Maintenance of group shared inventories in a virtual universe

• US 8,103,559 B2
• Filed: 02/15/2008
• Issued: 01/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/15/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: King.com, Ltd (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bhogal, Kulvir S., Hamilton, Rick A. II, Pickover, Clifford A., Sand, Anne R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Champagne, Luna
• Application Number:
  US12/032,464
• Publication Number:
  US 20090210449A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,439 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/28
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

Generally speaking, systems, methods and media for maintenance of group shared inventories in a virtual universe are disclosed. Embodiments of the method may include receiving usage information for one or more inventory items each shared by a group having a plurality of users and storing the received usage information. Embodiments may also include analyzing the usage information for at least one shared inventory item and performing an action based on the analysis of the usage information. The action performed may include archiving, deleting, changing the price for, or adding to a list of included inventory items the shared inventory item. Further embodiments may include determining whether a rule based on group usage is satisfied and performing the action accordingly. Further embodiments may also include analyzing the usage information to determine trends of usage, comparing the determined usage trends to an established heuristic, and performing an action as a result.

Claims

1. A method for maintaining group shared inventories in a virtual universe, the method comprising:

receiving, by a computer system comprising a group inventory manager and one or more processors coupled to memory, usage information for one or more inventory items each shared by a group having a plurality of users, wherein the group inventory manager comprises software components for maintaining shared inventory, and further wherein the one or more shared inventory items comprise one or more copies, pointers, or references;

storing the received usage information for the one or more shared inventory items;

analyzing the stored usage information for at least one of the one or more shared inventory items; and

performing an action based on the analysis of the stored usage information for the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the performing the action comprises archiving the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the performing the action comprises deleting the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the performing the action comprises adding the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items to a list of included inventory items.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the performing the action comprises changing a price for the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the performing the action comprises changing usage conditions for the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the performing the action comprises offering the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items to a user not currently sharing the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

wherein the analyzing the stored usage information for the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items comprises analyzing the stored usage information to determine whether a rule based on group usage is satisfied; and

wherein further the performing the action based on the analysis of the stored usage information for the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items comprises performing the action based on whether the rule based on group usage is satisfied.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

wherein the analyzing the stored usage information for the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items comprises analyzing the stored usage information to determine trends of usage of the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items;

comparing the determined trends of usage of the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items to an established heuristic; and

wherein further the performing the action based on the analysis of the stored usage information for the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items comprises performing the action automatically in response to the determined trend of usage satisfying the established heuristic.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

wherein the analyzing the stored usage information for the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items comprises analyzing the stored usage information to determine trends of usage of the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items;

comparing the determined trends of usage of the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items to an established heuristic; and

wherein further the performing the action based on the analysis of the stored usage information for the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items comprises performing the action in response to a request from a user.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a request from a user to edit a shared inventory item of the one or more shared inventory items and determining whether the user has editing privilege for the shared inventory item to be edited.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising notifying at least one user of the plurality of users of the action for the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items.

12. A computer program product for maintaining group shared inventories in a virtual universe, the computer program product comprising:

a computer readable storage device;

first program instructions to receive, by a group inventory manager, usage information for one or more inventory items each shared by a group having a plurality of users, wherein the group inventory manager comprises software components for maintaining shared inventory, and further wherein the one or more shared inventory items comprise one or more copies, pointers, or references;

second program instructions to store the received usage information for the one or more shared inventory items;

third program instructions to analyze the stored usage information for at least one of the one or more shared inventory items;

fourth program instructions to perform an action based on the analysis of the stored usage information for the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items; and

wherein the first, second, third, and fourth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage device.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, further comprising:

wherein the third program instructions to analyze the stored usage information for the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items comprises fifth program instructions to analyze the stored usage information to determine whether a rule based on group usage is satisfied;

wherein the fourth program instructions to perform the action based on the analysis of the stored usage information for the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items comprises sixth program instructions to perform further the action based on the analysis and whether the rule based on group usage is satisfied; and

wherein the fifth and sixth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage device.

