generated environment for
use in executing computer simulations or computer video games in
which various computer-generated events, or events created by other
users active in the interactive environment 224, may occur. These
events may trigger or require responses from one or more of a
user's avatars when these avatars are operating in an autonomous
mode, an assisted duality mode or a competitive duality mode.
Avatars can be controlled by users of the client devices 104a-104d
or can be executing autonomously or independently of the log-in
status of a registered user.
Avatar mode management component 406 regulates the control of the
avatars based on the operational mode of the interactive
environment 224. Each registered user can have one or more avatars
for execution in the interactive environment 224; however, the
operation of these avatars can vary depending on the operational
mode of the interactive environment 224. When a user is not
actively logged into the interactive environment 224, the
registered user's avatar(s) will still be capable of operating in
the interactive environment 224 and responding to events monitored
by event monitoring component 402 in an autonomous mode. In a real
user mode, each avatar is directly controlled by a registered user
whose responses to events in the interactive environment 224 will
be monitored by response monitoring component 404. User responses
are the basis of actions performed by avatars in an autonomous
mode. A stored profile or history of user response included in
knowledge base 218 are evaluated by knowledge engine 220 when
requests are generated and issued to action engine 222 to have
specific actions implemented and executed by avatars under the
control of the action engine 222.
Pattern analysis component 408 applies pattern analysis techniques
based in part on methods that determine the frequency of occurrence
of certain user responses to monitored events. These techniques
also apply certain statistical relevance ranking and correlations
between and among user responses to determine patterns in user
responses to monitored events. Pattern analysis component 408 forms
associations between monitored events and one or more user
responses to the monitored event. These associations are determined
in real-time and are updated in a dynamic manner based on
information compiled by response monitoring component 404.
After association of user responses to events, the user responses
will be categorized according to one or more metrics by
categorization component 410. Among the specific metrics used for
categorizing user responses are performance metrics, decision
metrics and emotion metrics. Emotion metrics are based in part on
the performance metrics and the decision metrics. Among the various
types of performance metrics are timing measures for each user
response monitored by response monitoring component 404 each of
which is based on one or more events monitored by event monitoring
component 402.
Categorization component 410 evaluates user responses and
categories them according to applicable metrics. For instance, in a
competitive boxing video game, knowledge engine 220 will actively
monitor the action taken by a user in response to an event (e.g., a
jab from a competing avatar to the face) and continuously analyze
the user's response to similar events in the interactive
environment 224. The collective set of user responses to different
monitored events will be correlated and categorized according to
statistical techniques in order to identify the timing of responses
to specific events, the types of responses to specific events and
the frequency with which similar responses occur in the presence
the same or similar events in the interactive environment 224.
These categorized responses provide an independently searchable
dataset for the knowledge engine 220 in addition to the searchable
associations among events and responses. Furthermore, the nature of
a user response to an event will be evaluated by categorization
component 410 to deduce an emotion metric associated with each
response. Thus, component 410 will also enable the knowledge engine
220 to issue requests to action engine 222 that will enable the
actions of an avatar operating in an autonomous mode to mimic the
emotional character of a registered user's response to certain
monitored events. The timing performance of user responses are
categorized by categorization component 410 as "performance
metrics," while the type of response to specific events is
categorized by component 410 as a "decision metric."
Knowledge base controller 412 controls the reading and writing of
"associations" represented as diverse forms of abstract data types
and related operators. These associations are stored and retrieved
based on the associations created by pattern analysis components
408. Action engine controller 414 controls the transmission of
requests to action engine 222 to enable explicit actions of an
avatar to be implemented by the action engine 222 based on specific
monitored user responses, as monitored by response monitoring
component 404, or actions requested by pattern analysis component
408 and categorization component 410 when one or more avatars in
the interactive environment 224 are operating in an autonomous
mode, or when a user is not actively logged-in, or taking action in
response to events occurring in the interactive environment
224.
