1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to recording and reproducing an activity history in a virtual world, and particularly relates to a method and apparatus of efficiently recording and reproducing an activity history.
2. Description of the Related Art
A virtual world is a space created with a computer by imitating the real world. In the virtual world, it is possible to provide various services that are difficult to provide in real life. However, since there is a limitation on a human brain's processing capacity, such as memory, a member sometimes fails to make good use of a large number of various experiences in the virtual world. For example, in some cases, while moving freely in the virtual world, a member feels like, by seeing the scenery and the like, the member has experienced something special in the past but cannot remember the experience in detail. In other cases, even though a member at last arrives at a particular place or building for a certain purpose, the member cannot remember the accurate route from the starting point to the place or building. Moreover, while moving according to uncertain memory, a member may go back and forth on the same street many times or may experience something useless. In addition, the aforementioned cases are more likely to occur due to the fact that buildings can be relocated or rebuilt in a short time in the virtual world.
Against this background, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-84209 discloses “a method and apparatus for recording history in a virtual world and a recording medium on which the method is recorded.” In this method, however, a huge amount of data on histories in the virtual world must be stored without any reduction because the method is not developed in consideration of an efficient method of storing recorded data. For this reason, this method is impractical for actual application. Moreover, there is no description about a method of effectively assisting a member to recall memory on the basis of the recorded data. In addition, there is also no description about a specific solution for a method of allowing a member to decide where to go and what to do by making use of activities of other members.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds