Remote communication through visual representations

• US 6,522,333 B1
• Filed: 10/08/1999
• Issued: 02/18/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/08/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Electronic Arts Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Electronic Arts Incorporated
• Inventors: Harrison, William D., Kavanagh, Ken G., Hatlelid, Kris E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zimmerman, Mark
• Assistant Examiner(s): Sealey, Lance W.
• Application Number:
  US09/415,769
• Time in Patent Office: 1,229 Days
• Field of Search: 345/473, 345/474, 345/769
• US Class Current: 345/474
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 13/40 of characters, e.g. humans, animals or virtual beings
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2213/12 Rule based animation
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2478 Telephone terminals specially adapted for non-voice services, e.g. email, internet access centralized arrangements where telephones services are combined H04M7/0024; for recording text messages H04M3/5322; for accessing Internet H04M3/4938

Abstract

A system and method for remote communication is disclosed that allows communication over a network but still provides a behavioral context within which the communication is interpreted. A visual representation of a user is provided to a recipient. A set of behavioral characteristics of the visual representation is provided to the user, the behavioral characteristics representing contexts within which data is to be interpreted. The user selects a behavioral characteristic and inputs data to be communicated to the recipient, along with any specific behavioral commands. Then, data is communicated to the recipient concurrently with a behavioral movement of the visual representation associated with the selected behavioral characteristic, wherein the behavioral movement provides context to the recipient for interpreting the communicated data. Behavioral characteristics include personality and mood intensity settings, and behavioral commands include gesture commands. The mood intensity selection allows the user to adjust which behavioral movements associated with the personality will be selected by assigning each movement a weight that determines the probability the movement will be selected. Gesture selection allows the user to punctuate text by having the visual representation act out a specific behavioral movement or sequence of movements to communicate an instantaneous emotion or behavior. Text is also analyzed to generate behavioral movements based on the content of the text.

Claims

1. A method of communicating data from a user to a remote recipient through a remote connection comprising:

providing a set of behavioral characteristics of a visual representation to the user, the behavioral characteristics representing contexts within which data is to be interpreted;

receiving a selection of a behavioral characteristic from one of the set of behavioral characteristics from the user;

receiving data to be communicated from the user to the recipient;

communicating the data to the recipient concurrently with a behavioral movement of the visual representation associated with the selected behavioral characteristic, wherein the behavioral movement provides context to the recipient for interpreting the communicated data;

receiving data from the user specifying a gesture for communicating behavioral information associated with a sequence of behavioral movements; and

animating the visual representation responsive to the sequence of behavioral movements associated with the gesture.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein communicating the data to the recipient concurrently with a behavioral movement comprises animating the visual representation with the behavioral movement.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the set of behavioral characteristics includes a set of personality types and mood intensity values, wherein each personality type comprises a set of behavioral movements and each mood intensity value comprises a set of behavioral movements, and animating the visual representation comprises:

responsive to a user selection of a personality type and mood intensity value, determining a set of behavioral movements comprising the intersection of the set of behavioral movements associated with the selected personality type and the set of behavioral movements associated with the selected mood intensity value;

and communicating the data to the recipient concurrently with a behavioral movement further comprises;

selecting a behavioral movement from the determined intersection set of behavioral movements; and

animating the visual representation responsive to the selected behavioral movement.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprises randomly selecting a behavioral movement from the intersection set of behavioral movements.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein communicating the data to the recipient concurrently with a behavioral movement comprises animating movement of facial components of the visual representation.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein communicating the data to the recipient concurrently with a behavioral movement comprises animating movement of body components of the visual representation.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein communicating the data to the recipient concurrently with a behavioral movement comprises generating sound clips.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the set of behavioral characteristics includes a set of personality types, and wherein a personality type comprises a predefined set of behavioral movements, and receiving a selection of a behavioral characteristic comprises receiving a selection of a personality type, and communicating the data to the recipient concurrently with a behavioral movement further comprises:

selecting a behavioral movement from the set of behavioral movements associated with the selected personality type; and

animating the visual representation responsive to the selected behavioral movement.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the behavioral movement is randomly selected from the set of behavioral movements associated with the selected personality type.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the set of behavioral characteristics includes a set of mood intensity values, and receiving a selection of a behavioral characteristic further comprises receiving a selection of a mood intensity value, and selecting a behavioral movement from the set of behavioral movements further comprises selecting a behavioral movement from the set of behavioral movements responsive to the selected mood intensity value.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein a mood intensity value specifies a weight for each behavioral movement associated with a personality type, wherein the weight determines a probability of selecting the behavioral movement, and selecting a behavioral movement from the set of behavioral movements further comprises selecting a behavioral movement from the set of behavioral movements responsive to the weight associated with the behavioral movement.

