Patent Application
20250144517
The present disclosure relates to providing interactions generated during game play of a video game, and more specifically to providing a summary of the interactions exchanged between two or more users during a time window of game play.
Video gaming industry has grown in popularity and represents a large percentage of the entertainment market and interactive content generated worldwide. Various types of video games are available for playing. There are single-player video games and multi-player video games. In the case of multi-player video games, the players can play individually against one another or can be part of a team of players playing against at least one other second team. The players of the multi-player video games can be co-located or remotely located from one another. The player(s) select a video game for game play and provide game inputs. The game inputs are used to affect a game state of the video game and to update game data. The updated game data is used to generate game scenes that are returned to client device(s) of the player(s) for rendering. In the case of the multi-player video game, the game inputs of the different players are used to affect the game state and to synchronize the game data returned to the client devices associated with the different players. The game data generated from each game play session of the video game is saved as a video recording and retrieved for subsequent presentation to the one or more players.
In addition to players selecting the video game for game play, one or more spectators may also select the video game to view the game play of one or more players. The one or more spectators may select to follow a particular player or a particular team of players or the game play of the video game as a whole. In response to the request to view the game play of the video game received from the one or more spectators, the game data generated for the video game is shared with the one or more spectators.
During the game play of the video game, the spectators and/or the players may engage in interactions with one another. The interactions may be related to events or activities occurring in the video game, or content presented in the video game, or actions performed by the players, or comments provided by the players or spectators, or may relate to other trending topics or topics of common interest to the players and/or spectators playing/spectating the video game. The spectators and the players are collectively termed as “users”. These interactions generated during game play are saved using a timeline associated with the game data.
During game play of a multi-player video game, for example, a user (i.e. a player or a spectator) may temporarily step away from the video game in order to focus on other online or physical activity. While the player or the spectator has stepped away, the game play of the video game and the interactions exchanged between two or more users continue. When the user returns to either play the video game or spectate the video game, the user may have missed some of the interactions that would have occurred during their absence. The user may wish to be informed on what they missed during their time away from the video game so that they can fully immerse in the video game and/or the interactions.
It is in this context that embodiments of the invention arise.
Implementations of the present disclosure relate to systems and methods for providing a summary of interactions exchanged between two or more users during a time window of game play of a video game. The interactions can be related to happenings occurring in the video game or can be related to other topics that were discussed during the game play of the video game. A request for a summary of interactions that occurred during game play of the video game may be initiated by a user. The request may specify a time period. The time period may be explicitly selected by a user or can be deduced by the system. The system can, with the user's permission, track the movement of the user in the physical and/or online world and determine a time frame when the user had stepped away from playing or spectating the video game. In response to the request, the system extracts a portion of a recording of the game play of the video game and a portion of interactions exchanged between other users during the specified time period. The portions of the game play and the interactions are used to generate a summary of what the user had missed during their time away from the video game. The summary is returned for rendering at the client device of the user. The summary provides a quick view of what the user missed so that they can quickly immerse in the video game to get a full and enriching game play experience.
The summary may be generated by identifying and highlighting the different topics that were discussed in the interactions, and generating the summary highlighting the topics discussed and brief summary of each topic discussed. The topics of discussion in the interactions may be visually represented to provide the user with a quick view of each topic discussed and a level of prominence each topic garnered in the specified time period the user had stepped away. In some cases, the time period may not always have to correlate with the user stepping away. The time period may be specified by the user to quickly review the topics and summary of each topic discussed and, in some cases, to determine if the topics of discussions correlate with any events or occurrences in the video game. The visual highlights and the summary of the various topics discussed allow the user to quickly get updated on what occurred during their time away from the video game so that when they re-join the video game (either for play or spectate), the user is able to relate to the current interactions and be able to engage in informed participation.
In one implementation, a method to provide a summary of interactions that occurred during game play of a video game, is disclosed. The method includes receiving a request for the summary of interactions exchanged between two or more users during a time window of game play of the video game. The game play generates game data defining game state of the video game and the interactions include conversation strings related to one or more topics discussed during the game play. A subset of the interactions captured during the game play of the video game and correspond to the time window is identified. The subset of the interactions is filtered to retain select ones of the interactions with conversation strings that are relevant to the game play of the video game. The conversation strings included in the select ones of the interactions are analyzed to identify one or more keywords representing topics discussed within. The keywords are presented in a user interface for user selection, wherein the keywords are presented using visual representation defining a level of prominence assigned to each of the keywords. Each keyword, when selected, is configured to provide the summary of the topic associated with the keyword discussed in the conversation strings of the select ones of the interactions exchanged between the two or more users during the time window.
In another implementation, a method to provide a summary of interactions that occurred during a game play of a video game, is disclosed. The method includes receiving a request for the summary of interactions exchanged between two or more users during a time window of game play of the video game. The game play generates game data defining game state of the video game and the interactions include conversation strings related to one or more topics discussed during the game play. A subset of the interactions captured during the game play of the video game and that correspond with the time window is identified. The conversation strings in the subset of the interactions are analyzed to identify one or more topics discussed within, wherein each topic correlates with an event occurring in the video game. The topics identified from the conversation strings are presented in a user interface for user selection. The topics are presented using a visual representation defining a level of prominence assigned to each of the topics identified from the conversation strings included in the subset of interactions. Each topic, when selected at the user interface, is configured to provide the summary of discussion for the topic included in the conversation strings exchanged between the two or more users within the time window.
