System and apparatus for managing latency-sensitive interaction in virtual environments

A device comprising:

• a data structure representing a characteristic of an object or objects in a virtual interactive environment;
• a client simulator to perform a first simulation of the characteristics of the object or objects in the virtual interactive environment;
• a server simulator to perform a second simulation of the characteristics of the object or objects in the virtual interactive environment;
• a synchronizer to synchronize the first and the second simulations;
• a data structure of network properties, comprising latency or bandwidth of the network;
• and
• a processor which consults the data structure of network properties to determine whether the client simulator will perform the first simulation.

An apparatus comprising:

• means for simulating a virtual interactive environment by at least one of interpolation, extrapolation, and approximation;
• means for receiving on a server computer a state of the virtual interactive environment as it exists on a client computer;
• means for synchronizing a state of the virtual interactive environment as it exists on the server with a state of the virtual interactive environment as it exists on the client computer to provide a refined simulation on the client computer;
• means for transmitting to the client computer a state of the virtual interactive environment as it exists on the server;
• and
• means for determining whether the client computer will wait for input from the server computer, based upon network latency or bandwidth requirements.

A method comprising:

• simulating a virtual interactive environment by at least one of interpolation, extrapolation, and approximation;
• receiving on a server computer a state of the virtual interactive environment as simulated on a client computer;
• transmitting to the client computer a state of the virtual interactive environment as simulated on the server;
• synchronizing a state of the virtual interactive environment as simulated on the server computer with a state of the virtual interactive environment as simulated on the client computer to provide a refined simulation on the client computer;
• and
• determining whether the client computer will wait for input from the server computer, based upon network latency or bandwidth requirements.

A computer program product comprising a computer useable storage medium including a computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to:

• simulate a virtual interactive environment on a client computer;
• simulate a virtual interactive environment on a server computer;
• transmit to the client computer a state of the virtual interactive environment as it exists on the server computer;
• receive on the server computer a state of the virtual interactive environment as it exists on the client computer;
• and
• synchronize a state of the virtual interactive environment as it exists on the server computer with a state of the virtual interactive environment as it exists on the client computer,
• wherein the computer readable program further causes the computer to simulate the virtual interactive environment on the client computer when communication with the server computer exceeds a latency threshold.