Determining valued excursion corridors in virtual worlds

1. A computer implemented method for determining an excursion corridor within a virtual environment, the computer implemented method comprising:

recording a time-stamped snapshot of a location of at least one avatar within the virtual universe;

responsive to recording a time-stamped snapshot, updating an avatar tracking data structure, wherein the avatar tracking data structure provides a time-based history of avatar locations within the virtual universe;

responsive to updating the avatar tracking data structure, generating a weighted density map, wherein the weighted density map is a time lapse representation of the location of the at least one avatar within the virtual universe;

responsive to generating the weighted density map, correlating the weighted density map with a plurality of virtual object locations, wherein each of the plurality of virtual object locations corresponds to one of a plurality of virtual objects;

responsive to correlating the weighted density map with the plurality of virtual object locations, identifying at least one excursion corridor, wherein the at least one excursion corridor identifies frequently taken routes between the plurality of virtual object locations;

responsive to correlating the weighted density map with the plurality of virtual object locations, identifying at least one waypoint, wherein the waypoint corresponds to one of the plurality of virtual objects, and wherein the waypoint is an endpoint for at least one of the at least one excursion corridor; and

presenting the at least one excursion corridor and the at least one waypoint to a client, wherein presenting the at least one excursion corridor and the at least one waypoint to the client comprises:

presenting at least one navigational cue to the client, wherein the navigational cue indicates a relative number of avatars that have previously navigated the at least one excursion corridor, and wherein the navigational cue is selected from a visual cue and an auditory cue, wherein the visual cue comprises at least one of a luminescent trail, a three dimensional network of lines, a texture overlay, and a discolored ground appearance; and

applying a pass excursion corridor filter to the at least one excursion corridor, wherein the pass excursion corridor filter is selected from the group consisting of a high pass excursion corridor filter and a low pass excursion corridor filter, wherein the high pass excursion corridor filter includes only ones of the at least one excursion corridor that have been traveled by more than a minimum number of avatars, and wherein the low pass excursion corridor filter includes only ones of the at least one excursion corridor that have been traveled by less than a maximum number of avatars.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the computer implemented method further comprises:

receiving a selection of the at least one excursion corridor or the at least one waypoint; and

navigating an avatar of the client according to the selection of the at least one excursion corridor or the at least one waypoint.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the step of navigating the client further comprises providing a set of auditory navigational cues to the client that enable the client to maintain travel along the at least one excursion corridor.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the step of updating the avatar tracking data structure further comprises:

updating the avatar tracking data structure by adding the time-stamped snapshot of the location of at the least one avatar within the virtual universe; and

deleting any expired entries from the avatar tracking data structure.

5. A computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory computer usable memory including computer usable program code for determining an excursion corridor within a virtual environment, the computer program product comprising:

computer usable program code for recording a time-stamped snapshot of a location of at least one avatar within the virtual universe;

computer usable program code, responsive to recording a time-stamped snapshot, for updating an avatar tracking data structure, wherein the avatar tracking data structure provides a time-based history of avatar locations within the virtual universe;

computer usable program code, responsive to updating the avatar tracking data structure, for generating a weighted density map, wherein the weighted density map is a time lapse representation of the location of the at least one avatar within the virtual universe;

computer usable program code, responsive to generating the weighted density map, for correlating the weighted density map with a plurality of virtual object locations, wherein each of the plurality of virtual object locations corresponds to one of a plurality of virtual objects;

computer usable program code, responsive to correlating the weighted density map with the plurality of virtual object locations, for identifying at least one excursion corridor, wherein the at least one excursion corridor identifies frequently taken routes between the plurality of virtual object locations;

computer usable program code, responsive to correlating the weighted density map with the plurality of virtual object locations, for identifying at least one waypoint, wherein the waypoint corresponds to one of the plurality of virtual objects, and wherein the waypoint is an endpoint for at least one of the at least one excursion corridor; and

computer usable program code for presenting the at least one excursion corridor and the at least one waypoint to a client, wherein the computer usable program code for presenting the at least one excursion corridor and the at least one waypoint to the client further comprises:

computer usable program code for presenting at least one navigational cue to the client, wherein the navigational cue indicates a relative number of avatars that have previously navigated the at least one excursion corridor, and wherein the navigational cue is selected from a visual cue and an auditory cue, wherein the visual cue comprises at least one of a luminescent trail, a three dimensional network of lines, a texture overlay, and a discolored ground appearance; and

computer usable program code for applying a pass excursion corridor filter to the at least one excursion corridor, wherein the pass excursion corridor filter is selected from the group consisting of a high pass excursion corridor filter and a low pass excursion corridor filter, wherein the high pass excursion corridor filter includes only ones of the at least one excursion corridor that have been traveled by more than a minimum number of avatars, and wherein the low pass excursion corridor filter includes only ones of the at least one excursion corridor that have been traveled by less than a maximum number of avatars.