FIGS. 5A and 5B depict alternative embodiments of the
software-implemented system in a client/server configuration. In
particular, these figures represent client devices 104 and server
devices 102. FIG. 5A represents a server device 102 comprising one
or more input devices 502, a communication interface 504, a read
only memory 506, a storage device 518, a processor 512, a program
memory 514 and one or more output devices 516. Each of these
components of the server device 102 is communicatively coupled to
communication bus 510. Program memory 514 includes a knowledge base
518 and a server knowledge engine 520. Server knowledge engine 520
continuously monitors and analyses user responses and forms
associations between events monitored by client knowledge engine
540 in the interactive environment 536 and the user responses.
Knowledge engine 520 also applies processes to categorize user
responses according to various metrics, including a decision
metric, a performance metric and an emotion metric. Knowledge based
518 stores associations between monitored events and monitored user
responses and permits the organized storage of the associated
events and responses according to the categories in which user
responses have been categorized based on the applicable metric
(i.e., decision, performance or emotion).
FIG. 5B illustrates a client device 104 comprised of one or more
input devices 522, a communication interface for communicating to
and from server device 102, as illustrated in the FIG. 5A, a read
only memory 526, a storage device 528, a processor 532, a program
memory 534 and one or more output devices 530. Each of these
components is coupled to communication bus 525 to facilitate
inter-component communication. Program memory 534 includes a client
knowledge engine 540, an action engine 542, an interactive
environment 536 and an operating system 538. Each of the components
included in program memory 534 are used by processor 532 for
execution of the interactive environment 536. The interactive
environment 536 is a computer-generated environment that controls
the autonomous execution of computer-generated events. In an
embodiment the interactive environment 536 is a computer-generated
simulation environment, while on a different embodiment the
interactive environment 536 is a computer-generated video game
environment. Client knowledge engine 540 continuously monitors
events in the interactive environment 536 and user responses to
those events when a registered user is logged-in and actively
responding to events in the interactive environment 536. Client
knowledge engine 540 compiles a profile of the user responses and
actively reports those responses to server knowledge engine 520 for
analysis, association and categorization. User responses are
categorized by several different metrics, including a decision
metric, a performance metric and an emotion metric. After
categorization, the responses are stored in knowledge base 518
according to one or more associations and applicable metrics.
FIG. 6 illustrates an alternative client/server embodiment for the
software-implemented system. In particular, this embodiment
includes one or more server devices 102a-102d (FIG. 6A) and one or
more client devices 104a-104d (FIG. 6B). Server device 102 includes
one or more input devices 602, a communication interface 604 for
sending and receiving communications with one or more client
devices 104, a read only memory 606, a storage device 608, a
processor 612, a program memory 626 and one or more output devices
610. Included in program memory 626 are a knowledge base 616, a
server knowledge engine 618, and an action engine 620. Server
knowledge engine 618 directs the actions of action engine 620 by
issuing requests that are translated into a specific actions
performed by avatars under the control of the action engine 620.
Server knowledge engine 618 interacts with interactive environment
622, which is executed by operating system 624, to monitor events
occurring in this environment 622. Processor 612 interacts with
program memory 626 for execution of operations performed by server
knowledge engine 618 and action engine 620 and for rapid search,
storage and retrieval of associations and rapid searching and
evaluation of user responses according to categorized metrics. Each
of the components in the server device 102 is communicatively
coupled via communication bus 614.
In the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 6A and 6B, server knowledge
engine 618 and client knowledge engine 644 actively interoperate to
monitor user responses to events occurring in the interactive
environment 622. User responses are monitored on client device 104
by client knowledge engine 644, which is store in a local program
memory 642. As shown in FIG. 6B, client device 104 includes one or
more input devices 628, a communication interface 630, a read only
memory 632, a storage device 634, a processor 636, program memory
642 and one or more output device 646. These components are
communicatively coupled to each other over communication bus 640.
