Shared virtual area communication environment based apparatus and methods
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method, comprising a computer system performing operations comprising:
- associating place attribute values with realtime interactions of a user and other communicants operating respective network nodes and sharing a virtual communication environment comprising virtual areas and supporting realtime communications between the user and the other communicants in the virtual areas, wherein the associating comprises, for each of respective ones of the interactions, generating a respective historical interaction record comprising a respective place attribute value that identifies the virtual area in which the interaction occurred and one or more communicant identifier attribute values that identify ones of the communicants who participated in the interaction;
administering the network communication environment based on the historical interaction records, wherein the administering comprisesquerying the historical interaction records based on a query comprising at least one communicant identifier attribute value that identifies the user and a place identifier value that identifies a particular one of the virtual areas, anddetermining from results of the querying a set of the communicants with whom the user has interacted in the particular virtual area;
ranking the communicants in the list based on the results of the querying, wherein the ranking comprises determining a respective relevance score for each of the communicants in the set of communicants based on at least one statistic derived from results of the querying of the interaction records; and
ordering the communicants in the list by rank, wherein the ordering comprises ordering the communicants in the list of communicants by relevance score.
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Abstract
Improved systems and methods for navigating and interacting in virtual communication environments are described. At least some of these systems and methods provide a framework that includes one or more virtual areas and supports realtime communications between the communicants. At least some of these systems and methods provide an interface that includes navigation controls that enable a user to navigate virtual areas and interaction controls that enable the user to interact with other communicants in the one or more virtual areas.
172 Citations
58 Claims
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1. A method, comprising a computer system performing operations comprising:
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associating place attribute values with realtime interactions of a user and other communicants operating respective network nodes and sharing a virtual communication environment comprising virtual areas and supporting realtime communications between the user and the other communicants in the virtual areas, wherein the associating comprises, for each of respective ones of the interactions, generating a respective historical interaction record comprising a respective place attribute value that identifies the virtual area in which the interaction occurred and one or more communicant identifier attribute values that identify ones of the communicants who participated in the interaction; administering the network communication environment based on the historical interaction records, wherein the administering comprises querying the historical interaction records based on a query comprising at least one communicant identifier attribute value that identifies the user and a place identifier value that identifies a particular one of the virtual areas, and determining from results of the querying a set of the communicants with whom the user has interacted in the particular virtual area; ranking the communicants in the list based on the results of the querying, wherein the ranking comprises determining a respective relevance score for each of the communicants in the set of communicants based on at least one statistic derived from results of the querying of the interaction records; and ordering the communicants in the list by rank, wherein the ordering comprises ordering the communicants in the list of communicants by relevance score. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A method, comprising a processor performing operations comprising:
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associating place attribute values with realtime interactions of a user and other communicants operating on respective network nodes and sharing a virtual communication environment comprising virtual areas and supporting realtime communications between the user and the other communicants in the virtual areas, wherein the associating comprises, for each interaction involving a respective one of the communicants in a respective one of the virtual areas, generating a respective interaction record comprising a respective place attribute value that identifies the virtual area in which the interaction occurred and one or more communicant identifier attribute values that identify respective ones of the communicants that participated in the interaction, wherein at least one of the virtual areas comprises multiple zones, and each of the zones supports establishment of communicant presence and is associated with a respective set of one or more switching rules for connecting sources and sinks of the network nodes that are associated with respective ones of the communicants who have presence in the zone; and administering the network communication environment based on the interaction records, wherein the administering comprises responsive to user input specifying a particular one of the virtual areas, querying the interaction records based on a query comprising a communicant identifier attribute value that identifies the user and a place identifier attribute value that identifies the particular virtual area, establishing a presence of the user in the particular virtual area based on at least one statistic derived from results of querying the interaction records, and administering interactions of communicants in the zones of the at least one virtual area based on results of querying the historical interaction records. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40)
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41. A method, comprising a computer system performing operations comprising:
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associating place attribute values with realtime interactions of a user and other communicants operating respective network nodes and sharing a virtual communication environment comprising virtual areas and supporting realtime communications between the user and the other communicants in the virtual areas, wherein the associating comprises, for each of respective ones of the interactions, generating a respective historical interaction record comprising a respective place attribute value that identifies the virtual area in which the interaction occurred and one or more communicant identifier attribute values that identify ones of the communicants who participated in the interaction, wherein at least one of the virtual areas comprises multiple zones, and each of the zones supports establishment of communicant presence and is associated with a respective set of one or more switching rules for connecting sources and sinks of the network nodes that are associated with respective ones of the communicants who have presence in the zone; and administering the network communication environment based on the historical interaction records, wherein the administering comprises determining whether the user satisfies at least one governance rule associated with a particular one of the virtual areas based on at least one statistic derived from results of querying the historical interaction records, enabling the particular communicant to access a resource associated with the particular virtual area based on a determination that the user satisfies the at least one governance rule, and administering interactions of communicants in the zones of the at least one virtual area based on results of querying the historical interaction records. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A method, comprising a computer system performing operations comprising:
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associating place attribute values with realtime interactions of a user and other communicants operating respective network nodes and sharing a virtual communication environment comprising virtual areas and supporting realtime communications between the user and the other communicants in the virtual areas, wherein the associating comprises, for each of respective ones of the interactions, generating a respective historical interaction record comprising a respective place attribute value that identifies the virtual area in which the interaction occurred and one or more communicant identifier attribute values that identify ones of the communicants who participated in the interaction, wherein at least one of the virtual areas comprises multiple zones, and each of the zones supports establishment of communicant presence and is associated with a respective set of one or more switching rules for connecting sources and sinks of the network nodes that are associated with respective ones of the communicants who have presence in the zone; and administering the network communication environment based on the historical interaction records, wherein the administering comprises querying the historical interaction records based on a query comprising at least one communicant identifier attribute value that identifies the user and a place identifier value that identifies a particular one of the virtual areas, determining from results of the querying a set of the communicants with whom the user has interacted in the particular virtual area, and administering interactions of communicants in the zones of the at least one virtual area based on results of querying the historical interaction records.
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47. A method, comprising a computer system performing operations comprising:
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associating place attribute values with interactions of communicants operating respective network nodes in a network communication environment supporting realtime interactions of the communicants in virtual areas, wherein the associating comprises, for each of respective ones of the interactions, generating a respective historical interaction record comprising a respective place attribute value that identifies the virtual area in which the interaction occurred and one or more communicant identifier attribute values that identify ones of the communicants who participated in the interaction; and administering the network communication environment based on the historical interaction records, wherein the administering comprises querying the historical interaction records based on a query comprising at least one communicant identifier attribute value that respectively identifies at least one communicant, determining from results of the querying a set of the virtual areas in which the at least one communicant interacted, transmitting to the network node of a particular one of the communicants a list of virtual areas in the set of the virtual areas, based on receipt of a request to interact in a selected one of the virtual areas from the network node of the particular communicant in connection with the transmitted list of virtual areas, determining whether the particular communicant is eligible to enter the selected virtual area based on results of querying the historical interaction records, and based on a determination that the particular communicant is eligible to enter the selected virtual area, establishing a presence for the particular communicant in the virtual area.
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48. A method, comprising a computer system performing operations comprising:
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associating place attribute values with realtime interactions of a user and other communicants operating respective network nodes and sharing a virtual communication environment comprising virtual areas and supporting realtime communications between the user and the other communicants in the virtual areas, wherein the associating comprises, for each of respective ones of the interactions, generating a respective historical interaction record comprising a respective place attribute value that identifies the virtual area in which the interaction occurred and one or more communicant identifier attribute values that identify ones of the communicants who participated in the interaction, wherein each of the communicants is associated with a respective object; and administering the network communication environment based on the historical interaction records, wherein the administering comprises querying the historical interaction records based on a query comprising at least one communicant identifier attribute value that identifies the user and a place identifier value that identifies a particular one of the virtual areas, determining from results of the querying a set of the communicants with whom the user has interacted in the particular virtual area, transmitting to the network node of the user a specification of a graphic presentation of the objects associated with other ones of the communicants who are present in a particular one of the virtual areas, and determining the graphic presentation of the objects based on results of querying the historical interaction records, and determining from the results of querying the historical interaction records frequencies of interaction between the user and other ones of the communicants, and the determining of the graphic presentation of the objects is based on the determined frequencies of interaction.
