computing relevance, real time

“The first new idea was called ‘Area of Relevance.’ Somewhat like ‘Level of Detail’ for graphics (or Stephen Hawking’s Time Cones—depending on your preference), it’s a set of circles that emanate out from you, and the amount of data that we send back depends on what can actually affect you at a distance. A good example of this is the sniper scope. When you’re not using the scope, we send less information about players that are a long way away from you—for example, the exact direction their head is facing—but when you zoom in with the scope, we tighten that cone (and area of relevance) and again send this data with more regularity.”
GameSpy: Enemy Territory: Quake Wars