WO2005039716A2

WO2005039716A2 - A virtual entity with a randomly generated pattern

Info

Publication number: WO2005039716A2
Application number: PCT/IB2004/052088
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mark Chui; Kelvin H. Seow; Callistus Chong Teck Meng; Weng K. Lam
Original assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
Priority date: 2003-10-22
Filing date: 2004-10-14
Publication date: 2005-05-06

Description

A virtual entity with a randomly generated pattern

The present invention relates to virtual entities. More particularly, the present invention relates to virtual organisms, such as virtual pets or plants, e.g. virtual fish tanks.

In the prior art, a virtual Fish tank may be used for interior decoration at home or at the office, to display fish swimming in it as well as surroundings, thereby giving the impression of a real fish tank. However, the scenes of the prior art virtual fish tanks are limited, and the owner may therefore get bored after some time of viewing. Also in the prior art, there are pocket LCD products which require its owner to 'feed' the virtual pet in order to keep it healthy and alive. However, these products seem to become a burden to the owner after some time, and the owner consequently looses interest in the pet. Furthermore, there exists cross-breed fish, known as Luo Han fish or Flowerhorn fish, which change their scale patterns from time to time. Some of the owners of such fish look for scale patterns resembling numbers or other characters and visualize them, e.g. as numbers having a suitable format for lottery betting, such as a four digit number, a three digit number, a two digit number, etc., depending on the format of the betting numbers for the lottery (or lotteries) in the particular region where the owner is living. Such numbers derived from the scale pattern of a Luo Han fish are considered particularly lucky, and the owner may therefore wish to use them for betting in the lottery over the weekend.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a virtual entity, such as a virtual pet or a virtual plant, having an element of surprise so that the owner will not loose interest in the virtual entity. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a virtual entity with an interactive feature, so that the virtual entity responds to actions performed by the owner. It is an even further object of the present invention to provide a virtual entity which is capable of creating possible lottery numbers for its owner. According to a first aspect of the present invention the above and other objects are fulfilled by providing a virtual entity for use on a monitor, the virtual entity being adapted to display a randomly generated pattern, said randomly generated pattern being generated in response to one or more actions performed by the owner of the virtual entity. According to a second aspect of the present invention the above and other objects re fulfilled by providing a method for presenting a virtual entity, the method comprising the steps of: receiving one or more inputs from an owner of the virtual entity, generating a random pattern in response to said one or more inputs, and - displaying said random pattern on said virtual entity. The input(s) may represent one or more actions performed by the owner. According to a third aspect of the present invention the above and other objects are fulfilled by providing a computer program for running on a general purpose computer device, the computer program for running on a general purpose computer device, the computer program being adapted to perform the steps of: processing one or more inputs, generating a random pattern in response to said input(s), and producing an output to a monitor, said output enabling said monitor to display said random pattern. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention the above and other objects are fulfilled by providing a dedicated device comprising a monitor for displaying a virtual entity, and computer processing means for processing one or more inputs, the processing means comprising: - means for receiving one or more inputs from an owner of the virtual entity, - means for processing said received input(s) in order to generate a random pattern in response to said input(s), - means for generating an output in accordance with said random pattern, and means for communicating said output to the monitor, so as to allow said random pattern to be displayed on the monitor. In the present context the terms 'randomly generated pattern' and 'random pattern' should be understood as a pattern without intentional periodicity. Furthermore, it should be understood as a dynamical feature which may change over time. Actions performed by the owner may be any kind of suitable actions, such as 'feeding' of the entity or 'caring for' the entity, e.g. by means of key strokes on a keyboard or a remote control, or by means of one or more mouse clicks on a computer mouse. In response to such actions performed by the owner, the pattern is generated and/or changed. Thus, an interactive relationship between the owner and the entity is formed. The more actions the owner performs, the more (or the more often) the pattern will change, thereby providing a surprise element for the owner. Therefore, the owner is more likely not to loose interest in or get bored with the virtual entity. Furthermore, the virtual entity may be adapted to change the randomly generated pattern from time to time, even if the owner does not perform any actions. This may be done in order to catch the attention of the owner, one or more family members of the owner, and/or one or more business clients of the owner. The present invention, thus, provides a virtual entity to which the owner may have an interactive relationship similar to the relationship one may have to a pet, but without putting an obligation on the owner, i.e. the virtual entity will not 'die' if the owner fails to 'take care' of it for a period of time. On the other hand, the more active the owner is, the more response he or she will get from the virtual entity, and the owner will therefore be encouraged to interact with the virtual entity. In a preferred embodiment the virtual entity is a virtual pet, such as a fish, a dog, a cat, a