Abstract:
A system and method for distributing virtual items for collection by a user device in the real world are provided. One embodiment of a method includes sending a notification to a user device indicating availability of a virtual item, the virtual item configured to be available to the user device when the user device is determined to be proximate to one or more real world geolocations associated with the virtual item. The method provides for determining that the user device is proximate to the one or more geolocations and for providing information related to the virtual item so as to enable viewing of at least a portion of the virtual item. The method also provides sending an activated version of the virtual item to the user device when predetermined conditions associated with viewing the virtual item have been met.

Description:
CLAIM OF PRIORITY 
       [0001]    This application is a Continuation Application under 35 U.S.C. §120 of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/275,127, entitled “MODIFYING VIRTUAL ITEM STATES IN CONJUNCTION WITH DIGITAL BROADCAST,” and filed on Nov. 20, 2008, which is herein incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
       [0002]    This invention relates to broadcasting virtual items, and specifically to broadcasting virtual items based on a virtual items association with a physical world location. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    As digital multimedia accelerates into the mainstream, more and more people rely on this multimedia as a daily form of entertainment. From video clips to music videos to TV shows and movies, a wide range of multimedia can be found being accessed all around the world through the Internet, television, radio, etc. 
         [0004]    Digital multimedia is often combined with interactive forms of entertaining involving virtual worlds. A virtual world is a simulated environment in which users may interact with each other via one or more computer processors. Users may appear on a video screen in the form of representations referred to as avatars. The degree of interaction between the avatars and the simulated environment is implemented by one or more computer applications that govern such interactions as simulated physics, exchange of information between users, and the like. The nature of interactions among users of the virtual world is often limited by the constraints of the system implementing the virtual world. 
         [0005]    With many countries mandating a change from the presentation of multimedia with an analog signal format to a new digital format, more broadcaster-user systems have become available for users to obtain different forms of multimedia. It is within this context that embodiments of the current invention arise. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0006]    Embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods and systems for distributing virtual items for collection in the real world. It should be appreciated that the present disclosure can be implemented in numerous ways, such as a process, an apparatus, a system, a device or a method on a computer readable medium. Several inventive embodiments of the present disclosure are described below. 
         [0007]    In certain embodiments, a method may include operations for sending a notification to a user device indicating that availability of a virtual item, the virtual item configured to be available to the user device when the user device is determined to be proximate to one or more real world geolocations associated with the virtual item. In these and other embodiments, the method may also include operations for determining, by the one or more servers, that the user device is proximate to the one or more geolocations associated with the virtual item for providing, by the one or more servers to the user device, information related to the virtual item when the user device is determined to be proximate to the one or more geolocations associated with the virtual item so as to enable viewing of at least a portion of the virtual item. The method may further include operations for receiving, at the one or more servers from the user device, an indication that a predetermined condition has been met associated with the viewing of the one or more the portions of the virtual item in order to cause activation of the virtual item. Moreover, according to some embodiments, the method may include operations for sending, by the one or more servers to the user device, an activated version of the virtual item for access by the user device. 
         [0008]    Other aspects of the disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the invention. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1A  schematically illustrates an example of modifying a virtual item state in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0010]      FIG. 1B  is a flow diagram depicting an example of broadcasting virtual item state information in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  illustrates a more specific example illustrating broadcasting information related to virtual item states that may be facilitated by embodiments of the present invention 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  schematically illustrates a broadcast environment in which embodiments of the present invention may be employed. 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is a flow diagram illustrating a method of modifying a virtual item state from the perspective of a percipient user of a receiving device. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0014]      FIG. 1A  schematically illustrates an example of modifying a virtual item state in conjunction with a digital broadcast signal in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Preferably the digital broadcast signal is of a type that can be received by a mobile or handheld (M/H) digital broadcast receiving devices. Operation of a method for broadcasting virtual item information may be implemented by the server  101  as depicted in  FIG. 1B . The server  101  may send information relating to one or more virtual items  109  to the broadcast unit  103  as indicated at  121 . The broadcast unit may then broadcast the virtual item information as a broadcast signal  105  as indicated at  123 . Receivers  107  may receive the information and modify portions of the information. Modifications to selected portions the virtual item information may then be sent back to the server  101  via a backchannel  108 . The server  101  may receive the modifications as indicated at  125  and generate modified virtual item information as indicated at  127 . The modified virtual item information may then be sent to the broadcast unit  103  for transmission. 
