RADIAL USER INTERFACE AND SYSTEM FOR A VIRTUAL WORLD GAME

• US 20110265041A1
• Filed: 04/21/2011
• Published: 10/27/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/23/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ganz
• Original Assignee: Ganz
• Inventors: Leung, Felix, McLeod, Gord Scott, Scoble, Jesse Daniel, Ganetakos, Joseph Benjamin, Caron, Frank James, Borst, Karl Joseph, Larsen, John Alexander
• Granted Patent: US 8,719,730 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/834
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/533 for prompting the player, e.g. by displaying a game menu
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/537 using indicators, e.g. showing the condition of a game character on screen
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/825 Fostering virtual characters
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/87 Communicating with other players during game play, e.g. by e-mail or chat
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/303 for displaying additional data, e.g. simulating a Head Up Display
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/308 Details of the user interface
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5553 user representation in the game field, e.g. avatar
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/572 Communication between players during game play of non game information, e.g. e-mail, chat, file transfer, streaming of audio and streaming of video
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/575 for trading virtual items
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8058 Virtual breeding, e.g. tamagotchi
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04815 Interaction with a metaphor-based environment or interaction object displayed as three-dimensional, e.g. changing the user viewpoint with respect to the environment or object
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures

Abstract

A user interface for a virtual world includes a circular area forming a display for an item in the virtual world, and controls surrounding only a portion of the display for controlling that item.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a computer, providing output information in a form to be displayed on a display screen, said output information including virtual world information indicative of a virtual world with which a user can interact, and also including a radial menu for interacting with at least one virtual character in said virtual world, said computer accepting input of an element of said virtual world, said element being a selected element of said virtual world that is selected separately from other elements of said virtual world, and said radial menu having a circular portion that shows a non-static image of said selected element in a center part of the circular portion, and where said radial menu also includes a plurality of control indications radially distributed and surrounding only a portion of an outside of said circular portion of said radial menu, said plurality of control indications representing actions that are carried out to interact with said selected element in said virtual world.

2. A system as in claim 1, wherein said plurality of control indications for a first selected element are different than another plurality of control indications for a second selected element.

3. A system as in claim 1, wherein said selected element is one of the user'"'"'s characters, where said one of said characters is selected and others of the characters are not selected, and where said non-static image is of the user'"'"'s character as selected.

4. A system as in claim 1, wherein said selected element is another user'"'"'s character, and said non-static image shows said another user'"'"'s character as said non-static image.

5. A system as in claim 1, wherein said selected element is a location within said virtual world, and where said non-static image is of a map of at least a portion of said virtual world and said non-static image is navigable within the radial menu using one or more of the plurality of control indications.

6. A system as in claim 1, wherein said selected element is a user'"'"'s character, where said non-static image is of the user'"'"'s character, and where said non-static image is animated to change between different states of said user'"'"'s character, where said different states show a different view of the same character.

7. A system as in claim 6, further comprising interacting with said user'"'"'s character, to change a state of the character in the virtual world, and where said animated image represents said state.

8. A system as in claim 7, wherein said animated image shows a happy version of the user'"'"'s character when said character has been fed.

9. A system as in claim 1, further comprising at least one display indication on said only a portion of said outside, said at least one display indication providing information about a status within said virtual world.

10. A system as in claim 9, wherein said at least one display indication represents an icon indicating whether the user has mail.

11. A system as in claim 9, wherein said display indication represent a clock for a virtual time zone within the virtual world, where said virtual time zone is the same for all players in the virtual world and where at least plural different players in the virtual world have different real time zones that are different than said virtual time zone.

12. A system as in claim 7, wherein said animated image temporarily changes from a current state showing status of said character to another state which shows different information about said character when a specified action occurs in the virtual world.

13. A system as in claim 12, wherein said specified action is the character waving hello.

14. A system as in claim 1, further comprising a satisfaction meter surrounding only a portion of the circular portion and where said satisfaction meter represents an amount of satisfaction of the character in the virtual world.

15. A system as in claim 14, wherein said satisfaction meter includes a first part that indicates a total possible amount of a character'"'"'s satisfaction and a second part that fills in within the first part, and where an amount filled in indicates the character'"'"'s current satisfaction.

16. A system as in claim 4, wherein one of said plurality of control indications sends a trade request to the another user'"'"'s character.

17. A system as in claim 5, wherein said plurality of control indications relates to navigation on said map.

18. A system as in claim 5, wherein said plurality of control indications includes a travel indication, an overview map, an expanded map, zoom in and zoom out.

19. A system as in claim 18, wherein said pluruality of control indications are shown with pictorial indications of their functions.

20. A system as in claim 5, wherein said map is dynamically generated and automatically changes what is shown by the map when items in the virtual world are changed by interacting with said items.

21. A computer, programmed to operate a virtual world and showing a user interface,

the user interface comprising a central part forming a portrait frame for a selected character in the virtual world among multiple characters in the virtual world, said central part being circular and defining a circular periphery around its outer edge;

said virtual world controlling plural different conditions of the character by interacting with the character,

the user interface controlling selecting a character as the selected character, and said portrait frame showing a headshot of the selected character, where said headshot is animated according to the plural different conditions of the character that are changed by said interacting, and where a change to one of said plural different conditions automatically causes a corresponding change to the headshot shown in said portrait frame,

and where said user interface includes plural controls surrounding only a first portion of the circular periphery, said plural controls controlling interacting with the selected character, and said user interface includes at least one status part surrounding only a second portion of the circular periphery, that shows a status associated with the selected character.

22. A computer as in claim 21, wherein said user interface includes a minimize function that reduces a size of said user interface, but still allows visibility of at least one function and/or a status of said user interface.

23. A computer as in claim 22, wherein said at least one status part are on one side of said circular periphery, and said minimize function is on an opposite side of the circular periphery.

24. A computer as in claim 21, further comprising a part that controls selecting, wherein said selected character is another user'"'"'s character, and said headshot shows said another user'"'"'s character in said portrait frame.

25. A computer as in claim 21, where said headshot is animated to change between different states of said user'"'"'s character, where said different states show different views of the same character.

26. A computer as in claim 25, further comprising interacting with said user'"'"'s character, to change a state of the character in the virtual world, and where said animated headshot represents said state.

27. A computer as in claim 21, wherein said display indication represents a clock for a virtual time zone within the virtual world, where said virtual time zone is the same for all players in the virtual world and where at least plural different players in the virtual world have different real time zones that are different than said virtual time zone.

28. A computer as in claim 21, further comprising a satisfaction meter in the circular periphery and surrounding only a portion of the central part, and where said satisfaction meter represents an amount of satisfaction of the character in the virtual world.

29. A computer as in claim 28, wherein said meter includes a first part that indicates a total possible amount of a character'"'"'s satisfaction and a second part that is filled in within the first part, and where an amount filled in indicates the character'"'"'s current satisfaction.

30. A computer as in claim 24, wherein one of said plural controls sends a trade request to said another user'"'"'s character.