Virtual Environment Annotation Synchronization via Intermediary Server
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current multi-dimensional virtual environments lack effective mechanisms for users to annotate objects and share annotations seamlessly across clients, limiting the interactive and collaborative aspects of virtual environments.
Innovation Solution
A system where clients can transmit and display annotations associated with objects in real-time, allowing users to select and annotate objects within the virtual environment, with the annotations being stored and updated on the virtual environment server system for display across connected clients.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If annotations are transmitted and displayed across multiple clients in real-time, then user interaction and collaboration are enhanced, but system complexity and data synchronization requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs an intermediary server system that mediates between multiple clients and the virtual environment. The server receives annotations from clients, stores them in a centralized database, and distributes them to relevant clients. This intermediary architecture enables seamless real-time collaboration while abstracting the complexity of direct peer-to-peer synchronization from individual clients, thus enhancing ease of operation without proportionally increasing device complexity at the client level.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where annotations are transmitted back to clients in real-time, allowing users to see updates from other participants immediately. This feedback loop enhances collaborative interaction by providing continuous visibility of shared annotations, while the automated feedback process managed by the server reduces the operational burden on individual users despite the increased system complexity.
2Loss of information
If annotations are stored and updated on the virtual environment server system, then seamless sharing across clients is achieved, but data synchronization and storage requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple annotation data streams from different clients into a single centralized storage system on the virtual environment server. By combining all annotation data into one unified repository, the system achieves seamless information sharing across clients while avoiding redundant storage of duplicate annotation data across multiple distributed systems, thus reducing overall data storage requirements despite enabling comprehensive sharing.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates and distributes copies of annotation data from the central server to individual clients as needed for display and interaction. Rather than storing complete annotation datasets at every client, the server maintains the master copy and provides selective copies to clients, enabling seamless information sharing while optimizing storage utilization across the distributed system.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer-implemented method of enabling participation by a first client and a second client in a communication session in a multi-dimensional virtual environment, the multi-dimensional virtual environment having first and second avatars respectively associated with the first and second clients and a plurality of objects distinct from the avatars. The method includes receiving from the first client a first annotation associated with a first object of the plurality of objects, transmitting the first annotation to the second client for display at the second client in association with the first object, receiving from the second client a second annotation associated with a second object of the plurality of objects, and transmitting the second annotation to the first client for display at the first client in association with the second object.