ACQUISITION

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is generally related to online game systems and methods. More specifically, the present invention concerns method and system of integrating pet game play with knowledge acquisition to allow a player to acquire knowledge of any specific topic by keeping computer-simulated living pets through an innovative method for demonstration of learning progress of the player.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many people dedicate their free time with playing games or following game related activities. People play the games for various reasons, such as to relax and to be entertained. Online pet games are very popular among children and even adults in recent years. These pet games involve cyber pets, or digital/ artificial pets, which are computerized creatures. Players select and keep their favorite computer-simulated pets in a computer-simulated environment. The players have to take care of the daily living of their pets such as eating, drinking and exercising.

According to the research of the inventor, the players of the online pet games spend around 30 minutes in average periodically (or even every day) on taking care of their online pets. It may take children around 20% of their study time and adults around 30% of their spare time on playing with these online pets. However the vast majority of these online pet games do not contain any educational content. These games are actually wasting players' valuable time.

A handful of online pet games may include some educational purposes but they cannot well demonstrate the players' learning progress by using the pets they keep and relate how much they learn with these pets. The players' interests and enjoyment of learning can be greatly enhanced if their learning progress can be related to their pets' growth.

Therefore, there is a need for method and system which can produce a situation wherein the players have fun playing a pet game while actually doing something useful and meaningful, namely acquiring knowledge in enjoyable and amusing manner anytime, anywhere via a personal communication device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been developed to fulfill the need noted above and therefore has a principle object of the provision of method and system of integrating a pet game play with knowledge acquisition by players of personal communication device (for example, smart phones, tablet computers, PDAs, or other electronic devices using wire or wireless networks), which attempts to fulfill the task of providing the games that are used for knowledge acquisition. The nature of the invention focuses on utilizing the player's involvement of meaningful information to graphically demonstrate the player's learning progress as well as on providing a fun game experience.

Another object of the invention is to provide method and system of integrating a pet game play with knowledge acquisition, which delivers, via a personal communication device, an education environment that can be used anytime and anywhere to gain knowledge with a virtual companion whose growth reflects the player's learning progress. The method and system according to the invention enables the pet to grow according to the player input or involvement related to the knowledge, thereby increasing the amusement of knowledge acquisition. The players can practice and gain knowledge wherever and whenever the players choose.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention are satisfied by providing a method of integrating a pet game play with knowledge acquisition by a player having a personal communication device, comprising the steps of:

(a) the player establishing communication with an educational pet game system;

(b) the player choosing at least one pet from a list of virtual pets provided by the educational pet game system to become a pet owner;

(c) the pet owner earning a Player Individual Score (PIS) for each knowledge acquisition activity in the educational pet game system;

(d) the educational pet game system accumulating the PIS of the pet owner to form a Player Accumulated Score (PAS); and

(e) the educational pet game system enabling the pet of the pet owner to grow with the PAS of the pet owner, and providing an animated display of the growth of the pet on the personal communication device of the pet owner.

In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the method of the invention further comprises the step of the educational pet game system determining Pet Elementary Conditions (PECs) of the pet to evaluate a Pet Overall Condition (POC) prior to step (d); and the step of the educational pet game system generating a Player Combined Score (PCS) for the pet owner according to the POC and the PIS, and accumulating the PCS to form the PAS, wherein the pet of the pet owner grows with this PAS.

Preferably, the method further comprises the step of comprising the step of the educational pet game system granting the pet owner a Player Gained Credit (PGC) each time the PCS of the pet owner reaches a predetermined score, and accumulating the PGC to form a Player Accumulated Credit (PAC). The PECs may be determined by an influencing factor selected from the group consisting of: redemption of items, motion of the pet, time lapse for the pet's activities, virtual living environment of the pet, and influencing variants.

The redemption of items can be redeemed using the PAC to enhance the POC of the pet. The PECs include one or more of the following: satiation, thirst, cleanliness, healthiness, fitness and spirits.

