Player matching device and player matching method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11040264-B2
Application number	US-201816048496-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 30, 2018
Priority date	Feb 2, 2016
Publication date	Jun 22, 2021
Grant date	Jun 22, 2021

Abstract

The present invention relates to a player matching device and a player matching method. According to a first aspect of the present invention, there may be provided a player matching device for matching a virtual user capable of playing a virtual golf game with a player on a virtual golf course with the player, the player matching device including: a level determination unit configured to determine at least one of the skill level of the player and the skill level of a virtual user; and an opponent determination unit configured to determine an opponent capable of playing a virtual golf game with the player, wherein the opponent determination unit extracts one or more virtual users having a skill level within a predetermined range based on the skill level of the player, and determines the opponent to be a virtual user including at least part of the extracted virtual users.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A player matching device for matching a player with a virtual user on a virtual golf game, the player matching device comprising:
a level determination unit configured to determine at least one of a skill level of the player and a skill level of the virtual user, the virtual user being a virtual player who operates based on play data of any other player who played a golf game before a request for a golf game play from the player, the play data comprising information about a path of a golf ball attributable to a golf shot at each hole when the golf game is played; and
an opponent determination unit configured to determine the virtual user as an opponent capable of playing a virtual golf game with the player,
wherein the opponent determination unit extracts one or more virtual users having a skill level within a predetermined range based on the skill level of the player, and determines the opponent among the extracted virtual users,
wherein the level determination unit determines at least one of first and second levels for the skill level of the player, in which case the level determination unit
groups skill indices according to a predetermined range of the skill indices,
determines the first level to be a level corresponding to a group including the skill index of the player when the number of virtual golf games played by the player for a predetermined period is less than a predetermined number, and
determines the second level, which is a detailed level of the first level, to be a level corresponding to a detailed group obtained by subdividing the group including the skill index of the player when the number of virtual golf games played by the player for the predetermined period is same or more than the predetermined number.

2. The player matching device of claim 1 , wherein the level determination unit determines the skill level of the player to be the level corresponding to the group including the skill index of the player when the player satisfies a condition for a promotion from a level below the level corresponding to the group including the skill index of the player to the level corresponding to the group including the skill index of the player.

3. The player matching device of claim 1 , wherein the level determination unit determines the skill level of the player based on the skill index of the player and a rank of the player.

4. The player matching device of claim 1 , further comprising an index computation unit configured to compute the skill index of the player based on play of the player in at least one of virtual golf games played by the player.

5. The player matching device of claim 4 , wherein the index computation unit computes the skill index of the player as an average value of scores in one or more of virtual golf games played by the player.

6. The player matching device of claim 4 , wherein the index computation unit computes the skill index of the player by applying at least one of an evaluation of a corresponding golf course and a round environment to a score in at least one of virtual golf games played by the player.

7. The player matching device of claim 4 , wherein the index computation unit modifies hole scores in one or more of virtual golf games played by the player, selects one or more games having a highest modified score, and computes the skill index of the player as an average value of handicaps of the player in the selected one or more games.

8. The player matching device of claim 4 , wherein the index computation unit computes the skill index of the player as an average value of handicaps of the player in one or more of virtual golf games played by the player.

9. The player matching device of claim 4 , wherein the index computation unit accumulates times spent in one or more virtual golf games played by the player, and computes the skill index based on a total cumulative time.

10. The player matching device of claim 1 , wherein the opponent determination unit filters out one or more virtual users, having play data on being played with a number of team players equal to a number of players of a team including the player, in the extracted virtual users.

11. The player matching device of claim 1 , wherein the opponent determination unit filters out one or more virtual users, having set an amount within a predetermined range of a bet amount of a team including the player, in the extracted virtual users.

12. The player matching device of claim 1 , wherein the opponent determination unit filters out one or more virtual users, having play data on being played with a number of team players equal to a number of players of a team including the player or having set an amount within a predetermined range of a bet amount of a team including the player, in the extracted virtual users, and determines, among the filtered-out virtual users, a virtual user having play data generated at an earliest time as the opponent.

13. The player matching device of claim 12 , wherein the opponent determination unit determines the opponent to be a virtual user who is a ghost player when a recording player does not exist.

14. A computer-readable non-transitory storage medium having stored thereon a program for causing a player matching device to execute matching a player with a virtual user on a virtual golf game, the program causing the player matching device to execute:
determining, by a level determination unit of the player matching device, at least one of a skill level of the player and a skill level of the virtual user, the virtual user being a virtual player who operates based on play data of any other player who played a golf game before a request for a golf game play from the player, the play data comprising information about a path of a golf ball attributable to a golf shot at each hole when the golf game is played; and
determining, by an opponent determination unit of the player matching device, the virtual user as an opponent capable of playing a virtual golf game with the player,
wherein determining the opponent comprises extracting one or more virtual users having a skill level within a predetermined range based on the skill level of the player, and determining the opponent among the extracted virtual users,
wherein determining the skill level comprises determining at least one of first and second levels for the skill level of the player, wherein determining the first and second levels comprises
grouping skill indices according to a predetermined range of the skill indices,
determining the first level to be a level corresponding to a group including the skill index of the player when the number of virtual golf games played by the player for a predetermined period is less than a predetermined number, and
determining the second level, which is a detailed level of the first level, to be a level corresponding to a detailed group obtained by subdividing the group including the skill index of the player when the number of virtual golf games played by the player for the predetermined period is same or more than the predetermined number.

Assignees

• Golfzon Co Ltd

Inventors

• Jang Sung Won

Classifications

• A63F13/795 Primary

  for finding other players; for building a team; for providing a buddy list · CPC title

• H04L67/131

  Protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality · CPC title

• G06F3/011

  Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality (blind teaching G09B21/00) · CPC title

• A63B2220/30

  Speed · CPC title

• A63B71/0616

  Means for conducting or scheduling competition, league, tournaments or rankings · CPC title