Other aspects of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of embodiments described in the present disclosure.
The disclosure may be better understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Broadly speaking, implementations of the present disclosure include systems and methods for receiving request from a user for a summary of interactions exchanged between two or more users during game play of a video game and, in response, returning the summary on an interactive user interface for rendering at the client device of a user. The request includes a time window and the interactions for the time window are identified and analyzed to determine topics of discussion. The topics are represented using keywords, wherein each keyword corresponds to a topic. More than one keyword can be used to represent the topic. The keywords representing the topics are used to generate an interactive word cloud. User selection of a keyword from the word cloud is detected and used to present a summary of interaction generated for the topic associated with the keyword. In some implementations, the keywords in the word cloud are visually presented in a manner to show a level of prominence or priority or hierarchy of the topics discussed in the interactions. The level of prominence of a particular topic, for instance, can be determined based on amount of time users spent discussing the particular topic or number of interactions generated for the particular topic, number of users providing the interactions for the particular topic, frequency of interactions discussing the particular topic, etc. In some cases, a histogram of usage of the keywords is generated and used to determine the level of prominence (i.e., importance and percentage of time devoted) of each keyword in the interactions. Based on the level of prominence, the keywords can be stylized and presented at the user interface so as to provide a visual representation of the level of prominence of the keywords. The implementations are not restricted to the use of histograms to determine the level of prominence of the keywords and that other ways of determining the level of prominence of the keywords can also be envisioned.
The interactions generated by users during gameplay of a video game can be in different forms, including verbal interactions, images (e.g., graphics, memes, Graphics Interchange Format files (GIFs), etc.), videos, etc. In some implementations, the verbal interactions can include content used to express ideas, opinions, comments, arguments, etc., exchange information, provide content for discussions for a topic, etc., and can be expressed as text content (i.e., written words expressing ideas, information) and/or audio content (i.e., spoken content, from which words, expressions, emotions, etc., can be deduced). The interactions are transcribed and interpreted using a generative artificial intelligence (GAI) engine, for example, to determine the topics and to summarize the discussions for the topics. In some cases, the GAI engine interprets the interactions by first filtering the interactions to remove non-relevant comments or conversations or threads so that only relevant comments that provide useful and relatable content are retained. In some cases, non-relevant comments can pertain to comments that do not provide any value to any topic or are frivolous comments that do not pertain to any topic. The GAI engine then interprets the retained interactions to identify topics of discussion. In addition to the interactions exchanged between the users, GAI engine also retrieves and interprets game data generated during game play of the video game. When the interactions are game-related, the GAI engine correlates the interactions with the events or activities or actions within the video game using the timeline of the video game. The GAI engine uses the interpreted interactions and, where appropriate, the game content (i.e., interpreted game data) to summarize the interactions. The summary generated for the interactions related to a particular topic is associated with one or more keywords representing the particular topic in the word cloud. When a user interacts with the one or more keywords rendered in the word cloud, the associated summary is presented to the user. The summary provides a brief explanation of the interactions generated for the particular topic and sentiments expressed by the users during the interactions related to the particular topic. In the case where the particular topic is related to events or activities occurring in the game, the summary can also provide details related to the events or activities that were actually happening in the video game during the time the particular topic was being discussed.
A user may step away from the video game and the various implementations discussed herein provide the user with a summary of what the user missed while they were away. The summary allows the user to quickly get up to speed on the interactions exchanged between other users and activities within the video game that the user missed while they were away, so that they can easily immerse in the video game fully informed. This enables the user to have an enriching video game experience.
With the general understanding of the disclosure, specific implementations of the disclosure will now be described in greater detail with reference to the various figures. It should be noted that various implementations of the present disclosure can be practiced without some or all of the specific details. In other instances, well known process operations have not been described in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscure various embodiments of the present disclosure.
The system 10 is shown as a network enabled video gaming system that allows gameplay and spectating of gameplay of a plurality of video games over a network 150 by users associated with one or more client devices 100. Although the system 10 is shown to provide gameplay of video games, the system can also be configured to enable users to interact with other interaction applications as well. The video games can be single-player video games or multi-player video games. In some implementations, a video game can be executed remotely from client devices 100 of users and rendered at the corresponding client devices 100, which can act as thin clients. In alternate implementations, a portion of the video game can be executed on server devices that are located remotely from the client devices 100 of users and another portion of the game can be executed locally at the client device 100 of the users. In yet other implementations, a single-player video game can be executed locally on the local client device 100 of a user and the gameplay of the user accessed over the network 150 of the system 10 by other users who wish to watch (i.e., spectate) the gameplay of the user. In the example illustrated in
In some implementations, the interactions processor engine 250 executing in the cloud game network 200 engages a machine learning engine 260 that uses artificial intelligence (AI) based services to provide the summary of interactions by performing one or more functional features, such as by gathering, analyzing, filtering, classifying and summarizing the various interactions exchanged between two or more users during game play of the game.
Users access the remote services provided by the cloud game network 200 using client devices 100, which include at least a processor (not shown), an input/output (I/O) device/interface and a display screen 110 for presenting content and for providing user input. For example, users may access cloud game network 200 via communications network using corresponding client devices 100. The client devices 100 are configured to provide inputs during gaming session (e.g., game inputs for adjusting game state and interaction inputs when interacting with other users), providing inputs to access, and adjust/update session data of game play session, receiving and presenting streaming media, etc. The client device 100 can be a personal computer (PC), a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), handheld device, etc.
