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WO2004101090A2 - Environnement valide commerce pour interaction avec des phenomenes simules - Google Patents

Environnement valide commerce pour interaction avec des phenomenes simules Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2004101090A2
WO2004101090A2 PCT/US2004/014931 US2004014931W WO2004101090A2 WO 2004101090 A2 WO2004101090 A2 WO 2004101090A2 US 2004014931 W US2004014931 W US 2004014931W WO 2004101090 A2 WO2004101090 A2 WO 2004101090A2
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
simulation
commerce
environment
simulation scenario
opportunity
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PCT/US2004/014931
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English (en)
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WO2004101090A3 (fr
Inventor
James O. Robarts
Cesar A. Alvarez
Original Assignee
Consolidated Global Fun Unlimited
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from US10/438,172 external-priority patent/US20040002843A1/en
Application filed by Consolidated Global Fun Unlimited filed Critical Consolidated Global Fun Unlimited
Publication of WO2004101090A2 publication Critical patent/WO2004101090A2/fr
Publication of WO2004101090A3 publication Critical patent/WO2004101090A3/fr

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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q90/00—Systems or methods specially adapted for administrative, commercial, financial, managerial or supervisory purposes, not involving significant data processing

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to methods and systems for incorporating computer-controlled representations into a real world environment and, in particular, to methods and systems for using a mobile device to interact with simulated phenomena.
  • applications such as games have been developed to be executed on such mobile devices. They are typically downloaded to the mobile device and executed solely from within that device.
  • multi- player network based games which allow a user to "log-in” to a remotely-controlled game from a portable or mobile device; however, typically, once the user has logged-on, the narrative of such games is independent from any environment-sensing capabilities of the mobile device.
  • a user's presence through addition of an avatar that represents the user may be indicated in an online game to other mobile device operators.
  • Puzzle type gaming applications have also been developed for use with some portable devices. These games detect a current location of a mobile device and deliver "clues" to help the user find a next physical item (like a scavenger hunt).
  • GPS mobile devices have also been used with navigation system applications such as for nautical navigation. Typical of these applications is the idea that a user indicates to the navigation system a target location for which the user wishes to receive an alert. When the navigation system detects (by the GPS coordinates) that the location has been reached, the system alerts the user that the target location has been reached.
  • Computerized simulation applications have also been developed to simulate a nuclear, biological, or chemical weapon using a GPS. These applications mathematically represent, in a quantifiable manner, the behavior of dispersion of the weapon's damaging forces (for example, the detection area is approximated from the way the wind carries the material emanating from the weapon). A mobile device is then used to simulate detection of this damaging force when the device is transported to a location within the dispersion area.
  • None of these applications take advantage of or integrate a device's ability to determine a variety of aspects of the user's surroundings.
  • Embodiments of the present invention provide enhanced computer- and network-based methods and systems for interacting with simulated phenomena using mobile devices.
  • Example embodiments provide a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System ("SPIS"), which enables users to enhance their real world activity with computer-generated and computer-controlled simulated entities, circumstances, or events, whose behavior is at least partially based upon the real world activity taking place.
  • SPIS Simulated Phenomena Interaction System
  • the Simulated Phenomena Interaction System is a computer-based environment that can be used to offer an enhanced gaming, training, or other simulation experience to users by allowing a user's actions to influence the behavior of the simulated phenomenon including the simulated phenomenon's simulated responses to interactions with the simulated phenomenon.
  • the user's actions may influence or modify a simulation's narrative, which is used by the SPIS to assist in controlling interactions with the simulated phenomenon, thus providing an enriched, individualized, and dynamic experience to each user.
  • the Simulated Phenomena Interaction System comprises one or more functional components/modules that work together to support a single or multi-player computer gaming environment that uses one or more mobile devices to "play" with one or more simulated phenomena according to a narrative.
  • the narrative is potentially dynamic and influenced by players' actions, external persons, as well as the phenomena being simulated.
  • the Simulated Phenomena Interaction System comprises one or more functional components/modules that work together to provide a hands-on training environment that simulates real world situations, for example dangerous or hazardous situations such as contaminant detection and containment, in a manner that safely allows operators trial experiences that more accurately reflect real world behaviors.
  • a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System may comprise a mobile device or other mobile computing environment and a simulation engine.
  • the mobile device is typically used by an operator to indicate interaction requests with a simulated phenomenon.
  • the simulation engine responds to such indicated requests by determining whether the indicated interaction request is permissible and performing the interaction request if deemed permissible.
  • the simulation engine may further comprise a narrative with data and event logic, a simulated phenomena characterizations data repository, and a narrative engine (e.g., to implement a state machine).
  • the narrative engine typically uses the narrative and simulated phenomena characterizations data repository to determine whether an indicated interaction is permissible, and, if so, to perform that interaction with a simulated phenomenon.
  • the simulation engine may comprise other data repositories or store other data that characterizes the state of the mobile device, information about the operator/player, the state of the narrative, etc.
  • Separate modeling components may also be present to perform complex modeling of simulated phenomena, the environment, the mobile device, the user, etc.
  • interaction between a user and a simulated phenomena occurs when the device sends an interaction request to a simulation engine and the simulation engine processes the requested interaction with the SP by changing a characteristic of some entity within the simulation (such as an SP, the narrative, an internal model of the device or the environment, etc.) and/or by responding to the device in a manner that evidences "behavior" of the SP.
  • interaction operations include detection of, measurement of, communication with, and manipulation of a simulated phenomenon.
  • the processing of the interaction request is a function of an attribute of the SP, an attribute of the mobile device that is based upon a real world physical characteristic of the device or the environment, and the narrative.
  • the physical characteristic of the device may be its physical location.
  • the real world characteristic is determined by a sensing device or sensing function.
  • the sensing device/function may be located within the mobile device or external to the device in a transient, dynamic, or static location.
  • the SPIS is used by multiple mobile environments to provide competitive or cooperative behavior relative to a narrative of the simulation engine.
  • Figure 1 is a block diagram of a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System used to enhance the real world environment.
  • Figure 2 is a block diagram of an overview of example Simulated Phenomena Interaction System in operation.
  • Figure 3 is an example mobile device display of the results of an interaction request to a simulation engine used in a game, which involves both detection and measurement of simulated phenomena.
  • Figure 4 is an example mobile device display of the results of an interaction request to a simulation engine used in a game, which involves communication with a simulated phenomenon.
  • Figure 5 is an example mobile device display of the results of an interaction request to a simulation engine used in a game, which involves manipulation of a simulated phenomenon.
  • Figure 6 is an example block diagram of components of an example
  • Figure 7 is an example block diagram of an alternative embodiment of components of an example simulation engine.
  • Figure 8 is an overview flow diagram of example steps to process interaction requests within a simulation engine of a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System.
  • Figure 9 is an overview flow diagram of example steps to process interactions within a mobile device used with a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System.
  • Figure 10 is an example block diagram of a general purpose computer system for practicing embodiments of a simulation engine of a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System.
  • Figure 11 illustrates an embodiment of a "thin” client mobile device, which interacts with a remote simulation engine running for example on a general purpose computer system, as shown in Figure 10.
  • Figure 12 illustrates an embodiment of a "fat” client mobile device in which one or more portions of the simulation engine reside as part of the mobile device environment itself.
  • Figure 13 is an example block diagram of an event loop for an example simulation engine of a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System.
  • Figure 14 is an example flow diagram of an example detection interaction routine provided by a simulation engine of a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System.
  • Figure 15 is an example diagram illustrating simulation engine modeling of a mobile device that is able to sense its location by detecting electromagnetic broadcasts.
  • Figure 16 is an example illustration of an example field of vision on a display of a wearable device.
  • Figure 17 is an example diagram illustrating simulation engine modeling of a mobile device enhanced with infrared capabilities whose location is sensed by infrared transceivers.
  • Figure 18 is an example illustration of a display on a mobile device that indicates the location of a simulated phenomenon relative to a user's location as a function of the physical location of the mobile device.
  • Figure 19 contains a set of diagrams illustrating different ways to determine and indicate the location of a simulated phenomenon relative to a user when a device has a different physical range from its apparent range as determined by the simulation engine.
  • Figure 20 is an example flow diagram of an example measurement interaction routine provided by a simulation engine of a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System.
  • Figure 21 is an example flow diagram of an example communicate interaction routine provided by a simulation engine of a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System.
  • Figure 22 is an example flow diagram of an example manipulation interaction routine provided by a simulation engine of a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System.
  • Figure 23 is an example block diagram of an authoring system used with the Simulated Phenomena Interaction System.
  • Figure 24 is an example block diagram of an example Simulated Phenomena Interaction System integrated into components of a commerce- enabled environment.
  • Figure 25 is an overview flow diagram of example steps to process spectator requests within a simulation engine of a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System.
  • Embodiments of the present invention provide enhanced computer- and network-based methods and systems for interacting with simulated phenomena using mobile devices.
  • Example embodiments provide a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System ("SPIS"), which enables users to enhance their real world activity with computer-generated and computer-controlled simulated entities, circumstances, or events, whose behavior is at least partially based upon the real world activity taking place.
  • SPIS Simulated Phenomena Interaction System
  • the Simulated Phenomena Interaction System is a computer-based environment that can be used to offer an enhanced gaming, training, or other simulation experience to users by allowing a user's actions to influence the behavior of the simulated phenomenon including the simulated phenomenon's simulated responses to interactions with the simulated phenomenon.
