GENERATION OF ANIMATED GESTURE RESPONSES IN A VIRTUAL WORLD

• US 20090251471A1
• Filed: 04/04/2008
• Published: 10/08/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines SA (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Smith, Andrew Bryan, Bokor, Brian Ronald
• Granted Patent: US 9,299,178 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/474
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 13/40 of characters, e.g. humans, animals or virtual beings

Abstract

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.

Claims

1. A method for responding to gestures made by third parties in a virtual world, comprising:

receiving a gesture to be made by a first avatar directed to at least one second avatar, thereby forming a received gesture;

for at least one second avatar, selecting a reply gesture corresponding to the received gesture; and

outputting the reply gesture for communication to the first avatar.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting a reply gesture corresponding to the received gesture occurs automatically upon receipt of the received gesture from the first avatar.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting a reply gesture corresponding to the received gesture occurs if a proximity of the first avatar to the second avatar is within a proximity threshold.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the proximity threshold comprises a distance value, and wherein selecting a reply gesture corresponding to the received gesture occurs if the distance between the first and second avatars is within the proximity threshold.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the proximity threshold comprises a defined environment surrounding the second avatar, and wherein selecting a reply gesture corresponding to the received gesture occurs if the proximity of the first avatar to the second avatar is within the proximity threshold.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the reply gestures are categorized into different classes, and wherein selecting a reply gesture corresponding to the received gesture comprises selecting a reply gesture from the different classes.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the reply gestures are categorized into different avatar defined classes, and wherein selecting a reply gesture corresponding to the received gesture comprises selecting a reply gesture from the different avatar defined classes.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the reply gestures are categorized based on different social environments, and wherein selecting a reply gesture corresponding to the received gesture comprises selecting a reply gesture categorized based on the different social environments.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising receiving information regarding a social environment of either one or both the first and second avatars, and wherein selecting a reply gesture corresponding to the received gesture further comprises selecting the reply gesture that corresponds to the social environment of at least one of the first and second avatars.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the reply gestures are categorized based on different social environments comprising at least one of a business, cultural, and personal environment, and wherein selecting a reply gesture corresponding to the received gesture comprises selecting a reply gesture categorized based on the different social environments.

11. A method for responding to gestures made by third parties in a virtual world, comprising:

receiving a gesture to be made by a first avatar directed to at least one second avatar, thereby forming a received gesture;

for at least one second avatar, selecting a reply gesture corresponding to the received gesture occurs if a proximity of the first avatar to the second avatar is within a proximity threshold; and

outputting the reply gesture for communication to the first avatar.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the proximity threshold comprises a distance value, and wherein selecting a reply gesture corresponding to the received gesture occurs if the distance between the first and second avatars is within the proximity threshold.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the proximity threshold comprises a defined environment surrounding the second avatar, and wherein selecting a reply gesture corresponding to the received gesture occurs if the proximity of the first avatar to the second avatar is within the proximity threshold.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising receiving information regarding a social environment of either one or both the first and second avatars, and wherein selecting a reply gesture corresponding to the received gesture further comprises selecting a reply gesture that corresponds to the social environment of at least one of the first and second avatars.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the reply gestures are categorized into different classes, and wherein selecting a reply gesture corresponding to the received gesture comprises selecting a reply gesture from the different classes.

16. A computer program product for responding to gestures made by third parties in a virtual world, the computer program product comprising:

a computer readable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable medium comprising;

computer readable program code configured to receive a gesture to be made by a first avatar directed to at least one second avatar, thereby forming a received gesture;

computer readable program code configured to, for at least one second avatar, select a reply gesture corresponding to the received gesture; and

computer readable program code configured to output the reply gesture for communication to the first avatar.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein said computer readable program code configured to, for at least one second avatar, select a reply gesture corresponding to the received gesture is configured to automatically select a reply gesture corresponding to the received gesture upon receipt of the received gesture from the first avatar.

18. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein said computer readable program code configured to, for at least one second avatar, select a reply gesture corresponding to the received gesture is configured to select a reply gesture corresponding to the received gesture if a proximity of the first avatar to the second avatar is within a proximity threshold.

19. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein said computer readable program code configured to, for at least one second avatar, select a reply gesture corresponding to the received gesture is configured to select a reply gesture corresponding to the received gesture if a proximity of the first avatar to the second avatar is within a proximity threshold, wherein the proximity threshold comprises a distance value.

20. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein said computer readable program code configured to, for at least one second avatar, select a reply gesture corresponding to the received gesture is configured to select a reply gesture corresponding to the received gesture if a proximity of the first avatar to the second avatar is within a proximity threshold, wherein the proximity threshold comprises a defined environment surrounding the second avatar.

21. The computer program product of claim 16 further comprising computer readable program code configured to receive information regarding a social environment of either one or both the first and second avatars, and wherein said computer readable program code configured to, for at least one second avatar, select a reply gesture corresponding to the received gesture is configured to select a reply gesture that corresponds to the social environment of at least one of the first and second avatars.

22. An apparatus for responding to gestures made by third parties in a virtual world, comprising:

a processor capable of;

receiving a gesture to be made by a first avatar directed to at least one second avatar, thereby forming a received gesture;

for at least one second avatar, selecting a reply gesture corresponding to the received gesture; and

outputting the reply gesture for communication to the first avatar.