         [0015]    As used herein, a virtual item refers to an item that is defined in terms of computer-readable data embodied in some computer readable medium such as a computer memory or digital data storage device. A virtual item may distinguished from a real or physical item in that a virtual item may be transmitted electronically and normally requires the assistance of some electronic device capable of interpreting computer-readable information and converting the information to some form that is perceivable by a living percipient. A real or physical item, by contrast requires no such interpretation of computer-readable information in order to be similarly perceived. It is noted that the sole act of illuminating an object so that it can be seen, without more, does not constitute “assistance of some electronic device” for the purposes of this application. 
         [0016]    Each virtual item  109  have an associated state  111  defined by one or more criteria that including position information  113  which is related to both the virtual item and a particular location in the physical world. By way of example, and not by way of limitation, information related to a virtual item  109  associated with a certain region of the physical world, may only be transmitted to or received by those receiving devices that are presently within a region of the physical world that is within sufficient proximity to the particular location, and not to receiving devices that are outside of that region of the physical world. By way of example, and not by way of limitation, the receiving device may be configured, e.g., by suitable computer programming or hardware configuration to refrain from providing certain information relating to a virtual item  109  until the receiving device  107  determines that it is within sufficient proximity to the particular location associated with the virtual item  109 . The receiving device  107  may be equipped with a suitable position locating device, such as a GPS receiver, to facilitate determination of the location of the receiving device. The receiving device  107  may compare its location, as determined from the position locating device, against the positional information  113  associated with the virtual item. 
         [0017]    Once the receiving device  107  extracts information relating to a virtual item from the broadcast signal  105  leaving the broadcast tower  103 , a user of the receiving device  107  may then selectively perceive and manipulate that information using the receiving device  107 . 
         [0018]    By way of example, the digital broadcast signal  105  may be a modulated radiation signal transmitted from a broadcast transmitter  105 , e.g., in the form of an over-the-air broadcast, such as by a radio-frequency electromagnetic wave signal. Alternatively, embodiments of the invention may be used in conjunction with digital broadcasts transmitted over media such as cable (e.g., coaxial cable), optical fiber, or satellite transmission. 
         [0019]    By way of example, the digital broadcast signal may be configured in accordance with a digital broadcast standard. Examples of digital broadcast standards include, but are not limited to, the Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) family of standards maintained in Europe and Australia, the Advanced Television Standards Committee (ATSC) family of standards developed for use in the United States and Canada, the Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting (ISDB) family of standards developed for use in Japan, and the Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) standard used in South Korea. 
         [0020]    The DVB family of standards includes the DVB-S and DVB-S2 standards for satellite television, the DVB-T and DVB-T2 standards for terrestrial television, the DVB-C standard for cable televisions, the DVB-H standard for mobile television, and other DVB standards, which have been or may be developed. The ATSC family of standards includes the ATSC standard for terrestrial television broadcasts and the ATSC M/H standard for broadcasts to mobile and handheld devices. The IDSB family of standards includes the ISDB-S, ISDB-T, and ISDB-C standards, which were developed for satellite, terrestrial, and cable television respectively. 
         [0021]    By way of example, and not by way of limitation, the digital broadcast signal may be configured according to the ATSC or ATSC-M/H standards. The ATSC standard is described in detail, e.g., in “ATSC Digital Television Standard Part 1—Digital Television System” (A/53, Part 1:2007), “ATSC Digital Television Standard Part 2—RF/Transmission System Characteristics” (A/53, Part 2:2007), and “ATSC Digital Television Standard Part 3—Service Multiplex and Transport Subsystem Characteristics” (A/53, Part 3, 2007), the disclosures of all three of which are incorporated herein by reference. The ATSC Data Broadcast Standard is described, e.g., in (ATSC Recommended Practice: Implementation Guidelines for the ATSC Data Broadcast Standard (Doc. A/90)”, which is incorporated herein by reference. 
