System and methods for effective virtual reality visitor interface

Abstract

A virtual reality network provides access to a number of virtual reality representations, each virtual reality representation representing a location in a virtual universe and defined by VR data stored on the network. The VR data can be in a simplified data format. A database stores the network address and the location in the universe of each virtual reality representation. A database server provides access to the database. The database server generates a list of locations in response to a location query from a visitor, and provides the network address of the virtual reality representation of a selected location. A visitor connects to the database server with a client host to visit the locations in the virtual universe.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for enabling a visitor to access virtual reality (VR) representations authored by different authors of locations in a virtual universe via a computer network, the system comprising:
 memory for storing a plurality of VR data sets, each VR data set defining a VR representation of a location, each VR data set independently authored by a respective author different from the other authors, each VR data set comprising metadata for viewpoints; and   one or more VR data servers adapted to access and transmit the VR data sets, each VR data set associated with a VR data server for access to the VR data set;   a domain server adapted to access and transmit domain data comprising the location within the universe of each VR representation and the network address of the VR data server associated with the VR representation; and   a client host adapted to communicate with the domain server to receive the domain data representing the network address of the VR data server associated with a selected VR representation, the client host further adapted to communicate with that VR data server to access the VR data set defining the VR representation without leaving the virtual universe.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the VR data sets comprise first data representing a plurality of photographs or real time images taken from a geographical location, each photograph taken in a respective viewing direction, and second data representing the viewing direction of each photograph and each of the plurality of photographs or real time images are represented with a specific viewpoint. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the client host comprises generates a virtual reality presentation utilizing the accessed VR data set, the accessed VR dataset comprises viewpoints metadata, the viewpoints metadata comprising “VISUALIZATION TYPES” and/or “RULES TYPES”. 
     
     
         4 . A method for enabling a visitor utilizing a computer to visit a selected location within a virtual reality universe using virtual reality data authored by different authors, the method comprising:
 providing a plurality of data servers and a domain server interconnected with the data servers, the data servers providing access to sets of VR data of virtual representations of locations within the universe, each set of VR data authored by a respective different author and comprises metadata on viewpoints such as “VISUALIZATION TYPES” and “RULES TYPES” independently of the other authors, the domain server providing access to domain data for selecting the location to visit and the network address of the data server providing access to the VR data for the selected location;   receiving data from the visitor representing a selected location in the universe;   accessing the domain data in response to the received data and obtaining therefrom the network address of the data server that provides access to the VR data for the selected location; and   transferring the VR data for the selected location from the data server to the visitor's computer for generation of a VR presentation of the selected location without leaving the virtual universe.   
     
     
         5 . A virtual reality viewing system for viewing virtual locations in a virtual universe accessed through a computer network, the viewing system comprising:
 memory for storing:
 a plurality of data sets, each data set representing a location in a virtual universe, each data set comprising viewpoint metadata and each data set independently authored by a respective author different from the other authors; and 
 data representing a map of the locations in the virtual universe represented by the plurality of data sets; 
   a display for displaying an image of a map from the map data;   an interface for:
 receiving visitor input for selecting a location displayed on the map represented by one of the plurality of data sets; 
 transmitting the one data set representing the selected location through the network; 
 receiving data representing the network address of a network data server providing access to the one data set; and 
 communicating with the network data server to receive the one data set; and 
   a processor for executing instructions stored in memory, wherein execution of the instructions by the processor generates a virtual reality presentation from the one data set without leaving the virtual universe.   
     
     
         6 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having embodied thereon a program executable by a processor to perform a method for enabling a visitor utilizing a computer to visit a selected location within a virtual reality universe using virtual reality data authored by different authors, the method comprising:
 providing a plurality of data servers and a domain server interconnected with the data servers, the data servers providing access to sets of VR data of virtual representations of locations within the universe, each set of VR data authored by a respective different author and comprises metadata on viewpoints such as “VISUALIZATION TYPES” and “RULES TYPES” independently of the other authors, the domain server providing access to domain data for selecting the location to visit and the network address of the data server providing access to the VR data for the selected location;   receiving data from the visitor representing a selected location in the universe;   accessing the domain data in response to the received data and obtaining therefrom the network address of the data server that provides access to the VR data for the selected location; and   transferring the VR data for the selected location from the data server to the visitor's computer for generation of a VR presentation of the selected location without leaving the virtual universe.