PROXIMITY-BASED BROADCAST VIRTUAL UNIVERSE SYSTEM

• US 20090259539A1
• Filed: 04/15/2008
• Published: 10/15/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/15/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dawson, Christopher J., Hamilton, Rick A. II, Pickover, Clifford A., Moskowitz, Paul A.
• Granted Patent: US 10,096,032 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.400
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes

Abstract

In various embodiments, the proximity of an avatar with respect to a designated focal point object within a virtual universe is determined, and information associated with the designated focal point object is identified. A first of a plurality of representations of the information is selected based, at least in part, on the determined proximity of the avatar with respect to the designated focal point object. The first representation of the information is then transmitted to the avatar. Proximity-based transmission of information can disseminate relevant information to avatars, and can be used by virtual universe businesses to encourage avatars to move near the designated focal point object within the virtual universe so that the avatars can be exposed to products and advertisements.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining a proximity of a virtual universe avatar with respect to a designated focal point object within a virtual universe, wherein said designated focal point object is associated with information;

selecting a first of a plurality of representations of the information based, at least in part, on the determined proximity of the virtual universe avatar with respect to the designated focal point object; and

transmitting the first representation of the information to the virtual universe avatar.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the information comprises at least one of news, music, an advertisement, multimedia, a video feed, financial information, and entertainment information.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting that the virtual universe avatar possesses a virtual universe receiver object;

wherein said transmitting the first representation of the information to the virtual universe avatar is based, at least in part, on said detecting that the virtual universe avatar possesses a virtual universe receiver object.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

selecting a first channel associated with the information from a plurality of channels associated with other information, said selecting based, at least in part, on the virtual universe receiver object indicating the first channel, wherein the other information is also associated with the designated focal point object.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising, if the virtual universe avatar does not possess a virtual universe receiver object, transmitting one of an offer to sell a virtual universe receiver object, an offer to lease a virtual universe receiver object, or an invitation to register for a proximity-based service at no cost to receive a virtual universe receiver object.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said transmitting the first representation of the information to the virtual universe avatar comprises transmitting the first representation of the information to a client device associated with the virtual universe avatar to present the first representations of the information to a user controlling the virtual universe avatar.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining a proximity of a virtual universe avatar with respect to a designated focal point object within a virtual universe comprises determining whether the virtual universe avatar is located within a predetermined virtual distance from the designated focal point object, wherein said transmitting the first representation of the information to the virtual universe avatar is based, at least in part, on said determining that the virtual universe avatar is located within the predetermined virtual distance from the designated focal point object.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a proximity of a second virtual universe avatar with respect to the designated focal point object within the virtual universe, wherein the designated focal point object is associated with a second information;

selecting the second information based, at least in part, on profile data associated with the second virtual universe avatar; and

transmitting a first of a plurality of representations of the second information based, at least in part, on said determined proximity of the second virtual universe avatar.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of representations of the information comprise a hierarchy of representations of the information, wherein the hierarchy corresponds to a plurality of proximities with respect to the designated focal point object.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a first of a plurality of magnitudes for the first representation based, at least in part, on the determined proximity of the virtual universe avatar with respect to the designated focal point object, wherein said transmitting the first representation of the information to the virtual universe avatar comprises transmitting the first representation at the determined first magnitude.

11. A method comprising:

determining one or more proximities of a plurality of virtual universe avatars with respect to a designated focal point object within a virtual universe, wherein the designated focal point object is associated with a plurality of information;

selecting a first of the plurality of information based, at least in part, on preference data associated with a first of the plurality of virtual universe avatars and a first of a plurality of representations of the first information based, at least in part, on the proximity of the first virtual universe avatar with respect to the designated focal point object;

selecting a second of the plurality of information based, at least in part, on preference data associated with a second of the plurality of virtual universe avatars and a first of a plurality of representations of the second information based, at least in part, on the proximity of the second virtual universe avatar with respect to the designated focal point object;

transmitting the first representation of the first information to the first virtual universe avatar; and

transmitting the first representation of the second information to the second virtual universe avatar.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

detecting that the virtual universe avatars possess a virtual universe receiver object;

wherein said transmitting the first representation of the first information to the first virtual universe avatar is based, at least in part, on said detecting that the first virtual universe avatar possesses a virtual universe receiver object; and

wherein said transmitting the first representation of the second information to the second virtual universe avatar is based, at least in part, on said detecting that the virtual universe avatar possesses a virtual universe receiver object.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the first information is selected based, at least in part, on preference data associated with a profile of the first virtual universe avatar, and the second information is selected based, at least in part, on preference data associated with a profile of the second virtual universe avatar.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the first information is selected based, at least in part, on preference data received from a user controlling the first virtual universe avatar, and the second information is selected based, at least in part, on preference data received from a user controlling the second virtual universe avatar.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

providing a plurality of broadcasts of information to virtual universe avatars located within a predetermined proximity from the designated focal point object via one or more virtual universe transmitters; and

for each virtual universe avatar, selecting at least one of the broadcasts based on preference data associated with the avatar.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of broadcasts are provided to the virtual universe avatars via a plurality of virtual universe channels associated with the one or more virtual universe transmitters.

17. One or more machine-readable media having stored therein a program product, which when executed by a set of one or more processor units causes the set of one or more processor units to perform operations that comprise:

determining a proximity of a virtual universe avatar to a designated focal point object within a virtual universe, wherein the designated focal point object is associated with information;

selecting a first of a plurality of representations of the information based, at least in part, on the determined proximity of the virtual universe avatar with respect to the designated focal point object; and

transmitting the first representation of the information to the virtual universe avatar.

18. The machine-readable storage media of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise detecting that the virtual universe avatar possesses a virtual universe receiver object, wherein said transmitting the first representation of the information to the virtual universe avatar is based, at least in part, on said detecting that the virtual universe avatar possesses a virtual universe receiver object.

19. An apparatus comprising:

one or more processing units; and

a memory unit coupled to the one or more processing units, the memory unit having stored therein program instructions that are executable by the one or more processing units to;

determine a proximity of a virtual universe avatar to a designated focal point object within a virtual universe, wherein the designated focal point object is associated with information;

select a first of a plurality of representations of the information based, at least in part, on the determined proximity of the virtual universe avatar with respect to the designated focal point object; and

transmit the first representation of the information to the virtual universe avatar.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the memory unit further comprises program instructions that are executable by the one or more processing units to detect that the virtual universe avatar possesses a virtual universe receiver object, wherein said transmitting the first representation of the information to the virtual universe avatar is based, at least in part, on said detecting that the virtual universe avatar possesses a virtual universe receiver object.