Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090037838 | FRACTAL DISPLAY ADVERTISING ON COMPUTER-DRIVEN SCREENS - Techniques are disclosed for providing additional data within a document. Such techniques include providing a first document with a sub-region on a user interface, wherein the sub-region is associated with additional data. Techniques further include identifying an action to zoom-in on the sub-region and loading a zoomed-in version of the sub-region when the action is identified. Moreover, the techniques also include displaying the zoomed-in version of the sub-region, including the additional data, on the user interface, wherein the zoomed-in version of the sub-region is a separate document than the first document. | 02-05-2009 |
20100169838 | ANALYSIS OF IMAGES LOCATED WITHIN THREE-DIMENSIONAL ENVIRONMENTS - Images are analyzed within a 3D environment that is generated based on spatial relationships of the images and that allows users to experience the images in the 3D environment. Image analysis may include ranking images based on user viewing information, such as the number of users who have viewed an image and how long an image was viewed. Image analysis may further include analyzing the spatial density of images within a 3D environment to determine points of user interest. | 07-01-2010 |
20100218094 | SECOND-PERSON AVATARS - The claimed subject matter relates to an architecture that can provide for a second-person avatar. The second-person avatar can rely upon a second-person-based perspective such that the avatar is displayed to appear to encompass all or portions of a target user. Accordingly, actions or a configuration of the avatar can serve as a model or demonstration for the user in order to aid the user in accomplishing a particular task. Updates to avatar activity or configuration can be provided by a dynamic virtual handbook. The virtual handbook can be constructed based upon a set of instruction associated with accomplishing the desired task and further based upon features or aspects of the user as well as those of the local environment. | 08-26-2010 |
20100228476 | PATH PROJECTION TO FACILITATE ENGAGEMENT - The claimed subject matter relates to an architecture that can encourage ad hoc or impromptu engagements between entities as well as simplify or facilitate planning engagements between those entities, all potentially based upon projected routes or paths of the entities. In particular, the architecture can receive location information associated with an entity and can further employ the location information for constructing or updating a path tree for the entity, with each branch of the path tree indicative of a possible or likely future path. Additionally, the architecture can compare the path tree for the entity with a path tree for a disparate entity in order to identify a possible or likely intersection. Moreover, the architecture can generate an intersection notification with details relating to the possible or likely intersection, and provide the intersection notification to one or more entities. | 09-09-2010 |
20100241525 | IMMERSIVE VIRTUAL COMMERCE - An immersive virtual store can be presented to a user that allows the user to navigate through the store in a manner similar to a physical store. The presented virtual store can allow the user to travel along aisles, stop and browse items at a table of a vendor, as well as perform searches for different items. Items of the store can be arranged in a manner that facilitates purchase and feedback of the arrangement can be collected and used in other arrangements. | 09-23-2010 |
20100245361 | CONTEXT-BASED MANAGEMENT OF MARKERS - Aspects relate to determining an appropriate time to render markers to a user. Markers includes any type of information, including messages, photos, advertisements, and so forth. The appropriate time can include internal factors that relate to the user (e.g., mood, preferences, and so on), personal external factors (e.g., scheduled events, location of the user), and/or non-personal external factors (general information about the surroundings, information about local entities). Non-personal external factors can also include the content of the marker. One or more of the contexts are evaluated to ascertain whether a particular marker should be rendered to the user or whether it would be more appropriate not the render the marker (e.g., user would not be receptive to the marker). If the user is not receptive to the marker, rendering of the marker is disabled and/or delayed until a more appropriate time. | 09-30-2010 |
20100245376 | FILTER AND SURFACING VIRTUAL CONTENT IN VIRTUAL WORLDS - The claimed subject matter provides a system and/or a method that facilitates displaying virtual content within a virtual environment. A virtual environment can enable at least one user to connect in order to interact with a portion of virtual content. A collection of virtual content can be viewed from a user connected to and being present within the virtual environment. A filter component that can automatically adjust a displayable feature of a portion of the collection of virtual content based upon a relevancy to an index, wherein the adjustment of the displayable features provides at least one of an emphasis of the portion of the collection of virtual content or a de-emphasis of the portion of the collection of the virtual content. | 09-30-2010 |
20100250366 | MERGE REAL-WORLD AND VIRTUAL MARKERS - Various entities might desire to leave markers at various locations in a mapping application for themselves and others. These markers can be provided by an entity physically located near the location associated with the marker and/or at a different location (e.g., entity is at a first location and the marker is associated with a second location). Further, different entities can provide markers associated with a similar geographic area. A user visiting the location (virtually or physically) can review the various markers left by others. In such a manner, the user visiting the location can have further details associated with the location. Different categories of markers can be combined and rendered to the user as a hybrid of markers. | 09-30-2010 |
20100250367 | RELEVANCY OF VIRTUAL MARKERS - Aspects relate to providing markers related to a mapping application, wherein the provided markers are selectively modified as a function of the relevancy of the markers to a person that has requested the markers. The relevancy is determined based on one or more indicators included in the marker. The indicators answer questions related to who, what, when, where, and why. Markers can be ranked based on the association between the person that requested the marker and the person that provided the marker. Further, a copy of an original marker can be modified to conform with the relevancy of the marker to the requestor. | 09-30-2010 |
20100251169 | AUTOMATIC GENERATION OF MARKERS BASED ON SOCIAL INTERACTION - Aspects relate to observing various activities, interactions, behaviors, and other factors associated with a data exchange and creating one or more markers based on significant details associated with the observance. The one or more markers are retained and selectively rendered as a function of one or more conditions that should be satisfied before the marker is presented to the user. Some markers can contain parameters that should be satisfied in order for the marker to be considered complete. If a parameter is not satisfied, subsequent markers can be created as a function of the rendered marker. The subsequent markers can be rendered when a condition associated with the subsequent marker is satisfied. | 09-30-2010 |