In some implementations, when a client device 100 associated with a user is used to access a video game, the client device 100 may be configured with a client-side game title processing engine and game logic (e.g., executable code) that is stored locally for at least some local processing of the video game application, and for receiving and formatting streaming content as generated by the application executing at a server (e.g., cloud server 230), or for other content provided by server supported at the cloud game network 200.
In another embodiment, client device 100 may be configured as a thin client providing an interface to a back end server 230 within cloud game network 200. The back end server 230 is configured to provide computational functionality for accessing and interacting with the interactive applications (e.g., video games), such as a game title processing engine 210 that is configured to execute game logic 220—i.e., executable code of the video game. In particular, client device 100 of a corresponding user is configured for requesting access to an instance of a particular application, such as a video game, over a communications network, such as the Internet, and for rendering for display images generated from executing the game logic 220 of the video game by the game server 230. The images are encoded (e.g., encoded by a coder-decoder module (CODEC) within the game server 230 or by a separate CODEC) in accordance to communication protocol defined by a communication channel established between the cloud game server 230 and the respective client device 100, and are delivered (i.e., streamed) to the client device 100 for display. In response, the client device 100 is used to provide game inputs (i.e., input commands) that are used to drive the game state of the video game. Client device 100 may receive input from various types of input devices, such as game controllers, tablet computers, keyboards, gestures captured by video cameras, mice, touch pads, audio inputs, input interface, etc.
The game server 230, in response to receiving a request from the client device 100, queries a user profile and user ratings datastore 292 to retrieve the user profile of the user. The user profile data of the user is used to validate the user and to identify the preferences and ratings (i.e., ratings in accordance to skills possessed, content provided, etc.) of the user. The game server 230 also queries a game titles datastore 294 to validate the access request of the user to the video game. Inputs provided by the user at the client device are analyzed to identify game-related inputs and other interaction inputs provided by the user during the game session. The game-related inputs are stored in a game datastore 296 for later retrieval and the interaction inputs are stored in an interactions datastore 298.
In addition, the system 10 includes interactions processor engine 250 equipped with an AI model 270 that is configured to retrieve the interactions generated by the users during a game session from the interactions datastore 298 and perform one or more functions, such as gather, identify, filter, classify, and summarize the different interactions generated by the users during the game session. The interactions can be game-related or can be related to topics that are currently trending or are of common interest to the users that are participating in the game session. When a user requests summary of interactions for a particular time window, an interactions summary extractor 280 within the interactions processor engine 250 is used to identify select ones of the interactions that were generated during the time window of the game session and extract the summary associated with the select ones of the interactions generated using the AI model 270. The extracted summary is returned to the corresponding client device 100 of the user for rendering.
The process of generating summary of interactions exchanged between users during gameplay of a video game begins at operation 302, when a request for the summary of the interactions is received at the cloud game network 200, in some implementations. The request could be received at the interactions processor engine 250 executing on the cloud game network 200. The interactions processor engine 250 can be executing on the same server (i.e., cloud game server 230) that executes an instance of game logic 220 of the video game or can be executing on a different server within the cloud game network 200, wherein the different server is communicatively coupled to the cloud game server 230 to exchange details of game data and interactions generated during gameplay of the video game.
During a gameplay session of the video game, a user (either a player or a spectator) of the video game may step away from the video game to attend to other commitments either in the physical world or in the digital world. Upon their return to the video game session, the user may, in some implementations, request for details of interactions exchanged between other users during the gameplay session that the user missed for a period they were away. Depending on the amount of time the user had stepped away from the video game and the frequency and amount of content exchanged in the interactions between the other users, the details can be extensive or few. In order to provide the user with a review of what the user missed when they were away and to allow the user to quickly immerse in the video game and be up-to-date with the interactions, the interactions processor engine 250 may be engaged to provide a summary of the interactions.
In some implementations, the interactions exchanged during a time window of gameplay session may or may not correlate or be associated with events or activities that occurred in the video game. The time window that the user requests can correlate with the time period the user stepped away from the video game or can cover a time period that is greater than or lesser than the time period the user stepped away. A user interface presented at the display screen 110 of the client device 100 is configured to provide one or more options for specifying the time window and for requesting details of select types of the interactions generated during gameplay that corresponds with the time window. The user interface, in some implementations, can be rendered in a portion of the display screen 110 with the other portion of the display screen rendering gameplay data (e.g., game scenes showing the game state).
In some implementations, the options to select the time window can include a timeline with a sliding scale that the user can select to specify a start time and an end time for the time period for which the details are being requested. In addition to the time window, the options can also be used to specify the type of content generated during the time window that the user is interested in receiving. For example, the user may be interested in the interactions exchanged between the users that include game-related content. In another example, the user may be interested in the non-game related interactions exchanged between other users during the time period. In yet another implementation, the user may be interested in both the game-related and non-game-related interactions. For the aforementioned cases, different options may be provided to allow the user to specify the type of interactions the user is interested in receiving. In one implementation, the options can include a first option for receiving only interactions exchanged between the other users corresponding to the time window and a second option for receiving details of only game-related content (i.e., gameplay data providing details of game events or game activities) that occurred during the time window specified for the gameplay session of the game. Additional options can be provided to specify only game-related interactions, non-game-related interactions, game-related and/or non-game-related content that were generated by specific other users or specific group of other users (e.g., other users who were team members of a particular team the user belongs or follows), game-related and/or non-game-related content that were generated during occurrence of specific event(s), etc. The non-game-related content, for instance, can include the interactions between the users that pertain to topics that are currently trending or are of common interest to the users that are participating in the gameplay session of the video game.
