Virtual World Service Testing with Avatars
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Solution Overview
Problem
Testing services that utilize real-world observational data is challenging due to the management overhead and limitations of pilot environments and proprietary simulators, including difficulty in recreating scenarios and high costs.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that use a virtual world to extract and input observational data, allowing for the testing of services by defining environments and behaviors, processing data to create event data, and observing outputs, which can be fed back into the virtual world for further observation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a pilot environment is used for testing services, then real-world scenarios can be tested, but management overhead and logistical complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the real-world environment using computer-generated 3D scenes that replicate physical spaces (e.g., bank branches). This virtual replica allows testing of services without requiring actual physical pilot environments, thereby maintaining testing accuracy while eliminating the management overhead and logistical complexity of coordinating real people and physical spaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical system of physical pilot environments with an automated virtual simulation system. Instead of manually coordinating people, spaces, and scenarios in the physical world, the system uses software-driven virtual avatars and programmable 3D environments that can be automatically configured and executed, significantly reducing management overhead while preserving testing reliability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If proprietary simulators are used for testing, then specific scenarios can be simulated, but setup cost and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal virtual environment platform that can simulate multiple different scenarios and services within the same system. Rather than requiring separate proprietary simulators for each scenario, the platform uses configurable 3D scenes, avatar behaviors, and service simulations that can be adapted to test various banking services (e.g., queue management, targeted marketing, branch management) without requiring time-consuming rewrites or reconfigurations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent prepares virtual environments, avatar behaviors, and service configurations in advance as reusable templates. These pre-configured elements can be quickly deployed and modified for different testing scenarios, eliminating the need to build simulation infrastructure from scratch each time a new scenario is tested, thereby significantly reducing setup time while maintaining scenario adaptability.
3Measurement precision
If real people are used in pilot environments, then authentic customer behavior can be observed, but scenario replayability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates virtual copies of human users called avatars that operate within the simulated environment. These avatars can be programmed to exhibit realistic customer behaviors while maintaining consistent, reproducible action patterns. This allows the system to capture authentic-like behavior observations while ensuring that scenarios can be replayed with identical results, as the avatars follow predetermined behavior scripts rather than unpredictable human responses.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms where avatar behaviors are programmed based on observed real-world customer patterns, and the results of service interactions are fed back into the simulation to refine and validate the behavior models. This creates a closed-loop system that maintains measurement precision through continuous validation while ensuring scenario consistency through programmable, reproducible avatar responses.
Data Source
AI summary
Method and systems for testing services are described which use a virtual world. Observational data is extracted from the virtual world and input to the service. The output of the service is observed and/or may be fed back into the virtual world and its effects observed in the virtual world.