20100278435 | USER INTERFACE FOR NAVIGATING THROUGH IMAGES - A system, method, and computer-readable media are presented for presenting similar images of a selected image in a user interface. One embodiment of the method can include identifying a selected first image and identifying a selected direction from the first image. Additionally, the method can include calculating a best neighbor metric for each of one or more other images to determine a best neighbor image in the selected direction. Furthermore, the method can include presenting the best neighbor image to a user in a user interface. | 11-04-2010 |
20100315411 | COMPUTING TRANSITIONS BETWEEN CAPTURED DRIVING RUNS - Various embodiments provide a global approach for computing transitions between captured runs through an intersection. In accordance with one or more embodiments, a transition algorithm receives as input various runs that have been captured through an intersection and an input path through the intersection. The transition algorithm processes its inputs and provides, as an output, a set of points and data such as a direction associated with each of the points. The set of points includes points from different captured runs. The output set of points and associated data indicate which images to obtain from a database and which field of view to create a simulated turn for the user. | 12-16-2010 |
20100325589 | BLOCK VIEW FOR GEOGRAPHIC NAVIGATION - Various embodiments provide techniques for geographic navigation via one or more block views. According to some embodiments, a block view can include a visual image of a geographic location that is visually similar to a panoramic image. In some example implementations, a block view can be scrolled to navigate images of a geographic location. In one or more embodiments, a bubble view can be displayed of one or more locations within the block view. The bubble view can include a zoomed image of one or more aspects of a block view. Further to some embodiments, a map view can be utilized along with the block view and/or the bubble view. The map view can include a two-dimensional representation of the geographic location from an aerial perspective, and can include a more general level of detail concerning the geographic location, such as streets, cities, states, bodies of water, and so on. | 12-23-2010 |
20110246502 | CREATING AND PROPAGATING ANNOTATED INFORMATION - Content may be collected, annotated, and propagated in a unified process. In one example, a mobile device such as a smart phone is used to collect information. The information may be text, video, audio, etc. The information may be sent to a reaction service, which may return an annotation of the information. The annotation may be attached to the information to create an annotated document. The annotated document may be communicated to other users. Additionally, the annotated document may be stored in a way that associated the annotated document with the user who created or captured the information. The ability to capture information, obtain annotations to the information, and propagate the annotated information may facilitate the creation of social media, such as social network postings or online photo albums. | 10-06-2011 |
20110295878 | ASSISTED CONTENT AUTHORING - An authoring system on a mobile device (or other type of device) may help a user to author a message based on context available on the device. Context data comes to exist on the device in some manner. For example, the context may contain the results of a search that a user has performed on the device. A message may be proposed based on the search query and/or the result—e.g., if a user searches for “Edinburgh,” the authoring system may propose the message “Username likes Edinburgh” or “Username is learning about Edinburgh.” The authoring system may allow the user to change the message and/or to add additional content and/or links to the message. The user may then to send the message over some channel such as e-mail, a social network, a microblogging site, etc. | 12-01-2011 |
20110320560 | CONTENT AUTHORING AND PROPAGATION AT VARIOUS FIDELITIES - Content may be authored on a device using various types of information, and may be propagated at various different fidelities. In one example, a user enters or captures information on a mobile device, such as a smart phone. The entered and/or captured information may be sent to a remote service, which provides information based on the entered and/or captured data. An application on the device then allows the user of the device to author rich content based on the entered and/or captured data, and based on the information returned from the service. The application may allow the user to include text, photos, video, audio, links, or any other type of content. The entire content object that the user creates may be stored in a structured form, and may be propagated at various different fidelities (e.g., text only, etc.) in order to accommodate the limitations of the propagation channel. | 12-29-2011 |
20120084247 | AFFECTING USER EXPERIENCE BASED ON ASSESSED STATE - State information about user may be used to affect the way in which an application or service behaves with respect to that user. In one example, inferences about the user are drawn based on user-specific and/or non-user-specific information. Examples of user-specific information may include the user's location, searches the user has performed, purchases the user has made, etc. Non-user-specific information may include bus schedules, movie schedules, maps, etc. Inferences about the user's state may be drawn from this information. Types of state information include flags (relatively transient state information), patterns (recurring state information), and badges (relatively durable state information). State information may be made transparent to the user, and the user may be given a chance to affirm or reject state information that has been inferred about that user. | 04-05-2012 |
20120096373 | USE OF LOW-POWER DISPLAY ON DEVICE - A device may have a plurality of displays, such as a high-power display and a low-power display. The low-power display may be used to display various types of information. Some examples of information that may be displayed on the low-power display include personal customizations of the device (e.g., skins, tattoos, text or graphics, etc.), a battery meter, a signal strength meter, the date and time, or any other type of information. In one example, the device has a separate processor that drives the low-power display, so that the low-power display can be used while the device is in sleep mode or off. In another example, an application that runs on the device's regular processor uses the high- and low-power displays cooperatively to display output from an application. The low-power display can be wrapped around the edges and/or corners of the device, to make effective use of the device's surface area. | 04-19-2012 |
20130151513 | PERSISTENT CONTEXTUAL SEARCHES - A badge may be assigned to a person, where the badge represents a characteristic or recurrent behavior of the person. A query may be associated with a badge, and the query may be continually used in a search request in combination with the person's context, thereby allowing the person to be continually provided with fresh results that may be relevant to the person's durable characteristics and current context. In one example, the person carries a handheld device, and the results are presented to the user on the user's desktop or lock screen. The act of providing the results may be triggered in various ways, such as movement of the person who carries the device, or the availability of sufficiently high-quality results. | 06-13-2013 |