According to the invention, the knowledge acquisition activity comprises playing a learning game containing game contents related to knowledge of a specific topic, and reading a learning content related to knowledge of a specific topic. The learning game may be a game in the format of the group selected from question-and-answer, fill-in-blank, multiple choice question, sentence restructure, and spelling of word. Any other learning format is possible according to the invention.

The growth of the pet may be characterized by height, weight and appearance of the pet. The educational pet game system would display the height, weight and appearance of the pet according to the POC of the pet and/or the PAS of the player.

Another aspect of the invention is to provide a system of integrating a pet game play with knowledge acquisition by a player having a personal communication device, comprising:

a personal communication device, and

an educational pet game system in communication with the personal communication device and providing a list of virtual pets from which the player chooses at least one pet to become a pet owner, comprising a server which is operative for reactive exchanges with the player, the educational pet game system further comprising:

a knowledge contents management module capable of managing contents related to knowledge, said knowledge contents management module permitting the pet owner to earn a Player Individual Score (PIS) by involving an activity of knowledge acquisition;

a score evaluating and recording module for evaluating and recording the PIS of the pet owner and accumulating the PIS to form a Player Accumulated Score (PAS);

a pet game module configured to manage a growth process of the pet and enable the pet of the pet owner to grow with the PAS of the pet owner; and

a database and data storage for storing and updating the contents related to knowledge, the scores of the pet owner, and information associated with the pet and the pet owner;

wherein an animated display of the growth of the pet is provided on the personal communication device.

Preferably, the educational pet game system further comprises a pet elementary condition module for determining Pet Elementary Conditions (PECs) of the pet, and a pet overall condition module for evaluating a Pet Overall Condition (POC) according to the PECs. The score evaluating and recording module is configured to generate a Player Combined Score (PCS) for the pet owner according to the POC and the PIS, and to accumulate the PCS to form the PAS, wherein the pet of the pet owner grows with this PAS. Advantageously, the score evaluating and recording module may be configured to grant the pet owner a Player Gained Credit (PGC) each time the PCS of the pet owner reaches a predetermined score, and to accumulate the PGC to form a Player Accumulated Credit (PAC).

In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the educational pet game system may further comprises an influencing factor module for providing influencing information that determines the PECs of the pet, the influencing information is dependent on an influencing factor selected from the group consisting of: redemption of items, motion of the pet, time lapse for the pet's activities, virtual living environment of the pet, and influencing variants. The PECs include one or more of the following: satiation, thirst, cleanliness, healthiness, fitness and spirits.

The knowledge contents management module may comprise: a learning game module for providing at least one game containing game contents related to knowledge of a specific topic, which game the pet owner plays to earn the PIS, and

a learning content module for providing contents related to knowledge of a specific topic to the pet owner to read and thus to earn the PIS.

In another embodiment of the invention, the pet game module comprises:

a pet appearance module configured to manage the pet's appearance according to the POC of the pet and/or the PAS of the pet owner; and

a pet action and reaction module configured to manage actions and reactions of the pet according to the activities of the pet owner.

The information associated with the pet and the pet owner stored in the database and data storage includes: redemption items, motions and actions of the pet, records of the pet and the pet owner, and module updates of the system.

Unlike the prior art pet game methods and systems where the growth of the pets depends on the amount of nutrients, drink, time and other parameters they take, the method and system of the invention are characterized by the growth rate of the pets depending on the learning progress of the player. The more the player learns, the faster the pets grow.

The present invention provides a learning platform for the players to enjoy learning and acquire knowledge of any specific topic through reading meaningful contents of the knowledge and/or playing the games that include the knowledge.

The invention allows the players to select and keep a pet that would grow with the player's learning progress. The invention may prevail over other traditional learning methods and systems in terms of the following:

(1 ) the player's enjoyment of learning will be enhanced by learning together with a virtual growing companion;

(2) the player's habit of continuous learning is cultivated by the sense of responsibility to keep the pet growing; and

(3) the player's motivation for learning will be encouraged by seeing the growth of the pet as reward.