         [0022]    The receiving device  107  may select information relating to one or more virtual items  109  from the broadcast signals  105  for the receiving device  107  to process. In some embodiments, the receiving device  107  may be configured to present information relating to one or more virtual items  109  based on one or more pre-determined conditions in addition to proximity to the particular location in the physical world. Such pre-determined conditions may include, but are not limited to a particular time of day, a particular user profile, a particular predetermined state of the virtual item, storage of certain predetermined information in the receiving device, or the performance of one or more predetermined actions by the user with the receiving device. 
         [0023]    Once a virtual item  109  has been selected, the user may interact with the virtual item  109  and modify its state using the receiving device  107 . By way of example, and not by way of limitation, the receiving device  107  may generate or modify information relating to the virtual item  109  in a way that results in a modified state  111 ′ of the virtual item  109 . Information relating to the modified state  111 ′ may be transmitted back to the server  101  via the receiving device  107 . The server  101  may then save the modified state  111 ′ of the virtual item and include information relating to the modified state in subsequent broadcast signals  105 . By way of example and not by way of limitation, the new state  111 ′ may be saved to the server  101  when the percipient user of the receiving device  107  leaves the physical location associated with the virtual item  109 . Alternatively, the new state may be saved when the user gains access to a network through the receiving device  107 . 
         [0024]      FIG. 2  illustrates a more specific example of modifying virtual item states that may be facilitated by embodiments of the present invention. By way of example, and not by way of limitation, a multi-user game similar to a game of “capture the flag” may be implemented using embodiments of the present invention. In this example, a server  201  stores information regarding a virtual “flag”  209 . The virtual “flag”  209  has a virtual state  211  that includes information relating to a physical world location  213  associated with it. Initially, the state  211  of the virtual “flag”  209  may be inactive if users of the game have yet to initiate game play. The “flag”  209  may have a starting physical location tag  213 , which is marked X in  FIG. 2 . 
         [0025]    The server  201  sends information relating to this virtual “flag”  209  to the broadcast tower  203 , which broadcasts this information via a broadcast signal  205 . Because the virtual “flag”  209  is tagged with a physical world location X, the virtual “flag”  209  need not be broadcast to every physical location, but instead may be broadcast to a localized area  215  proximate the physical location X associated with the “flag”  209 . Once the percipient users of the receiving devices  207 A come within this localized area  215 , they become capable of receiving information regarding this virtual “flag”  209 . However, if the percipient user of the receiving device  207 B lies outside the localized area  215  associated with the virtual “flag”  209 , the virtual “flag”  209  along with its state  211  and physical world location  213  is not presented to that user. It is then up to the percipient user of the receiving device  207 B to become physically present within the localized area  215  of the virtual “flag”  209  before he can receive information regarding this virtual “flag”  209 . 
         [0026]    The receiving device  207 B may not present the information for any number of reasons. For example, the broadcasting tower  203  may be one of a plurality of towers in different locations that broadcast over limited regions. The information relating to the virtual flag may only be broadcast to a tower or towers whose broadcast regions include the location of the virtual flag  209 . If device  207 B is located outside of these broadcast regions it simply doesn&#39;t receive information relating to the virtual flag  209 . Alternatively, the receiving device  207 B may be configured to present the information relating to the virtual flag only when the receiving device is within the localized area  215  associated with the virtual flag. The receiving devices may each be configured with suitable position locating means and computational capabilities in order to determine whether or not a receiving device is within the localized area. 
         [0027]    As soon as the first receiving device  207 A becomes physically present at the physical world location X of the virtual “flag”  209 , he is allowed to pick up this virtual “flag”  209  and modify it accordingly. First the state  211  of the virtual “flag”  209  may automatically change from inactive to active, allowing users within the localized area  209  to become aware of the new state  209  of the virtual “flag”  209  via updates sent by the server  201  through the broadcast tower  203  via broadcast signal  205 . The user who picked up the virtual “flag”  209  may have an opportunity to move this virtual “flag”  209  to a different physical location by physically moving his receiving device  207 A with information relating to the virtual “flag”  209  stored in it to another physical location. This information may be transmitted back to the server  201  via a backchannel  208 . 
         [0028]    At this point, the user&#39;s receiving device  209  may make note of the new physical location of the virtual “flag” and will relay this information to the server  201 . The server  201  may store this information, update the state  211  and physical world location  213  of the virtual “flag”  209 , and broadcast this updated information to another localized area proximate the new physical world location of the virtual “flag”  209 . This process may repeat itself until the game has been completed. 
