Virtual Creature Control for Shared Remote Interaction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing virtual creature systems fail to enable simultaneous control and recognition of multiple virtual creatures across different locations, limiting indirect communication between remote sites.
Innovation Solution
A virtual creature control system that includes a communication unit for receiving and transmitting control signals to multiple virtual creatures, with a control unit generating signals to ensure that only one virtual creature is visually recognized at a time by a specific user, allowing coordinated control and shared experience across locations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple virtual creatures are deployed at different locations, then indirect communication between remote sites can be promoted, but users cannot recognize that they are interacting with the same virtual creature
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual image or representation of the virtual creature that can be displayed at multiple locations simultaneously. When a user interacts with the virtual creature at one location, the same virtual creature appears to move to another location and interact with another user, creating the illusion of a single shared creature across remote sites without requiring users to understand the underlying distributed system.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces a control server as an intermediary that coordinates the behavior and appearance of virtual creatures across multiple locations. The server manages the virtual creature's state, determines which location it appears at based on user interactions, and ensures consistent behavior across distributed sites, enabling indirect communication while maintaining the illusion of a single creature.
2Device complexity
If virtual creatures operate independently at different spots, then system simplicity is maintained, but coordinated control and shared experience cannot be achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the control of multiple virtual creatures into a single coordinated system managed by a central server. While physical virtual creatures are distributed at different locations, their control and appearance are unified through the server, which determines which creature appears where based on user interactions, achieving coordinated control without requiring complex peer-to-peer communication between creatures.
3Loss of information
If all virtual creatures are visible simultaneously to users, then complete information is provided, but the illusion of a single shared pet is broken
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements local quality by making the virtual creature's appearance and behavior location-specific. At any given time, the virtual creature appears at one specific location and is visible only to users at that location, creating a localized experience that maintains the illusion of a single creature. The creature's state and appearance are tailored to each local context rather than being uniformly visible everywhere simultaneously.
Data Source
AI summary
A virtual creature control system, including: a communication unit configured to receive information of current states of a plurality of virtual creatures and transmit a signal for controlling operations of the plurality of virtual creatures, at least one virtual creature among the plurality of virtual creatures being hardware; and a control unit configured to generate a signal for controlling an operation of the at least one virtual creature among the plurality of virtual creatures such that the plurality of virtual creatures are not visually recognized at a same time by a specific user and control the communication unit such that the signal is transmitted to the one virtual creature. The virtual creature control system and virtual creature control method can control the plurality of virtual creatures in conjunction and promote indirect communication among a plurality of spots using the virtual creatures.