The growth of the pet depends on the accumulated total number of points (PAS) acquired by the player (pet owner). The height, weight, size, color and appearance of the learning pet have changes to reflect its growth. The player will see the change in height, size, color and appearance of his or her own pet by visual inspection. Besides, the player can also use some functions of the system to check the height and weight of the learning pet.

The objects, characteristics, advantages and technical effects of the invention will be further elaborated in the following description of the concepts and structures of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a system constructed according to the invention, comprising an exemplary education pet game system and a personal communication device.

Figure 2 is a flow chart of the system shown in Figure 1 , illustrating the procedure how the player adopts a pet by involving the knowledge acquisition activities.

Figure 3 is an exemplary process of taking corresponding actions to increase PECx of the pet. Figure 4 is a system interface which includes Player Account, Pet Profile, List of Pets, List of

Players, Learning Game Mode, Learning Content Mode, List of Action Items, and List of Redemption Items.

Figure 5 is Player's Account which includes Player Information, Player History, Player Accumulated Score (PAS), Player Accumulated Credit (PAC) and Pet Profile.

Figure 6 is Pet Profile which includes Pet Information, Pet History, Pet Height (PHT), Pet

Weight (PWT), Pet Appearance (PAE), Pet Overall Condition (POC) and Pet Elementary Conditions (PECs).

Figure 7 is the relationship between Pet Overall Condition (POC) and Pet Elementary Conditions (PECs), wherein POC = F(PEC1 , PEC2, PEC3,..., PECx,... , PECn).

Figure 8 is an exemplary relationship between Pet Overall Condition (POC) and Pet

Elementary Conditions (PECs), wherein POC = [(PEC1/S + PEC2/T + PEC3/C + PEC4/H + PEC5/F + PEC6/P)/6] * 100%.

Figure 9 is a schematic graph for depiction of the growth of the pet, illustrating the relationship between the Pet Growth and the Player Accumulated Score (PAS) wherein the Pet Growth is reflected by Pet Height (PHT) and Pet Appearance (PAE).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The system according to the invention is an online learning pet game platform for the players to acquire knowledge of different given topics with a virtual companion by keeping computer-simulated pets (also called learning pets) through an innovative method for demonstration of players' learning progress. The growth rate of the pets will depend on the learning progress of the players instead of the amount of nutrients, drink, time and other parameters they take. The players would have the motivation and addiction of acquiring the knowledge of a given topic together with their selected favorite pets and their learning progress will be reflected by the growth of the learning pets.

The system of the invention integrates the knowledge acquisition and innovative content design with the personal communication device (such as smart phones) and server-side technology to create a meaningful, amusing, pedagogical and mobile environment for the players to learn.

Referring to Fig. 1 , there is illustrated a system of integrating a pet game play with knowledge acquisition, which includes an educational pet game system in communication with a personal communication device of the player. The educational pet game system comprises a server operative for reactive exchanges with the player and providing a selection of ready-made virtual pets from which the player chooses at least one pet to become a pet owner.

The personal communication device can be a computer, a mobile smart phone or any computing device that contains the application software (Apps) of the educational pet game system for displaying player interfaces (Interfaces) and is in interactive communication with the server.

The server is used for managing actions, reactions and exchanges between the player and the educational pet game system, and the system allows the player to select a pet among the list of pets and manages the animated display of the selected pet on the player interface of the personal communication device. The pets are virtual pets predesigned by the system of the invention. There is a wide variety of pets to choose from, ranging from regular animals such as dogs and cats to more imaginative creations such as dragons and magical creatures. Like the traditional pet games, the pet owner may take care of his pet by feeding it, playing with it, educating the pet, and making sure that it gets enough exercise. This permits the pet to be in a good overall condition, enabling the pet owner to have a higher PCS and thus a higher PAS, which will be described in more details hereinbelow.

The educational pet game system further comprises a knowledge contents management module capable of containing and managing contents related to knowledge. In this embodiment, the knowledge contents management module includes a learning game module and a learning content module. The player has to play some games related to the knowledge of a given topic or read some contents related to the knowledge of a given topic, in order to get scores (points). The learning games and the learning contents are provided by the knowledge contents management module to test and teach the pet owner the knowledge about the given topic. The specific topics of knowledge can be any type of education topics, for example, language education, history, mathematics, chemistry, physics, arts, entertainments, and the like.

