MS patents 360 TV?
Microsoft's 5000th patent intends to make Xbox Live celebrities of us all. Most of us are familiar with the Gotham TV feature in Project Gotham 3, but MS wants to take the concept to a whole 'nother level. Patent No. 6,999,083 concerns a "System and method to provide a spectator experience for networked gaming." From the summary:
The present invention provides a system and method that generates a spectator experience corresponding to an occurrence of an associated game or event. The spectator experience can be generated in real time as a function of the associated game or event. Alternatively or additionally, the spectator experience could include portions of a prior occurrence of an associated game or event, such as to provide highlights, instant replays, or other enhancements for the resulting spectator experience. Each occurrence of a game or event varies over time in response to contributions and/or interactions of one or more participants (e.g., players) of each respective game or event.
...Another aspect of the present invention provides an infrastructure or portal (e.g., a Website) to access spectator related services. The portal may provide information about the occurrence of one or more games or events. By way of illustration, the portal may include a user interface, which presents information about available occurrences. The available occurrences can correspond to real time games or events or to delayed versions of games or events. The portal also can include visual and/or audio information about the available occurrences including, for example, identifying the name for each game or event, the number of active participants, the number of spectators, etc. The portal further includes user interface elements that can be activated to connect to a spectator experience corresponding to a desired occurrence of a game or event.
I hope this means that one day you'll be able to log in at the office and watch your autistic brother impress the universe with his skill at Rockstar Presents Bocci Ball. How far can you see this type of feature going?
[via Xboxic]