12. The method of claim 10 in a system in which a second user selects at least one mood intensity value for a visual representation representing the second user, and selecting a behavioral movement from the set of behavioral movements further comprises selecting a behavioral movement from the set of behavioral movements responsive to the selected mood intensity value of the second user.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving an utterance override command comprising a subset of behavioral movements associated with a behavioral characteristic selected by the user; and

selecting a behavioral movement within the set of behavioral movements associated with the received utterance override command; and

wherein communicating the data to the recipient concurrently with a behavioral movement comprises;

animating the visual representation responsive to the utterance override command to communicate the selected behavioral characteristic.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the utterance override command specifies a mood intensity setting.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein communicating the data to the recipient concurrently with a behavioral movement further comprises:

determining content of the data to be communicated; and

modifying the behavioral movement of the visual representation responsive to the content of the data to be communicated.

16. The method of claim 15 in which predefined categories of words are associated with behavioral movements, and wherein determining the content of the data to be communicated comprises:

determining whether words in the data to be communicated belong to a predefined category; and

wherein modifying further comprises;

responsive to determining that a word in the data to be communicated belongs to a predefined category animating the visual representation responsive to the behavioral movement associated with the category.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein predefined phrases are associated with at least one behavioral movement, and determining the content further comprises:

determining whether at least one predefined phrase is part of the data to be communicated; and

responsive to determining that a predefined phrase is part of the data to be communicated, animating the visual representation responsive to the at least one behavioral movement associated with the predefined phase.

18. A method of communicating data from a user to a remote recipient through a remote connection comprising:

providing a set of behavioral characteristics of a visual representation to the user, the behavioral characteristics representing contexts within which data is to be interpreted;

receiving a selection of a behavioral characteristic from one of the set of behavioral characteristics from the user;

receiving data to be communicated from the user to the recipient;

communicating the data to the recipient concurrently with a behavioral movement of the visual representation associated with the selected behavioral characteristic, wherein the behavioral movement provides context to the recipient for interpreting the communicated data;

receiving an utterance override command comprising a subset of behavioral movements associated with a behavioral characteristic selected by the user; and

selecting a behavioral movement within the set of behavioral movements associated with the received utterance override command;

wherein communicating the data to the recipient concurrently with a behavioral movement comprises;

animating the visual representation responsive to the utterance override command to communicate the selected behavioral characteristic; and

wherein the utterance override command specifies a personality type.

19. A method of communicating over a network comprising:

receiving a data communication from a first user, wherein the data communication contains behavioral movement information;

translating the received behavioral movement information into a choreography sequence of behavioral movements of a figure of the first user by;

determining whether the data communication contains gesture commands; and

responsive to determining that the data communication contains at least one gesture command, constructing a choreography sequence from at least one behavioral movement associated with the at least one gesture command; and

animating the figure responsive to the choreography sequence.

20. The method of claim 19 in a system in which the received data communication is sent by a user, and at least one personality type is provided to the user for selection, wherein translating further comprises:

determining whether a personality type has been selected by the user; and

responsive to determining that a personality type has been selected by the user, constructing the choreography sequence using at least one behavioral movement associated with the selected personality type.

21. The method of claim 20 in which the received data communication is sent by a user, and a mood intensity setting is provided to the user for selecting a mood intensity value, and translating further comprises:

determining the mood intensity value selected by the user; and

constructing the choreography sequence using at least one behavioral movement associated with the selected personality type, and selected responsive to the mood intensity value.

22. A method of communicating over a network comprising:

receiving a data communication from a first user, wherein the data communication contains behavioral movement information;

translating the received behavioral movement information into a choreography sequence of behavioral movements of a figure of the first user by;

responsive to the data communication containing text, processing the text in accordance with at least one natural language processing rule; and

constructing a choreography sequence from at least one behavioral movement associated with the at least one natural language processing rule; and

animating the figure responsive to the choreography sequence.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein translating further comprises:

responsive to the data communication containing at least one predefined phrase, constructing a choreography sequence from at least one natural language processing rule associated with the at least one predefined phrase.

24. A method of providing a visual interface for a remote connection in a network, comprising:

generating behavioral movement information to animate a figure representing a first user in accordance with a selected behavioral characteristic by the first user responsive to receiving no communication from the first user or other users of the network;

transmitting the generated behavioral movement information to the other users of the network;

displaying the figure representing the first user;

animating the figure representing the first user responsive to the generated behavioral movement information;

responsive to receiving a data string from the first user, stopping animation of the figure representing the first user; and

transmitting behavioral movement information for the, figure to the other users in the network responsive to the data string received from the first user.

25. The method of claim 24 further comprising providing a visual interface for a remote connection, comprising:

responsive to receiving a communication from a second user of the network, stopping the animation of the figure representing the first user;

generating behavioral movement information to animate the figure representing the first user in accordance with a selected behavioral characteristic by the first user responsive to the communication received from the second user of the network; and

transmitting the generated behavioral movement information to the other users of the network.