In alternate implementations, the interactions processor engine 250 executing on the cloud game network 200 may keep track of the user to determine when the user is focused on gameplay and when the user's attention is away from the video game. The tracking of the user may be done by tracking online activity of the user in the different interactive sessions, which includes the gameplay session, and/or using images of the user captured using one or more image capturing devices associated with the client device and/or are located in the physical environment of the user. The tracking data collected for the user is used by the interactions processor engine 250 to automatically compute a time window when the user is detected to be away from the gameplay session. When the user is detected to have returned to interacting with the gameplay session, the interactions processor engine 250 is configured to automatically present one or more options for validating the time window and for selecting the type of interactions generated by other users during that time period that the user wishes to receive for the time window there were away. For instance, one option can specify the start time and the end time of the time window that the system detected the user being away from the game and allow the user to select the option to validate the time window. In addition to validating the time window, the user may be presented with one or more options to, (a) validate and/or edit the time period for which the user would like the system to provide the details of the interactions that they missed, and (b) the type of interactions that they would like to receive. User validation and/or selection of the specific option(s) is detected by the system and is used as input for the request.
An interactions retriever engine 251 within the interactions processor engine 250 is used to receive as inputs the game identifier and game session identifier of the video game, the time window and, where available, the type of interactions the user would like to receive for the time window. The inputs are used to query the game datastore 296 to retrieve the relevant game data 252a, and the interactions datastore 298 to retrieve relevant interactions 252b generated for the time window during the gameplay session of the video game (operation 304 of
The relevant game data 252a and the interactions 252b retrieved from the different datastores (296, 298) are processed using an interactions type identifier engine 252 to identify the types of interactions contained in the retrieved interactions. The game data related to the video game define the game state and provide sufficient details to construct the game scenes representing the game state at different points of time. The interactions generated during the gameplay include comments about the video game, including comments related to game state, the game graphics, the game levels, the game challenges, etc., of the video game, as well as comments about the game inputs provided by the different users, including the specific type of game inputs, the specific sequence of the game inputs, the identity and popularity of the user providing the game inputs, skill level of the user, etc. The interactions also include comments about other users, other users' comments, other users' attributes (e.g., digital or interaction attributes), comments related to certain portion of the video game for which certain ones of the other users provided the inputs, etc. The interactions are provided on a user interface rendered alongside the game content at the client device 100 of the user.
An interactions filter engine 253 is used to identify the game data 252a and the different types of interactions 252b generated for the game session of the video game. The time window 253a specified either by the user or computed by the interactions processor engine 250 is used to identify and retrieve select ones of the interactions and game data corresponding to the time window 253a from the different datastores (296, 298) (operation 306 of
The conversation strings, in some cases, are generated in bursts and can sometimes relate to what is occurring in the video game. For example, there can be a burst of conversation strings when a particular event is detected in the video game or a particular action is performed by a user using a specific sequence of inputs or a particular challenge/adversary is overcome or a particular level is achieved, etc. In some cases, the frequency of the burst can resemble a curve, such as a bell-curve, with at least one peak and two troughs, one on either side of the peak. Alternately, the bell-curve can include multiple peaks with troughs encompassing at least some of the peaks. The peak(s) of the bell-curve can correspond to a time period within the time window where the bulk of the conversation strings related to the event of the video game or for a topic that is being discussed are generated, while the portion(s) leading to the trough(s) and away from the peak can include fewer number of conversation strings related to the event or topic or can represent conversation strings that are relevant to other topics. In some implementations, the further the conversation string is from the peak of the bell-curve that corresponds to the event, the less relevant the content of the conversation string can be to the event. In some implementations, the conversation strings that are predominantly directed toward one or more topics are considered for generating the summary. In some implementations, the conversation strings that are considered for generating the summary are those that are generated during the peak of the bell-curve. In other implementations, the conversation strings that are generated for the whole time window is considered for generating the summary.
