Virtual Player Tracking via Software Agents
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current player tracking systems are not configured for use outside of gaming establishments, making it difficult to monitor and reward players of Internet wagering games across various devices, and equipping each device with tracking software would be costly and impractical.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of software agents that can follow a player across different devices, tracking and accumulating points based on gameplay, regardless of the device platform, and providing services such as security, harm minimization, player identification, and accounting, while allowing countermeasures for cheating detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If player tracking systems are configured for use outside of gaming establishments, then player tracking capability is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
A server acts as an intermediary between multiple gaming devices and the player tracking system. The server receives tracking data from various devices, processes it centrally, and manages player profiles, allowing player tracking functionality without requiring complex tracking apparatus on each individual device.
Solution Approach 2:
The player tracking system is designed to work across multiple different device types and platforms (gaming machines, personal devices, mobile devices) through a universal interface and communication protocol, enabling single system to track players regardless of which device they use.
2Measurement precision
If each player's host device is equipped with player tracking apparatus, then player tracking precision is improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The player tracking functionality is extracted from individual host devices and placed on a centralized server. This eliminates the need to equip each player device with expensive tracking apparatus, while still maintaining accurate tracking through data collected from the devices' normal operations.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of installing physical tracking apparatus on each device, the system uses software agents or communication protocols that create a virtual representation of player activity data, which is then processed by the centralized tracking system.
3Productivity
If player tracking is implemented across multiple devices, then player engagement is improved, but data security risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The server acts as a secure intermediary that centralizes data processing and storage. By funneling all player data through a controlled server environment with centralized security measures, the system can track players across multiple devices while reducing the security risks associated with distributed tracking apparatus.
Data Source
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AI summary
Various gaming-related services are provided, including but not limited to security services, harm minimization services, player identification services, bonusing/progressive services, accounting services, financial/banking services, network tunneling services, cheating detection services, etc. Such services may be provided, at least in part, by software agents that can be configured for different platforms and/or operating systems. Some software-based player tracking methods of the invention can aggregate data from multiple devices used by a player for gaming.