  • the user's actions may influence or modify a simulation's narrative, which is used by the SPIS to assist in controlling interactions with the simulated phenomenon, thus providing an enriched, individualized, and dynamic experience to each user.
  • a simulation's narrative which is used by the SPIS to assist in controlling interactions with the simulated phenomenon, thus providing an enriched, individualized, and dynamic experience to each user.
  • a simulated phenomenon includes any computer software controlled entity, circumstance, occurrence, or event that is associated with the user's current physical world, such as persons, objects, places, and events.
  • a simulated phenomenon may be a ghost, playmate, animal, particular person, house, thief, maze, terrorist, bomb, missile, fire, hurricane, tornado, contaminant, or other similar real or imaginary phenomenon, depending upon the context in which the SPIS is deployed.
  • a narrative is sequence of events (a story - typically with a plot), which unfold overtime.
  • a narrative is represented by data (e.g., the current state and behavior of the characters and the story) and logic which dictates the next "event" to occur based upon specified conditions.
  • a narrative may be rich, such as a unfolding scenario with complex modeling capabilities that take into account physical or imaginary characteristics of a mobile device, simulated phenomena, and the like. Or, a narrative may be more simplified, such as merely the unfolding of changes to the location of a particular simulated phenomenon over time.
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System used to enhance the real world environment.
  • operators 101 , 102, and 103 interact with the Simulated Phenomena Interaction SystemfSPIS" ) 100 to interact with simulated phenomenon of many forms.
  • Figure 1 shows operators 101 , 102, and 103 interacting with three different types of simulated phenomena: a simulated physical entity, such as a metering device 110 that measures the range of how close a simulated phenomena is to a particular user; an imaginary simulated phenomenon, such as a ghost 111 ; and a simulation of a real world event, such as a lightning storm 112.
  • a simulated physical entity such as a metering device 110 that measures the range of how close a simulated phenomena is to a particular user
  • an imaginary simulated phenomenon such as a ghost 111
  • a simulation of a real world event such as a lightning storm 112.
  • the word "operator” is used synonymously with user, player, participant, etc.
  • a system such as the SPIS can simulate basically any real or imaginary phenomenon providing that the phenomenon's state and behavior can be specified and managed by the system.
  • the Simulated Phenomena Interaction is performed by the Simulated Phenomena Interaction
  • the Simulated Phenomena Interaction System comprises one or more functional components/modules that work together to support a single or multi-player computer gaming environment that uses one or more mobile devices to "play" with one or more simulated phenomena according to a narrative.
  • the narrative is potentially dynamic and influenced by players' actions, external personnel, as well as the phenomena being simulated.
  • these components may be implemented in software or hardware or a combination of both.
  • the Simulated Phenomena Interaction System comprises one or more functional components/modules that work together to provide a hands-on training environment that simulates real world situations, for example dangerous or hazardous situations, such as contaminant and air-born pathogen detection and containment, in a manner that safely allows operators trial experiences that more accurately reflect real world behaviors.
  • the Simulated Phenomena Interaction System one or more functional components/modules that work together to provide a commerce-enabled application that generates funds for profit and non-profit entities.
  • spectators are defined that can participate in an underlying simulation experience by influencing or otherwise affecting interactions with Simulated Phenomena Interaction System based upon financial contributions to a charity or to a for-profit entity .
  • a Simulated Phenomena For use in all such simulation environments, a Simulated Phenomena
  • Interaction System comprises a mobile device or other mobile computing environment and a simulation engine.
  • the mobile device is typically used by an operator to indicate interaction requests with a simulated phenomenon.
  • the simulation engine responds to such indicated requests by determining whether the indicated interaction request is permissible and performing the interaction request if deemed permissible.
  • the simulation engine comprises additional components, such as a narrative engine and various data repositories, which are further described below and which provide sufficient data and logic to implement the simulation experience. That is, the components of the simulation engine implement the characteristics and behavior of the simulated phenomena as influenced by a simulation narrative.
  • FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an overview of example Simulated Phenomena Interaction System in operation.
  • the Simulated Phenomena Interaction System includes a mobile device 201 shown interacting with a simulation engine 202.
  • Mobile device 201 forwards (sends or otherwise indicates, depending upon the software and hardware configuration) an interaction request 205 to the simulation engine 202 to interact with one or more simulated phenomena 203.
  • the interaction request 205 specifies one or more of the operations of detection, measurement, communication, and manipulation. These four operations are the basic interactions supported by the Simulated Phenomena Interaction System.
  • At least one of the interaction requests 205 to the simulation engine 202 indicates a value that has been sensed by some device or function 204 in the user's real world. Sensing function/device 204 may be part of the mobile device 201 , or in proximity of the mobile device 201 , or completely remote to the location of both the mobile device 201 and/or the simulation engine 202.
  • the simulation engine determines an interaction response 206 to return to the mobile device 201 , based upon the simulated phenomena 203, the previously sensed value, and a narrative 207 associated with the simulation engine 202.
  • the simulation engine 202 may take other factors into account in generating the interaction response 206, such as the state of the mobile device 201 , the particular user initiating the interaction request 205, and other factors in the simulated or real world environment.
  • the simulation provided by simulation engine 202 is affected by the sensed value and influences the interaction response 206.
  • the characterizations of the simulated phenomena 203 themselves may be modified as a result of the sensed value; an appropriate interaction response selected based upon the sensed value; or the narrative logic itself modified as a result.
  • Other affects and combinations of affects are possible.
  • FIGS 3, 4, and 5 are example mobile device displays associated with interaction requests and responses in a gaming environment. These figures correspond to an example embodiment of a gaming system, called "Spook,” that incorporates techniques of the methods and systems of the Simulated Phenomena Interaction System to enhance the gaming experience.
  • Spook defines a narrative in which ghosts are scattered about a real world environment in which the user is traveling with the mobile device, for example, a park.
  • the game player holding the mobile device while traveling, interacts with the game by initiating interaction requests and receiving feedback from the simulation engine that runs the game.
  • the player's goal is to find a particular ghost so that the ghost can be helped.
  • the player must find all the other ghosts and capture them in order to enhance the detection capabilities of the detection device so that it can detect the particular ghost.
  • the ghosts are detected (and can be captured) depending upon the actual physical location of the player in the park.
  • the player can also team up with other players (using mobile devices) to play the game.
  • FIG 3 is an example mobile device display of the results of an interaction request to a simulation engine used in a game, which involves both detection and measurement of simulated phenomena.
  • Mobile device 300 includes a detection and measurement display area 304 and a feedback and input area 302.
  • mobile device 300 shows the results of interacting with a series of ghosts (the simulated phenomena) as shown in detection and measurement display area 304.
  • the interaction request being processed corresponds to both detection and measurement operations (e.g., "show me where all the ghosts are").
  • the simulation engine sends back information regarding the detected simulated phenomena ("SPs") and where they are relative to the physical location of the mobile device 300.
  • SPs detected simulated phenomena
  • the display area 304 shows a "spectra-meter” 301 (a spectral detector), which indicates the locations of each simulated phenomena ("SP") that was detectable and detected by the device 300.
  • the line of the spectra-meter 301 indicates a direction of travel of the user of the mobile device 300 and the SPs' locations are relative to device location.
  • An observation "key" to the detected SPs is shown in key area 303.
  • the display area 304 also indicates that the current range of the spectra-meter 301 is set to exhibit a 300 foot range of detection power.
  • this range may be set by the simulation engine to be different or relative to the actual physical detection range of the device - depending upon the narrative logic and use of SPIS.
  • the simulation engine uses the current range to detect four different ghosts, displayed in iconic form by the spectra-meter 301.
  • the simulation engine has also returned feedback (in the form of a hint) to the user which is displayed in feedback and input area 302. This hint indicates a current preference of one of the ghosts called "Lucky ghost.” The user can then use this information to learn more about Lucky ghost in a future interaction request (see Figure 4).
  • mobile device 300 is merely examples, and that any behavior and manner of indicating location of an SP is possible as long as it can be implemented by the SPIS.
  • the pitch of an audio tone, other visual images, or tactile feedback e.g., device vibration
  • tactile feedback e.g., device vibration
  • other attributes that characterize the type of phenomenon being detected, such as whether the SP is friendly or not, may also be shown.
  • FIG. 4 is an example mobile device display of the results of an interaction request to a simulation engine used in a game, which involves communication with a simulated phenomenon.
  • Mobile device 400 includes a question area 401 , an answer area 402, and a special area 403, which is used to indicate a reliability measurement of the information just received from the ghosts.
  • Mobile device 400 also includes an indication of the current SP being communicated with in the header area 404 (here the "Lucky ghost").
  • the operator selects between the three questions displayed in question area 401 , using whatever navigational input is available on the mobile device 400 (such as arrow keys in combination with the buttons in input area 405).
  • navigational input is available on the mobile device 400 (such as arrow keys in combination with the buttons in input area 405).
  • the user might type in (non preformed) questions that utilize a system of keyword matching.
  • a response which is not shown, would be displayed by mobile device 400 in the answer area 402 when it is received from the simulation engine.
  • the truth detector shown in special area 403 would register a value (not shown) indicating the reliability of the SP response.
  • FIG. 5 is an example mobile device display of the results of an interaction request to a simulation engine used in a game, which involves manipulation of a simulated phenomenon.
  • Mobile device 500 includes a feedback and input area 503.
  • mobile device 500 illustrates the result of performing a "vacuuming operation" on a previously located ghost.