In some implementations, the conversation string that is away from the peak of the bell-curve can provide useful view or commentary on the event/action/activity that occurred in the video game that the other users overlooked. In order to ensure that relevant content is retained for further processing and the non-relevant content is filtered out, the interactions filter engine 253 uses the context of the content included in the conversation strings of the interactions and the game data pertaining to the time window to identify the content that corresponds to an event or action or activity of the video game or to a subject matter that is being discussed by the users. Based on the determination, the interactions filter engine 253 filters the select ones of the interactions so as to retain only those interactions that is relevant, useful and appropriate (i.e., appropriate language, appropriate behavioral content, etc.) and filter out the content that does not meet the acceptable criteria for the interactions (operation 308 of
The filtered select ones of the interactions are analyzed using interactions analyzer engine 254. In some implementations, the interactions analyzer engine 254 engages an artificial intelligence (AI) model to perform the analysis. The analysis can include identifying sentiments expressed, and to classify the interactions based on the sentiments and relevancy. A sentiment analyzer 254a is used to identify the sentiment expressed in each conversation string (operation 308 of
Details of the attributes captured and the sentiments expressed in the conversation strings are provided as inputs to a keywords identification engine 255. The keywords identification engine 255 identifies keywords included in the interactions that correspond with one or more topics discussed within, wherein the topics can be game-related (i.e., corresponds with an event or action or activity within the game) or non-game-related (i.e., non-game-related topics that are trending or are popular with the users). The keywords that correspond with the topics may also be weighted in accordance to the popularity of the topics amongst the users, the frequency of the keywords related to the topics used in the different conversation strings, number of users generating the conversation strings in which the keywords associated with the topics are used, etc. The keywords identification engine 255 also identifies the keywords that were used to express the sentiments by the interactions analyzer engine 254. In some implementations, the keywords are characterized in accordance to the sentiments expressed. Each sentiment expressed is assigned a weight based on number of conversation strings in which the sentiment is expressed, the number of users expressing or providing supporting comment for the sentiment, etc. The keywords identified in each conversation string (topic-related and sentiment-related) are then classified using an interactions classifier 255a, wherein the classification is done in accordance to the weight assigned to the keywords or weight assigned to the sentiment expressed by the keywords. As with the sentiment analyzer 254a, the AI model used by the sentiment analyzer 254a can also be used by the interactions classifier 255a of the keywords identification engine 255 to use the assigned weights for the different keywords identified in each conversation string to classify the topics associated with the keywords (operations 312 and 314 of
The keywords identified by the keywords identification engine 255 are used by a game event identification engine 256 to determine if one or more of the keywords identified in the conversation strings correlate with one or more game events or actions or activities that occurred in the video game during the time period when the conversation strings with the keywords were generated. As noted, some of the keywords may be game-related while other keywords may be non-game-related. The game event identification engine 256 is used to identify such keywords and correlate the identified keywords to an event or action or activity of the video game. The correlation can be done using timeline of the video game and the timestamp of the conversation string.
Once a keyword identified in the conversation string is correlated to an event or action or activity of the video game associated with is identified, a keywords-to-game event mapping engine 257 is used to map the topic associated with the keyword to the identified event/action/activity of the video game. The mapping may be done using the timeline of the video game and stored in the interactions datastore 298. In the event where the keywords are not associated with an event or action or activity of the video game, the topics associated with the keywords are identified and the keywords, the topics associated with the keywords and the weights assigned to the keywords are all stored in the interactions datastore 298.
A keyword stylizer 258 is used to stylize the keywords identified from the conversation strings (operation 316 of
As a response to the request received from the user for details of the interactions generated by other users in a time window of gameplay of the video game, a keywords summary generator engine 260 is used to extract the keywords identified from the select ones of the interactions generated during the time window. The select ones of the interactions are the ones that were identified by the different sub-modules of the interactions processor engine 250 for the time window 253a, classified, the keywords identified, mapped and stylized. As previously noted, the select ones of the interactions can include content that are game-related or non-game-related or both. The keywords summary generator engine 260, in some implementations, is a generative AI engine that develops and trains an AI model, such as interactions summary AI model 270, to use the keywords identified in the select ones of the interactions and to use the content included in the select ones of the interactions to generate the summary of the conversations. In some implementations, the summary generated for the keyword or the topic associated with the keyword is customized for the user requesting the summary. For example, the summary may be requested by a player or by a spectator. Based on the type of user requesting the summary, the summary may be customized for the user. For instance, when a player requests the summary, the content included in the interactions may be sorted to prioritize game-related content higher than the non-game-related content and the summary is generated to include the game-related content first followed by the non-game-related content. In some implementations where one or more of the identified keywords correspond with game-related topic, the summary generated for such keywords include details of an event or action or activity of the video game that were discussed in the select ones of the interactions. The generated summary and the associated game event/action/activity are mapped with the corresponding keyword, so that when the keyword is selected by the user at the word cloud, the user is provided with the summary, which includes the details of the event/action/activity of the video game. The generated summary provides a brief review of the conversations included in the select ones of the interactions so as to allow the user to get a quick update of the various actions, events, activities, topics of conversations included in the conversation strings generated during the time window specified by the user.
The summary, in some implementations, is generated in text format. In some other implementations, the summary generated for each keyword is also converted into audio format using an audio converter engine 260a. The audio version of the summary is also associated with the respective keywords along with the text summary. The generated summary is stored with the corresponding keywords in the interactions datastore 298. Based on the preference of the user requesting the summary, either the audio format or the text format of the summary is retrieved and provided.
An interactions summary extractor 280 is engaged to extract the relevant summary associated with the keywords identified from the select ones of the interactions. In some implementations, based on the requesting user's preference either the audio version or the text version of the summary is extracted for the identified keywords. A word cloud generation engine 282 within the interactions summary extractor 280 is used to dynamically generate a word cloud with the keywords identified for the time window 253a. The word cloud is generated as an interactive word cloud, wherein each keyword can be selected to receive the summary of the interactions and, where available, details of the game event/action/activity of the video game associated with it (operation 318 of
When the user selects a keyword from the word cloud, the summary associated with the keyword is rendered at the user interface, wherein the user interface can be a display screen (for rendering the text component of the summary) or a speaker (for rendering the audio component of the summary).
Instead of providing the word cloud with the keywords and rendering the associated summary when a keyword from the word cloud is selected, the interactions summary extractor 280 can, in some implementations, retrieve the summary of the interactions generated for the time window 253a and forward it to the client device 100 for rendering at the user interface. As noted, the summary can be rendered in text format on the display screen 110 of the client device 100 of the user or in audio format via the speaker associated with the client device 100 of the user. In these implementations, the step of generating the word cloud is bypassed.
