Interactive station indicator and user qualifier for virtual worlds

A technique for alerting users to the existence of an interactive station within a virtual world accessible via the World Wide Web and determining whether the user is authorized to access the interactive station. An indicator is provided within the virtual world which shows to users the location and existence of an interactive station of the virtual world. The user selects the interactive station indicator in order to attempt to gain access to the interactive station. The virtual world may then verify whether the user is authorized to access the interactive station. Further, if the user is authorized to access the interactive station, the virtual world may maintain access to user data during the user's visit to the interactive station and modify the users data in accordance with the users activities therein. Also, the virtual world may use data provided by the user to perform functions in accordance with the users activities during the user's access to the interactive station.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a technique for indicating to a 
participant in a virtual world the position of an interactive station and 
qualifying the participant to interact with the interactive station. More 
particularly, the present invention relates to a technique for maintaining 
personal information with an avatar as it interacts within a virtual 
world. 
2. Description of the Related Art 
The Internet has existed for a number of years as a means for exchanging 
information. The first phase in the development of the Internet was the 
development of a TCP/IP infrastructure which permitted documents and data 
to be stored on a networked system of computers which permitted access of 
the documents by users of the Internet. This system was difficult to use, 
as access was restricted to serious or expert level computer users who 
could maintain internal cognitive maps of data space. 
The next phase of the Internet development was the development of the World 
Wide Web, which is a hypermedia system which added another layer of 
abstraction to the existing Internet structure. This abstraction provided 
an addressing scheme in the form of a unique identifier or universal 
resource locator (URL). With this system, anyone could tell where to go 
and how to get there for any document or piece of data within the Web. 
This permitted use by novice computer users. However, the only form of 
navigation consisted of direct reference in the form of a URL such as 
"http:.backslash..backslash.www.ibm.com.backslash.". In combination with 
Internet search engines that have been developed for finding URLs for 
information on the Web, the World Wide Web now provides a retrieval 
mechanism which compliments the original storage mechanism of the 
Internet. Still, the system is not entirely user friendly as the user must 
rely on rigid addressing standards, search engines for finding 
URLs/addresses, and links within documents to navigate through the World 
Wide Web. 
The recent explosion in popularity of the Internet can be attributed to a 
number of factors, the advent of the World Wide Web among them. Another 
factor has been the decreasing cost of computers and related technologies, 
and the increases in the speed of communication via high speed modems and 
the like. This has made possible the graphic-rich portion of the Internet, 
which is accessed via the World Wide Web. This graphic rich content has 
given the Internet the mass appeal that it previously lacked. 
In the World Wide Web, documents or sites are typically written in the 
definition language known as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). Until very 
recently, the World Wide Web comprised sites which include almost 
exclusively two dimensional graphics. This was due in part to limitations 
inherent in HTML. The Internet itself is a large number of computers 
networked together which contains a large number of sites. Each site has 
its own unique URL which identifies the computer (server) on the Internet 
on which the site resides. Typically, a user accesses a site on the 
Internet from a personal computer via a phone line to an Internet service 
provider which links the user to the Internet. The user needs Web browser 
software, such as Netscape Navigator from Netscape Communications 
Corporation or WebExplorer from International Business Machines 
Corporation, on his or her computer in order to view most World Wide Web 
content on the Internet. The Web browser software is able to display the 
HTML content of World Wide Web sites on the user's monitor. 
While it was the advent of two dimensional graphically intense Web sites 
that spurred the popularity of the Internet, the next level of technology 
may bring Internets, internal networks such as intranets, and networks in 
general to a new level. This third phase of Internet development has been 
the introduction of intranetworks, which are essentially documents and 
their data (World Wide Web sites) which have been rendered sensually. That 
is, a user interacts or exists within a site or intranetwork and 
experiences and perceives the site from within. This new Internet 
technology involves three dimensional technology which permits simulation 
of real world objects. The three dimensional technology, also known as 
virtual reality, permits users to enter three dimensional worlds. 
Additionally, this three dimensional phase of the Internet permits virtual 
worlds in which actual people actually participate interactively with each 
other. 
However, this technology is still embryonic. The technology is written in a 
definition language known as Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML). 
VRML is a language for describing multi-participant interactive 
simulations in virtual worlds networked via the global Internet and 
hyperlinked with the World Wide Web. To appropriately view or access a 
VRML document or site on the World Wide Web, a user is required to have an 
appropriate VRML viewer or browser in addition to (or in combination with) 
a Web browser. 
