Systems and methods for managing a persistent virtual avatar with migrational ability

Abstract

Systems and methods for managing a virtual avatar with migrational ability, and brokering information, are provided. The persistent avatar exists in a plurality of virtual environments and includes attributes generated by an attribute generator, an enabler for enabling virtual environments to access the stored attribute data, and a migrator for allowing the avatar to migrate from one virtual environment to another while the attributes of the persistent avatar remain substantially constant. The enabler utilizes at least one client based on protocol suite. Stored attribute data is modifiable by experiences in any virtual environment. User of the persistent avatar is notified when events occur in any virtual environment, or within real life, by monitoring for events with a monitor, assessing importance of the event with an assessor, and notifying the owner with an informer of the event if it exceeds a threshold of importance.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to a system and method for managing a persistent virtual avatar, and more particularly a persistent virtual avatar that has the ability to migrate between virtual environments, and have cross-membrane capacity. Such an avatar is useful in conjunction with Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs), virtual worlds, online social networks, virtual classrooms, virtual healthcare advice, and virtual personal assistants. Currently most virtual environments are compiled in a unique and specific language. The fact that the virtual worlds are disparate, with dissimilar native languages makes the movement of data from one virtual environment to another technically difficult.[0002]As known to those skilled in the art, an avatar is a virtual representation of an individual within a virtual environment. Avatars often include physical characteristics, statistical attributes, inventories, social relations, emotional representations, a...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0012]To achieve the foregoing and in accordance with the present invention, systems for managing a virtual avatar with migrational ability, and methods for providing migration and m...

Problems solved by technology

The fact that the virtual worlds are disparate, with dissimilar native languages makes the movement of data from one virtual environment to another technically difficult.

Additionally, some avatars may have the ability to be automated some of the time, and controlled by a human at other times. Such Quasi-Player Characters (QPCs) may perform mundane tasks automatically, but more expensive human agents take over in cases of complex problems.

As a result, the author is often emotionally attached with her avatar, and great effort may be spent perfecting the Avatar's appearance, equipment, attributes and statistics.

And whereas the subscription to these various virtual environments may be enormous, there is little to no connectivity between different virtual environments; largely due in part to disparate native languages and jealous territoriality by the virtual environments themselves.

There is strong user pressure, however, to allow assets and information from one virtual environment into another virtual environment.

Given the effort put into the creation of avatars, and the emotional attachments associated with them, it is logical that a paramount issue of convergence and cross-membrane will be the persistence of these avatars between virtual environments.

However such a system is not conducive to seamless migration between virtual environments.

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