During gameplay of the video game, the user may step away from the video game for a period of time and upon their return, may want to be apprised of what occurred within the video game and what was exchanged between the different users (e.g., players, spectators or both players and spectators) of the video game. The user can select a time window TW1 432 using the timeline TL 430 to request the details of what they missed during their time away from the gameplay of the video game. The user can define the time window TW1 432 by selecting by a start time TWstart-time 432a and an end time TWend-time 432b from the timeline TL 430. Depending on the popularity of the video game and/or the users playing the video game, and/or the frequency of postings generated by the different users (e.g., spectators, players, etc.), the interactions exchanged between users can be extensive or limited.
The request from the user is to get quickly apprised on what occurred (game-related and conversation-related) during their time away from the video game so that the user is better equipped to follow the interactions and the gameplay of the video game that occur subsequent to their return. The interactions processor engine 250 identifies the interactions that was generated during the time window TW1 432 and provides a summary of the interactions, which can include details related to the game events/actions/activities that occurred during the time window TW1 432. The summary can be provided compactly in a word cloud using keywords that were identified from the interactions or can be provided in text or audio format.
User selection of the keyword KW 7 (as shown by the greyed-out circle representing KW 7) in the word cloud 510 will result in the summary associated with the keyword KW 7 to be rendered on the user interface at a display screen 110 at the client device 100 of the user. Depending on the keyword KW 7 being used in game-related and/or non-game-related conversation strings, the corresponding summary of the interactions is dynamically generated and rendered at the user interface.
In some implementation, one or more keywords included in the word cloud 510 can include nested word cloud.
To summarize, the various implementations allow a user to specify a time window and request summary of conversations/interactions generated during the time window of gameplay of the video game. An interactions processor engine is configured to receive the request, extract the portion of interactions generated for the time period defining the time window, filter the content to remove inappropriate language and content that does not add any value to the discussions related to topics in the conversation strings or to what is occurring in the video game, and interpret the various formats of comments/content included in the conversation strings. The filtering is done contextually to ensure that conversations or comments of value to the user or related to the happenings in the video game are not filtered out. The filtered interactions are then summarized using a generative AI engine, which uses the transcript to generate brief of the discussions. The summary can be generated for each distinct topic or for each distinct sentiment. The summary can also be customized for each user based on the type of user requesting the summary and the preference of the user, wherein the user preference can specify that they would like to receive only players' interactions, only spectators' interactions, or event-related interactions, etc. The summary can be provided using a word cloud with word-bubbles in the form of keywords representing the various topics discussed, or can be provided in textual format or audio format. Each keyword identified for inclusion in the word cloud is identified by analyzing usage of the keyword to determine importance of a topic and percentage of time devoted to the topic represented by the keyword and are stylized accordingly to provide visual representation of the level of prominence of the keyword in the conversation strings. The analysis can be done using a histogram or using other forms of analysis. The keywords in the word cloud can include nested keywords or the summary of the interactions can include nested summaries. The summary allows the user to get fully informed about what has occurred during the time window so that the user can knowingly dive and fully immerse in the video game.
Memory 604 stores applications and data for use by the CPU 602. Storage 606 provides non-volatile storage and other computer readable media for applications and data and may include fixed disk drives, removable disk drives, flash memory devices, and CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, Blu-ray, HD-DVD, or other optical storage devices, as well as signal transmission and storage media. User input devices 608 communicate user inputs from one or more users to device 600, examples of which may include keyboards, mice, joysticks, touch pads, touch screens, still or video recorders/cameras, tracking devices for recognizing gestures, and/or microphones. Network interface 614 allows device 600 to communicate with other computer systems via an electronic communications network, and may include wired or wireless communication over local area networks and wide area networks such as the internet. An audio processor 613 is adapted to generate analog or digital audio output from instructions and/or data provided by the CPU 602, memory 604, and/or storage 606. The components of device 600, including CPU 602, memory 604, data storage 606, user input devices 608, network interface 614, and audio processor 613 are connected via one or more data buses 623.
A graphics subsystem 621 is further connected with data bus 623 and the components of the device 600. The graphics subsystem 621 includes a graphics processing unit (GPU) 616 and graphics memory 618. Graphics memory 618 includes a display memory (e.g., a frame buffer) used for storing pixel data for each pixel of an output image. Graphics memory 618 can be integrated in the same device as GPU 616, connected as a separate device with GPU 616, and/or implemented within memory 604. Pixel data can be provided to graphics memory 618 directly from the CPU 602. Alternatively, CPU 602 provides the GPU 616 with data and/or instructions defining the desired output images, from which the GPU 616 generates the pixel data of one or more output images. The data and/or instructions defining the desired output images can be stored in memory 604 and/or graphics memory 618. In an embodiment, the GPU 616 includes 3D rendering capabilities for generating pixel data for output images from instructions and data defining the geometry, lighting, shading, texturing, motion, and/or camera parameters for a scene. The GPU 616 can further include one or more programmable execution units capable of executing shader programs.
The graphics subsystem 621 periodically outputs pixel data for an image from graphics memory 618 to be displayed on display device 611. Display device 611 can be any device capable of displaying visual information in response to a signal from the device 600, including CRT, LCD, plasma, and OLED displays. Device 600 can provide the display device 611 with an analog or digital signal, for example.
It should be noted, that access services, such as providing access to games of the current embodiments, delivered over a wide geographical area often use cloud computing. Cloud computing is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as a service over the Internet. Users do not need to be an expert in the technology infrastructure in the “cloud” that supports them. Cloud computing can be divided into different services, such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Cloud computing services often provide common applications, such as video games, online that are accessed from a web browser, while the software and data are stored on the servers in the cloud. The term cloud is used as a metaphor for the Internet, based on how the Internet is depicted in computer network diagrams and is an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it conceals.
