Virtual Lobby Overlay for Seamless Game Group Formation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users participating in online games face difficulties in forming groups, leading to challenges in starting the game, as existing technologies require extra actions and inefficient communication processes, potentially deterring user engagement.
Innovation Solution
An information processing device and method that displays a virtual lobby and room, allowing users to exchange information and form groups seamlessly, reducing the need for additional actions and optimizing data transmission, thereby enhancing user convenience and communication.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If users are required to perform extra actions to form groups and communicate, then group formation capability is achieved, but user convenience and operation simplicity deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the lobby view and room view into a single integrated display interface. The lobby image and room image are overlaid on the same screen, allowing users to simultaneously see both the overall lobby environment and the specific room details without switching between different screens or performing additional navigation actions. This merging of views directly reduces operation steps while maintaining ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The display device performs multiple functions simultaneously by showing both lobby information and room information in the same interface. Users can view lobby status, navigate to rooms, and see room details all within one unified display, eliminating the need for separate navigation steps and making the system more versatile and user-friendly.
2Loss of information
If separate display of lobby and room images is implemented, then information clarity is improved, but communication efficiency and user engagement deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent overlays the room image on top of the lobby image in a semi-transparent manner, allowing both images to be visible simultaneously. This merging approach ensures that users can access both lobby-level and room-level information at the same time without losing either context, thereby improving communication efficiency while maintaining information accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a visual dimension by layering the room image over the lobby image. Instead of presenting information sequentially or in separate dimensions (separate screens), the solution uses spatial overlay in the same display dimension, allowing users to perceive both levels of information simultaneously and improving communication flow.
3Loss of information
If comprehensive user information is displayed in the lobby, then user awareness is improved, but network load and resource consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent displays copied visual representations of user information in the form of icons and avatars within the lobby image. Instead of transmitting and displaying detailed textual user profiles, the system uses simplified visual copies (icons representing users, their positions, and basic status) that convey essential information with minimal data transmission, thereby reducing network load while maintaining user information visibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent displays detailed user information locally at specific positions in the lobby where users are represented by icons. Rather than transmitting all user data globally, the system provides localized visual information at each user position, allowing users to see relevant information (such as nearby users or users in specific rooms) without the network burden of transmitting comprehensive user datasets to all devices.
Data Source
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AI summary
A table-top game device 100 includes a lobby control unit 118 and a room control unit 120. The lobby control unit 118 displays an image of a lobby, a virtual space where a plurality of users exchange information, and displays objects associated with the plurality of users at predetermined positions in the lobby. The room control unit 120 displays an image of a room, a virtual space where the users in the lobby can enter, along with the image of the lobby so that the user entering the room can know the objects in the lobby.