User Matching via Folksonomy Tags in Multi-User Simulations
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Solution Overview
Problem
In multi-user computer simulations, users from diverse geographical locations face challenges in forming teams or finding opponents due to physical separation and lack of prior knowledge, making it difficult to match users effectively for game play.
Innovation Solution
A method using folksonomy tags to match users, where users can set descriptive labels for fellow players, and a system evaluates these tags to determine statistical accuracy, calculating a 'tag quotient' that influences matchmaking algorithms for forming teams or opposing teams.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If users from diverse geographical locations participate in multi-user simulations, then the system achieves greater user diversity and online accessibility, but effective user matching becomes difficult due to physical separation and lack of prior knowledge
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces folksonomy tags as an intermediary mechanism to bridge the gap between geographically diverse users. These user-generated descriptive labels serve as a mediator that captures player characteristics, behavior patterns, and preferences, enabling the matching system to assess compatibility without requiring physical proximity or prior knowledge of other users.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transforms the matching problem by changing the parameters used for assessment from traditional metrics (skill level, play time) to folksonomy-based parameters (user-defined tags describing behavior and characteristics). This parameter transformation allows for more nuanced and accurate matching of diverse users based on qualitative attributes rather than just quantitative statistics.
2Device complexity
If traditional matching methods are used without folksonomy tags, then the system operates with simpler algorithms, but user matching accuracy and team formation quality deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by having users continuously generate and update folksonomy tags during gameplay. These tags are collected and stored in advance, creating a rich profile of user characteristics before the matching process occurs. This preliminary tagging activity provides the matching algorithm with comprehensive data without requiring complex real-time analysis during gameplay.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where users can observe and adjust tags based on their experiences with other players. This feedback loop refines the folksonomy data over time, improving the accuracy of user profiles and consequently enhancing matching precision. The iterative nature of tag refinement allows the system to learn and adapt without fundamentally changing the core matching algorithm.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method for use in a computer simulation includes receiving a request from a first user to initiate a multi-user session (210), retrieving tag data for a second user (120, 220, 320, 410), wherein the tag data includes tags entered by one or more users of a plurality of users including the first user, evaluating the tag data (130, 230, 300, 400), matching the first user with the second user based on the result of the evaluating (140, 240, 350), and initiating the multi-user session with at least the first user and second user (110, 260). Another method for use in a computer simulation includes establishing a multi-user computer simulation having an ability for one or more users in a plurality of users to enter tags for other users in the plurality of users (110), receiving tag data for the plurality of users (120), wherein the tag data includes tags that have been entered by the one or more users for the plurality of users, evaluating the tag data (130), and matching a first user in the plurality of users with one or more other users of the plurality of users based on a result of the evaluating (140). A computer-readable storage medium (820, 830, 840, 850, 870, 914a-c, 934) stores a computer program adapted to cause a processor based system (800, 910a-c, 930) to execute one or both of these methods.