Method and apparatus for sending E-mail, method and apparatus for receiving E-mail, sending/receiving method and apparatus for E-mail, sending program supplying medium, receiving program supplying medium and sending/receiving program supplying medium
First Claim
1. An E-mail sending method wherein an agent is displayed on a screen and the behavior of the agent is managed by agent parameters and wherein on accepting a sending command for commanding sending of an E-mail, agent parameters determining the behavior of the agent are annexed to the main text of the mail having an appended mail header for sending the E-mail.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for sending or receiving an E-mail using animated representation as if a pet were going out of or coming into a GUI picture simulating the insides of both a sender'"'"'s room and a receiver'"'"'s room for letter delivery and dispatch. Moreover, the pet, represented by animation, is virtually kept. Specifically, agent data updated responsive to experiences acquired by the pet is sent as annexed papers to the E-mail, while the receiver returns only pet data. Thus, animation represented on a GUI picture simulating the insides of both a sender'"'"'s room and a receiver'"'"'s room for imparting an impression as if a pet were going out of or coming into a GUI picture simulating the insides of both the sender'"'"'s room and the receiver'"'"'s room for letter delivery and dispatch. The agent data determining the behavior of the electronic pet are updated responsive to the mouse actuation by the user, such as caressing the pet or serving refreshments to the pet, for varying the behavior of the pet, represented by animation, depending on the maintenance environment. The operating states of the mouse are reflected on representation of a pointing cursor.
50 Citations
71 Claims
-
1. An E-mail sending method wherein
an agent is displayed on a screen and the behavior of the agent is managed by agent parameters and wherein on accepting a sending command for commanding sending of an E-mail, agent parameters determining the behavior of the agent are annexed to the main text of the mail having an appended mail header for sending the E-mail.
-
6. An E-mail sending apparatus, comprising:
-
an agent manager for displaying an agent on a screen and for managing the behavior of the agent depending on agent parameters;
sending command accepting means for accepting a sending command designating sending an E-mail; and
mail sending means which, on accepting a sending command designating sending an E-mail by said sending command accepting means, is controlled by said agent manager for appending the agent parameters determining the behavior of the agent to the mail header or to an annexed main text of the E-mail for sending the E-mail. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A method for receiving an E-mail, wherein
an E-mail is received on accepting a reception command designating reception of an E-mail; - and wherein
the behavior of an agent is controlled responsive to agent parameters annexed to the received main text of the mail for displaying the agent on a screen. - View Dependent Claims (13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29)
- and wherein
-
12. An apparatus for receiving an E-mail, comprising:
-
reception command accepting means for accepting a command for receiving an E-mail;
reception means for receiving an E-mail on accepting the reception command commanding reception of the E-mail by said reception command accepting means; and
an agent manager for controlling the behavior of the agent responsive to agent parameters annexed to the main text of the mail received by said reception means for displaying the agent on a screen.
-
-
14. A method for sending/receiving an E-mail wherein
an agent is displayed on a screen and the behavior of the agent is managed by agent parameters, and on accepting a sending command for commanding sending of an E-mail, agent parameters determining the behavior of the agent are annexed to the main text of the mail having an appended mail header for sending the E-mail; - and wherein
an E-mail is received on accepting a reception command designating reception of an E-mail and the behavior of an agent is controlled responsive to agent parameters annexed to the received main text of the mail for displaying the agent on a screen.
- and wherein
-
19. An apparatus for sending/receiving an E-mail, comprising:
-
an agent manager for displaying an agent on a screen and for managing the behavior of said agent responsive to agent parameters;
sending command accepting means for accepting said sending command designating sending an E-mail;
mail sending means which, on accenting said sending command designating sending an E-mail by said sending command accepting means, annexes agent parameters determining the agent behavior to the main text of a mail having an appended mail header for sending the E-mail;
reception command accepting means for accepting a reception command designating the reception of an E-mail; and
receiving means for receiving an E-mail on accepting a reception command designating the reception of the E-mail by said reception command accepting means.
-
-
25. A sending program supplying medium for an E-mail for supplying an E-mail sending program that can be read out and executed by a computer wherein
an agent is displayed on a screen and the behavior of the agent is managed by agent parameters, wherein on accepting a sending command for commanding sending of an E-mail, agent parameters determining the behavior of the agent are annexed to the main text of the mail having an appended mail header for sending the E-mail.
-
30. A receiving program supplying medium for an E-mail for supplying an E-mail receiving program that can be read out and executed by a computer wherein
on accepting a reception command designating reception of an E-mail, the E-mail is received, and the behavior of the agent is controlled responsive to agent parameters annexed to the main text of the received mail for displaying the agent on a screen.
-
31. A sending/receiving program supplying medium for an E-mail for supplying an E-mail sending/receiving program that can be read out and executed by a computer wherein
an agent is displayed on a screen and the behavior of the agent is managed by agent parameters; -
on accepting a sending command designating sending of an E-mail, agent parameters determining the behavior of the agent are annexed to the main text of the mail having an appended mail header for sending the E-mail;
an E-mail is received on accepting a reception command designating reception of an E-mail; and
the behavior of an agent is controlled responsive to agent parameters annexed to the received main text of the mail for displaying the agent on a screen. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 58)
-
-
36. A method of E-mail transmission, comprising the steps of:
- providing an agent on a display unit, said agent configured for display on said display unit;
providing a plurality of agent parameters, said agent parameters configured to determine the behavior of said agent on said display unit;
detecting one or more events corresponding to one or more of said plurality of agent parameters; and
continuously updating said plurality of agent parameters in accordance with said detection step such that said behavior of said agent is continuously modified.
- providing an agent on a display unit, said agent configured for display on said display unit;
-
54. An of E-mail transmission apparatus, comprising:
- a display unit configured for displaying an agent;
a memory for storing a plurality of agent parameters, said agent parameters configured to determine the behavior of said agent;
a controller for detecting one or more events corresponding to one or more of said plurality of agent parameters;
wherein said controller continuously update said plurality of agent parameters stored in said memory based on detecting said events such that said behavior of said agent is continuously modified. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71)
- a display unit configured for displaying an agent;
Specification