As virtual worlds become a reality, virtual worlds will provide a number of 
advantages over two dimensional documents that will become apparent. Three 
dimensional worlds hold a promising future in the area of electronic 
commerce, as users of an electronic store or electronic mall can shop 
through the store and see and inspect the items that are available. It is 
also anticipated that virtual worlds will become prevalent in business and 
social environments as well. Today, virtual worlds lack a number of 
systems and characteristics that will make them more accepted to the 
general public. For example, virtual worlds at this time simply do not 
support many kinds of activities that are available either via standard 
personal computer systems or in real life interactions with the 
environments that virtual worlds attempt to mimic. 
Three dimensional virtual worlds typically comprise large amounts of data. 
A virtual world will typically be a web site logically located at a server 
with participants accessing the virtual world via VRML enabled browsers or 
clients. The flow of data back and forth is limited by the communications 
link, such as a user's modem speed, and by network traffic, as well as the 
speed and ability of a user's computer to process data from the server. 
Accordingly, this can place a limitation on how virtual a virtual world 
can really be, and how well a virtual world can mimic the real life 
scenario it is attempting to exemplify. Depending on the architecture of 
the server, the virtual world is downloaded to the user's computer, from 
which the user navigates the virtual world via the local browser or 
client. The user's participant in the virtual world, which is sometimes 
referred to as an avatar, typically logically exists on the browser with 
links back to the server. The user sees via the user's monitor what the 
avatar sees in the virtual world, and the information regarding the user's 
avatar is sent back to the server so that the virtual world downloaded to 
each user can be updated with information about the location and movement 
of each user's avatar. In this way, each user is kept current with the 
state of each user's avatar via the user's browser. Also, any user 
activities which affect the virtual world from more than a local 
perspective are sent to the server. 
Like with HTML-based websites, a need exists for screening users within a 
virtual world or permitting users of a virtual world with access only to 
permitted parts of a virtual world. However, as a user is a participant in 
a multi-user virtual world, existing two dimensional paradigms will not 
work. Accordingly, given the constraints involved with operating a virtual 
world over the Internet, a technique needs to be developed which invites 
participants to interact with elements within a virtual world which 
intuitively identifies interactive locations and which requires or permits 
registration and review of the participants in order to prevent 
unauthorized use, gain information about the participants, collect money 
from the participants, etc. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An object of the present invention is to provide a technique for alerting 
participants in a virtual world about interactive elements or locations 
within a virtual world. 
Another object of the present invention is to require registration with the 
interactive feature of the virtual world before permitting the participant 
to interact with the feature. 
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a system for 
permitting the screening of each participant within an interactive world 
before permitting each participant to utilize certain functions within the 
virtual world. 
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be set forth in 
part in the description and the drawings which follow, and, in part, will 
be obvious from the description or may be learned by practice of the 
invention. 
To achieve the foregoing objects, and in accordance with the purpose of the 
invention as broadly described herein, the present invention provides a 
computer implementable technique, system and method for use in a three 
dimensional virtual world for indicating to a particpant in the virtual 
world a location from which an activity or component or interactive 
station of the virtual world may be accessed, for automatically receiving 
data from the user upon an attempt to access, and permitting access by the 
user if the user is authorized to access the component, activity or 
interactive station based on the received data. 
The present invention will now be described with reference to the following 
drawings, in which like reference numbers denote the same element 
throughout.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
FIG. 1 illustrates a representative workstation hardware environment in 
which the present invention may be practiced. The environment of FIG. 1 
comprises a representative single user computer workstation 10, such as a 
personal computer, including related peripheral devices. The workstation 
10 includes a microprocessor 12 and a bus 14 employed to connect and 
enable communication between the microprocessor 12 and the components of 
the workstation 10 in accordance with known techniques. The workstation 10 
typically includes a user interface adapter 16, which connects the 
microprocessor 12 via the bus 14 to one or more interface devices, such as 
a keyboard 18, mouse 20, and/or other interface devices 22, which can be 
any user interface device, such as a touch sensitive screen, digitized 
entry pad, etc. The bus 14 also connects a display device 24, such as an 
LCD screen or monitor, to the microprocessor 12 via a display adaptor 26. 
The bus 14 also connects the microprocessor 12 to memory 28 and permanent 
storage 30 which can include a hard drive, tape drive, etc. 
The workstation 10 communicates via a communications channel 32 with other 
computers or networks of computers. The workstation 10 may be associated 
with such other computers in a local area network (LAN) or a wide are 
network, or the workstation 10 can be client in a client/server 
arrangement with another computer, etc. All of these configurations, as 
well as the appropriate communications hardware and software, are known in 
the art. 