  • Vacuuming is a manipulation operation provide by the Spook game to allow a user a means of capturing a ghost.
  • the spectra-meter 502 shows the presence of a ghost (SP) currently to the left of the direction the user is traveling. Depending upon the rules of the narrative logic of the game, the ghost may be close enough to capture.
  • SP ghost
  • the vacuuming status bar area 501 is changed to show the progress of vacuuming up the ghost. If the ghost is not within manipulation range, this feedback (not shown) is displayed in the feedback and input area 503.
  • the interaction requests and interaction responses and processed by the mobile device are appropriately modified to reflect the needs of the simulation.
  • techniques of the Simulated Phenomena Interaction System may be used to provide training scenarios which address critical needs related to national security, world health, and the challenges of modern peacekeeping efforts.
  • the SPIS is used to create a Biohazard Detection Training Simulator (BDTS) that can be used to train emergency medical and security personnel in the use of portable biohazard detection and identification units in a safe, convenient, affordable, and realistic environment.
  • BDTS Biohazard Detection Training Simulator
  • This embodiment simulates the use of contagion detector devices that have been developed using new technologies to detect pathogens and contagions in a physical area.
  • Example devices include BIOHAZ, FACSCount, LUMINEX 100, ANALYTE 2000, BioDetector (BD), ORIGEN Analyzer, and others, as described by the Bio-Detector Assessment Report prepared by the U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical, Biological Center (ERT Technical Bulletin 2001-4), which is herein included by reference in its entirety. Since it is prohibitively expensive to install such devices in advance everywhere they may be needed in the future, removing them from commission for training emergency personnel is not practical. Thus, BDTSs can be substituted for training purposes.
  • BDTSs need to simulate the pathogen and contagion detection technology as well as the calibration of a real contagion detector device and any substances needed to calibrate or operate the device.
  • the narrative needs to be constructed to simulate field conditions and provide guidance to increase the awareness of proper personnel protocol when hazardous conditions exist.
  • Simulated Phenomena Interaction System may be useful to create a variety of other simulation environments, including response training environments for other naturally occurring phenomenon, for example, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tornados, bombs, and the like. Also, these techniques may be used to enhance real world experiences with more "game-like" features.
  • a SPIS may be used to provide computerized (and narrative based) routing in an amusement park with rides or other facility so that a user's experience is optimized to frequent rides with the shortest waiting times.
  • the SPIS acts as a "guide” by placing SPs in locations (relative to the user's physical location in the park) that are strategically located relative to the desired physical destination.
  • the narrative as evidenced by the SPs behavior and responses, encourages the user to go after the strategically placed SPs.
  • the user is thus “led” by the SPIS to the desired physical destination and encouraged to engage in desired behavior (such as paying for the ride) by being “rewarded” by the SPIS according to the narrative (such as becoming eligible for some real world prize once the state of the mobile device is shown to a park operator).
  • Many other gaming, training, and computer aided learning experiences can be similarly presented and supported using the techniques of a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System.
  • Any such SPIS game can be augmented by placing the game in a commerce-enabled environment that integrates with the SPIS game through defined SPIS interfaces and data structures.
  • a commerce-enabled environment that integrates with the SPIS game through defined SPIS interfaces and data structures.
  • spectators of various levels can affect, for a price, the interactions of a game in progress. The price paid may go to a designated charitable organization or may provide direct payment to the game provider or some other profit-seeking entity, depending upon how the commerce-enable environment is deployed.
  • An additional type of SPIS participant (not the operator of the mobile device) called a "spectator" is defined. A spectator, depending upon the particular simulation scenario, authentication, etc.
  • a spectator's ability to affect the simulation scenario or assist a mobile device operator is typically in proportion to the price paid.
  • a spectator may be able to provide assistance to an individual participant or a team. For example, a narrative "hint" may be provided to the designated operator of a mobile device (the "game participant") in exchange for the receipt of funds from the spectator. Further, the price of such assistance may vary according to the current standing of the game participant relative to the competition or some level to be attained. Thus, the spectator is given access to such information to facilitate a contribution decision.
  • Different "levels" of spectators may be defined, for example, by specifying a plurality of "classes” (as in the object-oriented term, or equivalents thereto) of spectators that own or inherit a set of rights. These rights dictate what types of data are viewable from, for example, the SPIS data repositories.
  • the simulation engine is then responsible to abide by the specified access right definitions once a spectator is recognized as belonging to a particular spectator class.
  • simulation participants such as a game administrator, an operator (game participant), or a member of a team can also be categorized as belonging to a participant level that defines the participants access rights.
  • Participants have access to all data relevant to their standing in the game (includes their status within the narrative context). They also have access to their competitor's status as if they are an anonymous spectator. They may keep data that they explicitly generate, such as notes, private from anyone else.
  • a Team Member has a cooperative relationship with the Participant and thus has access to all Participant data except private notes. Also may have access to all streaming data such as audio and/or video generated by any simulation scenario participants.
  • An Anonymous Spectator has limited access to game data of all Participants. Can view general standings of all Participants, including handicap values, some narrative details (e.g., puzzles), and streaming data.
  • An Authenticated Spectator has access to all data an Anonymous Spectator can access, plus enhanced views of narrative and Participant status. For example, they may be able to view the precise location of any SP or Participant.
  • Administrators have access to all of the data viewable by other levels, plus additional data sets such as enhanced handicap values of participants, state of the scenario or various puzzles and solutions. They may have the ability to modify the state of the narrative as the simulation occurs. Typically the only aspects of the simulation they cannot view or modify are associated with secure commerce aspects or private notes of the
  • spectators can indirectly participate in the simulation in a manner that enhances the simulation environment, while providing a source of income to the non-profit or profit-based recipient of the funds.
  • spectators place (and pay for) wagers on simulation participants (e.g., game players) or others aspects of the underlying simulation scenario and the proceeds are distributed accordingly.
  • a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System comprises a mobile device or other mobile computing environment and a simulation engine.
  • Figure 6 is an example block diagram of components of an example Simulated Phenomena Interaction System.
  • a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System comprises one or more mobile devices or computing environments 601-604 and a simulation engine 610.
  • Figure 6 shows four different types of mobile devices: a global positioning system (GPS) 601 , a portable computing environment 602, a personal data assistant (PDA) 603, and a mobile telephone (e.g., a cell phone) 604.
  • GPS global positioning system
  • PDA personal data assistant
  • the mobile device is typically used by an operator as described above to indicate interaction requests with a simulated phenomenon.
  • Simulation engine 610 responds to such indicated requests by determining whether the indicated interaction request is permissible and performing the interaction request if deemed so.
  • the simulation engine may further comprise a narrative with data and event logic, a simulated phenomena characterizations data repository, and a narrative engine (e.g., to implement a state machine for the simulation).
  • the narrative engine uses the narrative and the simulated phenomena characterizations data repository to determine whether an indicated interaction is permissible, and, if so, to perform that interaction with a simulated phenomenon.
  • the simulation engine may comprise other data repositories or store other data that characterizes the state of the mobile device, information about the operator, the state of the narrative, etc.
  • simulation engine 610 may comprise a number of other components for processing interaction requests and for implementing the characterizations and behavior of simulated phenomena.
  • simulation engine 610 may comprise a narrative engine 612, an input/output interface 611 for interacting with the mobile devices 601-604 and for presenting a standardized interface to control the narrative engine and/or data repositories, and one or more data repositories 620-624.
  • the narrative engine 612 interacts with a simulated phenomena attributes data repository 620 and a narrative data and logic data repository 621.
  • the simulated phenomena attributes data repository 620 typically stores information that is used to characterize and implement the "behavior" of simulated phenomena (responses to interaction requests).
  • attributes may include values for location, orientation, velocity, direction, acceleration, path, size, duration schedule, type, elasticity, mood, temperament, image, ancestry, or any other seemingly real world or imaginary characteristic of simulated phenomena.
  • the narrative data and logic data repository 621 stores narrative information and event logic which is used to determine a next logical response to an interaction request.
  • the narrative engine 612 uses the narrative data and logic data repository 621 and the simulated phenomena attributes data repository 620 to determine whether an indicated interaction is permissible, and, if so, to perform that interaction with the simulated phenomena.
  • the narrative engine 612 then communicates a response or the result of the interaction to a mobile device, such as devices 601-604 through the I/O interface 611.
  • I/O interface 611 may contain, for example support tools and protocol for interacting with a wireless device over a wireless network.
  • the simulation engine 610 may also include one or more other data repositories 622-624 for use with different configurations of the narrative engine 612.
  • These repositories may include, for example, a user characteristics data repository 622, which stores characterizations of each user who is interacting with the system; a environment characteristics data repository 624, which stores values sensed by sensors within the real world environment; and a device attributes data repository 623, which may be used to track the state of each mobile device being used to interact with the SPs.
  • Figure 7 is an example block diagram of an alternative embodiment of components of an example simulation engine.
  • separate modules implement the logic needed to model each component of a simulation engine, such as the simulated phenomena, the environment, and the narrative.
  • the simulation engine 701 comprises a narrative engine 702, input/output interfaces 703, and one or more data repositories 708-712.
  • the narrative engine 702 receives and responds to interaction requests through the input/output interfaces 703.
  • I/O interfaces 703 may contain, for example, support tools and protocol for interacting with a wireless device over a wireless network.
  • simulation engine 701 contains separate models for interacting with the various data repositories 708-712.