In this embodiment, users respond to events in the interactive
environment 622 by taking action (e.g., moving joysticks, touching
portions of a touch screen, etc.) on an input device 628 of the
client device 104 and these responses are actively and continuously
monitored by client knowledge engine 644. Although client knowledge
engine 644 monitors user responses on the client devices 104, in
this embodiment the record of monitored responses is communicated
to server knowledge engine 618 for analysis of responses and
events, the forming of associations between responses and events,
and the categorization of user responses according to specific
metrics. In an embodiment, interactive environment 622 executes on
a server device 102. In an alternative embodiment, the interactive
environment 622 is executed on a plurality of servers, each having
an independent though cohesive role in managing the execution of
events in the interactive environment 622 to which registered users
and autonomously executing avatars may respond. Server knowledge
engine 618 analyzes the user responses received from client devices
104, associates each user response to a monitored event in the
interactive environment 622, and categorizes user responses
according to at least one decision metric, a performance metric and
an emotion metric.
The metrics applied in this system represent various timing
measures related to user responses (i.e., performance metrics) and
various outcomes of certain user responses to monitored events in
interactive environment 622 (i.e., decision metrics). In addition
to performance metrics and decision metrics into which various user
responses may be categorized, the user responses can also be
categorized according to an emotion metric. An emotion metric is
based on one or more performance metrics and decision metrics and
is a composite metric that is determined by server knowledge engine
618 and associated with the responses to related events. These
associations are used in an autonomous mode to control the actions
of one or more avatars associated with the registered user to
enable the actions of the avatar to be performed in a manner
consistent with past user responses of the user. In essence, server
knowledge engine 618 enables the active, ongoing and continuous
profiling of user responses, and the association and categorization
of those responses for the purpose of determining and applying
actions using an avatar in an autonomous operating mode that are
consistent with the responses and related emotions associated with
those responses that were displayed by a user when that user was
logged-in and responding to events in the interactive environment
622.
FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart outlining a process for monitoring
and controlling avatars in an interactive environment. This process
commences at step 702 and proceeds with the monitoring of events in
an interactive environment, as shown in step 704. While monitoring
events in the interactive environment, user responses to these
events will be monitored and measured, as shown as step 706, and
these user responses will be compiled, analyzed and categorized
according to one or more performance metrics, decision metrics and
emotion metrics, as shown as step 708. The categorized user
responses will be stored, as shown as step 710, for later searching
and use by a knowledge engine in formulating requests to control
the actions of one or more avatars in the interactive environment
while operating an autonomous mode. The avatars perform actions in
the autonomous mode when the subscriber to whom the avatars have
registered is not logged-in or actively responding to monitored
events in the interactive environment. The process concludes, as
shown at step 712, after the user responses are categorized and
stored in a knowledge base.
FIG. 8 illustrates a process for applying a response based on
previous user responses after a comparative evaluation of prior
user responses. The process commences at step 802 with the
monitoring of events in an interactive environment, as shown as
step 804. A knowledge base storing prior user responses is searched
and those responses will be evaluated and compared with a record
indicated user responses to prior monitored events, as shown in
step 806. In searching and evaluation prior user responses in a
knowledge base, the knowledge engine will determine a set of most
likely alternative user responses to specific monitored events, as
shown as step 808 that can be applied by one or more avatars for a
registered user. The set of most likely alternative responses to
each monitored event will be determined by analyzing patterns in
the responses to past events in the interactive environment and
comparing in real-time those past events with the monitored events.
One or more pattern analysis techniques can be applied, including
techniques that analyze the frequency of occurrence of specific
types of responses for type of previously monitored event.
Statistical relevance ranking techniques can also be applied alone
or in combination with a frequency of occurrence measure to
determine the most likely response, or set of responses, to
monitored events. Once a most likely response is determined, the
selected response will be applied in the interactive environment by
one or more avatars for a registered user, as shown at step 810,
and the process will come to an end, as shown at step 812. Although
the term "responses" as used here applies generally to the
controlled actions of registered users in an interactive
environment, this term is also intended to refer to the specific
actions taken by avatars in this environment in the absence of
direct, controlled activity by a user.