         [0029]    By way of example, and not by way of limitation, other applications that may make use of embodiments of the present invention include photo sharing, virtual “graffiti”, virtual geo-caching, and virtual scavenger hunts that are tied to advertising. Photo sharing may involve storing a user&#39;s photos from a particular physical location (e.g., The Golden Gate Bridge) in the form of a virtual item. For example, each percipient user of a receiving device who is present at the Golden Gate Bridge may be sent a virtual item via a broadcast signal from a broadcast tower containing previous photos from other percipient users of receiving devices that were present and took photos at the Golden Gate Bridge. The user of a receiving device that is currently located at the Golden Gate Bridge may then have the opportunity to update the state of the virtual item by linking his own pictures taken at the Golden Gate Bridge to this virtual item. Thus, future users of receiving devices who become present at the Golden Gate Bridge are able to view these photos as part of the virtual item being sent by broadcast towers in that area. 
         [0030]    Virtual “graffiti” may involve the ability to create personal imprints at a physical location via a virtual item. For example, a user of a receiving device may come into proximity to a particular location, such as a famous building or landmark. A virtual item may be associated with that particular location and information relating to that virtual item may be broadcast to the vicinity of the location. The user of a receiving device that receives the information may then select the virtual item and change the virtual item&#39;s state. This state change may involve virtually writing something on this location (e.g. Person A was here) such that future users of receiving devices who come across this particular location may receive a virtual item with Person A′s virtual “graffiti”. 
         [0031]    Virtual geo-caching may utilize a virtual item instead of a physical cache containing real items. Conventional geocaching is an outdoor treasure-hunting game in which participants typically use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers (called “geocaches” or “caches”) anywhere in the world. A typical cache is often a small waterproof container containing a logbook and “treasure,” usually toys or trinkets of little value. A person finding the cache typically signs his name or otherwise notes his finding of the cache in the logbook. A pencil is often included in the cache for this purpose. In virtual geo-caching, by contrast, information relating to the virtual item may be broadcast to the vicinity of a physical world location and presented by a receiving device when the receiving device is in sufficient proximity to that location. The user may then modify the information using the receiving device. The virtual cache information may include a logbook. A user finding the cache may enter information regarding his finding of the cache into the logbook via the receiving device. 
         [0032]    In some embodiments, virtual scavenger hunts may be tied to advertising coupons. For example, several virtual items, each representing a portion of an advertising coupon (e.g., a coupon for free soda from a store or restaurant) may be distributed to users of receiving devices from a server via broadcast signals. In addition to being a portion of the full advertising coupon, these virtual items may also contain additional clues as to the remaining virtual items needed to complete the full advertising coupon. Users of receiving devices present in a localized area proximate the virtual item (e.g., the localized area where the virtual item is being broadcast) may select the virtual item and store it in their receiving device. Once the user of the receiving device has collected all virtual items associated with portions of the full advertising coupon, the receiving device may present the user of the receiving device with the full advertising coupon that may be then be redeemed. By way of example, and not by way of limitation, the coupon may include a bar code that is presented on a visible display screen affiliated with the receiving device. A merchant may scan the bar code with a bar code reader to redeem the coupon. Alternatively, the coupon may be redeemed through a wireless personal area network transceiver affiliated with the receiving device and a corresponding device operated by the merchant. 
         [0033]      FIG. 3  schematically illustrates an example of a broadcast environment in which embodiments of the present invention may be implemented. Servers  301  may receive or generate input data  335  associated with virtual items. This input data  335  may be associated with a virtual item  309 . Each virtual item contains a state  311  and a physical location tag  313 . The server  301  may collect certain information relating to the virtual item  309 , its state  311  and associated physical location tag  313  into a digital broadcast data stream., which may be converted to a digital broadcast signals  305  for reception by digital broadcast receivers  307 . The digital broadcast signals  305  are transmitted to the receiving devices  307  via broadcast towers  303 . It is noted that for the sake of example, two digital broadcast signals are shown as being transmitted from different towers. This is not to be construed as a limitation upon any embodiment of the invention. Alternatively, any number of different digital broadcast signals may be transmitted from any number of towers. Furthermore two or more different broadcast signals may be broadcast simultaneously by the same broadcast tower, e.g., using some multiplexing scheme, such as frequency division multiplexing or time division multiplexing. 