The learning game module can provide at least one learning game containing game contents related to knowledge of a specific topic, and the pet owner earns the PIS by playing the game. Examples of game formats of the learning games include but not limited to question-and-answer, fill-in-blank, multiple choice question, sentence restructure, word(s) restructure and spelling of word(s), and the like. After playing each individual learning game, the player will be evaluated for his Player Independent Score (PIS), and the PIS will be recorded and stored. Then, the player will obtain an actual score called Player Combined Score (PCS). This PCS is converted from the PIS by a formula, PCS = F(POC, PIS), such that the PCS also depends on the Pet Overall Condition (POC) at the time of playing the individual learning game. Meanwhile the player will be granted an extra credit called Player Gained Credit (PGC) each time the PCS reaches a predetermined score. The PGC is converted from the PCS by a formula, PGC = F(PCS). The PCS and the PGC obtained by playing each individual learning game will be accumulated to form Player Accumulated Score (PAS) and Player Accumulated Credit (PAC), respectively.

The learning content module can provide contents related to knowledge of a specific topic to the pet owner to read, and the pet owner earns the PIS by reading the contents of knowledge. After reading each individual learning content, the player will be evaluated for his Player Independent Score (PIS), and the PIS will be recorded and stored. Then, the player will obtain an actual score, PCS. This PCS is converted from the PIS by a formula, PCS = F(POC, PIS), such that the PCS also depends on the POC at the time of reading the individual learning content. Meanwhile the player will be granted an extra credit, PGC each time the PCS reaches a predetermined score. The PGC is converted from the PCS by a formula, PGC = F(PCS). The PCS and the PGC obtained by reading each individual learning content will be accumulated to form Player Accumulated Score (PAS) and Player Accumulated Credit (PAC), respectively.

The educational pet game system also comprises a score evaluating and recording module which is in operative communication with the knowledge contents management module and used for evaluating and recording the scores and/or credits of the pet owner in relating to the knowledge acquisition activities. This module is configured to evaluate, update, and record the PIS, PCS, PGC, POC, PEC of the pet owner as well as accumulate the PIS to form the PAS and accumulate the PGC to form the PAC. Based on the POC of the pet at the time of involving each knowledge acquisition activity and the PIS of the pet owner obtained from involving the knowledge acquisition activity, the score evaluating and recording module would generate the PCS for the pet owner according to the formula PCS = F(POC, PIS). With the PCS, the score evaluating and recording module would grant the pet owner a PGC if this PCS reaches the predetermined score set by the educational pet game system.

The educational pet game system further comprises a pet game module which is configured to manage a growth process of the pet and enable the pet to grow with the PAS of the pet owner. Unlike the prior art pet games where the pet owner should take care of the pet in order to satisfy its needs and where the pet grows depending on the amount of nutrients and drinks it takes, the system of the invention enables the pet to grow with the learning progress of the pet owner. In order for a fast and healthy growth of the pet, the pet owner has to simultaneously earn the PIS and take good care of the pet (e.g. buy foods or drinks etc. using for example the PAC). The pet owner has to involve the knowledge acquisition activities, including playing the learning games or reading the learning contents, in order to obtain the PIS. The better the pet is in the overall condition and the more activities of knowledge acquisition the pet owner involves, the more PCS the pet owner earns and in turn the more PGC the pet owner gets.

As shown in Fig. 1 , in this embodiment, the pet game module includes a pet appearance module and a pet action and reaction module. The pet appearance module is configured to manage the pet's appearance, height, size and weight, all of which are directly affected by the PAS of the pet owner. The PAS is equal to or proportional to the total of all the PCS, and the PCS is affected by both the POC and the PIS. Therefore, the pet owner shall keep the POC at a high value in order to obtain a high PCS at the time of playing the learning games or at the time of reading the learning contents. The pet action and reaction module is configured to manage actions and reactions of the pet according to the activities of the pet owner as well as other events.

