Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090315893 | USER AVATAR AVAILABLE ACROSS COMPUTING APPLICATIONS AND DEVICES - An avatar along with its accessories, emotes, and animations may be system provided and omnipresent. In this manner, the avatar and its accessories, emotes, and animations may be available across multiple environments provided or exposed by multiple avatar computing applications, such as computer games, chats, forums, communities, or instant messaging services. An avatar system may change the avatar and its accessories, emotes, and animations, e.g. pursuant to a request from the user, instructions from an avatar computing application, or updates provided by software associated with a computing device. The avatar and its accessories, emotes, and animations may be changed by a system or computing application associated with a computing device outside of a computer game or computing environment in which the avatar may be rendered or used by the user. | 12-24-2009 |
20100009747 | Programming APIS for an Extensible Avatar System - Disclosed is an application programming interface (API) that provides for an extensible avatar system. In one embodiment an API may allow video game applications to retrieve structures of data which represent an avatar. The game can then take those structures and incorporate the data into its own rendering system. In another embodiment an API may allow a video game application to render an avatar to a render target or texture wherein the video game system performs rendering and animation functions. | 01-14-2010 |
20100023885 | SYSTEM FOR EDITING AN AVATAR - Systems, methods and computer readable media are disclosed for updating the appearance of an avatar that exists across an online multi-player gaming system, including an executing video game. In addition to the general system, systems, methods and computer readable media for updating the avatar, techniques are disclosed for prompting networked video games to update an avatar that has been modified while the video game has been executing. | 01-28-2010 |
20100026698 | AVATAR ITEMS AND ANIMATIONS - Mechanisms for accessorizing avatars with animated items. Avatars may be accessorized by items that have animations that are item specific, or they may be accessorized by items that apply to the entire body of the avatars. In addition, such item accessories may apply to avatars across different game titles and they may be added during the execution of a game, whether using a user interface or the game itself (e.g. receiving accessories for achieving certain milestones in a game). Such accessories may also be obtained from remote sources as packages, and then applied locally to avatars. | 02-04-2010 |
20100035692 | AVATAR CLOSET/ GAME AWARDED AVATAR - Systems, methods and computer readable media are disclosed for updating the appearance of an avatar that exists across an online multi-player gaming system, including an executing video game. In addition to the general system, systems, methods and computer readable media for updating the avatar, techniques are disclosed for prompting networked video games to update an avatar that has been modified while the video game has been executing. | 02-11-2010 |
20100045697 | Social Virtual Avatar Modification - The techniques disclosed herein integrate a social aspect into avatar modification. Multiple users may access a virtual environment that allows users to modify the user's avatar. The users in the application may be any combination of remote and local players. The users' avatars may be associated with the same application or different applications. The users may interact in the same virtual environment while modifying their respective avatars. Any user in the virtual environment may view modifications that are made to other users' avatars and interact with other users while modifications are made. Thus, the techniques disclosed allow avatar modification to be a multi-player experience. | 02-25-2010 |
20100056273 | EXTENSIBLE SYSTEM FOR CUSTOMIZED AVATARS AND ACCESSORIES - An item can be added to an avatar associated with a user of a video game console. The item is represented by a data entry that is written to a manifest, which contains data fields storing a type and a name of the item. Items can be applied to or “worn” by an avatar by setting a flag in the corresponding data entry in the manifest. Items can be obtained from a number of sources, including, for example, disc based games and a server connected to the video game console. Further, items can be obtained as a reward for attaining achievements in a game. | 03-04-2010 |
20100227682 | AWARDING OF AVATAR ITEMS IN VIDEO GAME ENVIRONMENT - Embodiments related to the introduction of new avatar items to a video game environment are disclosed. One embodiment provides a computer-readable medium comprising code executable by a computing device to perform a method of presenting a video game to a user. The code comprises code executable to display in the video game an avatar representing the user, code executable to receive input from a user of the video game during game play, code executable to detect an occurrence of a designated event in the video game during game play that results from input received from the user during game play, code executable to award the user access to an avatar item upon the occurrence of the designated event, and code executable to store code representing the appearance of the avatar item in a location external to the video game. | 09-09-2010 |