         [0034]    By way of example, and not by way of limitation, the digital broadcast signal  305  may be a modulated radiation signal transmitted from a broadcast tower  303 , e.g., in the form of an over-the-air broadcast, such as by a radio frequency electromagnetic wave signal. It is noted that the digital broadcast signal  305  transmitted by a given broadcast tower  303  may include multiple digital broadcast channels modulated at different carrier signal frequencies. Broadcast towers  303  associated with different servers  301  may broadcast over different sets of frequencies. Furthermore, the digital broadcast signal  305  may be transmitted in a form other than an over-the-air broadcast. Alternatively, embodiments of the invention may be used in conjunction with digital broadcasts transmitted over media such as cable (e.g., coaxial cable), optical fiber, or satellite transmission. 
         [0035]    The input data  335  may include data from multiple sources. For example, within the server  301  data for different virtual items  333  may be made up of state and location data. Multiple virtual items  333  may be multiplexed with each other into the digital broadcast data stream  309 . The digital broadcast data stream  309  may include multiple virtual items  333  with data representing the virtual item&#39;s state and physical location. The virtual items  333  that make up the digital broadcast data stream  309  may be subject to data transforms, such as source coding and compression. As used herein, “source coding and compression” refers to bit rate reduction methods, also known as data compression. The server  301  may also include a coder configured to minimize the number of bits needed to represent the virtual items. 
         [0036]    The server  301  may also subject the digital broadcast data stream  309  to service and multiplex transport operations. As used herein, “service multiplex and transport” includes, but is not limited to, the operation of dividing the digital data stream into “packets” of information, the operation of uniquely identifying each packet or packet type, and the appropriate methods of multiplexing data stream packets into a single data stream. 
         [0037]    The digital broadcast stream  309  may be converted to a digital broadcast signal  305  through processes referred to as channel coding and modulation. The channel coder takes the data bit stream encoded in the digital broadcast data stream  309  and adds additional information that can be used by a receiving device  307  to reconstruct data from the received signal, which, due to transmission impairments, may not accurately represent the transmitted signal. A modulation subsystem (or physical layer) uses the digital data stream information to modulate the transmitted signal. By way of example, and not by way of limitation, under the ATSC standard, the modulation subsystem offers two modes. Both modes are based on vestigial sideband modulation. One mode is a terrestrial broadcast mode known as 8-VSB. The other is a high data rate mode known as 16-VSB. 
         [0038]    A digital broadcast receiving device  307  receives the digital broadcast signal  305  and extracts the digital broadcast stream  309  including virtual items, their state, and information associated with their physical location. By way of example, and not by way of limitation, the digital broadcast receiving device  307  may include a digital receiver  315 , a processor  321 , a memory  323 , a display  327 , and a data storage device  329 . The digital broadcast receiving device  307  may be any type of device capable of receiving and utilizing the digital broadcast signal  305 . By way of example, the digital broadcast receiving device  307  may be a digital television set, digital radio receiver, personal computer, laptop computer, a mobile or handheld device such as a cellular telephone, mobile internet device or mobile digital television receiver. Furthermore, the term digital broadcast receiving device encompasses, but is not limited to, “digital media receivers”, GPS devices, game consoles, portable game devices, home, mobile, or device security systems, and any combination thereof and including other devices for which the broadcast receiving device  307  may be coupled to provide command and control. 
         [0039]    The digital receiver  315  may include one or more tuners  317  and a decoder  319 . The tuner(s)  317  may be coupled to an antenna  337  that receives the digital broadcast signal  305 . The tuner  317  selects one or more particular frequencies from among the various signals that are picked up by the antenna  337 . The tuner  317  and decoder  319  may extract data from the digital broadcast signal  305 . By way of example the tuner  317  and decoder  319  may provide the following functions: demodulation, transport stream demultiplexing, decompression, error correction, analog-to-digital conversion, AV synchronization and media reformatting to fit the specific type of display  327  optimally. As used herein, demodulation refers to the process of transforming the received digital broadcast signal  305  into a useable signal from which data may be extracted and/or from which quality images and sound may be produced. 