FIG. 2 illustrates a data processing network 40 in which the present 
invention may be practiced. The data processing network 40 may be the 
Internet, Intranet or the like, and includes a plurality of individual 
networks, including LANs 42 and 44, each of which includes a plurality of 
individual workstations 10. Alternatively, as those skilled in the art 
will appreciate, a LAN may comprise a plurality of intelligent 
workstations coupled to a host processor. 
Still referring to FIG. 2, the data processing network 40 may also include 
multiple mainframe computers, such as a mainframe computer 46, which may 
be preferably coupled to the LAN 44 by means of a communications link 48. 
The mainframe computer 46 may be implemented utilizing an Enterprise 
Systems Architecture/370, or an Enterprise Systems Architecture/390 
computer available from the International Business Machines Corporation 
(IBM). Depending on the application, a midrange computer, such as an 
Application System/400 (also known as an AS/400) may be employed. 
"Enterprise Systems Architecture/370" and "Enterprise Systems 
Architecture/390" are trademarks of IBM; "Application System/400" and 
"AS/400" are registered trademarks of IBM. 
The mainframe computer 46 may also be coupled to a storage device 50, which 
may serve as remote storage for the LAN 44. Similarly, the LAN 44 may be 
coupled to a communications link 52 through a subsystem control 
unit/communication controller 54 and a communications link 56 to a gateway 
server 58. The gateway server 58 is preferably an individual computer or 
intelligent workstation which serves to link the LAN 42 to the LAN 44. 
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the mainframe computer 46 may 
be located a great geographic distance from the LAN 44, and similarly, the 
LAN 44 may be located a substantial distance from the LAN 42. For example, 
the LAN 42 may be located in California, while the LAN 44 may be located 
in Texas, and the mainframe computer 46 may be located in New York. 
Software programming code which embodies the present invention is typically 
stored in permanent storage of some type, such as the permanent storage 30 
of the workstation 10. In a client/server environment, such software 
programming code may be stored with storage associated with a server. The 
software programming code may be embodied on any of a variety of known 
media for use with a data processing system, such as a diskette, or hard 
drive, or CD-ROM. The code may be distributed on such media, or may be 
distributed to users from the memory or storage of one computer system 
over a network of some type to other computer systems for use by users of 
such other systems. The techniques and methods for embodying software 
program code on physical media and/or distributing software code via 
networks are well known and will not be further discussed herein. 
The preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be discussed 
with reference to FIGS. 3 through 5. In the preferred embodiment, a 
virtual world is implemented in the VRML language and is logically 
situated as a site or document resident on a server which is accessible 
via the World Wide Web. When a user participates in an intranetworked 
virtual world on the World Wide Web, the logical relationship between the 
user's browser (the client) and the server depends on the architecture of 
the server. Most commonly, the browser downloads the virtual world from 
the server. In a multiuser virtual world, the users are represented in the 
virtual world by representatives under their control, which are sometimes 
referred to as avatars. Each user's avatar logically exists within the 
browser and navigates through the downloaded virtual world. The user views 
the virtual world from his or her computer which is linked to the World 
Wide Web via a VRML enabled browser from the viewpoint of the user's 
avatar. Information regarding the user's avatar and its movements and 
actions within the virtual world are uploaded to the server. The server 
updates the downloaded virtual worlds for each user in the multiuser 
environment with information regarding the existence, appearance and 
movement of the avatars of each participant in the multiuser virtual 
world. 
For the most part, objects in a multiuser virtual world are VRML defined 
objects with which users or participants, via their avatars, may interact 
or view while visiting the virtual world. Techniques for creating virtual 
worlds, VRML objects and basic avatars are known in the art and will not 
be discussed herein. VRML is a definition language for defining three 
dimensional objects for use in a three dimensional virtual world. A 
participant in a virtual world who "walks" around a VRML object 
essentially sees the object in three dimensions, and views the object from 
different perspectives during the walk. Logic for causing action or 
providing function within a virtual world can be written to a limited 
extent in VRML. For more significant logic, VRMLScript or JavaScript are 
often used scripting languages, and the Java language itself can be 
utilized. From the description which follows, a skilled programmer could 
implement the present invention using VRML or a combination of VRML and 
one or more of the languages for implementing the logic. 
