Method and apparatus for evaluation of skill level progression and matching of participants in a multi-media interactive environment

Abstract

In an online interactive simulation or game environment, in which an object's motion is controlled by a player, a player's skill level is quickly quantified as they control the object to properly place the player in games with those of like skill without having to compete with others. An optimal motion is established for the object's travel during a portion of a game. At each increment of travel, an optimum velocity or time delta is established. The motion of the object that is being controlled by a player who is being rated is then tracked relative to the established optimal motion. Deviations therebetween are calculated on an incremental basis, and the aggregate score is used to determine the player's skill level for a set of equivalent conditions.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61 / 779,332, filed Mar. 13, 2013, which application is incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference thereto.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Technical Field[0003]The invention relates to interactive electronic games and interactive simulation environments. More particularly, the invention relates to skill quantification, skill progression analysis and skill matching with respect to an interactive simulation environment.[0004]2. Description of the Background Art[0005]Player skill can be evaluated in games for a number of purposes. For multi-player games, a ranking system is predominately used both to identify and to track the skills of gamers in a game to match them into competitive matches better.[0006]Probably the most popular skill ranking and matching system used today for multi-player games is Elo. The Elo rating system calculates the relative ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009]Embodiments of the invention provide an online interactive simulation and / or game environment in which an object's motion is controlled by a player along a path. A player's skill level is quickly quantified as they control the object traversing the path. In this way, the player can be properly placed in games with those of like skill without having to compete with others. An optimal path is established for the object's travel during a portion of a game, and at each increment of travel, an optimum velocity or time delta is established. The path of the object that is being controlled by a player who is being rated is then tracked over the same path. At each distance increment the object's position and velocity or time delta are recorded and compared with an optimum value. Deviations therebetween are calculated on an incremental basis, and the aggregate score is used to determine the player's skill level for a set of equivalent conditions.

Problems solved by technology

If the uncertainty is high, the ranking system does not yet know exactly the skill of the gamer.

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