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Distributed object oriented multi-user domain with multimedia presentations
| Details |
Inventors: Mitchell, Don P.; Drucker, Steven M.; Marple, Kirk J.; Vellon, Manny;
Assignee: Microsoft Corporation (Redmond, WA)
Primary Examiner: dela Torre; Crescelle N.
Assistant Examiner:
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Ipsolon LLP
Updating of local object databases at client computers, dynamic inheritance, and event notification methods cooperate to provide a persistent object oriented multi-user domain capable of supporting multimedia presentation features for large numbers of users over conventional networks like the Internet. This includes distributing the objects of such a domain between a server and multiple clients and providing the objects with multimedia presentation features. Such a domain includes the persistence of conventional text-based MUDs and MOOs while also giving users the ability to vary or control a wide range of object attributes and properties. As a result, multimedia (e.g., graphical) presentation capabilities are combined with persistence and variability features of text-based MUDs and MOOs to provide a rich, dynamic, multimedia virtual world environment suitable for standard networks. |
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION A virtual world represents a real or imaginary place using graphics, images, video, force feedback, and audio data to define a representation of the place on a computer for one or more users.
Typically, the virtual world enables multiple users to simultaneously perceive and interact with the virtual world and with each other through different computers that are connected by a network.
Large-scale virtual worlds have been developed for two different kinds of systems: military simulation networks and text-based multi-user worlds or domains known as MUDs.
A military simulation network known as SIMNET is based on vehicle and flight simulators that generate real-time 3-D images of a virtual world.
A peer-to-peer network protocol allows simulators to place other users' vehicles and projectiles during virtual battle simulations.
A distinction of such a military simulation network is that complete graphical representations are transmitted to all users simultaneously.
While transmitting complete graphical representations in applications such as military simulation can require extensive network bandwidth, transmission of complete graphical representations is also used in lower bandwidth applications such as VRML.
It will be appreciated, however, that with the bandwidth requirements of a modeling language such as VRML it does not have a way to provide simultaneous full-featured control to large number of users.
Text-based MUDs maintain long term persistent worlds on a central server that is accessed via clients.
An object oriented MUD, referred to as a MOO, is a network database server that stores text objects having properties and methods.
The topology of the space in a MOO is defined by room objects that represent discrete locations and are interconnected by portal objects.
Objects in a MOO can also represent things located in a room, and objects called players or avatars represent the users' characters in the world.
Users in the same room are able to talk by typing text and reading the text that others type
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Databases 
