VIRTUAL UNIVERSE TELEPORTATION SUGGESTION SERVICE

• US 20090288002A1
• Filed: 05/15/2008
• Published: 11/19/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated (Kyndryl Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hamilton, Rick A. II, O'Connell, Brian M., Pickover, Clifford A., Walker, Keith R.
• Granted Patent: US 8,671,349 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/706
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a system, method and program product for providing teleportation suggestions to avatars in a virtual universe. A service is provided that determines the set of teleportation suggestions for the avatar based on at least one of: an inventory analysis of the avatar, a historical teleportation analysis of the avatar, a motion analysis of the avatar, a social network analysis of the avatar, or a ratings analysis of locations within the virtual universe.

Claims

1. A system for suggesting teleportation locations within a virtual universe, comprising:

a suggestion generation service that determines a set of teleportation suggestions for an avatar based on at least one of;

an inventory analysis of the avatar, a historical teleportation analysis of the avatar, a motion analysis of the avatar, a social network analysis of the avatar, or a ratings analysis of locations within the virtual universe;

a triggering system for launching the suggestion generation service; and

a system for outputting the set of teleportation suggestions.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the inventory analysis of the avatar determines a context of at least one item in an inventory of the avatar, and matches the context to metadata associated with locations in the virtual universe.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the historical teleportation analysis of the avatar determines a context of at least one previous teleportation of the avatar, and matches the context to metadata associated with locations in the virtual universe.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the motion analysis of the avatar determines a context of at least one previous motion of the avatar, and matches the context to metadata associated with locations in the virtual universe.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the social network analysis of the avatar identifies other avatars in a social network of the avatar, and analyzes previous teleportation activities of the other avatars.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the ratings analysis system analyzes ratings associated with locations in the virtual universe.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising user controls for filtering the set of teleportation suggestions provided by the suggestion generation service.

8. A method of suggesting teleportation locations within a virtual universe, comprising:

sensing an event indicating that an avatar is to be provided with a set of teleportation suggestions;

determining the set of teleportation suggestions for the avatar based on at least one of;

an inventory analysis of the avatar, a historical teleportation analysis of the avatar, a motion analysis of the avatar, a social network analysis of the avatar, or a ratings analysis of locations within the virtual universe; and

outputting the set of teleportation suggestions.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the inventory analysis of the avatar determines a context of at least one item in an inventory of the avatar, and matches the context to metadata associated with locations in the virtual universe.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the historical teleportation analysis of the avatar determines a context of at least one previous teleportation of the avatar, and matches the context to metadata associated with locations in the virtual universe.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the motion analysis of the avatar determines a context of at least one previous motion of the avatar, and matches the context to metadata associated with locations in the virtual universe.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the social network analysis of the avatar identifies other avatars in a social network of the avatar, and analyzes previous teleportation activities of the other avatars.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the ratings analysis system analyzes ratings associated with locations in the virtual universe.

14. The method of claim 8, further comprising user controls for filtering the set of teleportation suggestions provided by the suggestion generation service.

15. A program product stored on a computer readable medium for suggesting teleportation locations within a virtual universe, which when executed by a computer system, comprises:

program code for sensing an event indicating that an avatar is to be provided with a set of teleportation suggestions;

program code for determining the set of teleportation suggestions for the avatar based on at least one of;

an inventory analysis of the avatar, a historical teleportation analysis of the avatar, a motion analysis of the avatar, a social network analysis of the avatar, or a ratings analysis of locations within the virtual universe; and

program code for outputting the set of teleportation suggestions.

16. The program product of claim 15, wherein the inventory analysis of the avatar determines a context of at least one item in an inventory of the avatar, and matches the context to metadata associated with locations in the virtual universe.

17. The program product of claim 15, wherein the historical teleportation analysis of the avatar determines a context of at least one previous teleportation of the avatar, and matches the context to metadata associated with locations in the virtual universe.

18. The program product of claim 15, wherein the motion analysis of the avatar determines a context of at least one previous motion of the avatar, and matches the context to metadata associated with locations in the virtual universe.

19. The program product of claim 15, wherein the social network analysis of the avatar identifies other avatars in a social network of the avatar, and analyzes previous teleportation activities of the other avatars.

20. The program product of claim 15, wherein the ratings analysis system analyzes ratings associated with locations in the virtual universe.

21. The program product of claim 15, further comprising user controls for filtering the set of teleportation suggestions provided by the suggestion generation service.

22. A method for deploying an application for suggesting teleportation locations within a virtual universe, comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure being operable to;

sense an event indicating that an avatar is to be provided with a set of teleportation suggestions;

determine the set of teleportation suggestions for the avatar based on at least one of;

an inventory analysis of the avatar, a historical teleportation analysis of the avatar, a motion analysis of the avatar, a social network analysis of the avatar, or a ratings analysis of locations within the virtual universe; and

output the set of teleportation suggestions.