U.S. Patent No. 10,709,981: Systems and methods for the real-time generation of in-game, locally accessible barrier-aware heatmaps
Issued July 14, 2020 to Activision Publishing Inc.
Filed: December 5, 2018 (claiming priority to November 17, 2016)
Overview:
U.S. Patent No. 10,709,981 (the ‘981 patent) relates to generating a displayable blurred heatmap that represents accessible and inaccessible areas of a video game map. The ‘981 patent details a computer-implemented method of blurring a heatmap associated with a game map, by generating a mask representing the game map from a top down view. The mask defines two area types: areas accessible to the player, and areas inaccessible to the player. Weight is assigned to target pixels in each of the areas to define the amount of blur applied to that pixel when the map is displayed. Then a blurring operation is applied to the pixels, first determining which type of area the pixel is within and then using its weight to determine blur amount, to generate a displayable blurred heatmap to players. The ‘981 patent could provide players in multiplayer games a quick way to figure out plans for tactical positioning during gameplay by being clear as to which areas are accessible at a glance.
Abstract:
Systems and methods for generating a performance heatmap that accounts for barriers, playable areas and non-playable areas are disclosed. The system applies a blur operation to a performance heatmap associated with a game map to generate a blurred heatmap, the heatmap having a plurality of pixels, where at least a portion of the pixels is associated with one or more values corresponding to one or more performance metrics. A mask representative of a top down image of the game map is generated, where the mask defines first areas that are accessible to players and second areas that are not accessible to players. A data structure is defined having n×m elements, wherein each of the n×m elements has a weight associated therewith based on an association of the data structure and mask. The blurring operation is executed on the heatmap using the data structure.
Illustrative Claims:
- A computer-implemented method of applying a blur operation to a heatmap associated with a game map to generate a visually displayable blurred heatmap, said heatmap including a plurality of pixels, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of pixels is associated with one or more values corresponding to one or more game performance metrics of a player, said method comprising: generating a mask representative of a top down image of the game map, wherein the mask defines first areas that are accessible to the player and second areas that are not accessible to the player; defining a data structure comprised of n×m elements, wherein each of said n×m elements has a weight associated therewith; and executing the blurring operation on the at least the portion of the plurality of pixels to generate the visually displayable blurred heatmap by: positioning a first element of the n×m elements on a target pixel of the heatmap; determining whether the first element is part of the first areas or the second areas of the mask; and using a value associated with the target pixel and whether the first element is part of the first areas or the second areas of the mask to determine a smoothed value for the first element.
- A computer readable non-transitory medium comprising a plurality of executable programmatic instructions wherein, when said plurality of executable programmatic instructions are executed by a processor in a computing device, a process for applying a blur operation to a heatmap is performed to generate a blurred heatmap, said heatmap being associated with a game map and including a plurality of pixels, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of pixels is associated with one or more values corresponding to one or more performance metrics, said plurality of executable programmatic instructions comprising: programmatic instructions, stored in said computer readable non-transitory medium, for generating a mask representative of a top down image of the game map, wherein the mask defines at least a first area that is accessible to players and at least a second area that is not accessible to players and wherein a visual characteristic of the first area is different than a visual characteristic of the second area; programmatic instructions, stored in said computer readable non-transitory medium, for defining a data structure comprised of n×m elements, wherein each of said n×m elements has a weight associated therewith; and programmatic instructions, stored in said computer readable non-transitory medium, to apply the blurring operation on at least the portion of the plurality of pixels by: applying the data structure to the mask; modifying the data structure based on whether at least a portion of the n×m elements is positioned in the first area or in the second area; and, applying the modified data structure to the heatmap to generate the visually displayable blurred heatmap.