FIG. 9 illustrates a process for monitoring user responses and
determining when to enter a protected wait state. This process
commences at step 902 with the monitoring of user responses (shown
at step 904) and the comparison of each monitored response to
stored responses in a knowledge base, as shown at step 906. One or
more pattern analysis methods will be applied to the monitored user
responses (shown at step 908) based on the comparisons performed in
step 906. New user responses to similar previously monitored events
will be associated with these events and stored to enable the
knowledge base to be updated with an active, real-time record of
associations between events and responses, as shown as step 910.
After updating, the interactive environment will be monitored to
determine if a user has logged off, as shown in step 912. If a user
has not logged off, a wait time will be checked to determine
whether the length of time between the occurrence of the last
action performed by the user and the present time exceeds a wait
time threshold for receiving a response from a user to a monitored
event in the interactive environment, as shown in step 914. If the
wait time has been exceeded, then the one or more avatars for a
registered user will enter into a protected wait state in the
interactive environment and await commands or requests to take
actions from the user, as shown at step 916.
Alternatively, if the user has logged off, as shown in step 912,
then the user's avatars will enter into the protected wait state in
the interactive environment, as shown in step 916. If the time in
which a user takes an action has not exceeded the wait time, as
shown at step 914, then the user responses will continue to be
actively monitored and compared to the record of stored responses
in the knowledge base, as shown at step 906. This comparative
real-time analysis of newly monitored responses with previously
stored monitored responses continues while the interactive
environment is active in order to continually identify, associate
and categorize new and different responses to events in this
environment, which analysis is shown at step 908. The updating of a
knowledge base with associations of new user responses to events in
the interactive environment is shown in step 910. If the user logs
off, the protected wait state will be entered (step 916) and the
process will end, shown at step 918.
FIG. 10 depicts a process that enables an avatar to interact with a
user when that user is not logged-in to an interactive environment.
The process commences as step 1002 with the monitoring of events in
an interactive environment while an avatar is in a protected wait
state, as shown at step 1004. Depending on the monitored event,
certain actions may be required by the avatar, as indicated by step
1006. If no action is required, the events in the interactive
environment will continue to be monitored and the avatar will
remain in the protected operational wait state. However, if action
is required, an action alert will be sent to the, user as shown at
step 1008, and the avatar await a response from the user, as shown
at step 1010. If no response is received, then the avatar will
enter into an autonomous operational mode, as shown at step 1012,
which will enable each of the avatars of a registered user to
interact with events in an interactive environment based on the
collective record of associations between events and user responses
which are stored in a knowledge base. The actions most likely to be
applied will be determined from the knowledge base of stored
associations and an action engine will be activated to explicitly
control the execution of one or more actions of a user's avatar(s)
based on the control rules stored in the avatar control rules
database shown in FIG. 3. In this operational mode, a knowledge
engine will send requests to the action engine based on the stored
associations and continuously analyze the actions of avatars in
response to monitored events in the interactive environment. The
knowledge engine and the action engine will have exclusive control
over the actions of each user's avatars in this mode. On the other
hand, if a user response is received, as shown at step 1010, then
the process will transition to the steps shown in FIG. 11, as
discussed below.
Referring back to step 1008, an action alert can be issued by one
or more of a registered users avatars in the form of electronic
mail messages or telephone calls from each of the user's avatars in
which a speech synthesized voice of an avatar describes the events
in the interactive environment to the user. The electronic mail
message, also referred to as an "Emergency Action Message," can
include a request for specific user input to enable the avatar to
take action in the interactive environment in response to an
imminent event or threat.
If a user responds to an action alert received on a telephone call
with a command, the avatar will attempt to execute the command, as
shown at step 1102 in FIG. 11. In processing the user response, a
knowledge engine will determine whether an independent user
response is required, as shown in step 1114. An independent user
response will be required if the avatar that placed the action
alert cannot perform an action specified in a received user command
without independent user action in the interactive environment. In
such instances, the operational mode of the avatars in the
interactive environment will transition to a competitive duality
mode, as shown at step 1106. In this operational mode, the avatars
would engage in independent actions in the interactive environment
that would be directly competitive with the actions of the user
once the user returned to a logged-in status in this environment.