  • simulation engine 701 comprises a phenomenon model 704, a narrative logic model 706, and an environment model 705.
  • the data repositories 708-712 are shown connected to a data repository "bus" 707 although this bus may be merely an abstraction. Bus 707 is meant to signify that any of the models 704-706 may be communicating with one or more of the data repositories 708-712 resident on the bus 707 at any time.
  • some of the data repositories 708-712 are shown as optional (dotted lines), such as a user characteristics data repository 711 and a device attributes data repository 712.
  • Figure 7 shows an example that uses an environment model 705
  • Figure 7 shows a corresponding environment data repository 709, which stores the state (real or otherwise) of various attributes being tracked in the environment.
  • Models 704-706 are used to implement the logic (that affects event flow and attribute values) that governs the various entities being manipulated by the system, instead of placing all of the logic into the narrative engine 702, for example. Distributing the logic into separate models allows for more complex modeling of the various entities manipulated by the simulation engine 701 , such as, for example, the simulated phenomena, the narrative, and representations of the environment, users, and devices. For example, a module or subcomponent that models the simulated phenomena, the phenomenon model 704, is shown separately connected to the plurality of data repositories 708-712. This allows separate modeling of the same type of SP, depending, for example, on the mobile device, the user, the experience of the user, sensed real world environment values for a specific device, etc.
  • Having a separate phenomenon model 704 also allows easy testing of the environment to implement, for example, new scenarios by simply replacing the relevant modeling components. It also allows complex modeling behaviors to be implemented more easily, such as SP attributes whose values require a significant amount of computing resources to calculate; new behaviors to be dynamically added to the system (perhaps, even, on a random basis); multi-user interaction behavior (similar to a transaction processing system that coordinates between multiple users interacting with the same SP); algorithms, such as artificial intelligence based algorithms, which are better executed on a distributed server machine; or other complex requirements.
  • environment model 705 is shown separately connected to the plurality of data repositories 708-712.
  • Environment model 705 may comprise state and logic that dictates how attribute values that are sensed from the environment influence the simulation engine responses. For example, the type of device requesting the interaction, the user associated with the current interaction request, or some such state may potentially influences how a sensed environment value affects an interaction response or an attribute value of an SP.
  • the narrative logic model 706 is shown separately connected to the plurality of data repositories 708-712.
  • the narrative logic model 706 may comprise narrative logic that determines the next event in the narrative but may vary the response from user to user, device to device, etc., as well as based upon the particular simulated phenomenon being interacted with.
  • FIG 23 is an example block diagram of an authoring system used with the Simulated Phenomena Interaction System.
  • a narrative author 2301 invokes a narrative authoring toolkit ("kit") 2302 to generate data repository content 2303 for each of the data repositories 2304 to be populated.
  • the narrative authoring kit 2302 provides tools and procedures necessary to generate the content needed for the data respository.
  • the generated content 2303 is then stored in the appropriate SPIS data repositories 2304.
  • SP content is stored in the appropriate Simulated Phenomena Attributes data repository, such as repository 620 in Figure 6.
  • the data repository content is optionally forwarded to a narrative localization kit 2305 prior to being stored in the appropriate Simulated Phenomena Attributes data repositories 2304.
  • a localization person 2306 uses the localization kit 2305 to facilitate collecting, determining, organizing, and integrating environment-specific data into the SPIS data repositories 2304.
  • FIG. 24 is an example block diagram of an example Simulated Phenomena Interaction System integrated into components of a commerce- enabled environment.
  • the commerce-enabled environment shown in Figure 24 depicts the use of a SPIS scenario with a charity based commerce system.
  • One skilled in the art will recognize that other commerce-enabled uses are also contemplated and integrated with the SPIS in a similar fashion.
  • a commerce-enabled environment that supports wagers placed on mobile device gaming participants or simulated phenomena of an underlying game is also supported by the modules depicted in Figure 24.
  • commerce system 2400 comprises SPIS support modules 2404-2406, commerce transaction support 2431 , a commerce data repository 2430, and simulation engine 2410.
  • Users (commerce participants) 2401-2403, through the SPIS support modules 2404-2406, interact with the SPIS system as described relative to Figures 6 and 7 through the input/output interface 2411 , which also contains a standardized interface (application programming interface known as an "API") for interfacing to the SPIS simulation engine 2410.
  • API application programming interface
  • mobile operator (participant) 2401 uses the operator participant support module 2404 to interact with the simulation engine 2412.
  • administrator 2402 uses the administrator support module 2405 to manage various aspects of the underlying simulation scenario such as defining the various charitable donations required for different types of operator assistance.
  • spectator 2403 uses the spectator support module 2406 to view simulation environment and competitors' parameters and to engage in a financial transaction (such as a charity donation) via commerce support module 2431.
  • the spectator 2403 may choose to support a team the spectator 2403 desires will win. (In a commerce-enable wagering environment, the spectator 2403 may choose to place "bets" on a team, a device operator, or, for example, a simulated phenomenon that the spectator 2403 believes will win.) Accordingly, spectator 2403 "orders" an assist via spectator support module 2406 by paying for it via commerce support module 2431.
  • a financial transaction has been authenticated and verified (using well-known transaction processing systems such as credit card servers on the Internet)
  • appropriate identifying data is placed by the commerce support module 2431 into the commerce data repository 2430 where it can be retrieved by the various SPIS support modules 2404-2406.
  • the spectator support module then informs the simulation engine 2410 of the donation and instructs the simulation engine 2410 to provide assistance (for example, through a hint to the designated mobile device operator) or other activity.
  • a spectator 2403 may be permitted to modify certain simulation data stored in the data repositories 2420-2422.
  • Such capabilities are determined by the capabilities offered through the API 2411 , the narrative, and the manner in which the data is stored.
  • the SPIS support modules 2404-2406 interface with the SPIS data repositories 2420-2422 via the narrative engine 2412.
  • the narrative engine 2412 One skilled in the art will recognize that rather than interface through the narrative engine 2412, other embodiments are possible that interface directly through data repositories 2420-2422.
  • Example SPIS data repositories that can be viewed and potentially manipulated by the different participants 2401-2403 include the simulated phenomena attributes data repository 2420, the narrative data & logic data repository 2421 , and the user (operator) characteristics data repository 2422.
  • a spectator is permitted to place wagers on particular device operators, teams, or simulated phenomena. Further, in response to such wagers, the narrative may influence aspects of the underlying simulation scenario.
  • the commerce support 2431 includes well-known wager- related support services as well as general commerce transaction support.
  • One skilled in the art will recognize that the possibilities abound and that that modules depicted in Figure 24 can support a variety of commerce-enabled environments. Regardless of the internal configurations of the simulation engine, the components of the Simulated Phenomena Interaction System process interaction requests in a similar overall functional manner.
  • Figures 8 and 9 provide overviews of the interaction processing of a simulation engine and a mobile device in a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System.
  • Figure 8 is an overview flow diagram of example steps to process interaction requests within a simulation engine of a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System.
  • the simulation engine receives an interaction request from a mobile device.
  • the simulation engine characterizes the device from which the request was received, and, in step 803, characterizes the simulated phenomenon that is the target/destination of the interaction request. Using such characterizations, the simulation engine is able to determine whether or not, for example, a particular simulated phenomenon may be interacted with by the particular device.
  • step 804 the simulation engine determines, based upon the device characterization, the simulated phenomenon characterization, and the narrative logic the next event in the narrative sequence; that is, the next interaction response or update to the "state" or attributes of some entity in the SPIS.
  • step 805 if the simulation engine determines that the event is allowed (based upon the characterizations determined in steps 802-804), then the engine continues in step 806 to perform that event (interaction response), or else continues back to the beginning of the loop in step 801 to wait for the next interaction request.
  • FIG. 9 is an overview flow diagram of example steps to process interactions within a mobile device used with a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System.
  • the device senses values based upon the real world environment in which the mobile device is operating. As described earlier, this sensing of the real world may occur by a remote sensor that is completely distinct from the mobile device, attached to the mobile device, or may occur as an integral part of the mobile device. For example, a remote sensor may be present in an object in the real world that has no physical connection to the mobile device at all.
  • step 902 the device receives operator input, and in step 903 determines the type of interaction desired by the operator.
  • step 904 the device sends a corresponding interaction request to the simulation engine and then awaits a response from the simulation engine.
  • the sending of an interaction request may be within the same device or may be to a remote system.
  • step 905 a simulation engine response is received, and in step 906, any feedback indicated by the received response is indicated to the operator.
  • the mobile device processing then returns to the beginning of the loop in step 901.
  • the simulation engine needs also to process interface requests and respond to simulation participants, such as administrators and spectators, other than the operators of mobile devices.
  • Figure 25 is an overview flow diagram of example steps to process spectator requests within a simulation engine of a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System.
  • the simulation engine presents options to the designated spectator. In one scenario, the prices may vary according to the kind of assistance or manipulation requested or wager and the success status of a designated operator participant.
  • the simulation engine receives a request (from a designated spectator) to assist the designated recipient.
  • the simulation engine invokes a standard financial transaction system to process the financial aspects of the request.
  • the engine continues in step 2507, otherwise continues in step 2505.
  • the engine indicates a failed request to the user, logs the failed financial transaction in steps 2506, and returns.
  • the simulation engine provides the indicated assistance (or other indicated participation) to the designated operator or team, logs the successful transaction in step 2508, and returns.
