Perceptually-Oriented Interest Management In Large-Scale Networked Virtual Environments

Abstract

Amongst the most significant challenges in developing large-scale multi-user virtual environments is the efficient filtering of data to each user - a process commonly described as "interest management". This work-in-progress paper presents a broad summary of existing approaches, placing an emphasis upon the relationship between interest management and human perception. Subsequently, an introduction to the challenges in evaluating the success of interest management, given such a relationship to perception, is presented. The initial development of a test environment aimed at overcoming some of the challenges in providing a platform for such evaluation is then described, together with discussion of a perceptually-oriented approach to interest management which relies on the description of perception as a dynamic field, formed by analysis of the user's focus.