         [0040]    Transport stream demultiplexing may be implemented, e.g., where multiple digital signals are combined and then transmitted from one antenna source to create over the air broadcasts. In such a case, the decoder  319  may decode the digital broadcast data stream  309  and convert it to a suitable form for display of a particular virtual item with the display  327 . 
         [0041]    The decoder  319  may implement decompression if the digital broadcast data stream  309  contains data in compressed form. By way of example, and not by way of limitation, the tuner  317  may decompress such data, e.g., by unpacking compressed packets of digital data to their original size. The decoder  319  may also implement error correction to make sure that any data that is missing from the received digital broadcast signal  305  can be corrected. For instance, sometimes interference or a poor-quality signal will cause the loss of data information that the tuner  317  receives. In such cases, the decoder  319  may perform a number of checks and repair data so that information carried by the digital broadcast signal  305  may be viewed on the display  327  or data may be utilized by the processor  321 . 
         [0042]    The decoder  319  may implement AV synchronization to coordinate audio and video signals being displayed on the display  327  in proper time. AV synchronization ensures that the audio does not lag behind the video that is being displayed on the display  327  or vice versa, so that both audio and video are in sync. Media reformatting allows the display  327  to properly display images using the data extracted from the digital broadcast signal  305 . Media reformatting is important since the formatting of images on different types of displays may differ significantly according to the technology employed. For example, some displays utilize interlaced picture, whereas others utilize a progressive-scan picture. 
         [0043]    Virtual items  333  and any images associated with them may be displayed on the video display  327 . By way of example, the display  327  may be any suitable video and/or audio-visual display compatible with the digital broadcast signal  305 . By way of example, and not by way of limitation, the display  327  may include a video monitor, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), plasma display, liquid crystal display (LCD) or organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display. In addition, the display  327  may include one or more devices for generating audio, e.g., one or more speakers. In addition, the display  327  may include one or more audio speakers that produce audible or otherwise detectable sounds. 
         [0044]    The processor  321  may be configured to allow the percipient user of the receiving device  307  to interact with the receiving device  307 . Furthermore, the processor may be configured to run software applications, and optimally, an operating system. Such software may include software configured (e.g., by suitable programming) to implement a method for modifying a state of a virtual item  333 . An example of such a method is described below with respect to  FIG. 4 . 
         [0045]    The memory  323  may be coupled to the processor  321  and store applications and data for use by the processor  321 . The memory  323  may be in the form of an integrated circuit, e.g., RAM, DRAM, ROM, and the like. 
         [0046]    The receiving device  307  may further include a data storage device  329  such as a hard disk drive that provides non-volatile storage for applications and data. The data storage device  329  may be used for temporary or long-term storage of files retrieved form a slower data storage device. By way of example, the data storage device  329  may be a fixed disk drive, removable disk drive, flash memory device, or tape drive. Alternatively, the data storage device  329  may be, e.g., a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, UMD, or other optical storage device. 
         [0047]    A computer program for implementing a method for modifying a state of a virtual item may be stored in a computer readable medium, such as the memory  323  or data storage device  329  in the form of instructions that can be executed on the processor  321 . An example of such a method is described below with respect to  FIG. 4 . 
         [0048]    The receiving device  307  may also implement a back channel  331  that allows information to be sent from the device  307  to a server  301 . The back channel  331  may be used to transmit information relating to a modified state of a virtual item back to the server  301 . By way of example, and not by way of limitation, the back channel  331  may be implemented through a digital broadcast signal transmitted from the device  307 , e.g., via the antenna  337 . Alternatively, the back channel  331  may be implemented through some other mode of communication such as wireless telephony (e.g., cellular), wireless internet, cable, optical fiber, and the like. 
         [0049]    The selection of digital broadcast data streams  309  may be filtered from a geographic perspective based on device position information. For example, in the case of a mobile or hand-held device, information relating to a physical world location of the receiver  315  may be used to filter which virtual items  333  are relevant depending on the location of the receiver. To facilitate such functionality, the receiving device  307  may include a position location system  325 . In some embodiments, the function of the position location system  325  may be implemented by one of the tuners  317  in conjunction with software running on the processor  321 . By way of example, and not by way of limitation, the position location system  325  may determine a position of the receiving device by comparing time of arrival of position locating signals originating from sources having known locations. The position locating signals may originate from any suitable broadcast source. By way of example, but not by way of limitation, such broadcast sources may be located on one or more satellites in geosynchronous orbit. Alternatively, such broadcast sources may include one or more of the broadcast towers  303 . 