The educational pet game system further comprises an influencing factor module for providing influencing information on the pet. The influencing information is dependent on an influencing factor that determines Pet Elementary Conditions (PECs) of the pet. The pet overall condition (POC) of the pet depends on the PECs of the pet. The PECs can be various and may include but not limited to satiation, thirst, cleanliness, healthiness, fitness and spirits (see Figure 8). The PECs are affected by different Influencing Factors (IFCs) including but not limited to: redemption of items, motions of the pet, time lapse for the pet's activities, virtual living environment of the pet, and other influencing variants.

To keep the POC at a high value, the pet owner needs to use the credits PAC to redeem various redemption items for the pet, such as foods, drinks, clothes or medical services. The PAC is equal to or proportional to the total of all the PGC which depends on the PCS of the pet owner. Therefore, in order to get more PAC, the pet owner needs to get the high PCS so that more PGC can be accumulated.

The educational pet game system further comprises a database and data storage for storing and updating the contents of the learning games, the learning contents, the scores and credits of the pet owner, redemption items, list of the pet's motions and actions, and other information associated with the pet and the pet owner.

According to the invention, the modules and the units of the educational pet game system discussed above may be provided either in the server or in the player's side.

The growth of the pet depends on the accumulated total number of the points (PAS) earned by the pet owner in combination with the POC of the pet. The height, weight, size, color and appearance of the pet would have changes to reflect its growth. The pet owner can see the change in height, size, color and appearance of the pet by visual inspection. Besides, the pet owner can also use some functions of the system of the invention to check the height and weight of the pet.

Abbreviations, Denotations and Terms

The following abbreviations, denotations and terms used herein refer respectively to the definitions below.

Description of Variables

Description Variable Unit

Pet Overall Condition POC % or other

Pet Elementary

PEC(s) U N(s)

Condition(s)

Pet Elementary Condition PECx UNx

Pet Elementary Conditions PEC1 , PEC2, PEC3, ... , PECn U N 1 , UN2, U N3, ... , UNn

Existing Value of PECx PECx(k) UNx

New Value of PECx PECx(k+1 ) UNx

Influencing Factor(s) on

I FC(s) Not Applicable

PECs

Influencing Factor on

I FCy Not Applicable

PECs Influencing Factors on

I FC1 , I FC2, I FC3, ... , I FCm Not Applicable

PECs

Player Combined Score PCS point(s)

Player Independent Score PIS point(s)

Player Accumulated Score PAS point(s)

Player Gained Credit PGC credit(s)

Player Accumulated Credit PAC credit(s)

Pet Height PHT cm

Pet Weight PWT kg

Pet Appearance PAE Not Applicable

Factor Affecting PHT FHT Not Applicable

Factor Affecting PWT FWT Not Applicable

Factor Affecting PAE FAE Not Applicable

Formulas of Variables

Description of Constants

Description Constant Example

Learning Pets PET1 , PET2, .... PETm PET1 = Cat, PET2 = Robot, ...

Any Learning Pet PETi PET1 = Cat, PET2 = Robot, ...

Implementation of Integrating Pet Game With Knowledge Acquisition

Referring to Figure 2, there is illustrated an exemplary flow chart showing the procedure how the player becomes a pet owner and adopts a pet by involving the knowledge acquisition activities.

First of all, the player gets access to the educational pet game system discussed above using his/her personal communication device (for example smart phone), and gets an unique account. Afterwards, the player is allowed to access the system interface shown in Figure 4. Figure 4 is an exemplary system interface which includes Player Account, Pet Profile, List of Pets, List of Players, Learning Game Mode, Learning Content Mode, List of Action Items, and List of Redemption List.

Figure 5 illustrates the account of the player. The player account includes Player Information, Player History, Player Accumulated Score (PAS), Player Accumulated Credit (PAC) and Pet Profile. The Pet Profile is shown in Figure 6, including Pet Information, Pet History, Pet Height (PHT), Pet Weight (PWT), Pet Appearance (PAE), Pet Overall Condition (POC), and Pet Elementary Conditions (PECs).