rodent, etc. In this case the actions performed by the owner may suitably comprise feeding, cleaning, and/or cuddling the pet. It may be shown that the actions performed by the owner are acknowledged by immediately displaying corresponding actions on the monitor. Thus, in case the action performed is 'feeding' the pet, the monitor may display that the pet eats some food, and if the pet is cuddled, the monitor may display a happy pet expressing love towards the owner, etc. Furthermore, the acknowledgement of the actions may be more advanced. Thus, the virtual pet may get more acquainted to its owner over time. Thus, if the owner feeds the pet more often, the pet will come closer to the owner when feeding time (i.e. the time of day where the owner usually does the feeding) is approaching. If, on the other hand, the owner does not feed the pet regularly or for a longer period of time, the virtual pet may stay further away on the monitor, e.g. appearing smaller in size and swimming/moving at a further distance. When the pet looks smaller it will also be more difficult for the owner to see the generated pattern on the virtual pet, and the owner will therefore be encouraged to keep feeding the virtual pet regularly. Most preferably, the virtual entity is a virtual Luo Han fish, in which case the randomly generated pattern represents the randomly changing scale pattern of the real Luo Han fish. The owner may, thus, find joy in watching the changing scale patterns, and the more actions the owner performs, the more often the Luo Han fish will generate a new scale pattern for the owner to watch. Alternatively or additionally, the virtual entity may be a virtual plant, such as a flower, a tree, and/or some sea weed in a virtual aquarium. In this case the randomly generated pattern may, e.g., be a changing color or pattern on the leaves or the petals of the plant, e.g. a color pattern or the outline of the leaves/petals. Alternatively or additionally, the virtual entity need not be a 'living' entity. It may also be, e.g., a rock or a waterfall changing its appearance, e.g. its color or shape. The monitor may be a TV monitor. In this case the monitor may be a cathode ray tube, a plasma screen, or any other suitable kind of TV monitor. Alternatively or additionally, the monitor may comprise a projector, such as an LCD projector, projecting an image onto an external screen or a piece of wall. Alternatively or additionally, the monitor may be a computer monitor. In this case the virtual entity may function as a screen saver, i.e. it is only visible when the monitor has been idle for a certain period of time. In a preferred embodiment, the pattern may represent information which is derivable by an owner of the virtual entity. Alternatively, the pattern may just represent a surprise element, and the owner may find joy in watching the changing pattern. Thus, the owner may enjoy a flower or a waterfall changing its coloring or shape. In case the pattern represents information, this information may be 'hidden messages' for the owner's loved ones, or it may be 'images' which the owner may find joy in guessing. In this case, the owner and his or her friends or family may even compete in guessing such 'images'. In a very preferred embodiment, the information may represent one or more randomly generated alphanumerical numbers. In case the virtual entity is a virtual Luo Han fish, the scale pattern of the fish may resemble one or more digits and/or letters. The owner may then try to figure out which digit(s) and/or letter(s) the scale pattern represents each time the scale pattern changes. The randomly generated alphanumerical number(s) may be in a format which is suitable for lottery betting. In this case the owner may, once he or she has figured out which digit(s) and/or letter(s) the pattern represents, use these as a 'lucky lottery number', i.e. he or she may bet in the lottery using the number(s) derived from the pattern. In Chinese culture the fish is considered an especially lucky animal, and certain species, such as the Luo Han fish, are supposed to bring good fortune. A number derived from the scale pattern of a Luo Han fish will therefore be considered a 'lucky number'. In case the lottery requires the entry of a four digit number, the owner of a virtual Luo Han fish may therefore look for and try to visualize a four digit number in the scale pattern generated on the fish. In case the lottery requires the entry of a number in another format, or the entry of a particular combination of numbers and other characters, the owner may similarly look for and try to visualize such a number or combination. The randomly generated alphanumerical number(s) may be generated in response to one or more alphanumerical numbers having the same format and being fed to the virtual entity by the owner of the virtual entity. Thus, the virtual entity may be 'fed' by giving it alphanumerical numbers. These may be entered, e.g. using a remote control, keyboard strokes or one or more mouse clicks. The virtual entity may 'acknowledge' the feeding, e.g. by showing on the monitor that the entity eats something, or that it looks happy, etc. Alternatively or additionally, an audio output may be produced as an immediate response to the feeding. The pattern will then change in response to the entered alphanumerical numbers. This does not necessarily happen immediately. Maybe the owner needs to 'feed' the entity regularly for a period of time before the pattern starts to change more often. In this case the owner is encouraged to keep 'feeding' and/or 'taking care of the virtual entity for a longer period of time. The alphanumerical number(s) being fed to the virtual entity may represent previously prize winning lottery numbers, such as first, second and third prizes from last weeks lottery game. In this case the virtual entity will perform the necessary number crunching and 'predict' the winning numbers for next week's lottery game. The more actions the owner performs, the more 'lucky numbers' the virtual entity will give in return, and the more chances the owner will have in the lottery. This will encourage the owner to 'feed' and 'take care of the virtual entity, and he or she will not be likely to loose interest in the virtual entity.