  • Simulated Phenomena Interaction System are generally applicable to any type of entity, circumstance, or event that can be modeled to incorporate a real world attribute value
  • the phrase "simulated phenomenon” is used generally to imply any type of imaginary or real-world place, person, entity, circumstance, event, occurrence.
  • real-world means in the physical environment or something observable as existing, whether directly or indirectly.
  • the examples described herein often refer to an operator or user, one skilled in the art will recognize that the techniques of the present invention can also be used by any entity capable of interacting with a mobile environment, including a computer system or other automated or robotic device.
  • the concepts and techniques described are applicable to other mobile devices and other means of communication other than wireless communications, including other types of phones, personal digital assistances, portable computers, infrared devices, etc, whether they exist today or have yet to be developed. Essentially, the concepts and techniques described are applicable to any mobile environment. Also, although certain terms are used primarily herein, one skilled in the art will recognize that other terms could be used interchangeably to yield equivalent embodiments and examples. In addition, terms may have alternate spellings which may or may not be explicitly mentioned, and one skilled in the art will recognize that all such variations of terms are intended to be included.
  • Example embodiments described herein provide applications, tools, data structures and other support to implement a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System to be used for games, interactive guides, hands-on training environments, and commerce-enabled simulation scenarios.
  • a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System to be used for games, interactive guides, hands-on training environments, and commerce-enabled simulation scenarios.
  • One skilled in the art will recognize that other embodiments of the methods and systems of the present invention may be used for other purposes, including, for example, traveling guides, emergency protocol evaluation, and for more fanciful purposes including, for example, a matchmaker (SP makes introductions between people in a public place), traveling companions (e.g.
  • SP makes introductions between people in a public place)
  • traveling companions e.g.
  • a variety of hardware and software configurations may be used to implement a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System.
  • Atypical configuration as illustrated with respect to Figures 2 and 6, involves a client-server architecture of some nature.
  • client-server architecture of some nature.
  • mobile very thin client
  • mobile fat client
  • Many configurations in between these extremes are also plausible and expected.
  • FIG 10 is an example block diagram of a general purpose computer system for practicing embodiments of a simulation engine of a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System.
  • the general purpose computer system 1000 may comprise one or more server (and/or client) computing systems and may span distributed locations.
  • each block shown may represent one or more such blocks as appropriate to a specific embodiment or may be combined with other blocks.
  • the various blocks of the simulation engine 1010 may physically reside on one or more machines, which use standard interprocess communication mechanisms, across wired or wireless networks to communicate with each other.
  • computer system 1000 comprises a computer memory (“memory”) 1001 , an optional display 1002, a Central Processing Unit (“CPU”) 1003, and Input/Output devices 1004.
  • CPU Central Processing Unit
  • the simulation engine 1010 of the Simulated Phenomena Interaction System is shown residing in the memory 1001.
  • the components of the simulation engine 1010 preferably execute on CPU 1003 and manage the generation and interaction with of simulated phenomena, as described in previous figures.
  • Other downloaded code 1030 and potentially other data repositories 1030 also reside in the memory 1010, and preferably execute on one or more CPU's 1003.
  • the simulation engine 1010 includes a narrative engine 1011 , an I/O interface 1012, and one or more data repositories, including simulated phenomena attributes data repository 1013, narrative data and logic data repository 1014, and other data repositories 1015. In embodiments that include separate modeling components, these components would additionally reside in the memory 1001 and execute on the CPU 1003.
  • any of the simulation engine components 1011-1015 may be implemented using more monolithic programming techniques as well.
  • programming interfaces to the data stored as part of the simulation engine 1010 can be available by standard means such as through C, C++, C#, and Java API and through scripting languages such as XML, or through web servers supporting such interfaces.
  • the data repositories 1013- 1015 are preferably implemented for scalability reasons as databases rather than as a text file, however any storage method for storing such information may be used.
  • behaviors of simulated phenomena may be implemented as stored procedures, or methods attached to SP "objects," although other techniques are equally effective.
  • the simulation engine 1010 and the SPIS may be implemented in a distributed environment that is comprised of multiple, even heterogeneous, computer systems and networks.
  • the narrative engine 1011 , the I/O interface 1012, and each data repository 1013-1015 are all located in physically different computer systems, some of which may be on a client mobile device as described with reference to Figures 11 and 12.
  • various components of the simulation engine 1010 are hosted each on a separate server machine and may be remotely located from tables stored in the data repositories 1013-1015.
  • Figures 11 and 12 are examples block diagrams of client devices used for practicing embodiments of the simulated phenomena interaction system.
  • Figure 11 illustrates an embodiment of a "thin” client mobile device, which interacts with a remote simulation engine running for example on a general purpose computer system, as shown in Figure 10.
  • Figure 12 illustrates an embodiment of a "fat” client mobile device in which one or more portions of the simulation engine reside as part of the mobile device environment itself.
  • Figure 11 shows mobile device 1101 interacting over a mobile network 1130, such as a wireless network 1130, to interact with simulation engine 1120.
  • the mobile device 1101 may comprise a display 1102, a CPU 1104, a memory 1107, one or more environment sensors 1103, one or more network devices 1106 for communicating with the simulation engine 1120 over the network 1130, and other input/output devices 1105.
  • Code such as client code 1108 that is needed to interact with the simulation engine 1120 preferably resides in the memory 1108 and executes on the CPU 1104.
  • mobile devices may be used with the SPIS included cell phones, PDAs, GPSes, portable computing devices, infrared devices, 3-D wireless (e.g., headmounted) glasses, virtual reality devices, other handheld devices and wearable devices, and basically any mobile or portable device capable of location sensing.
  • network communication may be provided over cell phone modems, IEEE 802.11b protocol, Bluetooth protocol or any other wireless communication protocol or equivalent.
  • the client device may be implemented as a fat client mobile device as shown in Figure 12.
  • mobile device 1201 is shown communicating via a communications network 1230 to other mobile device or portable computing environments.
  • the communications network may be a wireless network or a wired network used to intermittently send data to other devices and environments.
  • the mobile device 1201 may comprise a display 1202, a CPU 1204, a memory 1207, one or more environment sensors 1203, one or more network devices 1206 for communicating over the network 1230, and other input/output devices 1205.
  • the components 1202-1206 correspond to their counterparts described with reference to the thin client mobile device illustrated in Figure 12. As currently depicted, all components and data of the simulation engine 1220 are contained within the memory 1207 of the client device 1201 itself. However, one skilled in the art will recognize that one or more portions of simulation engine 1220 may be instead remotely located such that the mobile device 1201 communicates over the communications network 1230 using network devices 1206 to interact with those portions of the simulation engine 1220.
  • program code 1208 which may be used by the mobile device to initiate an interaction request as well as for other purposes, some of which may be unrelated to the SPIS.
  • Figure 13 is an example block diagram of an event loop for an example simulation engine of a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System.
  • the narrative engine portion of the simulation engine receives interaction requests from a mobile device through the I/O interfaces, determines how to process them, processes the requests if applicable, and returns any feedback indicated to the mobile device for playback or display to an operator.
  • the narrative engine receives as input with each interaction request an indication of the request type and information that identifies the device or specify attribute values from the device.
  • the narrative engine determines or obtains state information with respect to the current state of the narrative and the next expected possible states of the narrative.
  • the narrative engine determines what actions and/or conditions are necessary to advance to the next state and how that state is characterized. This can determined by any standard well-known means for implementing a state machine, such as a case statement in code, a table-driven method etc.
  • the narrative engine determines what type of interaction request was designated as input and in steps 1303-1310 processes the request accordingly. More specifically, in step 1303, if the designated interaction request corresponds to a detection request, then the narrative engine proceeds in step 1307 to determine which detection interface to invoke and then invokes the determined interface. Otherwise, the narrative engine continues in step 1304 to determine whether the designated interaction request corresponds to a communications interaction request.
  • step 1308 determines which communication interface to invoke and subsequently invokes the determined interface. Otherwise, the narrative engine continues in step 1305 to determine whether the designated interaction request corresponds to a measurement request. If so, then the narrative engine continues in step 1309 to determine which measurement interface to invoke and then invokes the determined interface. Otherwise, the narrative engine continues in step 1306 to determine whether the designated interaction request corresponds to a manipulation request. If so, the narrative engine continues in step 1310 to determine which manipulation interface to invoke and then invokes the determined interface. Otherwise, the designated interaction request is unknown, and the narrative engine continues in step 1311.
  • step 1311 the narrative engine determines whether the previously determined conditions required to advance the narrative to the next state have been satisfied. If so, the narrative engine continues in step 1312 to advance the state of the narrative engine to the next state indicated by the matched conditions, otherwise continues to wait for the next interaction request. Once the narrative state has been advanced, the narrative engine returns to the beginning of the event loop in step 1301 to wait for the next interaction request.
  • the narrative engine needs to determine which interaction routine to invoke (steps 1307-1310).
  • any of the interaction routines including a detection routine can be specific to a simulated phenomenon, a device, an environment, or some combination of any such factors or similar factors.
  • the overall detection routine (which calls specific detection functions) may be part of the narrative engine, a model, or stored in one of the data repositories.
  • Figure 14 is an example flow diagram of an example detection interaction routine provided by a simulation engine of a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System. This routine may reside and be executed by the narrative engine portion of the simulation engine.
  • the Detect_SP routine (the overall detection routine) includes as input parameters the factors needed to be considered for detection.