A game server may be used to perform the operations of the durational information platform for video game players, in some embodiments. Most video games played over the Internet operate via a connection to the game server. Typically, games use a dedicated server application that collects data from players and distributes it to other players. In other embodiments, the video game may be executed by a distributed game engine. In these embodiments, the distributed game engine may be executed on a plurality of processing entities (PEs) such that each PE executes a functional segment of a given game engine that the video game runs on. Each processing entity is seen by the game engine as simply a compute node. Game engines typically perform an array of functionally diverse operations to execute a video game application along with additional services that a user experiences. For example, game engines implement game logic, perform game calculations, physics, geometry transformations, rendering, lighting, shading, audio, as well as additional in-game or game-related services. Additional services may include, for example, messaging, social utilities, audio communication, game play replay functions, help function, etc. While game engines may sometimes be executed on an operating system virtualized by a hypervisor of a particular server, in other embodiments, the game engine itself is distributed among a plurality of processing entities, each of which may reside on different server units of a data center.
According to this embodiment, the respective processing entities for performing the operations may be a server unit, a virtual machine, or a container, depending on the needs of each game engine segment. For example, if a game engine segment is responsible for camera transformations, that particular game engine segment may be provisioned with a virtual machine associated with a graphics processing unit (GPU) since it will be doing a large number of relatively simple mathematical operations (e.g., matrix transformations). Other game engine segments that require fewer but more complex operations may be provisioned with a processing entity associated with one or more higher power central processing units (CPUs).
By distributing the game engine, the game engine is provided with elastic computing properties that are not bound by the capabilities of a physical server unit. Instead, the game engine, when needed, is provisioned with more or fewer compute nodes to meet the demands of the video game. From the perspective of the video game and a video game player, the game engine being distributed across multiple compute nodes is indistinguishable from a non-distributed game engine executed on a single processing entity, because a game engine manager or supervisor distributes the workload and integrates the results seamlessly to provide video game output components for the end user.
Users access the remote services with client devices, which include at least a CPU, a display and I/O. The client device can be a PC, a mobile phone, a netbook, a PDA, etc. In one embodiment, the network executing on the game server recognizes the type of device used by the client and adjusts the communication method employed. In other cases, client devices use a standard communications method, such as html, to access the application on the game server over the internet. It should be appreciated that a given video game or gaming application may be developed for a specific platform and a specific associated controller device. However, when such a game is made available via a game cloud system as presented herein, the user may be accessing the video game with a different controller device. For example, a game might have been developed for a game console and its associated controller, whereas the user might be accessing a cloud-based version of the game from a personal computer utilizing a keyboard and mouse. In such a scenario, the input parameter configuration can define a mapping from inputs which can be generated by the user's available controller device (in this case, a keyboard and mouse) to inputs which are acceptable for the execution of the video game.
In another example, a user may access the cloud gaming system via a tablet computing device, a touchscreen smartphone, or other touchscreen driven device. In this case, the client device and the controller device are integrated together in the same device, with inputs being provided by way of detected touchscreen inputs/gestures. For such a device, the input parameter configuration may define particular touchscreen inputs corresponding to game inputs for the video game. For example, buttons, a directional pad, or other types of input elements might be displayed or overlaid during running of the video game to indicate locations on the touchscreen that the user can touch to generate a game input. Gestures such as swipes in particular directions or specific touch motions may also be detected as game inputs. In one embodiment, a tutorial can be provided to the user indicating how to provide input via the touchscreen for gameplay, e.g., prior to beginning gameplay of the video game, so as to acclimate the user to the operation of the controls on the touchscreen.
In some embodiments, the client device serves as the connection point for a controller device. That is, the controller device communicates via a wireless or wired connection with the client device to transmit inputs from the controller device to the client device. The client device may in turn process these inputs and then transmit input data to the cloud game server via a network (e.g., accessed via a local networking device such as a router). However, in other embodiments, the controller can itself be a networked device, with the ability to communicate inputs directly via the network to the cloud game server, without being required to communicate such inputs through the client device first. For example, the controller might connect to a local networking device (such as the aforementioned router) to send to and receive data from the cloud game server. Thus, while the client device may still be required to receive video output from the cloud-based video game and render it on a local display, input latency can be reduced by allowing the controller to send inputs directly over the network to the cloud game server, bypassing the client device.
In one embodiment, a networked controller and client device can be configured to send certain types of inputs directly from the controller to the cloud game server, and other types of inputs via the client device. For example, inputs whose detection does not depend on any additional hardware or processing apart from the controller itself can be sent directly from the controller to the cloud game server via the network, bypassing the client device. Such inputs may include button inputs, joystick inputs, embedded motion detection inputs (e.g., accelerometer, magnetometer, gyroscope), etc. However, inputs that utilize additional hardware or require processing by the client device can be sent by the client device to the cloud game server. These might include captured video or audio from the game environment that may be processed by the client device before sending to the cloud game server. Additionally, inputs from motion detection hardware of the controller might be processed by the client device in conjunction with captured video to detect the position and motion of the controller, which would subsequently be communicated by the client device to the cloud game server. It should be appreciated that the controller device in accordance with various embodiments may also receive data (e.g., feedback data) from the client device or directly from the cloud gaming server.
