SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VIRTUAL UNIVERSE RELOCATION THROUGH AN ADVERTISING OFFER

• US 20100145797A1
• Filed: 12/09/2008
• Published: 06/10/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AirBNB Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hamilton,, Rick A. II, O'Connell, Brian M., Pickover, Clifford A., Walker, Keith R.
• Granted Patent: US 10,102,534 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.490
• 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 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; and

an advertisement display system structured to display the one or more advertisements to the avatar.

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

3. 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.

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

5. The advertisement system of claim 1, wherein the social network analysis of the avatar is provided by a social network analysis system, which identifies members in a social network with the avatar, and analyzes previous advertisements displayed to the members.

6. The advertisement system of claim 1, wherein the ratings analysis is provided by a ratings analysis system, which analyzes ratings associated with the one or more advertisements.

7. 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.

8. The advertisement system of claim 1, further comprising a teleportation system configured to teleport the avatar from a first location to a second location associated with the one or more displayed advertisements in response to an action from the avatar.

9. The advertisement system of claim 8, wherein the action is the avatar selecting the one or more advertisements.

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

11. The advertisement system of claim 10, 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.

12. The advertisement system of claim 10, 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.

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

identifying a location configured to display one or more advertisements;

identifying the one or more advertisements to display at the location based on at least one;

an avatar'"'"'s inventory, the avatar'"'"'s teleportation history, the avatar'"'"'s motions, the avatar'"'"'s social network, and ratings of the one or more advertisements within a virtual universe; and

displaying the one or more advertisements at the location based on context of the avatar associated with the one or more advertisements.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising remitting remuneration to one or more entities associated with the one or more advertisements.

15. The method of claim 13, 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.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising teleporting the avatar from a first location to a second location associated with the one or more advertisements when the avatar selects at least one of the one or more advertisements.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the remuneration is provided when the avatar selects at least one of the one or more advertisements.

18. The method of claim 14, 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.

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

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

determine if a location is available to display one or more advertisements;

identify which of the one or more advertisements are pertinent to an avatar by analyzing at least one of the avatar'"'"'s inventory, teleportation history, motions, social network, and any ratings associated with the one or more advertisements; and

display the one or more advertisements to the avatar within a virtual universe.

21. The computer program product of claim 20, configured to teleport the avatar from a first location to a second location associated with the one or more advertisements when the at least one of the one or more advertisements is selected by the avatar.

22. The computer program product of claim 20, wherein the steps of claim 20 are provided on a computing infrastructure, which is at least one of supported, deployed, and created by a service provider.

23. A method for deploying an application for advertising, comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure being operable to;

determine one or more advertisements which are pertinent to an avatar by analyzing at least one of 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;

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; and

display the one or more advertisements to an avatar within a virtual universe.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the computer infrastructure is further operable to remit 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.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the computer infrastructure is further operable to teleport the avatar to a new location upon selecting at least one of the one or more advertisements.