Figs, la, lb and lc are a schematic drawings of scale patterns of a virtual Luo Han fish, and Fig. 2 is a schematic drawing of a dedicated device adapted to display a virtual entity. Figs, la, lb and lc show the scale patterns of a virtual Luo Han fish. In Fig. la the scale pattern as generated is shown. When the owner of the virtual Luo Han fish sees this pattern, he or she may begin to imagine that the scale pattern represent a number of digits. In the scale patterns of Figs, la, lb and lc, the owner may visualize the four digit number 1527. This is done in the following way. In Fig. lb the digits 1 and 7 are highlighted by coloring the scales representing these digits black. Similarly, the digit 5 is highlighted by coloring the corresponding scales gray. Similarly, in Fig. lc the digits 1 and 7 are highlighted by coloring the corresponding scales black, and the digit 2 is highlighted by coloring the corresponding scales gray. Thus, when the owner looks at the scale pattern shown in Fig. la, he or she may visualize these four digits, and hence visualize the four digit number 1527. Alternatively or additionally, he or she may visualize the four digit number 1257. Fig. 2 shows a dedicated device being adapted to display a virtual entity. The device comprises a monitor 1 and processing means 2. The processing means 2 receives an input from a user at 3. The input is processed at 4, thereby generating a random pattern. At 5 an output which corresponds to the generated random pattern is produced, and the output is communicated to the monitor 1. In response to receiving the output, the monitor 1 displays the virtual entity and the generated random pattern. Thereby, the input from the user results in the generation of a random pattern on the monitor 1. Subsequently, the user may try to imagine what the random pattern looks like, e.g. as described above in connection with Fig. 1. Alternatively, the user may simply enjoy the beauty of the generated pattern. Although the present invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiment, it is not intended to be limited to the specific form set forth herein. Rather, the scope of the present invention is limited only by the accompanying claims. In the claims, the term comprising does not exclude the presence of other elements or steps. Additionally, although individual features may be included in different claims, these may possibly be advantageously combined, and the inclusion in different claims does not imply that a combination of features is not feasible and/or advantageous. In addition, singular references do not exclude a plurality. Thus, references to "a", "an", "first", "second" etc. do not preclude a plurality.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A virtual entity for use on a monitor (1), the virtual entity being adapted to display a randomly generated pattern, said randomly generated pattern being generated in response to one or more actions performed by the owner of the virtual entity.

2. A virtual entity according to claim 1, said virtual entity being a virtual pet.

3. A virtual entity according to claim 1, said virtual entity being a virtual plant.

4. A virtual entity according to claim 1, wherein the monitor (1) is a TV monitor.

5. A virtual entity according to claim 1, wherein said pattern represents information which is derivable by an owner of the virtual entity.

6. A virtual entity according to claim 5, wherein the information represents one or more randomly generated alphanumerical numbers.

7. A virtual entity according to claim 6, wherein the randomly generated alphanumerical number(s) is/are in a format which is suitable for lottery betting.

8. A virtual entity according to claim 7, wherein the randomly generated alphanumerical number(s) is/are generated in response to one or more alphanumerical numbers having the same format and being fed to the virtual entity by the owner of the virtual entity.

9. A virtual entity according to claim 8, wherein the alphanumerical number(s) being fed to the virtual entity represent(s) previously prize winning lottery numbers.

10. A method for presenting a virtual entity, the method comprising the steps of: receiving one or more inputs from an owner of the virtual entity, generating a random pattern in response to said one or more inputs, and displaying said random pattern on said virtual entity.

11. A method according to claim 10, wherein the input(s) represent(s) one or more actions performed by the owner.

12. A computer program for running on a general purpose computer device, the computer program being adapted to perform the steps of: processing one or more inputs, - generating a random pattern in response to said input(s), and producing an output to a monitor (1), said output enabling said monitor (1) to display said random pattern.

13. A dedicated device comprising - a monitor (1) for displaying a virtual entity, and computer processing means (2) for processing one or more inputs, the processing means comprising: - means (3) for receiving one or more inputs from an owner of the virtual entity, - means (4) for processing said received input(s) in order to generate a random pattern in response to said input(s), - means (5) for generating an output in accordance with said random pattern, and - means for communicating said output to the monitor, so as to allow said random pattern to be displayed on the monitor (1).