MODIFYING AVATAR ATTRIBUTES

• US 20110239143A1
• Filed: 03/29/2010
• Published: 09/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Ye, Lan, Grigorovitch, Alexandre, Chavda, Praful
• Granted Patent: US 9,086,776 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/764
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/55 Controlling game characters or game objects based on the game progress
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/63 by the player, e.g. authoring using a level editor
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/87 Communicating with other players during game play, e.g. by e-mail or chat
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/048 Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed herein for changing a user'"'"'s avatar attributes based on information that is pertinent to the user and that comes from a variety of sources. The user'"'"'s electronic device may contain a multitude of information about the user, their lifestyle, their current mood, etc. Embodiments provide an application programming interface (API) that allows various applications on the user'"'"'s electronic device, or elsewhere, to communicate with an avatar platform such that avatar attributes may be changed based on information from a wide variety of applications.

Claims

1. A machine implemented method comprising:

exposing an interface at a first application on an electronic device, the interface allows other applications to select from among a plurality of attributes to apply to an avatar;

receiving, at the first application from a second application, a request to present a user'"'"'s avatar with a first attribute of the plurality of attributes; and

presenting the user'"'"'s avatar based on the first attribute.

2. A machine implemented method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the second application, the first attribute for the user'"'"'s avatar based on information that pertains to the user.

3. The machine implemented method of claim 2, wherein the information pertains to a real-life event pertaining to the user.

4. The machine implemented method of claim 1, further comprising the second application receiving user input that is used to determine how the user'"'"'s avatar should be presented in response to the information.

5. The machine implemented method of claim 1, further comprising the second application presenting an interface that allows the user to select a real-life event and an attribute to apply to the user'"'"'s avatar upon occurrence of the real-life event.

6. The machine implemented method of claim 1, wherein the receiving, at the first application from a second application, a request to present a user'"'"'s avatar with a first attribute of the plurality of attributes includes receiving an indication that a different user at a different electronic device has sent the first attribute.

7. The machine implemented method of claim 1, wherein the presenting the user'"'"'s avatar based on the first attribute includes the first application sending presentation information to the second application that instructs how the avatar should be presented.

8. A machine implemented method comprising:

determining, by a first application, that a user'"'"'s avatar should be updated through an interface to a second application, the interface allows a request that an avatar be presented with specified attributes, the interface allows a plurality of attributes to be specified;

determining, by the first application, a first attribute of the plurality of attributes for the user'"'"'s avatar based on information that pertains to the user;

transmitting, from the first application to the second application, an identifier of the first attribute; and

presenting on an electronic device the user'"'"'s avatar based on the first attribute.

9. The machine implemented method of claim 8, further comprising the first application determining which of the plurality of attributes the user should be allowed to control.

10. The machine implemented method of claim 8, further comprising the first application presenting an interface that allows the user to specify how the user'"'"'s avatar should be presented based on real-life events pertaining to the user.

11. The machine implemented method of claim 10, wherein the interface that allows the user to specify how the user'"'"'s avatar should be presented based on real-life events includes a selection of a plurality of real-life events and a selection of one or more attributes of the plurality of attributes for each of the real-life events.

12. The machine implemented method of claim 11, wherein the determining, by a first application, that a user'"'"'s avatar should be updated through an interface includes determining that a first of the events that the user selected has occurred.

13. The machine implemented method of claim 8, wherein the transmitting, from the first application to a second application, information that identifies the first attribute includes transmitting an indication that a different user at a different electronic device has sent the first attribute.

14. An apparatus comprising:

a presentation device;

a processor coupled to the presentation apparatus; and

a computer readable storage media coupled to the processor, the computer readable storage media having computer readable instructions stored thereon, the instructions which when executed on the processor cause the processor to implement;

a platform for presenting avatars on the presentation device, the platform exposes an application programming interface that allows software applications to select from among a plurality of attributes to apply to an avatar, the platform receives a request from a software application on the electronic device to present a user'"'"'s avatar with a first attribute of the plurality of attributes, the platform modifies the user'"'"'s avatar based on the first attribute.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the instructions which when executed on the processor further cause the processor to determine by the software application, the first attribute for the user'"'"'s avatar based on information that pertains to the user.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the instructions which when executed on the processor further cause the processor to receive user input that is used to determine how the user'"'"'s avatar should be presented in response to the information.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the instructions which when executed on the processor further cause the processor to present an interface that allows the user to select a real-life event and an attribute to apply to the user'"'"'s avatar upon occurrence of the real-life event.

18. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the instructions which when executed on the processor further cause the processor to receive an indication that a different user at a different electronic device has sent the first attribute, present a message on the presentation device asking whether the user'"'"'s avatar should be modified based on the first attribute.

19. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the software application is one of a contact application, an email application, an instant messaging application, a calendar application, or a music player.

20. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the platform receives a request from a software application that is remote from the electronic device to present the user'"'"'s avatar with a second attribute of the plurality of attributes, the platform modifies the user'"'"'s avatar based on the second attribute.