  • the Detect_SP routine receives a designated identifier of the particular simulated phenomenon (SP_id), a designated identifier of the device (Dev_id), any designated number of attributes and values that correspond to the device (Dev_attrib_list), and the current narrative state information associated with the current narrative state (narr_state).
  • the current narrative state information contains, for example, the information determined by the narrative engine in step 1301 of the Receive Interaction Request routine.
  • the detection routine determines given the designed parameters whether the requested interaction is possible, invokes the interaction, and returns the results of the interaction or any other feedback so that it can be in turn reported to the mobile device via the narrative engine.
  • step 1401 the routine determines whether the detector is working, and, if so, continues in step 1404 else continues in step 1402. This determination is conducted from the point of view of the narrative, not the mobile device (the detector). In other words, although the mobile device may be working correctly, the narrative may dictate a state in which the client device (the detector) appears to be malfunctioning.
  • step 1402 the routine, because the detector is not working, determines whether the mobile device has designated or previously indicated in some manner that the reporting of status information is desirable. If so, the routine continues in step 1403 to report status information to the mobile device (via the narrative engine), and then returns. Otherwise, the routine simply returns without detection and without reporting information.
  • step 1404 when the detector is working, the routine determines whether a "sensitivity function" exists for the particular interaction routine based upon the designated SP identifier, device identifier, the type of attribute that the detection is detecting (the type of detection), and similar parameters.
  • a "sensitivity function” is the generic name for a routine, associated with the particular interaction requested, that determines whether an interaction can be performed and, in some embodiments, performs the interaction if it can be performed. That is, a sensitivity function determines whether the device is sufficiently “sensitive” (in “range” or some other attribute value) to interact with the SP with regard specifically to the designated attribute in the manner requested. For example, there may exist many detection routines available to detect whether a particular SP should be considered “detected" relative to the current characteristics of the requesting mobile device.
  • the detection routine that is eventually selected as the "sensitivity function" to invoke at that moment may be particular to the type of device, some other characteristic of the device, the simulated phenomena being interacted with, or another consideration, such as an attribute value sensed in the real world environment, here shown as “attrib ype.”
  • the mobile device may indicate the need to "detect” an SP based upon a proximity attribute, or an agitation attribute, or a "mood” attribute (an example of a completely arbitrary, imaginary attribute of an SP).
  • the routine may determine which sensitivity function to use in a variety of ways.
  • the sensitivity functions may be stored, for example, as a stored procedures in the simulated phenomena characterizations data repository, such as data repository 620 in Figure 6, indexed by attribute type of an SP type.
  • An example routine for finding a sensitivity function and an example sensitivity function are described below with reference to Tables 1 and 2.
  • step 1405 the routine continues in step 1405 to invoke the determined detection sensitivity function. Then, in step 1406, the routine determines as a result of invoking the sensitivity function, whether the simulated phenomenon was considered detectable, and, if so, continues in step 1407, otherwise continues in step 1402 (to optionally report non-success).
  • step 1407 the routine indicates (in a manner that is dependent upon the particular SP or other characteristics of the routine) that the simulated phenomenon is present (detected) and modifies or updates any data repositories and state information as necessary to update the state of the SP, narrative, and potentially the simulated engine's internal representation of the mobile device, to consider the SP "detected.”
  • step 1408 the routine determines whether the mobile device has previously requested to be in a continuous detection mode, and, if so, continues in step 1401 to begin the detection loop again, otherwise returns.
  • sensFunction GetSensitivityFunctionForType(interaction_type, att ype)
  • sensitivity function can be used to determine which particular sensitivity function to invoke for a particular interaction request. Because, for example, there may be different sensitivity calculations based upon the type of interaction and the type of attribute to be interacted with. A separate sensitivity function may also exist on a per-attribute basis for the particular interaction on a per-simulated phenomenon basis (or additionally per device, per user, etc.). Table 1 shows the use of a single overall routine to retrieve multiple sensitivity functions for the particular simulated phenomenon and device combination, one for each attribute being interacted with. (Note that multiple attributes may be specified in the interaction request.
  • Interaction may be a complex function of multiple attributes as well.
  • the overall routine can also include logic to invoke the sensitivity functions on the spot, as opposed to invoking the function as a separate step as shown in Figure 14.
  • Table 2 is an example sensitivity function that is returned by the routine GetSensitivityFunctionForType shown in Table 1 for a detection interaction for a particular simulated phenomenon and device pair as would be used with an agitation characteristic (attribute) of the simulated phenomenon.
  • the sensitivity agitation function retrieves an agitation state variable value from the SP characterizations data repository, retrieves a current position from the SP characterization data repository, and receives a current position of the device from the device characterization data repository.
  • the current position of the SP is typically an attribute of the SP, or calculated from such attribute. Further, it may be a function of the current actual location of the device.
  • the characteristics of the SP are dependent upon which SP is being addressed by the interaction request, and may also be dependent upon the particular device interacting with the particular SP and/or the user that is interacting with the SP.
  • the example sensitivity function then performs a set of calculations based upon these retrieved values to determine whether, based upon the actual location of the device relative to the programmed location of the SP, the SP agitation value is "within range.” If so, the function sends back a status of detectable; otherwise, it sends back a status of not detectable.
  • the response to each interaction request is in some way based upon a real world physical characteristic, such as the physical location of the mobile device submitting the interaction request.
  • the real world physical characteristic may be sent with the interaction request, sensed from a sensor in some other way or at some other time.
  • Responses to interaction requests can also be based upon other real world physical characteristics, such as physical orientation of the mobile device - e.g., whether the device is pointing at a particular object or at another mobile device.
  • real world physical characteristics such as physical orientation of the mobile device - e.g., whether the device is pointing at a particular object or at another mobile device.
  • One skilled in the art will recognize that many other characteristics can be incorporated in the modeling of the simulated phenomena, provided that the physical characteristics are measurable and taken into account by the narrative or models incorporated by the simulation engine.
  • a device's physical location will be used as exemplary of how a real world physical characteristic is incorporated in SPIS.
  • a mobile device depending upon its type, is capable of sensing its location in a variety of ways, some of which are described here.
  • One skilled in the art will recognize that there are many methods for sensing location and are contemplated for use with the SPIS. Once the location of the device is sensed, this location can in turn be used to model the behavior of the SP in response to the different interaction requests. For example, the position of the SP relative to the mobile device may be dictated by the narrative to be always a multiple from the current physical location of the user's device until the user enters a particular spot, a room, for example.
  • an SP may "jump away” (exhibiting behavior similar to trying to swat a fly) each time the physical location of the mobile device is computed to "coincide” with the apparent location of the SP.
  • the simulation engine typically models both the apparent location of the SP and the physical location of the device based upon sensed information.
  • the location of the device may be an absolute location as available with some devices, or may be computed by the simulation engine (modeled) based upon methods like triangulation techniques, the device's ability to detect electromagnetic broadcasts, and software modeling techniques such as data structures and logic that models latitude, longitude, altitude, etc.
  • Examples of devices that can be modeled in part based upon the device's ability to detect electromagnetic broadcasts include cell phones such as the Samsung SCH W300 with the VerizonTM network, the Motorola V710, which can operate using terrestrial electromagnetic broadcasts of cell phone networks or using the electromagnetic broadcasts of satellite GPS systems, and other "location aware" cell phones, wireless networking receivers, radio receivers, photo-detectors, radiation detectors, heat detectors, and magnetic orientation or flux detectors.
  • Examples of devices that can be modeled in part based upon triangulation techniques include GPS devices, Loran devices, some E911 cell phones.
  • Figure 15 is an example diagram illustrating simulation engine modeling of a mobile device that is able to sense its location by detecting electromagnetic broadcasts.
  • a mobile device is able to "sense" when it can receive transmissions from a particular cell tower. More specifically, location is determined by the mobile device by performing triangulation calculations that measure the signal strengths of various local cell phone (fixed location) base stations. More commonly, a mobile device such as a cell phone receives location information transmitted to it by the base station based upon calculations carried out on the wireless network server systems. These server systems typically rely at least in part on the detected signal strength as measured by various base stations in the vicinity of the cell phone.
  • the servers use triangulation and other calculations to determine the cell phone's location, which is then broadcast back to the phone, typically in a format that can be translated into longitude/latitude or other standard GIS data formats.
  • This sensed information is then forwarded from the mobile device to the simulation engine so that the simulation engine can model the position of the device (and subsequently the location of SPs).
  • the simulated engine might determine or be able to deduce that the device is currently situated in a particular real world area (region). Note that the regions may be continuous (detection flows from one region to another without an area where location in undetectable) or discontinuous (broadcast detection is interrupted by an area where transmissions cannot be received).
  • each circle represents an physical area where the device is able to sense an electromagnetic signal from a transmitter, for example, a cell tower if the device is a cell phone.
  • the circle labeled #1 represents a physical region where the mobile device is currently able to sense a signal from a first transmitter.
  • the circle labeled #2 similarly represents a physical region where the mobile device is able to sense a signal from a second transmitter, etc.
  • the narrative, hence the SP can make use of this information in modeling the location of the SP relative to the mobile device's physical location.
  • the narrative might specify that an SP is detectable, even though it may have an effective location outside the intersection labeled "A.”
  • the narrative may have computed that the effective location of the simulated phenomena is in the intersection of regions #2 and #3, labeled in the figure with a "B" and hatching.
  • the narrative may indicate that a simulated phenomenon is close by the user, but not yet within vicinity.
  • the narrative may not indicate presence of the SP at all.
  • the user of the mobile device may have no idea that physical regions #1 and #2 (or their intersection) exist - only that the SP is suddenly present and perhaps some indication of relative distance based upon the apparent (real or narrative controlled) range of the device.
  • the narrative may in effect "guide" the user of the mobile device to a particular location.
  • the narrative can indicate the position of an SP at a continuous relative distance to the (indicator of the) user, provided the location of the mobile device travels through and to the region desired by the narrative, for example along a path from region #2, through region #5, to region #1. If the mobile device location instead veers from this path (travels from region # 2 directly to region #1 by passing region #5, the narrative can detect this situation and communicate with the user, for example indicating that the SP has become further away or undetectable (the user might be considered ("lost").
  • a device might also be able to sense its location in the physical world based upon a signal "grid” as provided, for example, by GPS-enabled systems.
  • a GPS-enabled mobile device might be able to sense not only that it is in a physical region, such as receiving transmissions from transmitter #5, but it also might be able to determine that it is in a particular rectangular grid within that region, as indicated by rectangular regions #6-9. This information may be used to give GPS- enabled device a finer degree of detection than that available from cell phones, for example.
  • One example such device is a Compaq iPaq H3850, with a Sierra wireless AirCard 300 using AT&T Wireless Internet Service and a Transplant Computing GPS card.
  • cell phones that use the Qualcomm MSM6100 chipset have the same theoretical resolution as any other GPS.
  • an example of a fat-client mobile device is the Garmin IQue 3600, which is a PDA with GPS capability.
  • FIG. 16 is an example illustration of an example field of vision on a display of a wearable device.
  • the user's actual vision is the area demarcated as field of vision 1601.
  • the apparent field of vision supported by the device is demarcated by field of vision 1602.
  • SPIS technology the user can see real world objects 1603 and simulated phenomena 1604 within the field 1602.
  • appropriate software modeling can be incorporated into a phenomenon modeling component or the simulated phenomena attributes data repository to account for the 3D modeling supported by such devices and enhance them to represent simulated phenomena in the user's field of view.
  • PDAs with IRDA (infrared) capabilities for example, a Tungsten T PDA manufactured by Palm Computing, also present more complicated modeling considerations and allows additionally for the detection of device orientation. Though this PDA supports multiple wireless networking functions (e.g., Bluetooth & Wi-Fi expansion card), the IRDA version utilizes its Infrared Port for physical location and spatial orientation determination.
  • the infrared transmitter By pointing the infrared transmitter at an infrared transceiver (which may be an installed transceiver, such as in a wall in a room, or another infrared device, such as another player using a PDA/I RDA device), the direction the user is facing can be supplied to the simulation engine for modeling as well. This measurement may result in producing more "realistic" behavior in the simulation.
  • the simulation engine may be able to better detect when a user has actually pointed the device at an SP to capture it. Similarly, the simulation engine can also better detect two users facing their respective devices at each other (for example, in a simulated battle). Thus, depending upon the device, it may be possible for the SPIS to produce SPs that respond to orientation characteristics of the mobile device as well as location.
  • Figure 17 is an example diagram illustrating simulation engine modeling of a mobile device enhanced with infrared capabilities whose location is sensed by infrared transceivers.
  • two users of infrared capable mobile devices 1703 and 1706 are moving about a room 1700.
  • room 1700 there are planted various infrared transceivers 1702, 1704, and 1705 (and the transceivers in each mobile device 1703 and 1706), which are capable of detecting and reporting to the simulation engine the respective locations (and even orientations) of the mobile devices 1703 and 1706.
  • 1701 represents a not-networked infrared source which blinks with a pattern that is recognized by the mobile device.
  • the system can none the less potentially recognize the emitted pattern as the identification of an object in a particular location in the real-world.
  • a simulated phenomenon may even be integrated as part of one of these transceivers, for example, on plant 1708 as embodied in transceiver 1705.
  • the transceiver reported location information can be used by the simulation engine to determine more accurately what the user is attempting to do by where the user is pointing the mobile device. For example, as currently shown in Figure 17, only the signal from the plant (if the plant is transmitting signals, or, alternatively, the receipt of signal from the device 1703) is within the actual device detection field 1707 of device 1703.
  • the simulation engine can indicate that the SP associated with plant 1708 is detectable or otherwise capable of interaction.
  • the mobile device may be outfitted with the transmitter, and appropriate receivers placed in the environment that communicate with the simulation engine when they detect the mobile device.
  • Additional mathematical modeling such as triangulation, can be used to hone in on the location of the device when multiple sensors are placed. Both local and remote location determination may be particularly useful to determine the location of an enhanced mobile device having GPS capabilities as it moves from, for example, outside where satellite detection is possible, to inside a locale where other methods of device location detection (or simulation/estimation by the narrative) are employed.
  • An example system that provides detection inside a locale using a model of continuous degradation with partial GPS capability is Snaptrack by Qualcomm.
  • the narrative handles such errors, inconsistencies, and ambiguities in a manner that is consistent with the narrative context. For example, in the gaming system called "Spook” described earlier, when the environmental conditions provide insufficient reliability or precision in location determination, the narrative might send an appropriate text message to the user such as "Ghosts have haunted your spectral detector! Try to shake them by walking into an open field.” Also, some devices may necessitate that different techniques be used for location determination and the narrative may need to adjust accordingly and dynamically.
  • a device such as a GPS might have high resolution outdoors, but be virtually undetectable (and thus have low location resolution) indoors.
  • the narrative might need to specify the detectability of an SP at that point in a manner that is independent from the actual physical location of the device, yet still gives the user information.
  • the system may choose to indicate that the resolution has changed or not.
  • a variety of techniques can be used to indicate detectability of an SP when location determination becomes degraded, unreliable, or lost.
  • the system can display its location in courser detail (similar to a "zoom out” effect).
  • the view range is modified to cover a larger area, so that the loss of location precision does not create a view that continuously shifts even though the user is stationary.
  • the device can use the last known position.
  • the estimated or last-known device position can be shown as a part of a boundary of this area.
  • the presentation to the user can show the location of the user as a point on the edge of a corresponding rectangle.
  • the view presented to the user will remain based on this location until the device's location can be updated.
  • SP locations can be updated relative to whatever device location the simulation uses.
  • the physical location of the device may be sent with the interaction request itself or may have been sent earlier as part of some other interaction request, or may have been indicated to the simulation engine by some kind of sensor somewhere else in the environment.
  • the simulation engine receives the location information, the narrative can determine or modify the behavior of an SP relative to that location.
  • Figure 18 is an example illustration of a display on a mobile device that indicates the location of a simulated phenomenon relative to a user's location as a function of the physical location of the mobile device.
  • the mobile device 1800 is displaying on the display screen area 1801 an indication in the "spectral detection field" 1802 of the location of a particular SP 1804 relative to the user's location 1803.
  • the location of the SP 1804 would be returned from the narrative engine in response to a detection interaction request.
  • the relative SP location shown is not likely an absolute physical distance and may not divulge any information to the user about the location modeling being employed in the narrative engine.
  • the difference between the user's location 1803 and the SP location 1804 is dictated by the narrative and may move as the user moves the mobile device to indicate that the user is getting closer or farther from the SP.
  • These aspects are typically controlled by the narrative logic and SP/device specific. There are many ways that the distances between the SP and a user may be modeled. Figure 18 just shows one of them.
  • Indications of a simulated phenomenon relative to a mobile device are also functions of both the apparent range of the device (area in which the device "operates" for the purposes of the simulation engine) and the apparent range of the sensitivity function(s) used for interactions.
  • the latter (sensitivity range) is typically controlled by the narrative engine but may be programmed to be related to the apparent range of the device.
  • the apparent range of the spectra-meter is shown by the dotted line of the detection field 1802.
  • the range of the device may also be controlled by the logic of the narrative engine and have nothing to do with the actual physical characteristics of the device, or may be supplemented by the narrative logic.
  • the range of the spectra-meter may depend on the range of the sensitivity function programmed into the simulator engine.
  • a user may be able to increase the range (sensitivity) of the sensitivity function and hence the apparent range of the device by adjusting some attribute of the device, which may be imaginary.
  • the range of the spectra-meter may be increased by decreasing the device's ability to display additional information regarding an SP, such as a visual indication of the identity or type of the SP, presumably yielding more "power" to the device for detection purposes rather than display purposes.
  • the granularity of the actual resolution of the physical device may be constrained by the technology used by the physical device, the range of interaction, such as detectability, that is supported by the narrative engine is controlled directly by the narrative engine.
  • the relative size between what the mobile device can detect and what is detectable may be arbitrary or imaginary.
  • FIG. 19 contains a set of diagrams illustrating different ways to determine and indicate the location of a simulated phenomenon relative to a user when a device has a different physical range from its apparent range as determined by the simulation engine.
  • the apparent range circumscribed by radius R2 represents the strength of a detection field 1902 in which an SP can be detected by a mobile device having an actual physical detection range determined by radius R1. For example, if the mobile device is a GPS, R1 may be 3 meters, whereas R2 may be (and typically would be) a large multiple of R1 such as 300 meters.
  • Diagram B the smaller circle indicates where the narrative has located the SP is relative to the apparent detection range of the device.
  • the larger circle in the center indicates the location of the user relative to this same range and is presumed to be a convention of the narrative in this example.
  • the narrative indicates to the user that a particular SP is present.
  • the big "X" in the center circle might indicate that the user is in the same vicinity as the SP.
  • This indication may need to be modified based upon the capabilities and physical limitations of the device.
  • the narrative engine may need to change the type of display used to indicate the SP's location relative to the user.
  • the display might change to a map that shows an inside of the building and indicate an approximate location of the SP on that map even though movement of the device cannot be physically detected from that point on.
  • Figure 20 is an example flow diagram of an example measurement interaction routine provided by a simulation engine of a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System.
  • This routine may reside and be executed by the narrative engine portion of the simulation engine. It allows a user via a mobile device to "measure" characteristics of an SP to obtain values of various SP attributes. For example, although “location” is one type of attribute that can be measured (and detected), other attributes such as the "color,” “size,” “orientation,” “mood,” “temperament,” “age,” etc. may also be measured.
  • the definition of an SP in terms of the attributes an SP supports or defines will dictate what attributes are potentially measurable. Note that each attribute may support a further attribute which determines whether a particular attribute is currently measurable or not.
  • step 2001 the routine determines whether the measurement meter is working, and, if so, continues in step 2004 else continues in step 2002. This determination is conducted from the point of view of the narrative, not the mobile device (the meter). Thus, although the metering device appears to be working correctly, the narrative may dictate a state in which the device appears to be malfunctioning.
  • step 2002 the routine, because the meter is not working, determines whether the device has designated or previously indicated in some manner that the reporting of status information is desirable. If so, the routine continues in step 2003 to report status information to the mobile device (via the narrative engine) and then returns.
  • step 2004 when the meter is working, the routine determines whether a sensitivity function exists for a measurement interaction routine based upon the designated SP identifier, device identifier, and the type of attribute that the measurement is measuring (the type of measurement), and similar parameters. As described with reference to Tables 1 and 2, there may be one sensitivity function that needs to be invoked to complete the measurement of different or multiple attributes of a particular SP for that device. Once the appropriate sensitivity function is determined, then the routine continues in step 2005 to invoke the determined measurement sensitivity function.
  • step 2006 the routine determines as a result of invoking the measurement related sensitivity function, whether the simulated phenomenon was measurable, and if so, continues in step 2007, otherwise continues in step 2002 (to optionally report non-success).
  • step 2007, the routine indicates the various measurement values of the SP (from attributes that were measured) and modifies or updates any data repositories and state information as necessary to update the state of the SP, narrative, and potentially the simulated engine's internal representation of the mobile device, to consider the SP "measured.”
  • step 2008 the routine determines whether the device has previously requested to be in a continuous measurement mode, and, if so, continues in step 2001 to begin the measurement loop again, otherwise returns.
  • Figure 21 is an example flow diagram of an example communicate interaction routine provided by a simulation engine of a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System.
  • This routine may reside and be executed by the narrative engine portion of the simulation engine. It allows a user via a mobile device to "communicate" with a designated simulated phenomenon. For example, communication may take the form of questions to be asked of the SP. These may be pre-formulated questions (retrieved from a data repository and indexed by SP, for example) which are given to a user in response to any request that indicates that the user is attempting communication with the SP, such as by typing: Talk or by pressing a Talk button.
  • the simulation engine may incorporate an advanced pattern matching or natural language engine similar to a search tool.
  • the user could then type in a newly formulated question (not canned) and the simulation engine attempt to answer it or request clarification.
  • the SP can communicate with the user in a variety of ways, including changing some state of the device to indicate its presence, for example, blinking a light. Or, to simulate an SP speaking to a mobile device that has ringing capability (such as a cell phone), the device might ring seemingly unexpectedly.
  • pre-formulated content may be streamed to the device in text, audio, or graphic form, for example.
  • One skilled in the art will recognize that many means to ask questions or hold "conversations" with an SP exist, or will be developed, and such methods can be incorporated into the logic of the simulation engine as desired.
  • the factors that are to be considered by the SP in its communication with the mobile device are typically designated as input parameters.
  • an identifier of the particular SP being communicated with, an identifier of the device, and the current narrative state may be designated as input parameters.
  • a data structure is typically designated to provide the message content, for example, a text message or question to the SP.
  • the communication routine given the designated parameters, determines whether communication with the designated SP is currently possible, and if so, invokes a function to "communicate" with the SP, for example, to answer a posed question.
  • step 2101 the routine determines whether the SP is available to be communicated with, and if so, continues in step 2104, else continues in step 2102. This determination is conducted from the point of view of the narrative, not the mobile device. Thus, although the mobile device appears to be working correctly, the narrative may dictate a state in which the device appears to be malfunctioning.
  • step 2102 the routine, because the SP is not available for communication, determines whether the device has designated or previously indicated in some manner that the reporting of such status information is desirable. If so, the routine continues in step 2103 to report status information to the mobile device of the incommunicability of the SP (via the narrative engine), and then returns. Otherwise, if reporting status information is not desired, the routine simply returns without the communication completing.
  • step 2104 when the SP is available for communication, the routine determines whether there is a sensitivity function for communicating with the designated SP based upon the other designated parameters. If so, then the routine invokes the communication sensitivity function in step 2105 passing along the content of the desired communication and a designated output parameter to which the SP can indicate its response. By indicating a response, the SP is effectively demonstrating its behavior based upon the current state of its attributes, the designated input parameters, and the current state of the narrative. In step 2106, the routine determines whether a response has been indicated by the SP, and, if so, continues in step 2107, otherwise continues in step 2102 (to optionally report non- success).
  • step 2107 the routine indicates that the SP returned a response and the contents of the response, which is eventually forwarded to the mobile device by the narrative engine.
  • the routine also modifies or updates any data repositories and state information to reflect the current state of the SP, narrative, and potentially the simulated engine's internal representation of the mobile device to reflect the recent communication interaction. The routine then returns.
  • Figure 22 is an example flow diagram of an example manipulation interaction routine provided by a simulation engine of a Simulated Phenomena Interaction System.
  • This routine may reside and be executed by the narrative engine portion of the simulation engine. It may be invoked by a user to affect some characteristic of the SP by setting a value of the characteristic or to alter the SPs behavior in some way. For example, in the Spook game, a user invokes a manipulation interaction to vacuum up a ghost to capture it.
  • a manipulation interaction function may be used to put a (virtual) box around a contaminant where the box is constructed of a certain material to simulate containment of the contaminating material (as deemed by the narrative).
  • different characteristics and attributes may be designated as input parameters to the routine in order to control what manipulation sensitivity function is used. Accordingly, there may be specific manipulation functions not only associated with the particular SP but, for example, by which button a user depresses on the mobile device. So, for example, if, for a specific simulation, the device is programmed to invoke certain manipulation interaction functions, then the proper function will be invoked when the user depresses a particular button.
  • step 2201 the routine determines whether it is possible to manipulate the designated SP given the state of the narrative, particular device and user, etc. and, if so, the routine continues in step 2204, else continues in step 2202. This determination is conducted from the point of view of the narrative, not the mobile device. Thus, although the mobile device appears to be working correctly, the narrative may dictate a state in which the device appears to be malfunctioning.
  • step 2202 because manipulation with the SP is not currently available, the routine determines whether the device has designated or previously indicated in some manner that the reporting of status information is desirable. If so, the routine continues in step 2203 to report the status information to the mobile device (via the narrative engine) and then returns. Otherwise, if reporting status information is not desired, the routine simply returns without communicating with the SP.
  • step 2204 when manipulation with the SP is available, the routine determines whether a sensitivity function exists for a communication interaction routine based upon a variety of factors such as those discussed with reference to prior interaction functions.
  • step 2205 the routine invokes the determined manipulation sensitivity function passing along any necessary parameters such as the value of an attribute of a device or a value of the SP to be manipulated.
  • step 2206 the routine determines as a result of invoking the manipulation sensitivity function whether the simulated phenomenon was successfully manipulated and, if so, continues in step 2207, otherwise continues in step 2202.
  • the routine indicates the results of the particular manipulation requested with the SP, for example reporting a newly set value of an attribute, modifies or updates any data repositories and state information to reflect current state of the SP, narrative, and potentially the simulated engine's internal representation of the mobile device as necessary, and then returns.

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Abstract

L'invention concerne des procédés et des systèmes d'interaction avec des phénomènes simulés. Les modes de réalisation présentés à titre d'exemples concernent un système d'interaction de phénomènes simulés (« PIS »), qui permet à un utilisateur d'intégrer des phénomènes simulés, dans l'environnement universel réel dudit utilisateur, par interaction avec les phénomènes simulés. Dans un mode de réalisation, le SPIS comprend un environnement mobile (par ex. un dispositif mobile) et un moteur de simulation. L'environnement mobile peut être configuré sous forme de client maigre qui communique à distance avec le moteur de simulation ou peut être configuré sous forme de client opulent qui intègre un ou plusieurs de composants du moteur de simulation dans le dispositif mobile. Ces composants coopèrent pour définir les caractéristiques et le comportement des phénomènes simulés et entrent en interaction avec des utilisateurs, par l'intermédiaire de dispositifs mobiles. Les caractéristiques et le comportement des phénomènes simulés sont fondés en partie sur des valeurs détectées dans le monde réel, ce qui permet de parvenir à une correspondance plus aboutie entre le monde réel et le monde simulé. Des interactions telles que la détection, la mesure, la communication et la manipulation sont initiées, de manière générale, par le dispositif mobile et reçoivent un écho, par l'engin de simulation sur la base de caractéristiques et du comportement de phénomènes simulés produits et entretenus par ordinateur.
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