In one embodiment, the various technical examples can be implemented using a virtual environment via a head-mounted display (HMD). An HMD may also be referred to as a virtual reality (VR) headset. As used herein, the term “virtual reality” (VR) generally refers to user interaction with a virtual space/environment that involves viewing the virtual space through an HMD (or VR headset) in a manner that is responsive in real-time to the movements of the HMD (as controlled by the user) to provide the sensation to the user of being in the virtual space or metaverse. For example, the user may see a three-dimensional (3D) view of the virtual space when facing in a given direction, and when the user turns to a side and thereby turns the HMD likewise, then the view to that side in the virtual space is rendered on the HMD. An HMD can be worn in a manner similar to glasses, goggles, or a helmet, and is configured to display a video game or other metaverse content to the user. The HMD can provide a very immersive experience to the user by virtue of its provision of display mechanisms in close proximity to the user's eyes. Thus, the HMD can provide display regions to each of the user's eyes which occupy large portions or even the entirety of the field of view of the user, and may also provide viewing with three-dimensional depth and perspective.
In one embodiment, the HMD may include a gaze tracking camera that is configured to capture images of the eyes of the user while the user interacts with the VR scenes. The gaze information captured by the gaze tracking camera(s) may include information related to the gaze direction of the user and the specific virtual objects and content items in the VR scene that the user is focused on or is interested in interacting with. Accordingly, based on the gaze direction of the user, the system may detect specific virtual objects and content items that may be of potential focus to the user where the user has an interest in interacting and engaging with, e.g., game characters, game objects, game items, etc.
In some embodiments, the HMD may include an externally facing camera(s) that is configured to capture images of the real-world space of the user such as the body movements of the user and any real-world objects that may be located in the real-world space. In some embodiments, the images captured by the externally facing camera can be analyzed to determine the location/orientation of the real-world objects relative to the HMD. Using the known location/orientation of the HMD the real-world objects, and inertial sensor data from the, the gestures and movements of the user can be continuously monitored and tracked during the user's interaction with the VR scenes. For example, while interacting with the scenes in the game, the user may make various gestures such as pointing and walking toward a particular content item in the scene. In one embodiment, the gestures can be tracked and processed by the system to generate a prediction of interaction with the particular content item in the game scene. In some embodiments, machine learning may be used to facilitate or assist in said prediction. During HMD use, various kinds of single-handed, as well as two-handed controllers can be used. In some implementations, the controllers themselves can be tracked by tracking lights included in the controllers, or tracking of shapes, sensors, and inertial data associated with the controllers. Using these various types of controllers, or even simply hand gestures that are made and captured by one or more cameras, it is possible to interface, control, maneuver, interact with, and participate in the virtual reality environment or metaverse rendered on an HMD. In some cases, the HMD can be wirelessly connected to a cloud computing and gaming system over a network. In one embodiment, the cloud computing and gaming system maintains and executes the video game being played by the user. In some embodiments, the cloud computing and gaming system is configured to receive inputs from the HMD and the interface objects over the network. The cloud computing and gaming system is configured to process the inputs to affect the game state of the executing video game. The output from the executing video game, such as video data, audio data, and haptic feedback data, is transmitted to the HMD and the interface objects. In other implementations, the HMD may communicate with the cloud computing and gaming system wirelessly through alternative mechanisms or channels such as a cellular network.
Additionally, though implementations in the present disclosure may be described with reference to a head-mounted display, it will be appreciated that in other implementations, non-head mounted displays may be substituted, including without limitation, portable device screens (e.g. tablet, smartphone, laptop, etc.) or any other type of display that can be configured to render video and/or provide for display of an interactive scene or virtual environment in accordance with the present implementations. It should be understood that the various embodiments defined herein may be combined or assembled into specific implementations using the various features disclosed herein. Thus, the examples provided are just some possible examples, without limitation to the various implementations that are possible by combining the various elements to define many more implementations. In some examples, some implementations may include fewer elements, without departing from the spirit of the disclosed or equivalent implementations.
Embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced with various computer system configurations including hand-held devices, microprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers and the like. Embodiments of the present disclosure can also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a wire-based or wireless network.
Although the method operations were described in a specific order, it should be understood that other housekeeping operations may be performed in between operations, or operations may be adjusted so that they occur at slightly different times or may be distributed in a system which allows the occurrence of the processing operations at various intervals associated with the processing, as long as the processing of the telemetry and game state data for generating modified game states and are performed in the desired way.
One or more embodiments can also be fabricated as computer readable code on a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium is any data storage device that can store data, which can be thereafter be read by a computer system. Examples of the computer readable medium include hard drives, network attached storage (NAS), read-only memory, random-access memory, CD-ROMs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, magnetic tapes and other optical and non-optical data storage devices. The computer readable medium can include computer readable tangible medium distributed over a network-coupled computer system so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.
In one embodiment, the video game is executed either locally on a gaming machine, a personal computer, or on a server. In some cases, the video game is executed by one or more servers of a data center. When the video game is executed, some instances of the video game may be a simulation of the video game. For example, the video game may be executed by an environment or server that generates a simulation of the video game. The simulation, on some embodiments, is an instance of the video game. In other embodiments, the simulation may be produced by an emulator. In either case, if the video game is represented as a simulation, that simulation is capable of being executed to render interactive content that can be interactively streamed, executed, and/or controlled by user input.
Although the foregoing embodiments have been described in some detail for purposes of clarity of understanding, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications can be practiced within the scope of the appended claims. Accordingly, the present embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the embodiments are not to be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims.
