摘要:
A participant in a three dimensional computer-generated virtual environment can control a dispersion pattern of his Avatar's voice such that the Avatar's voice may be directionally enhanced using simple controls. The audio dispersion envelope is designed to extend further in front of the Avatar and less to the Avatar's sides and rear. The audio dispersion envelope may be static or controllable to enable the distance the Avatar's voice travels within the virtual environment to be adjusted. Thus, the Avatar can whisper or "shout" in the virtual environment such that other Avatars, normally outside of hearing range of the Avatar, may selectively receive audio generated by the user. Separate audio streams are mixed for each user, from audio generated by users with Avatars within their Avatar's dispersion envelope. The volume of a particular contribution depends on the separation of the Avatars within the virtual environment.
摘要:
A method and apparatus for providing a state indication on a voice communication session such as a telephone call or communication session implemented as part of a virtual environment enables the quality of the audio on the voice communication session to be altered depending on the state of the communication session. When the communication session is in a state other than normal state, the audio may be colored in a particular manner so that the user can tell, from the quality of the audio, what state the communication session is in. For example, when the client device is on Mute, the audio may be colored to enable the audio to have distinct qualities while on mute that are different than the audio qualities while not on mute. Other types of coloration may be used to indicate other states. In this way, the audio qualities presented to the user may be used to notify the user of the state the communication session.
摘要:
A virtual environment server records and broadcasts a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), browser state information, and optionally clipping parameters, that are to be associated with a three dimensional (3D) surface in a virtual environment. When a user's Avatar encounters the 3D surface in the virtual environment, the client obtains the URL and browser state information, and obtains the web content using a standard web browser. The web content is stored into an off-screen buffer. The content from the off-screen buffer is then rendered locally as a texture map onto the 3D surface of the virtual environment. Whenever one of the users interacts with the web content, a new URL and new browser state information is used to obtain the updated web content in the same way. The new URL and new browser state information is also passed from the client to the server, so that the server may update the URL and new browser state information in each of the other clients associated with each of the other users.
摘要:
Each person to a communication session records their contributions to the communication session. Metadata is maintained for each contribution to identify the time of the contribution and any other useful information to enable the content of the contribution to be accessed at a later point in time. When a portion of the communication session is to be recreated, the people involved in the communication session are requested to provide their contributions for a particular period of time or all contributions associated with a particular topic. Users will then select and forward previously recorded contributions that they are willing to have included in the recreation. By collecting contributions from the individuals involved in the communication session, the intended portion of the communication session may be recreated. Since each person is recording their own contribution to the communication session, no explicit permission is required to record the conversation.