In an alternative embodiment, a group of avatars may be controlled
by the user and a collaborative team of avatars can be formed that
engages in competitions as a team against the group controlled by
the user. The group of user controlled avatars and the
collaborative teams of avatars can also respond to events in the
interactive environment competitively after the user returns to a
logged-in status in the interactive environment.
In the alternative, if an independent user response is not
required, then the user and the user's one or more avatars would
respond to events in an interactive environment in an assisted
duality mode (1108) in the interactive environment. The competitive
duality mode is an operating mode in which user responses in an
interactive environment actively compete against one or more
actions of a user's avatars in the environment. In this case, both
the avatars and the user will respond to monitored events in the
interactive environment and to each other's actions in that
environment. In the assisted duality mode, the user and the user's
avatars operate in a collaborative fashion and the user's actions
will supplement the independent actions of the user's avatars while
those avatars respond to monitored events in an interactive
environment.
Returning to FIG. 11, if a user response (i.e., a user action in
the interactive environment) is received instead of a user command
(i.e., an email or verbal directive to the avatar issuing the
action alert), then the interactive environment will enter a real
user operational mode, as shown at step 1114, and then return, as
shown at step 1116. A user response involves a user logging into
the interactive environment to take control of the one or more
avatars in the interactive environment and to respond directly to
monitored events in that environment.
FIG. 12 illustrates a process for autonomous operation of avatars
in an interactive environment. The process commences at step 1202
with the monitoring of events in an interactive environment, as
shown at step 1204. In the autonomous operating mode, one or more
avatars of each registered user continues to actively compete
against the avatars of other registered users regardless of the
user's log-in or control status of those avatars. Avatars can
engage in competitions with individual avatars, or self-organize
into collaborative teams of avatars for competitions against other
groups of avatars or for competitions in response to monitored
events in the interactive environment. In this operating mode,
multiple servers can host the interactive environment to enable the
avatars of all registered users to actively compete against each
other for performance rankings in selected competitive events in
the interactive environment. The competitive events may involve
individual competition among avatars in response to actions of
other avatars, competitive assessments of avatars in response to
monitored events in the interactive environment, and the formation
of collaborative teams of avatars which engage in competition or
respond to monitored events as collaborative teams. These events
may be held at prescheduled times and announced to all registered
users as "World Olympic Avatar Competitions." Thus, requests for
participation in such competitions can be received by registered
users, as shown at step 1206. The requests are issued by
administrators of the interactive environment in which the avatar
competitions will be held.
Competition among the avatars of registered users who accepted the
requests will commence, as shown at step 1208, and these avatars
will take actions in response to events in an autonomous
operational mode. The competitions involve multiple interactive
scenarios requiring competitive interaction by one or more of each
registered users' avatars against other competing avatars in an
interactive environment. The performance of the avatars in the
interactive scenarios will be evaluated and used to determine a
competitive ranking, as shown at step 1210. The actions of the
avatars in these autonomous mode interactive competitions are based
in significant part on the associations between events and user
responses stored in a knowledge base, and the categorization of
these user responses according to selected metrics. A knowledge
engine categorizes the user responses while the user actively
controls and executes responses to events in the interactive
environment. The categorization of user responses is based on
specific performance metrics, decision metrics and emotion metrics.
These metrics affect how avatars will apply actions in the
interactive environment based while operating in the autonomous
competition mode. More specifically, the actions applied by avatars
in the autonomous competition mode are based on pattern analyses
that are applied to user responses by the knowledge engine when
those responses are initially made to monitored events in the
interactive environment, as shown at step 1212. The knowledge
engine operating in conjunction with an action engine will have
exclusive control over the actions of avatars in this competition
mode. Registered users can have active avatars perform actions in
the autonomous mode or the autonomous competition mode for an
indefinite time period. In an embodiment, the indefinite period can
extend beyond the lifespan of a registered user. A performance
ranking of the actions of the avatars will be compiled, as shown at
step 1214, and a determination is made to determine which avatar
scored the highest in an autonomous and fully hosted competition in
the interactive environment. After compiling performance rankings
for the avatars in the autonomous competition mode, the process
ends, as shown in step 1216.
FIG. 13 illustrates an embodiment of a process for a competitive
operational mode. In this mode, a registered user actively competes
with one or more of the user's avatars in the interactive
environment. This process commences at step 1302 with the
monitoring of events in the interactive environment, as indicated
at step 1304. User responses are monitored and measured according
to various categorizes of metrics, including performance metrics,
decision metrics and emotion metrics, and the responses are
associated and categorized. The user responses are associated with
the monitored event that caused the specific response and this
association is stored in order to maintain an updated knowledge
base, as shown in step 1308. After updating, in the autonomous mode
the knowledge base will be searched according to collective
associations of responses and events, in a manner similar to the
storage of information in an associated form in the human
brain.
In searching these associations for user responses to monitored
events, as shown at step 1310, one or more pattern analysis
techniques will be applied to determine the most likely user
response in the competitive operational mode. As indicated above,
in the competitive duality mode a user is active in an interactive
environment but is pitted against one or more of its registered
avatars who take action in response to the actions of the human
user as well as automated events in the interactive environment, as
shown at step 1312. A knowledge engine will actively search a
knowledge base of stored user responses and issue requests based on
the associations formed between monitored events and prior user
responses for the purpose of controlling the actions of avatars in
the interactive environment while continuously monitoring events in
the environment.
The actions of the avatars are based on requests made by a
knowledge engine to an action engine and these requests are based
on real-time searching and identification of associations of user
responses and prior monitored events. These associations enable the
knowledge engine to readily determine what actions are necessary in
response to monitored events. The applicable action is determined
from statistical relevance measures, a frequency of occurrence
measure or other applicable statistical measures that are applied
to determine in real-time the most likely response a user would
take in response to a monitored event. These responses would be
applied by controlled actions regulated by the action engine for
the purpose of directing one or more avatars in the interactive
environment in a competitive operational mode, as shown in step
1314. After controlling avatar action based on the most likely user
response, this process ends as shown at step 1316.
FIG. 14 illustrates a process for controlling the actions of an
avatar in an assisted duality operational mode. At the commencement
of this process, shown at step 1402, events in an interactive
environment are continuously monitored, shown at step 1404, and the
monitoring and measuring of user responses to these events is
performed, as shown at step 1406. A knowledge base is continually
updated with associations and categorizations of user responses as
events in the interactive environment are continuously monitored,
as shown as step 1408. The knowledge base is searched by a
knowledge engine for user responses according to stored
associations and categorizations, as shown at step 1410, and one or
more pattern analysis methods are applied to determine the most
likely user response to the monitored events in the interactive
environment, which response will be applied by a user's avatars in
the interactive environment in the assisted duality operational
mode, shown at step 1412.
In the assisted duality operational mode, a user's avatar will
monitor the actions of the user while that user actively controls
the avatars in the interactive environment. In monitoring the
user's actions to events in the interactive environment, a
knowledge engine will continuously measure those actions, build
associations between the user's actions to monitored events in the
interactive environment, and categorize the actions according to
performance metrics, decision metrics, and at least one emotion
metric. In this context, the "actions" of a user are the
"responses" made by the user to events occurring in the interactive
environment. After the knowledge engine determines the most likely
user response to be applied by an avatar in the assisted duality
mode, an action engine will cause the avatar to execute an action,
which action will based on the most likely user response to the
monitored event in the interactive environment, as shown in step
1414. After application of an action based on the most likely
response, the process ends, as shown at step 1416.
Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described
herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the
art that a wide variety of alternate and/or equivalent
implementations may be substituted for the specific embodiments
shown and described without departing from the scope of the present
invention. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or
variations of the embodiments discussed herein.
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