Group content representations

• US 7,840,903 B1
• Filed: 06/08/2007
• Issued: 11/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Qurio Holdings Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Qurio Holdings Incorporated
• Inventors: Walsh, Richard J., Amidon, Christopher M., Issa, Alfredo C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lo; Weilun
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tran; Tuyetlien T
• Application Number:
  US11/760,019
• Time in Patent Office: 1,264 Days
• Field of Search: 715/733, 715/751, 715/757, 715/753
• US Class Current: 715/757
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/904 Browsing; Visualisation therefor for navigating the web G06F16/954; browsing optimisation for the web G06F16/957
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/907 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• 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: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/131 Protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information

Abstract

A system and method are provided for representing content made accessible by a group of users. In general, a group content representation that is descriptive of content made accessible by the group of users is presented to an interested user. In one embodiment, the users are represented by avatars in a virtual environment, and the group content representation is presented in a view of the virtual environment provided to the interested user. The group content representation may be presented at a fixed or dynamic location within the virtual environment. For example, the group content representation may be presented at a location relative to the avatars representing the group of users in the virtual environment. Based on the group content representation, the interested user is enabled to quickly and easily determine whether content of interest is accessible from the group of users.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying a plurality of users represented by avatars within a defined area of a virtual environment as a plurality of potential participants for a group where the defined area is a dynamic area of the virtual environment and the dynamic area is defined based on a line-of-sight of an avatar representing an interested user in the virtual environment;

selecting ones of the plurality of potential participants as the participants for the group, thereby identifying participants for the group;

combining metadata describing content made accessible by the participants to provide aggregate metadata;

identifying a group content representation that is descriptive of the content made accessible by the participants based on the aggregate metadata; and

effecting presentation of the group content representation to the interested user at a client device, wherein effecting presentation of the group content representation comprises effecting presentation of the group content representation in a view of the virtual environment provided to the interested user at the client device.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the defined area is a fixed area of the virtual environment.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the defined area is defined by a boundary defining an outer limit of the defined area and at least one of a group consisting of:

an inclusion attribute identifying at least one type of area within the virtual environment to be included in the defined area and an exclusion attribute identifying at least one type of area within the virtual environment to be excluded from the defined area.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein selecting the ones of the plurality of potential participants as the participants for the group comprises selecting the ones of the plurality of potential participants as the participants for the group based on at least one criterion.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein selecting the ones of the plurality of potential participants as the participants for the group comprises selecting the ones of the plurality of potential participants as the participants for the group based on at least one participation rule.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the at least one participation rule comprises at least one of a group consisting of:

a participation rule defining a desired user rating for participants in the group, a participation rule defining a desired range of user ratings for participants in the group, a participation rule defining a maximum distance between the interested user and the participants in a social network, a participation rule related to duration of time at a particular location within the virtual environment, a participation rule defining a desired range of virtual distances between the avatar representing the interested user and the avatars representing the participants in the group, a participation rule defining a desired range of network distances between the client device of the interested user and client devices of the participants in the group, and a participation rule defining a desired range of physical distances between the interested user and the participants in the group.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein selecting the ones of the plurality of potential participants as the participants for the group comprises selecting the ones of the plurality of potential participants as the participants for the group based on at least one content preference.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein selecting the ones of the plurality of potential participants as the participants for the group comprises selecting the ones of the plurality of potential participants as the participants for the group based on a desired user boundary.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein selecting the ones of the plurality of potential participants as the participants for the group comprises selecting the ones of the plurality of potential participants as the participants for the group based on a combination of a desired user boundary and a desired user density.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the group content representation comprises:

identifying a plurality of applicable group content representations based on the aggregate metadata, each of the plurality of applicable group content representations being descriptive of at least a portion of the content made accessible by the participants for the group; and

selecting the group content representation from the plurality of applicable group content representations based on preferences of the interested user.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein effecting presentation of the group content representation in the view of the virtual environment provided to the interested user at the client device comprises effecting presentation of the group content representation at a fixed location in the virtual environment.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein effecting presentation of the group content representation in the view of the virtual environment provided to the interested user at the client device comprises effecting presentation of the group content representation at a dynamic location in the virtual environment.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the dynamic location is a location relative to the avatars representing the participants in the virtual environment.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising effecting presentation of indicia identifying at least one key participant of the participants of the group in the view of the virtual environment provided to the interested user at the client device.

15. A system comprising:

a communication interface communicatively coupling the system to a plurality of client devices via a network, wherein each of the plurality of client devices is associated with one of a plurality of users; and

a control system associated with the communication interface adapted to;

identify a plurality of potential participants for a group from the plurality of users represented by avatars within a defined area of a virtual environment where the defined area is a dynamic area of the virtual environment and the dynamic area is defined based on a line-of-sight of an avatar representing an interested user in the virtual environment;

select ones of the plurality of potential participants as the participants for the group, thereby identifying participants for the group from the plurality of users;

combine metadata describing content made accessible by the participants to provide aggregate metadata;

identify a group content representation that is descriptive of the content made accessible by the participants based on the aggregate metadata; and

effect presentation of the group content representation to the interested user from the plurality of users at one of the plurality of client devices associated with the interested user, wherein effecting presentation of the group content representation comprises effecting presentation of the group content representation in a view of the virtual environment provided to the interested user at the one of the plurality of client devices.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the control system is further adapted to select the ones of the plurality of potential participants as the participants for the group based on at least one criterion.

17. The system of claim 15 wherein in order to identify the group content representation, the control system is further adapted to:

identify a plurality of applicable group content representations based on the aggregate metadata, each of the plurality of applicable group content representations being descriptive of at least a portion of the content made accessible by the participants for the group; and

select the group content representation from the plurality of applicable group content representations based on preferences of the interested user.

18. The system of claim 15 wherein the control system is further adapted to effect presentation of the group content representation at a fixed location in the virtual environment.

19. The system of claim 15 wherein the control system is further adapted to effect presentation of the group content representation at a dynamic location in the virtual environment.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the dynamic location is a location relative to the avatars representing the participants in the virtual environment.