After the player accesses the system, the educational pet game system checks if the player has selected a pet. If a pet has not yet been selected, the player has to select a pet from a list of virtual pets provided by the educational pet game system and become a pet owner. If a pet has been selected, the player becomes immediately a pet owner.

The pet owner can enter Learning Game Mode for playing individual learning games or enter Learning Content Mode for reading individual learning contents. The learning games and the learning contents contain the knowledge of a specific topic. After that, the player is evaluated by the educational pet game system for his own Player Independent Score (PIS), Player Combined Score (PCS), Player Gained Credit (PGC), Player Accumulated Score (PAS) and Player Accumulated Credit (PAC). At the same time, the educational pet game system also evaluates Pet Height, Pet Weight and Pet Appearance of the pet based on the PAS. Eventually, the Pet Height (PHT), Pet Weight (PWT) and Pet Appearance (PAE) are displayed in the personal communication device of the pet owner.

The pet owner can get the information of Pet Overall Condition (POC) and Pet Elementary Conditions (PECs) from the educational pet game system. The pet owner needs to study the POC and the PECs, and decides if the POC should be enhanced. If the pet owner decides not to enhance the POC, the pet owner exits. If the pet owner decides to enhance the POC, the pet owner has to take different actions for the pet based on the requirements of different PECs because the value of POC depends on the values of PECs.

Relationship of Different Variables

The Player Combined Score (PCS) is the final score that the pet owner gets through playing an individual learning game or through reading an individual learning content. The PCS of the pet owner depends on both the POC of the pet and the PIS of the pet owner. After playing each learning game or reading each learning content, the PIS of the pet owner is evaluated. The POC reflects the overall condition of the pet at the time of the player playing the learning game or reading the learning content. The POC depends on the PECs, and the PECs reflect the different conditions of the pet (see Figure 7).

The PECs may be affected by the following influencing factors (IFCs):

1. different kinds of time lapsed that the pet has taken;

2. virtual living environment of the pet;

3. the pet owner's actions that affect the pet; 4. the pet's different motions and actions; and

5. other variants.

The PGC depends on the PCS. More credits (more PGC) will be granted to the pet owner if the pet owner gets higher score (higher PCS) by playing the learning game or reading the learning content.

In order to get the higher score (higher PCS) and more credits (more PGC) by playing the learning game or reading the learning content, the pet owner has to keep the pet in good overall condition (high POC) and get the high PIS. The pet owner can increase the value of POC by increasing the values of PECs. Different PECs are affected by different actions taken by the pet owner. To increase the values of PECs, the pet owner has to take different actions for the pet based on the different requirements of different PECs. Figure 3 illustrates the detail interpretation of the process of "take corresponding actions to increase PECx.

For "motion" requirements of some PECs, the pet owner needs to perform the specified tasks to increase the values of these PECs. For "redemption" requirements of some PECs, the pet owner needs to spend credits on redeeming some items to increase the values of these PECs.

The PGC is accumulated to form the Player Accumulated Credit (PAC). The PAC increases with the PGC. The PAS depend on the PCS and increase with the PCS.

As the growth of the pet depends on PAS, Pet Height (PHT) and Pet Weight (PWT) as well as Pet Appearance (PAE) will vary according to PAS.

Relationship between Pet's Growth and Pet Owner's Learning Progress

Each learning game includes knowledge of a specific topic. The more games the pet owner plays, the more knowledge pet owner can gain, and thus the more points the pet owner can accumulate (higher PAS). The pet will then grow with the PAS of the pet owner.

Each learning content includes knowledge of a specific topic. The more contents the pet owner reads, the more knowledge the pet owner can gain, and thus the more points the pet owner can accumulate (higher PAS). The pet will then grow with the PAS of the pet owner.

Originally it is difficult for the pet owner to set a tangible learning target. Now the pet's growth can become the pet owner's learning target. The pet owner can see the growth of the pet with the PAS obtained by the pet owner. Pet Height (PHT) can reflect the pet's growth and the pet owner's learning progress. Besides, Pet Appearance (PAE) in different stages actually reflects different stages of the pet owner's learning milestones.

