System and method for virtual universe relocation through an advertising offer

• US 10,102,534 B2
• Filed: 12/09/2008
• Issued: 10/16/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AirBNB Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hamilton, II, Rick A., O'Connell, Brian M., Pickover, Clifford A., Walker, Keith R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sorkowitz, Daniel M
• Application Number:
  US12/330,697
• Publication Number:
  US 20100145797A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,598 Days
• Field of Search: 705 1449
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a system and method for providing an advertising offer that is configured to relocate an avatar within the virtual environment. The system is configured to ascertain one or more advertisements for display based on at least one of: an inventory analysis of an avatar, a historical teleportation analysis of the avatar, a motion analysis of the avatar, a social network analysis of the avatar, and a ratings analysis of the one or more advertisements within a virtual universe. The system also includes an advertisement display system structured to display the one or more advertisements to the avatar.

Claims

1. An advertisement system comprising:

an advertisement generation service configured to ascertain one or more advertisements for display at a first location within a virtual universe based on an inventory analysis of an avatar, a historical teleportation analysis of an avatar regarding previous teleportations of the avatar to different locations within the virtual universe, a motion analysis of the avatar, a social network analysis of the avatar, and a ratings analysis of the one or more advertisements within a virtual universe;

an advertisement display system structured to display the one or more advertisements to the avatar at the first location; and

a teleportation system configured to teleport the avatar from the first location to a second location within the virtual universe associated with the one or more displayed advertisements in response to an action from the avatar,

wherein at least the advertisement generation service is executed by a processor,

wherein the social network analysis includes comparing the avatar'"'"'s inventory and teleportation history with inventories and teleportation histories of other avatars in the avatar'"'"'s social network, and

wherein the social network is comprised of other avatars that have communicated with the avatar more than a certain time over a certain period.

2. The advertisement system of claim 1, wherein the historical teleportation analysis of the avatar is provided by a historical teleportation system, which determines a context of at least one previous teleportation of the avatar, and matches the context to metadata associated with the one or more advertisements.

3. The advertisement system of claim 1, further comprising an advertisement location system configured to identify locations capable of displaying at least one of the one or more advertisements.

4. The advertisement system of claim 1, wherein the action is the avatar selecting the one or more advertisements.

5. The advertisement system of claim 1, wherein remuneration is provided to one or more entities associated with the one or more advertisements.

6. The advertisement system of claim 5, wherein the entities include at least one of the avatar, a service provider, and an owner of a location displaying the one or more advertisements.

7. The advertisement system of claim 5, wherein the remuneration is any one or more of:

real currency, virtual currency, barter, discounted products and/or services, and reduction in subscription fees incurred by the avatar or location owner.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the advertisement generation service is configured to ascertain the one or more advertisements for display based on the historical teleportation analysis of the avatar.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the advertisement generation service is configured to ascertain the one or more advertisements for display based on the inventory analysis of the avatar, and the advertisement generation service determines a location of a user of the avatar when ascertaining the one or more advertisements for display such that the advertisement generation service avoids displaying an advertisement that is inappropriate or inaccurate for the location of the user.

8. A method implemented on a computer infrastructure for advertising within a virtual universe comprising:

identifying a first location within the virtual universe configured to display one or more advertisements;

identifying the one or more advertisements to display at the location based on an inventory analysis of an avatar, the avatar'"'"'s teleportation history regarding previous teleportations of the avatar to different locations within the virtual universe, a motion analysis of the avatar, a social network analysis of the avatar, and a ratings analysis of the one or more advertisements within a virtual universe; and

displaying the one or more advertisements at the first location based on context of the avatar associated with the one or more advertisements; and

teleporting the avatar from the first location to a second location within the virtual universe associated with the one or more advertisements when the avatar selects at least one of the one or more advertisement,

wherein the social network analysis includes comparing the avatar'"'"'s inventory and teleportation history with inventories and teleportation histories of other avatars in the avatar'"'"'s social network, and

wherein the social network is comprised of other avatars that have communicated with the avatar more than a certain time over a certain period.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising remitting remuneration to one or more entities associated with the one or more advertisements.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the identifying the one or more advertisements further comprises scoring the one or more advertisements to determine which of the one or more advertisements are most pertinent to the avatar.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the remuneration is provided when the avatar selects at least one of the one or more advertisements.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the one or more entities include at least one of an avatar, a service provider, and an owner of the location where the one or more advertisements are displayed.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the steps of claim 8 are provided on a computing infrastructure, which is at least one of supported, deployed, and created by a service provider.

14. A computer program product comprising a tangible computer usable storage medium having readable program code embodied in the tangible storage medium, the computer program product includes at least one component to:

determine if a first location is available in a virtual universe to display one or more advertisements;

identify which of the one or more advertisements are pertinent to an avatar by analyzing the avatar'"'"'s inventory, teleportation history regarding previous teleportations of the avatar to different locations within the virtual universe, motions and social network, and any ratings associated with the one or more advertisements;

display the one or more advertisements to the avatar at the first location within the virtual universe; and

teleport the avatar from the first location to a second location within the virtual universe associated with the one or more advertisements when the at least one of the one or more advertisements is selected by the avatar,

wherein the social network analysis includes comparing the avatar'"'"'s inventory and teleportation history with inventories and teleportation histories of other avatars in the avatar'"'"'s social network, and

wherein the social network is comprised of other avatars within the virtual universe that have communicated with the avatar more than a certain time over a certain period.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the steps of claim 14 are provided on a computing infrastructure, which is at least one of supported, deployed, and created by a service provider.

16. A method for deploying an application for advertising, comprising computer implemented steps of:

determining one or more advertisements which are pertinent to an avatar by analyzing the avatar'"'"'s;

inventory to determine a context of at least one item in the avatar'"'"'s inventory;

historical teleportation to determine the context of at least one of the avatar'"'"'s previous teleportations to different locations within virtual universe;

motions to determine the context of at least one of the avatar'"'"'s previous motions; and

social network to identify members in the avatar'"'"'s social network;

displaying the one or more advertisements to an avatar at a first location within the virtual universe; and

teleporting the avatar from the first location to a second location within the virtual universe associated with the one or more advertisements when the at least one of the one or more advertisements is selected by the avatar,

wherein the social network analysis includes comparing the avatar'"'"'s inventory and teleportation history with inventories and teleportation histories of other avatars in the avatar'"'"'s social network, and

wherein the social network is comprised of other avatars within the virtual universe that have communicated with the avatar more than a certain time over a certain period.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising remitting remuneration to at least one of the avatar, a service provider, and an entity owning the location at which the one or more advertisements is displayed.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising teleporting the avatar to the second location upon selecting at least one of the one or more advertisements.