6. The computer program product of claim 5 , wherein the computer program product further comprises:

computer usable program code for receiving a selection of the at least one excursion corridor or the at least one waypoint; and

navigating an avatar of the client according to the selection of the at least one excursion corridor or the at least one waypoint.

7. The computer program product of claim 6 , wherein computer usable program code for navigating the client further comprises computer usable program code for providing a set of auditory navigational cues to the client that enable the client to maintain travel along the at least one excursion corridor.

8. The computer program product of claim 5 , wherein the step of updating the avatar tracking data structure further comprises:

updating the avatar tracking data structure by adding the time-stamped snapshot of the location of at the least one avatar within the virtual universe; and

deleting any expired entries from the avatar tracking data structure.

9. A data processing system comprising:

a bus system;

a communications system coupled to the bus system;

a memory connected to the bus system, wherein the memory includes computer usable program code for determining an excursion corridor within a virtual environment; and

a processing unit coupled to the bus system, wherein the processing unit executes the computer usable program code to record a time-stamped snapshot of a location of at least one avatar within the virtual universe; responsive to recording a time-stamped snapshot, to update an avatar tracking data structure, wherein the avatar tracking data structure provides a time-based history of avatar locations within the virtual universe; responsive to updating the avatar tracking data structure, to generate a weighted density map, wherein the weighted density map is a time lapse representation of the location of the at least one avatar within the virtual universe; responsive to generating the weighted density map, to correlate the weighted density map with a plurality of virtual object locations, wherein each of the plurality of virtual object locations corresponds to one of a plurality of virtual objects; responsive to correlating the weighted density map with the plurality of virtual object locations, to identify at least one excursion corridor, wherein the at least one excursion corridor identifies frequently taken routes between the plurality of virtual object locations; responsive to correlating the weighted density map with the plurality of virtual object locations, to identify at least one waypoint, wherein the waypoint corresponds to one of the plurality of virtual objects, and wherein the waypoint is an endpoint for at least one of the at least one excursion corridor; and

wherein the processing unit further executes the computer usable program code to present the at least one excursion corridor and the at least one waypoint to a client, wherein presenting the at least one excursion corridor and the at least one waypoint to the client further comprises: presenting at least one navigational cue to the client, wherein the navigational cue indicates a relative number of avatars that have previously navigated the at least one excursion corridor, and wherein the navigational cue is selected from a visual cue and an auditory cue, wherein the visual cue comprises at least one of a luminescent trail, a three dimensional network of lines, a texture overlay, and a discolored ground appearance; and applying a pass excursion corridor filter to the at least one excursion corridor, wherein the pass excursion corridor filter is selected from the group consisting of a high pass excursion corridor filter and a low pass excursion corridor filter, wherein the high pass excursion corridor filter includes only ones of the at least one excursion corridor that have been traveled by more than a minimum number of avatars, and wherein the low pass excursion corridor filter includes only ones of the at least one excursion corridor that have been traveled by less than a maximum number of avatars.

10. The data processing system of claim 9 , wherein the processing unit executes the computer usable program code to receive a selection of the at least one excursion corridor or the at least one waypoint; and navigate an avatar of the client according to the selection of the at least one excursion corridor or the at least one waypoint.

11. The data processing system of claim 10 , wherein the processing unit executing the computer usable program code to navigate the client further comprises the processing unit executing the computer usable program code to provide a set of auditory navigational cues to the client that enable the client to maintain travel along the at least one excursion corridor.

12. The data processing system of claim 9 , wherein the processing unit executing the computer usable program code to update the avatar tracking data structure further comprises:

the processing unit executing the computer usable program code to update the avatar tracking data structure by adding the time-stamped snapshot of the location of at the least one avatar within the virtual universe; and to delete any expired entries from the avatar tracking data structure.