Relationship between Pet Owner's Wealth and Pet Owner's Credits

The pet owner can earn credits through playing the learning games or reading the learning contents. These credits are accumulated as the PAC. The pet owner can use these credits to exchange for redemption item(s). Therefore, the PAC can reflect the pet owner's wealth.

In order to earn more points and more credits, the pet owner has to decide how to use the PAC to exchange for redemption item(s) to increase the POC of the pet at the time of playing each learning game or at the time of reading each learning content. This cycle of earning credits and spending credits is similar to the cycle of earning money and spending money. This cycle allows the pet owner to practice decision-making skills on spending money effectively to earn more money.

Therefore, in order to make the pet grow faster, the pet owner has to play more learning games and/or read more learning contents (work harder) by making good use of the pet owner's previous knowledge (wisdom) and accumulated credits (wealth). It is similar to the reality that the pet owner's life will become better if the pet owner's wisdom and wealth are increased.

Relationship between Pet's Growth and Pet Owner's Learning Progress

The pet owner's learning progress is reflected by the PAS of the pet owner. The growth of the pet is reflected by Pet Height (PHT), Pet Weight (PWT) and Pet Appearance (PAE). Referring to Fig. 9, there is illustrated a schematic graph showing the relationship between the PHT of the pet and the PAS earned by the pet owner. As shown, the pet grows with the learning progress of the pet owner, and an animated display of the appearance of the pet is provided at different growth stages where the pet owner has the corresponding PAS.

Examples of Formulas

The following formulas are taken as examples for better understanding of the invention. These formulas may be modified to suit for the actual requirements and the needs of the players (learners).

Formula Example

POC = [(PEC1/U N 1 + PEC2/U N2 + PEC3/UN3 + ... + PECn/UNn) / n]%

Formula A

Initialization: PECx = "l OOUNx

Formula B PCS = PIS + (PIS ^* POC)

Formula C PGC = PCS / 100

PAC = PGC1 + PGC2 + PGC3 + ... + PGCn

Formula D

Initialization: PAC = 0 credits

PAS = PCS1 + PCS2 + PCS3 + ... + PCSn

Formula E

Initialization: PAS = 0 points

PHT = MH LPETi + (PAS - MPAS. DA1 ) ^* [(MHq.PETi - MH 1 . PETi) /

(MPAS. DAq - MPAS.DA1 )]

Formula F

(See Figure 9: Graph for Depiction of Pet's Growth)

Initialization: PHT = MH LPETi, MPAS. DA1 = 0

If MPAS.DAj =< PAS < MPAS.DAQ + 1 ), then PAE = DAj.PETi

Formula G (See Figure 9: Graph for Depiction of Pet's Growth)

Initialization: PAE = DALPETi because PAS = 0

Formula H PWT = [(1/3) ^* (PHT/cm)] kg Formula J I FCsum = I FC1 + I FC2 + I FC3 + I FC4 + I FC5

PECx(k+1 ) = PECx(k) + I FCsum

Formula K

(By setting U Nr = 0 if UNr≠ UNx)

Examples of Influencing Factors

Examples of Pet Elementary Conditions (PECs)

The sum of all influencing factors, IFCsum = IFC1 + IFC2 + IFC3 + IFC4 + IFC5. PECx(k+l) = PECx(k) + IFCsum, by setting UNr = 0 if UNr ≠ UNx, wherein, PECx(k) = Existing Value of PECx before being affected by IFCsum

PECx(k+l) = New Value of PECx after being affected by IFCsum

Therefore,

PEC 1 (Id -i ) = PECl (k) - 1- IFCsum, by setting UN2 = UN3 = UN4 = UN5 = UN6 = 0