FIG. 3 illustrates a window 60 for a browser as displayed on the user's 
monitor or the like. The window 60 includes a portion 62 which displays a 
view onto a virtual world 64. The view is provided from the viewpoint of 
the user's avatar within the virtual world 64. The portion of the virtual 
world 64 displayed in FIG. 3 includes an interactive station within the 
virtual world in the form of a virtual bar 66 at which the user may 
puchase virtual drinks. As virtual worlds can be quite large and difficult 
for a user to navigate through and determine what portions are 
interactive, the virtual bar 66 includes a pair of interactive station 
indicators 68,70. Interactive station indicators can take on any of a 
variety of forms. In the preferred embodiment, they are presented as half 
spheres which are placed upon the surface of the virtual bar 66. In order 
to draw a user's attention as the user navigates through the virtual world 
64, the indicators 68,70 periodically light up and then return to a normal 
unlit state. Preferably, the lighting up of the indicators 68,70 does not 
affect any other element of the virtual world 64. By drawing attention to 
the virtual bar 66 in this manner, a minimum of user's computer processing 
time is required, as it is a relatively simple thing in VRML to 
periodically change the lighting properties for an object. 
In addition to drawing attention to the interactive station of a virtual 
world, it is preferred that the indicators also act as a user 
authentication or verification station through which a user gains access 
to the interactive station. In the preferred embodiment, to attempt to 
gain access to the interactive virtual bar 66, the user would place the 
computer's mouse cursor over one of the indicators 68,70 and click an 
appropriate mouse button. Alternatively, the user can cause his or her 
avatar to physically touch one of the indicators 68,70. Any number of 
other variations are also possible. 
According to the preferred embodiment, each of the interactive station 
indicators 68,70 also comprises virtual card reader 72,74, respectively. 
These card readers 72,74 are intended to intuitively communicate to the 
user that the exchange or potential exchange of some kind of data 
contained on a card object is required in order to interact with the 
interactive virtual bar 66. The user can obtain a virtual card object for 
inserting into the card readers 72,74 in any of a number of ways, as 
defined by the rules and requirements of the virtual world. For example, 
the user may be required to register with the virtual world upon entry 
thereto, and be provided with a virtual card having certain data 
thereafter. Alternatively, a user may already have a virtual card when the 
user arrives in the virtual world which contains the identify of the user 
and/or a password which permits access to the interactive station. It 
should be noted that the interactive station can be any number of things. 
For example, an authorized user may be permitted access to an otherwise 
restricted portion of the virtual world in which a virtual business 
meeting is being held using the Internet for voice communication but also 
permitting the various participants to input graphics or video for the 
meeting. The virtual password may permit a user to access otherwise 
restricted data or information. The user's card could also include a debit 
function or a credit card function which would permit the user access to a 
pay per view portion of the virtual world, or to go shopping in a virtual 
mall. 
In the example described herein, the user's card serves both to indicate 
that the user is registered with the virtual world and that the user has 
established a line of credit in the virtual world. As illustrated in FIG. 
4, a user's virtual card 76 has been placed by the user following the 
touching of the interactive station indicator 70 by the user in the 
virtual card reader 74. The amount of credit on the virtual card 76 is 
displayed to the user within the portion 62 of the browser. When the user 
selects a virtual flask 78, a bartender object 80 serves the user a 
virtual drink 82. The cost of the virtual drink 82 is debited from the 
user's virtual card 76, and the new credit amount is then displayed to the 
user. To implement and/or store these changes and events, information is 
exchanged between the local browser and Web server in accordance with 
known techniques. 
By then selecting or touching the interactive station indicator 70 again, 
the user retrieves his or her virtual card 76 from the card reader 74, and 
the user's interaction with the virtual bar 66 ends. The interactive 
station indicator 70 then begins flashing again to indicate that it is 
selectable and represents an interactive station. 
The logical steps involved with utilizing the present invention will now be 
described with reference to the flowchart of FIGS. 5A-5B. When the virtual 
world is in use, and the user has within his or her view one of the 
interactive station indicators, the station indicators flash on and off at 
a predetermined time interval (in the preferred embodiment) so as to catch 
the attention of the user. The flashing may comprise changing the relative 
lighting intensity of the indicators, or changing their color. Other 
techniques to gain a user's attention can be utilized as well, such as 
other visual effects and/or sound. The user may then navigate within the 
virtual world to become proximate to one of the interactive station 
indicators utilizing known navigation controls. Alternatively, the user 
from a distance may select one of the flashing interactive station 
indicators, upon which the virtual world takes over the control of the 
motion of the user and brings the user from the user's previous location 
within the virtual world to the interactive station. When the user selects 
the interactive station indicator, the virtual world considers the 
selection to be an attempt to access the interactive station (Step 102), 
and the flashing of the interactive station indicator relative to the 
selecting user is stopped (Step 104). Depending on the virtual world, the 
virtual world may be a multiparticipant virtual world in which only one 
user can select a particular interactive station at a time. Alternatively, 
an interactive station can entertain multiple users simultaneously, which 
would be preferred if commerce is the essence of the virtual world. Users 
interacting with a given interactive station may or may not be visible to 
each other. If the interactive station is available for only one user at a 
time, the flashing of the indicator would cease relative to all of the 
users. If not, the flashing would continue until a maximum number of users 
which may be entertained is reached, if any. 
