Web places

• US 6,400,381 B1
• Filed: 06/11/1999
• Issued: 06/04/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Maglio, Paul Philip, Barrett, Robert Carl
• Primary Examiner(s): SAX, STEVEN PAUL
• Application Number:
  US09/330,639
• Time in Patent Office: 1,089 Days
• Field of Search: 345/811, 345/812, 345/813, 345/760, 345/749, 345/734-738, 345/751-752, 345/758, 345/753-757, 345/759, 345/745, 345/746, 345/835-839, 707/10, 707/11, 707/201, 709/230
• US Class Current: 715/758
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing

Abstract

A system and method for promoting social interaction among computer users displaying similar historical activities on the World Wide Web, based not on a single document access or on a predefined grouping, but on the activities of the users. A history of a group of documents accessed, or a pattern of document access, or the frequency of terms in queries, are gathered and communicated to a place server module. When the histories of two or more computers match each other in accordance with match criteria, a communication group is established by the place server module and communicated to a chat server. The chat server then automatically establishes a chat room for members of the communication group. Each client computer displays a chat window including moving icons representing other members of the group.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for establishing at least one user communication grouping having at least first and second client computers in the grouping based on user activity with respect to an information repository, comprising the acts of:

for the respective first and second client computers, storing respective first and second histories of user activities undertaken with the first and second client computers with respect to the information repository, the user activities being among the group of activities consisting of;

accessing at least two documents in the repository, inputting at least one query, and establishing a pattern of document access; and

establishing the user communication grouping based on the first and second histories of user activities whereby the grouping can be represented on a display;

wherein the repository is the World Wide Web and each document is a Web page.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication grouping is established when the activities of the first client computer match the activities of the second client computer in accordance with predefined criteria.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing at least one chat room based on the communication grouping.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising displaying communication windows on respective monitors associated with the client computers, the communication windows displaying icons representative of client computers in the communication grouping.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the act of storing histories is undertaken at each client computer and the act of establishing the communication grouping is undertaken at a place server communicating with the client computers.

6. A computer system comprising:

at least two client computers communicating with the World Wide Web, each client computer being associated with a client proxy, the client proxy accessing, for each client computer, user activity information representative of at least one of;

a group of Web pages accessed by the client computer, a pattern of Web page access established by the client computer, and query terms input to the client computer; and

at least one place server module receiving the user activity information and based thereon determining whether to establish a user communication grouping among the client computers whereby the grouping can be represented on a display.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein a first client computer is included in the communication grouping when its user activity information matches the user activity information of a second computer in accordance with predefined criteria.

8. The system of claim 7, further comprising a chat server module responsive to the place server module for establishing a chat room based on the user activity information.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein each client computer displays communication windows on respective monitors associated with the client computers, the communication windows displaying icons representative of client computers in the communication grouping.

10. A computer program storage device establishing a client proxy including a program of instructions including structure to undertake method acts comprising:

for at least one client computer, storing a history of user activities undertaken with the client computer with respect to an information repository, the user activities being among the group of activities consisting of;

accessing at least two documents in the repository, inputting at least one query, and establishing a pattern of document access;

communicating the history to a place server module; and

displaying a window representative of companion client computers in a user communication grouping, the user communication grouping being based on the history of the client computer and histories of the companion client computers wherein the repository is the World Wide Web and each document is a Web page.

11. The computer program storage device of claim 10, wherein the repository is the World Wide Web and each document is a Web page.

12. The computer program storage device of claim 11, wherein the window displays icons representative of client computers in the communication grouping.

13. The computer program storage device of claim 12, wherein the icons are displayed in an area defining a center, and an icon moves toward the center when the associated client computer is actively communicating with another member of the communication grouping.

14. The computer program storage device of claim 12, wherein an icon is caused to oscillate when the associated client computer moves from a first Web page to a second Web page.

15. A computer program storage device establishing a place server including a program of instructions including structure to undertake method acts comprising:

receiving from each of plural client computers a respective history of user activities undertaken with the client computer with respect to an information repository, the user activities being among the group of activities consisting of;

accessing at least two documents in the repository, inputting at least one query, and establishing a pattern of document access; and

for client computers having histories that match each other in accordance with predefined criteria, establishing a user communication grouping whereby the grouping can be represented on a display;

wherein the repository is the World Wide Web and each document is a Web page.

16. The computer program storage device of claim 15, further comprising the act of communicating the grouping to a chat server to establish communication among client computers in the communication grouping.