14. The computer program product of claim 12, further comprising:

wherein the third program instructions to analyze the stored usage information for the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items comprise fifth program instructions to analyze the stored usage information to determine trends of usage of the at least one shared inventory item;

sixth program instructions to compare the determined trends of usage of the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items to an established heuristic;

wherein the fourth program instructions to perform the action based on the analysis of the stored usage information for the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items comprise seventh program instructions to perform further the action based on the analysis and automatically in response to the determined trend of usage satisfying the established heuristic; and

wherein the fifth, sixth, and seventh program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage device.

15. The computer program product of claim 12, further comprising:

wherein the third program instructions to analyze the stored usage information for the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items comprise fifth program instructions to analyze the stored usage information to determine trends of usage of the at least one shared inventory item;

sixth program instructions to compare the determined trends of usage of the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items to an established heuristic;

wherein the fourth program instructions to perform the action based on the analysis of the stored usage information for the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items comprise seventh program instructions to perform further the action based on the analysis and in response to a request from a user; and

wherein the fifth, sixth, and seventh program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage device.

22. The computer program product of claim 12, further comprising fifth program instructions to notify at least one user of the plurality of users of the action for the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items subsequent to execution of the fourth program instructions;

and wherein the fifth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage device.

16. A system for maintaining group shared inventories in a virtual universe, the system comprising:

a processor, a computer readable memory and a computer readable storage device;

first program instructions to receive, by a group inventory manager, usage information for one or more inventory items each shared by a group having a plurality of users, wherein the group inventory manager comprises software components for maintaining shared inventory, and further wherein the one or more shared inventory items comprise one or more copies, pointers, or references;

second program instructions to store the received usage information for the one or more shared inventory items;

third program instructions to analyze the stored usage information for at least one of the one or more shared inventory items;

fourth program instructions to perform an action based on the analysis of the stored usage information for the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items; and

wherein the first, second, third, and fourth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage device for execution by the processor via the computer readable memory.

17. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

wherein the third program instructions to analyze the stored usage information for the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items comprises fifth program instructions to analyze stored usage information to determine whether a rule based on group usage is satisfied;

wherein the fourth program instructions to perform the action based on the analysis of the stored usage information for the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items comprise sixth program instructions to perform further the action based on the analysis and whether the rule based on group usage is satisfied; and

wherein the fifth and sixth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage device for execution by the processor via the computer readable memory.

18. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

wherein the third program instructions to analyze the stored usage information for the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items comprise fifth program instructions to analyze the stored usage information to determine trends of usage of the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items;

sixth program instructions to compare the determined trends of usage of the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items to an established heuristic;

wherein the fourth program instructions to perform the action based on the analysis of the stored usage information for the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items comprise seventh program instructions to perform further the action based on the analysis and automatically in response to the determined trend of usage satisfying the established heuristic; and

wherein the fifth, sixth, and seventh program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage device for execution by the processor via the computer readable memory.

19. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

wherein the third program instructions to analyze the stored usage information for the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items comprise fifth program instructions to analyze the stored usage information to determine trends of usage of the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items;

sixth program instructions to compare the determined trends of usage of the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items to an established heuristic;

wherein the fourth program instructions to perform the action based on the analysis of the stored usage information for the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items comprise seventh program instructions to perform further the action based on the analysis and in response to a request from a user; and

wherein the fifth, sixth, and seventh program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage device for execution by the processor via the computer readable memory.

20. The system of claim 16, further comprising fifth program instructions to receive a request from a user to edit a shared inventory item of the one or more shared inventory items and determining whether the user has editing privilege for the shared inventory item to be edited;

and wherein the fifth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage device for execution by the processor via the computer readable memory.

23. The system of claim 16, further comprising fifth program instructions to notify at least one user of the plurality of users of the action for the at least one of the one or more shared inventory items subsequent to execution of the fourth program instructions;

and wherein the fifth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage device for execution by the processor via the computer readable memory.