20120158511 | PROVISION OF CONTEXTUAL ADVERTISING - Embodiments related to the provision of advertising in an electronic media environment are disclosed. For example, one embodiment provides, on a computing device including a media player and an advertising layer configured to display advertising information related to media played via the media player, a method of presenting advertising content for media. The method includes receiving an input requesting playback of a media content item, sending a request for the media content item to a media server, receiving the media content item from the media server, and receiving advertising layer information from the media server. The method further comprises associating trigger points in the advertising layer information with the media content item, playing the media content item, and upon reaching a selected trigger point during playback of the media content item, triggering display of a notification to notify the user of available advertising content. | 06-21-2012 |
20120158755 | GRANULAR METADATA FOR DIGITAL CONTENT - Accordingly, the present discussion is directed in one respect; to a method of associating metadata with a digital content item and then controlling the presentation of that item in accordance with metadata-associated controls/constraints. The method may include determining a time-specific portion of a digital content item with which a user desires to associate a metadata item; associating the metadata item with the time-specific portion of the digital content item. During subsequent consumption of the digital content item by the user or another, the metadata item is presented synchronously in co lection with the time-specific portion of the digital content item, where such presentation is constrained or controlled in response to user-controlled filters implemented through a social network. | 06-21-2012 |
20120158972 | ENHANCED CONTENT CONSUMPTION - Enhanced content consumption is provided by establishing a pairing between two computing devices, wherein at least one of the two computing devices provides a primary consumption experience of a digital content item, so that a secondary consumption experience can be provided via operation of at least one of the two computing devices. The method further comprises presenting, using at least one of the two computing devices, the digital content item for consumption by a user. The method further comprises performing one or more supplemental consumption functions with the other of the two computing devices. | 06-21-2012 |
20120180107 | GROUP-ASSOCIATED CONTENT RECOMMENDATION - A method of generating content recommendations to groups of users is provided. The method includes establishing a group, determining group-associated characteristics, where such characteristics include preferences independent of any merging, intersection or other combination of individual preferences of the group members, and providing content recommendations to the group based on the group-associated characteristics. | 07-12-2012 |
20120198353 | TRANSFERRING DATA USING A PHYSICAL GESTURE - A system and method for making the transfer of data within a networked computing environment more intuitive is described. In one aspect, the disclosed technology performs a data transfer from an origin device to one or more target devices in response to one or more physical gestures. In some embodiments, the one or more physical gestures may include the physical action of shaking and/or pointing the origin device for the data transfer in the direction of a target device or an image associated with a target device. In some embodiments, a user of an origin device may initiate an indirect data transfer from the origin device to a target device by performing a particular physical gesture in the direction of an image associated with the target device. An indirect data transfer is one where the origin device utilizes an intermediary device in order to transmit data to one or more target devices. | 08-02-2012 |
20120246585 | SYSTEM FOR EDITING AN AVATAR - Systems, methods and computer readable media are disclosed for updating the appearance of an avatar that exists across an online multi-player gaming system, including an executing video game. In addition to the general system, systems, methods and computer readable media for updating the avatar, techniques are disclosed for prompting networked video games to update an avatar that has been modified while the video game has been executing. | 09-27-2012 |
20150081920 | ENHANCED CONTENT CONSUMPTION - Enhanced content consumption is provided by establishing a pairing between two computing devices, wherein at least one of the two computing devices provides a primary consumption experience of a digital content item, so that a secondary consumption experience can be provided via operation of at least one of the two computing devices. The method further comprises presenting, using at least one of the two computing devices, the digital content item for consumption by a user. The method further comprises performing one or more supplemental consumption functions with the other of the two computing devices. | 03-19-2015 |