The interactive station treats the selection of the interactive indicator 
as an attempt to access the interactive station. As per Step 106, the 
virtual world, either locally or through the server, then determines 
whether the user is authorized to access the interactive station. 
Authorization may be based on any of a variety of criteria. For example, 
authorization may be based on the user first registering with the virtual 
world when the user enters the virtual world. The user would then be given 
VRML data, which may be associated with a virtual card. In the case where 
a virtual card is employed, the virtual card is held by the card reader of 
the interactive station indicator while verification is carried out. The 
virtual world server may have been attempting, following registration of 
the user upon entry to the virtual world, to determine if data provided by 
the user to the virtual world is legitimate. The user could then be denied 
access if the supplied information proves to be bogus or verification is 
not completed during the time that the user has been in the virtual world 
and navigating to the interactive work station. Alternatively still, 
access may be authorized if the user is using a virtual card which has a 
valid authorization password on it or the virtual card includes a debit 
feature which the virtual world server can debit and credit to its own 
account dependent upon the user's actions at the interactive station. 
In any case, if it is determined in Step 108 that the access attempt is not 
authorized, processing proceeds to Step 110, in which the user may be 
informed why access was denied and provided with information as to how to 
gain access. The user's card is returned to the user (the data is released 
by the interactive station), and processing is returned to Step 100 and 
the interactive station indicator once again begins flashing. 
On the other hand, if it is determined in Step 108 that the user's access 
attempt is authorized, processing proceeds to Step 112, and the features 
of the interactive station are made available for use by the user. The 
virtual world server via the interactive station may retain control of the 
user's virtual card or user data that was provided to the virtual world by 
the card or otherwise by the user. Based upon the user's interaction with 
the interactive station, a debit feature of the virtual card may be 
utilized, with the card being debited or credited, depending upon the 
user's activites at the interactive station, by the virtual world server. 
A user's real life credit card can be used to make purchases at the 
interactive station, etc. (Step 114). If it is determined in Step 116 that 
the user's action at the interactive station affects user information 
included on the virtual card, the virtual world server causes that 
information to be modified or adds new information to the virtual card. In 
the example illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the user buys a virtual drink 
and the user's monetary card balance is debited. In other situations, a 
debit feature of the virtual card may be utiized based on the amount of 
time that the user spends at the interactive station, or the interactive 
station may be a virtual mall at which the user is making real life 
purchases. The purchased product is sent to the user, and the user's 
virtual card is debited or credit card information provided on the card is 
utilized to make an actual charge to the user's credit card account. 
Alternatively, the virtual card may contain information which includes a 
password to permit the user to have access to certain information or 
another portion of the virtual world. In such cases, the data on the 
virtual card may not be modified at all, other than possibly to add 
information regarding that the user attended a meeting for a certain 
period of time or to provide the logical location of this interactive 
station so that the user may take this information when the user leaves 
the virtual world for future reference (Step 118). 
In the example illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, when the user once again 
selects or touches the interactive station indicator 70 which contains the 
user's virtual card 76, the virtual card is returned to the user. When 
this is determined to have occurred in Step 120, user access to the 
interactive station is ended and the virtual world's access to the user's 
data may also be ended (Step 122). Processing then returns again to step 
100, and the interactive station indicator 70 once again starts flashing. 
It should be understood that the interactive station indicator can be any 
number of items which draws the user's attention, and the mechanism 
selected for the user to end his or her participation in the interactive 
station may not be the interactive station indicator which the user 
utilized to gain access to the interactive station. Further, while a 
virtual card metaphor has been used in the above example, it is not 
necessarily the only means by which user information can be carried and 
authorization for access obtained to an interactive station within a 
virtual world. 
While the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described, 
additional variations and modifications in that embodiment may occur to 
those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. 
Therefore, it is intended that the appended claim shall be construed to 
include both the preferred embodiment and all such variations and such 
modifications as fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.