A dynamic message filtering technique for 3D cyberspaces

This paper discusses the scalability problem of distributed virtual environ ment (DVE) centered on area of interest (AOI) model and dead reckoning (DR) algorithm. Previous models improving scalability of virtual environment ar e analyzed and compared, and a new adaptive message-filtering algorithm bas ed on DR is proposed. The proposed model can be utilized for distributed in teractive simulation (DIS) and various network applications such as multi-p layer games and virtual communities. The most distinguished characteristic of the proposed model is the introduction of flexible threshold mechanism ( FTM). It is inefficient that in static dead reckoning (SDR) algorithm, movi ng avatar straightly and frequently rotating one are uniformly considered. The proposed model overcomes the weak point of established DR caused by a f ixed threshold and a strong dependency on rotational behavior of moving ava tars. This paper defines a new criterion for update message filtering, name d as update lifetime (UL), which is a valid duration time of entity state u pdate. The advantage of dynamic approaches proposed in this paper is the ab ility of keeping the balance between fidelity and performance in filtering. In experimental results, it was shown that intelligent DR lowered the incr ement rate of update message traffic over the increase of behavioral comple xity of avatar without any significant loss of accuracy. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.