Interactive Overlay Streaming for Video Game Spectators
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Solution Overview
Problem
Live game streaming platforms lack interactivity and customization options for spectators, providing a passive viewing experience despite the potential for enhanced engagement and community interaction.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for providing interactive overlays with video game streams, utilizing computer servers and software scripts to generate and stream video and data frames with metadata, allowing clients to display customizable overlays synchronized with graphical objects in real-time, enabling spectators to interact with the game streams.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional live streaming systems are used, then system simplicity is maintained, but spectator interactivity and customization options are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the streaming content into separate video and data streams. The video stream contains the game footage while the data stream carries metadata about graphical objects. This segmentation allows independent processing and delivery of interactivity data without complicating the core video streaming infrastructure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary layer consisting of software scripts running on client devices that receive both video and data streams. These scripts act as mediators between the streaming server and the display, generating interactive overlays based on the received data without requiring changes to the core streaming system architecture.
2Adaptability or versatility
If interactive overlays are added to enhance spectator experience, then engagement is improved, but computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the essential metadata needed for interactive overlays from the full game state data. Instead of processing and transmitting complete game information, only positioning information and identifiers of graphical objects are extracted and sent to client devices, reducing computational overhead while maintaining interactivity functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The interactive overlays are generated as lightweight, temporary visual elements on client devices rather than pre-rendered complex graphics. These overlays are created dynamically from simple data points and can be easily updated or removed, minimizing computational resource consumption compared to permanent or pre-processed graphical elements.
3Speed
If real-time synchronization of overlays with graphical objects is implemented, then interactivity is enhanced, but data processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-processing game state data on the server side to extract positioning information before transmission. This preparation work is done in advance, reducing the processing burden on client devices and enabling faster real-time synchronization without increasing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameters of transmitted data from complex game state information to simplified positional coordinates and object identifiers. This parameter transformation reduces data complexity and processing requirements while maintaining the ability to achieve real-time synchronization between overlays and graphical objects.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods to provide interactive overlays with video game streams can include a composing and broadcast system receiving a plurality of video game streams associated with a respective plurality of viewpoints of an online game from a game engine. The composing and broadcast system can select a video game stream of the plurality of video game streams, and transmit the selected video game stream to a live streaming system for streaming to a plurality of spectator client devices. The composing and broadcast system can stream game data indicative of positions of a graphical object in the selected video game steam receive to a plurality of spectator client devices. A client device receiving the selected video game stream and the game data can display an interactive overlay over displayed video frames. The interactive display can be temporally and spatially synchronized with a graphical object in the displayed video frames.