Systems and methods to control publication of user content in a virtual world

Abstract

A computing system and method to implement a three-dimensional virtual reality world having user created virtual objects. During the creation of a virtual object, a user of the virtual reality world identifies components and/or resources of the virtual object, such as a mesh model defining the shape of the virtual object, an image specifying the appearance of the virtual object, and a script defining the run time behavior of the virtual object. The computer system examines the components and/or resources duration the creation process of the virtual object to detect and/or address security threats and/or performance hurdles. Before the approval of the publication of the virtual object in the virtual world, the computer system performs a simulation of the rendering of the virtual object to detect security threats and evaluate performance impacts.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computing system comprising:
 a memory;   at least one microprocessor coupled with the memory and configured to:
 receive user inputs representative of a virtual object; 
 simulate rendering of the virtual object in a virtual environment represented by a three dimensional model; and 
 determine approval of the virtual object in the virtual environment based at least in part on a result of a simulation of the rendering of the virtual object in the virtual environment. 
   
     
     
         2 . The computing system of  claim 1 , wherein the microprocessor is further configured to detect security threats and performance concerns by examining the components of the virtual object. 
     
     
         3 . The computing system of  claim 2 , wherein the microprocessor is further configured to render a virtual reality world according to the three-dimensional model and according to view points of avatars rendered in the virtual reality world according to the avatar models. 
     
     
         4 . The computing system of  claim 2 , wherein the microprocessor is further configured to examine components of the virtual object to detect security threats and performance concerns, wherein at least part of the examination of the components and simulation of the rendering of the virtual object is performed concurrently with a creation process of the virtual object by a user of a virtual reality world. 
     
     
         5 . The computing system of  claim 4 , wherein the components of the virtual object include an image. 
     
     
         6 . The computing system of  claim 5 , wherein the examination of the components of the virtual object includes scanning the image for computer virus and malware. 
     
     
         7 . The computing system of  claim 5 , wherein the microprocessor is further configured to:
 render the image in a sandbox;   capture a replacement image from the image rendered in the sandbox; and   replace the image of the virtual object with the replacement image.   
     
     
         8 . The computing system of  claim 7 , wherein a resolution of the replacement image is configured to improve performance of rendering the virtual object in the virtual reality world. 
     
     
         9 . The computing system of  claim 4 , wherein the components of the virtual object include a script; and the microprocessor is further configured to scan the script for blacklisted system calls. 
     
     
         10 . The computing system of  claim 4 , wherein the components of the virtual object include a mesh model defining a shape of the virtual object in the virtual reality world; and the microprocessor is further configured to measure a performance impact of rendering the mesh model. 
     
     
         11 . The computing system of  claim 4 , wherein the components of the virtual object include a mesh model defining a shape of the virtual object in the virtual reality world; and the microprocessor is further configured to downsample the mesh model to generate a replacement mesh model. 
     
     
         12 . A method comprising:
 receiving user inputs representative of a virtual object;   simulating rendering of the virtual object in a virtual environment represented by a three dimensional model; and   determining approval of the virtual object in the virtual environment based at least in part on a result of a simulation of the rendering of the virtual object in the virtual environment.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 measuring computer resource usages of the virtual object during the simulating of the rendering of the virtual object.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the determining approval of the virtual object in a virtual environment is based at least in part on a determining that the computer resource usages measured during the simulating are below respective predetermined thresholds. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 running a world viewer in an emulated user device to access the virtual object being simulated in a virtual environment.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 generating inputs to the world viewer to simulate user interaction with the virtual object in the virtual environment.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the simulating of the rendering of the virtual object is performed in a sandbox. 
     
     
         18 . A non-transitory computer storage medium storing instructions configured to instruct a server computer to perform a method, the method comprising:
 receiving user inputs representative of a virtual object;   simulating rendering of the virtual object in a virtual environment represented by a three dimensional model; and   determining approval of the virtual object in the virtual environment based at least in part on a result of a simulation of the rendering of the virtual object in the virtual environment.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer storage medium of  claim 18 , wherein the method further comprises:
 scheduling, in response to the user inputs and during creation of the virtual object by a user, examining of components of the virtual object to be performed before completion of the creation of the virtual object.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer storage medium of  claim 18 , wherein before the publication of the virtual object, the virtual object is not visible in a virtual environment to users other than a creator of the virtual object; and after the publication of the virtual object, replicas of the virtual object are acquirable by users in the virtual environment.