Real time unified communications interaction of a predefined location in a virtual reality location

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 defining a link to other visitors or to other third party data, each data set independently authored by a respective author different from the other authors;   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 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, the host computer further adapted to connect to a social media cloud to establish either real-time or pseudo-real-time connections based upon any unified communications modality.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more data servers stores links to other visitors and other third-party data, and wherein link VR data sets can be stored remotely from the data server. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the VR data sets comprise first data representing a plurality of photographs taken from a geographical location, each photograph taken in a respective viewing direction, and second data representing the viewing direction of each photograph in at least a third photograph taken from a third-party related to the same location obtained through a social media cloud. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the client host generates a virtual reality presentation utilizing the accessed VR data set and establishes real-time communications or pseudo-real-time communications with other visitors related to the same geographical location or the same interest in that geographical location. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the domain server is adapted to communicate with a plurality of client hosts whereby a plurality of client hosts can simultaneously visit the universe and whereby one of the clients house next to a social media cloud. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the domain data in the domain server is updated based on author submission of information regarding the network address of the data server and the location in the virtual reality universe associated with the VR data set and whereby the author can download data from third parties related to the same location obtained through a social media cloud. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the VR data sets comprise data representing a photograph taken from a geographical location and wherein the at least one VR data set comprises data of other visitor links and other third-party data. 
     
     
         8 . 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 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;   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; and   establishing real-time or pseudo-real-time communications between the visitor and new visitors who: share the same virtual reality space, have come to the same space at different times and/or are to be linked to a new person whose geolocation or whose interests align with that virtual reality space.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein transferring the VR data comprises:
 transferring the network address of the data server to the visitor's computer; and   directing a request to transmit the VR data from the visitor's computer to the data server associated with the VR data whereby the data server communicates with the visitor's computer to transfer the VR data, directing a request to connect to other visitors based upon other visitor links.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein receiving data from the visitor representing a selected location in the universe comprises:
 transmitting a list of locations to the visitor's computer for display of the list; and   receiving data from the visitor representing the selected location from the list and directing a request to connect to other visitors based upon other visitor links.   
     
     
         11 . 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 independently authored by a respective author different from the other authors; 
 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, and establishes real-time or pseudo-real-time communications between the visitor and inviting new visitors who: share the same virtual reality space, have come to the same space at different times and/or are to be linked to a new person whose geolocation or whose interests align with that virtual reality space.   
     
     
         12 . The viewing system of  claim 11 , wherein the processor displays the presentation on the display and the interface to interacts with other visitors using a variety of unified communications modalities. 
     
     
         13 . 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 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;   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;   establishing real-time or pseudo-real-time communications between the visitor; and   inviting new visitors who: share the same virtual reality space, have come to the same space at different times and/or are to be linked to a new person whose geolocation or whose interests align with that virtual reality space.