A VIRTUAL SPACE

摘要

A virtual space is disclosed formed as a cartesian coordinate grid which defines cells at the intersections of the grid each of which can be associated with at least one object. The objects can be documents such as web pages, avatars of users or navigation aids allowing movement between cells. The user can explore the virtual space by moving his/her avatar between cells and interacting with objects in the cells. The grid can be distributed over a plurality of servers in an internet environment, each server being responsible for a region of the grid and a user can travel across boundaries between the regions, the user communicating with the respective server as the user enters its region. The virtual space may be implemented using the viewing metaphor of a town in which objects are associated with representations which, in the mind of the user, have broad functional similarities with the objects represented.