Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090083192 | CONTRACT FORMATION AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN A VIRTUAL WORLD - A method for contract formation and dispute resolution in a virtual world may include presenting a graphical user interface to permit formation of a contract. The method may also include permitting a set of contract terms to be defined. The method may further include providing a mechanism for review and acceptance of the set of contract terms and providing a mechanism to designate a contract as complete and to release a bond stored in a virtual contract object for virtual payment to a contractor in response an acceptance that the contract has been fulfilled. | 03-26-2009 |
20090113448 | SATISFYING A REQUEST FOR AN ACTION IN A VIRTUAL WORLD - A method for satisfying a request for an action in a virtual world includes permitting a user to request a first action for an avatar in the virtual world, wherein the avatar corresponds to the user. The method may also include determining if the first action is unavailable for the user's avatar at the time of the request. The method may additionally include permitting a user's avatar to perform another action while the first action is unavailable for the user's avatar. The method may yet additionally include determining if the first action becomes available for the user's avatar. The method may further include notifying the user that the first action is available for the user's avatar in response to the first action being determined to be available. The method may yet further include allowing the user to accept the first action. And the method may include allowing the user's avatar to perform the first action in response to the user accepting the first action. | 04-30-2009 |
20090131166 | ALLOWING AN ALTERNATIVE ACTION IN A VIRTUAL WORLD - A method for allowing an alternative action in a virtual world may include permitting a user to request an original action for an avatar of the user in the virtual world. The method may also include receiving the request for the original action and storing the request in a queue in response to the original action being unavailable to the user's avatar. The method may additionally include determining if an alternative action is available for the user's avatar in response to the original action being unavailable to the user's avatar and presenting an interface to the user to permit the user to accept the alternative action in response to the alternative action being available. The method may yet further include allowing the user's avatar to perform the alternative action in response to the user accepting the alternative action and permitting the user's avatar to perform the alternative action while the request for the original action is still in the queue | 05-21-2009 |
20090183071 | PERSPECTIVE BASED TAGGING AND VISUALIZATION OF AVATARS IN A VIRTUAL WORLD - A method for perspective based tagging and visualization of avatars in a virtual world may include determining if another avatar has moved within a predetermined proximity range of a user's avatar in a virtual world. The method may also include allowing the user to tag the other avatar with information in response to the other avatar being within the predetermined proximity range of the user's avatar. | 07-16-2009 |
20090199095 | AVATAR CLONING IN A VIRTUAL WORLD - Avatar cloning in a virtual world may include receiving an input indicating that a user desires to access a cloning feature and allowing a cloned avatar to be cloned from the user's avatar. | 08-06-2009 |
20090251471 | GENERATION OF ANIMATED GESTURE RESPONSES IN A VIRTUAL WORLD - Responding to gestures made by third parties in a virtual world by receiving a gesture from a first avatar directed to at least one second avatar. For at least one second avatar, a reply gesture may be selected that corresponds to the received gesture. The reply gesture may be output for communication to the first avatar. | 10-08-2009 |
20090254868 | TRANSLATION OF GESTURE RESPONSES IN A VIRTUAL WORLD - Translating gestures made by one avatar to a second avatar in a virtual world by receiving an input from a first user representing an input gesture to be made by the first avatar to the second avatar. The input gesture is translated to generate at least one translated gesture for display. The translated gesture may be output for display as being made by the first avatar to the second avatar. | 10-08-2009 |
20090259648 | AUTOMATED AVATAR CREATION AND INTERACTION IN A VIRTUAL WORLD - Automated avatar creation and interaction in a virtual world may include detecting if a user's avatar has entered a predefined proximity area in the virtual world. An automated avatar may be presented an automated avatar in response to the user's avatar entering the predetermined proximity area. The automated avatar is presented for autonomous interaction with the user's avatar and presentation of the automated avatar is based on a specified criteria. | 10-15-2009 |
20100050237 | GENERATING USER AND AVATAR SPECIFIC CONTENT IN A VIRTUAL WORLD - Generation of user and avatar specific content in a virtual world may include generating a local attribute object. The local attribute object may comprise attributes identifying at least one of the user's real world location and the user's avatar's virtual world location. Access to the local attribute object by virtual world operators may be controlled by the user and/or user's avatar. Specific content, based on the local attribute object, is presented to the user's avatar. | 02-25-2010 |
20100060649 | AVOIDING NON-INTENTIONAL SEPARATION OF AVATARS IN A VIRTUAL WORLD - A method for avoiding non-intentional separation of avatars in a virtual world may include detecting a first avatar seeking to enter a first location and determining if a second avatar is related to the first avatar based on a first predetermined rule. The method may also include determining that the first and second avatars are seeking to enter the first location together. The method may further include determining whether to allow the first avatar and the second avatar to enter the first location based on a second predetermined rule. | 03-11-2010 |
20100100452 | VIRTUAL BUSINESS OBJECT TO MANAGE VIRTUAL WORLD TRANSACTIONS - A method for managing a transaction in a virtual world may include generating a virtual business object (VBO), where the VBO may include a plurality of subcomponents that are each respectively related to a different aspect of the transaction associated with the virtual world object. Each subcomponent may include at least one attribute and each attribute may include information related to the subcomponent. Further, a set of enablement properties may be associated with each attribute and access to each attribute may be controlled in accordance with the set of enablement properties associated with each attribute. | 04-22-2010 |
20100211880 | VIRTUAL WORLD VIEWER - A method for managing and operating one or more virtual world viewers in a virtual world may include generating a virtual world viewer feature on a computer system in response to a predetermined action by the user. The method may also include generating an option in the virtual world viewer feature for the user to either enter or select a different virtual world location from a current virtual world location of a user's avatar for locating a virtual world viewer for viewing the different virtual world location. The virtual world viewer may be generated on the computer system for the user to view the different virtual world location without the user's avatar leaving the current virtual world location. | 08-19-2010 |
20120071218 | ALLOWING AN ALTERNATIVE ACTION IN A VIRTUAL WORLD - A system for allowing an alternative action in a virtual world may include a processor and a module operable on the processor for allowing an alternative action in a virtual world in response to a request for an original action for an avatar of a user being unavailable in the virtual world. A queue stores the request in response to the original action being unavailable. Another module may determine if an alternative action is available for the avatar in response to the original action being unavailable. A further module may present an interface to permit the user to accept the alternative action. The avatar is permitted to perform the alternative action in response to the user accepting the alternative action while the request for the original action is still in the queue. | 03-22-2012 |
20130254684 | PERSPECTIVE BASED TAGGING AND VISUALIZATION OF AVATARS IN A VIRTUAL WORLD - A system for perspective based tagging and visualization of avatars in a virtual world may include determining if another avatar has moved within a predetermined proximity range of a user's avatar in a virtual world. The system may also include allowing the user to tag the other avatar with information in response to the other avatar being within the predetermined proximity range of the user's avatar. | 09-26-2013 |
20130305185 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AVATAR CLONING - Avatar cloning in a virtual world may include receiving an input indicating that a user desires to access a cloning feature and allowing a cloned avatar to be cloned from the user's avatar. | 11-14-2013 |