PEC2(^ -i ) = PEC2(k) - 1- IFCsum, by setting UNI = UN3 = UN4 = UN5 = UN6 = 0

PEC3(^ -i ) = PEC3(k) - 1- IFCsum, by setting UNI = UN2 = UN4 = UN5 = UN6 = 0

PEC4(^ -i ) = PEC4(k) - 1- IFCsum, by setting UNI = UN2 = UN3 = UN5 = UN6 = 0

PEC5(^ -i ) = PEC5(k) - 1- IFCsum, by setting UNI = UN2 = UN3 = UN4 = UN6 = 0

PEC6(^ -i ) = PEC6(k) - 1- IFCsum, by setting UNI = UN2 = UN3 = UN4 = UN5 = 0 Rules of PEC: ^• In the beginning, n = 0 and PECx(O) = lOOUNx

^• If PECx(k+l) > lOOUNx, then PECx(k+l) = lOOUNx.

^• If PECx(k+l) < OUNx, then PECx(k+l) = OUNx.

POC(k) = {[PECl(k)/U l + PEC2(k)/U 2 + PEC3(k)/UN3 + PEC4(k)/U 4 + PEC5(k)/U 5 +PEC6(k)/U 6] /6}%,

POC(k+l) = {[PECl(k+l)/U l + PEC2(k+l)/U 2 + PEC3(k+l)/UN3 + PEC4(k+l)/U 4 + PEC5(k+l)/U 5 + PEC6(k+l)/U 6] / 6}%,

wherein,

POC(k) = Existing Value of POC before being affected by IFCsum,

POC(k+l) = New Value of POC after being affected by IFCsum.

Examples of Time Lapsed (IFC1)

IFC1 = IFC1.1 + IFC1.2 + IFC1.3

Examples of Virtual Living Environment (IFC2)

IFC2 = IFC2.1 + IFC2.2 + IFC2.3 + IFC2.4 + IFC2.5 + IFC2.6 + IFC2.7 + IFC2.8 + IFC2.9

IFC2.10 + IFC2.11 + IFC2.12 + IFC2.13+ IFC2.14+ IFC2.15

Examples of Motions Taken (IFC3)

IFC3 = IFC3.1 + IFC3.2 + IFC3.3 + IFC3.4 + IFC3.5 + IFC3.6 + IFC3.7 +

IFC3.8 + IFC3.9 + IFC3.10

Influencing Motions Taken

Variable Unit Formula

Factors (IFC3)

Pet's Laughing by IFC3.1 = M1 ^* (+0S +0T +0C

IFC3.1 M1 time(s)

Touching +0H +1F +2P)

Pet's Walking in IFC3.2 = M2 ^* (-1S -1T -1C +0H

IFC3.2 M2 time(s)

Garden +5F +2P)

Pet's Hiking in IFC3.3 = M3 ^* (-2S -3T -5C +0H

IFC3.3 M3 time(s)

Mountain + 10F +2P)

Pet's Running in IFC3.4 = M4 ^* (-3S -4T -10C +0H

IFC3.4 M4 time(s)

Stadium +20F +0P)

Examples of Redemption of Item (IFC4)

IFC4 = IFC4.1 + IFC4.2 + IFC4.3 + IFC4.4 + IFC4.5 + IFC4.6 + IFC4.7 + IFC4.8 + IFC4.9

The following table gives some examples of redemption items. For every Y points the pet owner gets in each learning game, one credit will be awarded to the player automatically. These credits will be accumulated to form the PAC. The pet owner can use these credits to exchange for redemption item(s).

Examples of Other Variants (IFC5)

IFC5 = IFC5.1 + IFC5.2 + IFC5.3.

Thus, the present invention provides methods and systems for the players to acquire knowledge of any specific topic through playing the learning games or reading the learning contents anytime and anywhere, where the learning progress of the pet game is reflected by the growth of the pet. The invention has produced a win-win situation where the players have fun playing the pet games while actually learning something useful and meaningful.

Having sufficiently described the nature of the present invention according to some preferred embodiments, the invention, however, should not be limited to the structures and functions of the embodiments and drawings. It is stated that insofar as its basic principle is not altered, changed or modified it may be subjected to variations of detail. Numerous variations and modifications that are easily obtainable by means of the skilled person's common knowledge without departing from the scope of the invention should fall into the scope of this invention.