Avatar Inactivity Indicia in Multi-User Animation
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Solution Overview
Problem
In multi-user virtual reality environments, there is a need to effectively manage time-dependent client inactivity, as existing systems often result in avatars appearing to suddenly vanish or mimic repetitive waiting actions indefinitely, which can be misleading and do not provide clear indicators of the duration of inactivity to other users.
Innovation Solution
A method is introduced where the graphical representation of an avatar's activity changes over time based on inactivity, using a transparency algorithm that gradually alters the avatar's opacity, allowing other users to estimate the length of inactivity, with three distinct timeline segments for active, waiting, and inactive states, and eventually removing or relocating the avatar if no input is detected.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the avatar remains visible indefinitely with repetitive waiting actions, then the client presence is maintained in the environment, but other users are misled about the actual client activity status and duration of inactivity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies visual changes to the avatar's appearance (such as transparency, color, or graphical modifications) to indicate different states of client activity. As the client remains inactive, the avatar's visual properties change progressively to communicate the duration and state of inactivity to other users, resolving the contradiction between maintaining presence and accurately indicating activity status.
2Ease of operation
If the avatar suddenly vanishes after inactivity, then the system automatically manages client presence, but the transition is abrupt and provides no clear indication of inactivity duration to other users
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic visual transformation system where the avatar's appearance changes progressively over time based on inactivity duration. Instead of sudden disappearance, the avatar undergoes gradual visual modifications (such as increasing transparency or applying visual effects) that dynamically communicate the passage of time and inactivity state, maintaining automatic management while providing continuous visual feedback.
3Duration of action of stationary object
If the avatar mimics waiting actions indefinitely, then the client presence is maintained, but the repetitive nature becomes misleading and does not convey meaningful information about inactivity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs periodic visual changes to the avatar's appearance that correspond to time intervals of inactivity. Rather than static or purely repetitive animations, the system applies periodic transformations (such as changing transparency levels, applying visual effects at intervals, or modifying graphical properties) that encode temporal information about inactivity duration, making the passage of time visually meaningful.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for managing a multi-user animation platform is disclosed. A three-dimensional space within a computer memory is modeled. An avatar of a client is located within the three-dimensional space, the avatar being graphically represented by a three-dimensional figure within the three-dimensional space. The avatar is responsive to client input commands, and the three-dimensional figure includes a graphical representation of client activity. The client input commands are monitored to determine client activity. The graphical representation of client activity is then altered according to an inactivity scheme when client input commands are not detected. Following a predetermined period of client inactivity, the inactivity scheme varies non-repetitively with time.