On the characterization of avatars in Distributed Virtual Worlds

Abstract In a Distributed Virtual Environment system several users connected from different computers can share the same virtual world. Current DVE systems run simulations based on a server-network architecture, where the population of avatars should be properly assigned to the servers in the DVE. This goal, called partitioning problem, is a hot research problem in the field of networked 3D real time graphics. Some approaches have been proposed for resolving this problem, all of them based on a very basic model which describes the behaviour of an avatar in a virtual world. This model estimates the workload gener-ated by an avatar to the server where is allocated as an independent and static value. In order to design scalable and accurate partitioning schemes we propose a new characterization of the workload generated by the avatars in the system. In our model this behaviour has been successfully correlated with the move-ment rate of the avatars and a new parameter proposed, called factor of presence, which measures the density of avatar in a virtual scene.

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