         [0050]    In addition to the components of the receiving device  307  described, a receiving device  307  may include components not shown in  FIG. 3 . A receiving device  307  may include well-known support functions such as input/output (I/O) elements, power supplies (P/S), a clock (CLK), and a cache. The receiving device  307  may further comprise of a graphics subsystem, which may include a graphics processing unit (GPU) and graphics memory. The graphics memory may include a display memory (e.g., a frame buffer) used for storing pixel data for each pixel of an output image. The graphics memory may be integrated in the same device as the GPU, connected as a separate device with the GPU, and/or implemented within the memory. Pixel data may be provided to the graphics memory directly from the processor  321 . Alternatively, the processor  321  may provide the GPU with data and/or instructions defining the desired output images, from which the GPU may generate the pixel data of one or more output images. The graphics subsystem may periodically output pixel data for an image from the graphics memory to be displayed on the display device  327 . 
         [0051]    The components of the receiving device  307  described above may be operably connected to each other via one or more data buses. In addition, the components described above may be implemented in hardware, software, or firmware or some combination of two of more of these. 
         [0052]      FIG. 4  is a flow diagram illustrating a method of modifying a virtual item state from the perspective of a percipient user of a receiving device. A receiving device may receive information relating to one or more virtual items from a broadcast signal as indicated at  401 . The information relating to each virtual item may includes state information and a location tag associated with the virtual item&#39;s physical world location. The receiving device may receive the broadcast signals containing the virtual item information when the receiving device comes within the range of the broadcast signal as described at  401 . Alternatively, the broadcast signals containing the virtual item information may be broadcast over a much wider area and the receiving device may receive the information whenever it is in sufficient proximity to a broadcast source to detect and demodulate the signal. As noted above, a server may generate the virtual items and convert them into digital broadcast data streams, which are later converted into digital broadcast signals to be broadcast via a broadcast tower. 
         [0053]    Upon receipt of these digital broadcast signals, a receiving device may filter out virtual item information based on physical world location as described at  403 . If, for example, a particular virtual item has a physical world location that is in proximity to the receiving device, and is of particular interest to the percipient user of the receiving device, then the receiving device may select the virtual item for modification. Information relating to virtual items may be filtered based on a physical world location of the receiving device and physical world locations associated with the virtual items. 
         [0054]    Such filtering may compare the physical world locations associated with the virtual items against the physical world location of the receiving device. If information relating to a particular virtual item is received by a receiving device, and the physical world location tag is of a location not in proximity to the percipient user of the receiving device, the receiving device may ignore or otherwise filter out this information from the information received from the digital broadcast. If the receiving device is in sufficient proximity to the physical world location associated with the virtual item, the receiving device may present this information on a display device associated with the receiving device. 
         [0055]    Once the receiving device has received a particular virtual item, the user of the device may modify the virtual item accordingly as indicated at  405 . The user of the device may modify the state of the virtual item by interacting with the information associated with the selected virtual item through the receiving device. The user of the receiving device may also modify the physical location associated with the virtual item by selecting the virtual item and physically moving the receiving device to a new location before the modified virtual item interacts with the server again. 
         [0056]    Information relating to the modified virtual item state may then be sent back to the server from the receiving device as indicated at  407 . For example, once the user of the receiving device has modified either the state of the virtual item or the physical location tag associated with the virtual item, then the newly updated version of the virtual item is sent back to the server to be stored. When the server subsequently broadcasts information relating to the virtual item, the modifications made by the last user who interacted with the virtual item may be included in the broadcast information. 
         [0057]    While the above is a complete description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to use various alternatives, modifications and equivalents. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should be determined not with reference to the above description but should, instead, be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with their full scope of equivalents. Any feature described herein, whether preferred or not, may be combined with any other feature described herein, whether preferred or not. In the claims that follow, the indefinite article “A”, or “An” refers to a quantity of one or more of the item following the article, except where expressly stated otherwise. The appended claims are not to be interpreted as including means-plus-function limitations, unless such a limitation is explicitly recited in a given claim using the phrase “means for”.