SYSTEM AND METHOD TO PROVIDE CONTEXT FOR AN AUTOMATED AGENT TO SERVICE MULITPLE AVATARS WITHIN A VIRTUAL UNIVERSE

• US 20100153499A1
• Filed: 12/15/2008
• Published: 06/17/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Activision Publishing Incorporated (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Sledge, Brian W., Osias, Michael J., Dawson, Christopher J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,214,433 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1822 Conducting the conference, e.g. admission, detection, selection or grouping of participants, correlating users to one or more conference sessions, prioritising transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]

Abstract

A system and method to interact with business systems through the use of automated agents and provide context for an automated agent to service multiple avatars within a virtual universe. The system comprises a chat engine, a communications subsystem, and a channelizer configured to mediate one or more communications between the chat engine and the communications subsystem. The channelizer is further configured to map at least one channel to an application.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a chat engine;

a communications subsystem; and

a channelizer configured to mediate one or more communications between the chat engine and the communications subsystem, the channelizer further configured to map at least one channel to an application.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the communications subsystem includes a simulator, which comprises at least one of a sensor, a chat facility, and an interpreter.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the application is an instance of an application program interface.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the application includes one or more artificially intelligent programs configured to provide a response to the one or more communications while maintaining a context of the one or more communications.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one channel is determined from information in a lookup table comprising at least one of a key, a channel, a username, and a time.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the key is a universally unique identifier.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more communications occur between an automated avatar and one or more of a user avatar or another automated avatar.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the one or more communications occurs between a single automated avatar and a plurality of user avatars or other automated avatars, and a context of the one or more communications is maintained.

9. A computer implemented method comprising:

receiving a communication from an avatar over a chat framework;

checking whether the communication is a new communication or a preexisting communication;

mapping the communication to a channel; and

transmitting a response to the communication over the chat framework on the channel, wherein the response maintains a context of the communication.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 9, wherein the receiving and the transmitting includes a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) message.

11. The computer implemented method of claim 9, further comprising determining whether a received communication is a first communication or part of an existing communication.

12. The computer implemented method of claim 9, wherein the checking includes matching at least one of a key, a username, and the channel to an entry in a lookup table.

13. The computer implemented method of claim 12, further comprising removing the entry after a predetermined period of time has elapsed.

14. The computer implemented method of claim 9, wherein the steps are implemented on a combination of software, hardware, or software and hardware.

15. The computer implemented method of claim 9, wherein the steps are offered by a service provider based on one of a fee, advertising, and subscription basis.

16. The computer implemented method of claim 9, wherein the computer implemented method is at least one of:

supported, deployed, maintained, and created by a service provider.

17. The computer implemented method of claim 9, further comprising:

adding an entry to a lookup table when the communication is a new communication; and

tracking a time at which the communication took place.

18. 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 operable to:

identify an incoming communication;

map the incoming communication to a channel;

send the incoming communication to an application program interface; and

receive a communication from the application program interface, wherein the communication is a response in a context of the incoming communication.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, further comprising at least one component operable to sense an avatar within a proximity of an automated avatar.

20. The computer program product of claim 18, further comprising at least one component operable to sense an avatar communicating on the channel.

21. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the computer program product is at least one of supported, deployed, maintained, and created by a service provider.

22. The computer program product of claim 18, being offered by a service provider based on one of a fee, advertising, and subscription basis.

23. The computer program product of claim 18, further comprising at least one component operable to:

add information about the incoming communication to a lookup table, the information including at least one of a key, a channel, and a username;

track a time at which the communication took place;

remove the information from the lookup table after a predetermined period of time has elapsed; and

allow multiple avatars to communication on the channel.

24. A method for deploying an application for providing context for interactions, comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure being operable to;

identify an incoming communication;

map the incoming communication to a channel;

send the incoming communication to an application program interface; and

receive a response from the application program interface, wherein the response is in a context of the incoming communication.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the computer infrastructure is at least one of supported, deployed, maintained, and created by a service provider.