26. A method of providing a visual interface for a remote connection between the first and second user, comprising:

receiving a communication from a first user;

constructing a choreography sequence of behavioral movements for a figure representative of the second user responsive to behavioral characteristics selected by the second user, a gesture command provided by the second user, and the communication received from the first user; and

transmitting the choreography sequence to the first user.

27. The method of claim 26 further comprising:

selecting a behavioral movement from a set of behavioral movements associated with receiving communication responsive to the selected behavioral characteristic.

28. The method of claim 26 wherein animating further comprises:

parsing the communication received from the first user for a choreography sequence; and

animating the figure of the second user responsive to the received choreography sequence received from the first user.

29. A method for enabling a user to communicate remotely through a network comprising:

receiving behavioral information from a user;

receiving gesture data from the user specifying a gesture for communicating behavioral information associated with a sequence of behavioral movements;

receiving a data string from the user;

parsing the data string for a text string;

generating behavioral movement information from the received behavioral information and the gesture data;

animating a figure responsive to the generated behavioral movement information; and

displaying the text string responsive to the behavioral information.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein displaying the text string further comprises:

displaying the text string having visual characteristics responsive to the behavioral information received from the user.

31. The method of claim 29 wherein displaying the text string further comprises:

displaying the text string in a text size responsive to behavioral information received from the user.

32. The method of claim 29 wherein displaying the text string further comprises:

displaying the text string at a rate of speed responsive to behavioral information received from the user.

33. The method of claim 29 wherein displaying the text string further comprises:

displaying subsequent text strings received at a rate of speed responsive to behavioral information received from the user.

34. The method of claim 29 further comprising the steps of

determining content of the received text string;

determining behavioral movement information from the content of the received text string; and

animating the visual representation responsive to the determined behavioral movement information.

35. A computer readable medium for storing instructions to cause a processor to communicate data from a user to a remote recipient through a remote connection, the instructions causing the processor to:

provide a set of behavioral characteristics of a visual representation to the user, the behavioral characteristics representing contexts within which data is to be interpreted;

receive a selection of a behavioral characteristic from one of the set of behavioral characteristics from the user;

receive data to be communicated from the user; and

communicate the data to the recipient concurrently with a behavioral movement of the visual representation associated with the selected behavioral characteristic, wherein the behavioral movement provides context to the recipient for interpreting the communicated data;

wherein at least one gesture for communicating behavioral information is associated with a sequence of behavioral movements the instructions further causing the processor to;

receive data from the user specifying a gesture; and

animate the visual representation responsive to a sequence of behavioral movements associated with the gesture.

36. The computer readable medium of claim 35 wherein the instructions to cause the processor to communicate the data to the recipient concurrently with a behavioral movement comprise instructions to cause the processor to animate the visual representation.

37. The computer readable medium of claim 35 wherein the set of behavioral characteristics includes a set of personality types, and wherein a personality type comprises a predefined set of behavioral movements, and the instructions to cause the processor to communicate the data to the recipient concurrently with a behavioral movement further comprise instructions to cause the processor to:

select a behavioral movement from the set of behavioral movements associated with the selected personality type; and

animate the figure responsive to the selected behavioral movement.

38. The computer readable medium of claim 37 wherein a mood intensity value specifies a weight for each behavioral movement associated with a personality type, wherein the weight determines a probability of selecting the behavioral movement, and the instructions causing a processor to select a behavioral movement from the set of behavioral movements further comprise instructions to causing a processor to select a behavioral movement from the set of behavioral movements responsive to the weight associated with the behavioral movement.

39. The computer readable medium of claim 35 wherein the set of behavioral characteristics includes a set of mood intensity values, and the computer readable medium further causes the processor to receive a user selection of a mood intensity value, and the instructions causing a processor to select a behavioral movement from the set of behavioral movements further comprise instructions to cause a processor to select a behavioral movement from the set of behavioral movements responsive to the selected mood intensity value.

40. The computer readable medium of claim 35 in which an utterance override command comprises a subset of behavioral movements associated with a behavioral characteristic selected by the user, the instructions further causing the processor to:

receive an utterance override command; and

select a behavioral movement within the set of behavioral movements associated with the received utterance override command; and

communicating the data to the recipient concurrently with a behavioral movement comprises;

animate the figure responsive to the utterance override command to communicate the selected behavioral characteristic.

41. The computer readable medium of claim 35 wherein the instructions causing the processor to communicate the data to the recipient concurrently with a behavioral movement further comprises instructions to cause the processor to:

determine content of the data to be communicated; and

modify the behavioral movement of the visual representation responsive to the content of the data to be communicated.

42. The computer readable medium of claim 35 in a system wherein the instructions causing the processor to determine the content of the data to be communicated comprise:

determine whether words in the data to be communicated belong to a predefined category, and the instructions causing the processor to modify the behavioral movement further comprise instructions to cause the processor to;

responsive to the processor determining that a word in the data to be communicated belongs to a predefined category, animate the visual representation responsive to the behavioral movement associated with the predefined category.

43. The computer readable medium of claim 42 wherein the categories include referents, ejaculations, volumetrics, and prepositions.

44. The computer readable medium of claim 42 wherein the categories include egocentrics, and xenocentrics.

45. The computer readable medium of claim 42 wherein the categories include negatives and positives.

46. The computer readable medium of claim 42 wherein the instructions causing the processor to modify the behavioral movement of the visual representation further cause the processor to modify the behavioral movement of the visual representation in response to a weighting associated with the behavioral movement associated with the predefined category.

47. A user interface for selecting a behavioral movement to be performed by a visual representation of a user to communicate behavioral information to a remote user, the user interface comprising:

an inner geometric figure, the inner geometric figure divided into sections, each section designating a class of behavior; and

an outer geometric figure concentric with the inner geometric figure, divided into sections, and responsive to a pointing device being moved from a section of the inner geometric figure into the outer geometric figure, each section displaying a behavioral movement associated with the class of behavior designated by the section of the inner geometric figure from which the pointing device moved.

48. A method of communicating data containing text from a user to a remote recipient through a remote connection in which predefined categories of text are associated with behavioral movements, comprising:

providing a set of behavioral characteristics of a visual representation to the user, the behavioral characteristics representing contexts within which data is to be interpreted;

receiving a selection of a behavioral characteristic from one of the set of behavioral characteristics from the user;

receiving text to be communicated from the user to the recipient;

determining whether a word in the text to be communicated belongs to a predefined category, and

responsive to determining that a word in the data to be communicated belongs to a predefined category, communicating the text to the recipient concurrently with a behavioral movement of the visual representation associated with the predefined category and responsive to the selected behavioral characteristic, wherein the behavioral movement provides context to the recipient for interpreting the communicated text.

49. The method of claim 48 wherein the predefined categories include referents, ejaculations, volumetrics, and prepositions.

50. The method of claim 48 wherein the predefined categories include egocentrics and xenocentrics.

51. The method of claim 48 wherein the predefined categories include negatives and positives.

52. A method of communicating data from a user to a remote recipient through a remote connection comprising:

providing a set of behavioral characteristics of a visual representation to the user, the behavioral characteristics representing contexts within which data is to be interpreted;

receiving a selection of a behavioral characteristic from one of the set of behavioral characteristics from the user;

receiving gesture data from the user specifying a gesture for communicating behavioral information associated with a sequence of behavioral movements;

receiving data to be communicated from the user to the recipient; and

communicating the data to the recipient concurrently with a sequence of behavioral movements of the visual representation associated with the selected behavioral characteristic and the gesture data, wherein the sequence of behavioral movements provide context to the recipient for interpreting the communicated data.

53. The method of claim 52, further comprising animating the visual representation responsive to the sequence of behavioral movements associated with the selected behavioral characteristic and the gesture data.

54. A computer readable medium for storing instructions to cause a processor to communicate data from a user to a remote recipient through a remote connection, the instructions causing the processor to:

provide a set of behavioral characteristics of a visual representation to the user, the behavioral characteristics representing contexts within which data is to be interpreted;

receive a selection of a behavioral characteristic from one of the set of behavioral characteristics from the user;

receive gesture data from the user specifying a gesture for communicating behavioral information associated with a sequence of behavioral movements;

receive data to be communicated from the user; and

communicate the data to the recipient concurrently with a sequence of behavioral movements of the visual representation associated with the selected behavioral characteristic and the gesture data, wherein the sequence of behavioral movements provide context to the recipient for interpreting the communicated data.

55. The computer readable medium of claim 54, further comprising instructions to animate the visual representation responsive to the sequence of behavioral movements associated with the selected behavioral characteristic and the gesture data.

56. A method of communicating data containing text from a user to a remote recipient through a remote connection in which predefined categories of text are associated with behavioral movements, comprising:

providing a set of behavioral characteristics of a visual representation to the user, the behavioral characteristics representing contexts within which data is to be interpreted;

receiving a selection of a behavioral characteristic from one of the set of behavioral characteristics from the user;

receiving a gesture command from the user;

receiving text to be communicated from the user to the recipient;

determining whether a word in the text to be communicated belongs to a predefined category, and

responsive to determining that a word in the data to be communicated belongs to a predefined category, communicating the text to the recipient concurrently with a behavioral movement of the visual representation associated with the predefined category and responsive to the selected behavioral characteristic and the gesture command, wherein the behavioral movement provides context to the recipient for interpreting the communicated text.