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49. A method, comprising a computer system performing operations comprising:
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associating place attribute values with realtime interactions of a user and other communicants operating respective network nodes and sharing a virtual communication environment comprising virtual areas and supporting realtime communications between the user and the other communicants in the virtual areas, wherein the associating comprises, for each of respective ones of the interactions, generating a respective historical interaction record comprising a respective place attribute value that identifies the virtual area in which the interaction occurred and one or more communicant identifier attribute values that identify ones of the communicants who participated in the interaction, wherein each of the communicants is associated with a respective object; and administering the network communication environment based on the historical interaction records, wherein the administering comprises querying the historical interaction records based on a query comprising at least one communicant identifier attribute value that identifies the user and a place identifier value that identifies a particular one of the virtual areas, determining from results of the querying a set of the communicants with whom the user has interacted in the particular virtual area, transmitting to the network node of the user a specification of a graphic presentation of the objects associated with other ones of the communicants who are present in a particular one of the virtual areas, and determining the graphic presentation of the objects based on results of querying the historical interaction records, and determining from the results of querying the historical interaction records recentness of interaction between the user and other ones of the communicants, and the determining of the graphic presentation of the objects is based on the determined recentness of interaction.
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50. A method, comprising a computer system performing operations comprising:
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associating place attribute values with realtime interactions of a user and other communicants operating respective network nodes and sharing a virtual communication environment comprising virtual areas and supporting realtime communications between the user and the other communicants in the virtual areas, wherein the associating comprises, for each of respective ones of the interactions, generating a respective historical interaction record comprising a respective place attribute value that identifies the virtual area in which the interaction occurred and one or more communicant identifier attribute values that identify ones of the communicants who participated in the interaction; and administering the network communication environment based on the historical interaction records, wherein the administering comprises querying the historical interaction records based on a query comprising at least one communicant identifier attribute value that identifies the user and a place identifier value that identifies a particular one of the virtual areas, determining from results of the querying a set of the communicants with whom the user has interacted in the particular virtual area, identifying at least one of the virtual areas based on results of querying the historical interaction records, transmitting to the network node of the user a specification of a graphic presentation of the at least one identified virtual area, establishing a respective presence for the user in the at least one identified virtual area, and determining from the results of querying the historical interaction records frequencies of interaction between the user and other ones of the communicants, and the determining of the graphic presentation of the at least one identified virtual area is based on the determined frequencies of interaction.
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51. A method, comprising a computer system performing operations comprising:
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associating place attribute values with realtime interactions of a user and other communicants operating respective network nodes and sharing a virtual communication environment comprising virtual areas and supporting realtime communications between the user and the other communicants in the virtual areas, wherein the associating comprises, for each of respective ones of the interactions, generating a respective historical interaction record comprising a respective place attribute value that identifies the virtual area in which the interaction occurred and one or more communicant identifier attribute values that identify ones of the communicants who participated in the interaction; and administering the network communication environment based on the historical interaction records, wherein the administering comprises querying the historical interaction records based on a query comprising at least one communicant identifier attribute value that identifies the user and a place identifier value that identifies a particular one of the virtual areas, determining from results of the querying a set of the communicants with whom the user has interacted in the particular virtual area, identifying at least one of the virtual areas based on results of querying the historical interaction records, transmitting to the network node of the user a specification of a graphic presentation of the at least one identified virtual area, establishing a respective presence for the user in the at least one identified virtual area, and determining from the results of querying the historical interaction records recentness of interaction between the user and other ones of the communicants, and the determining of the graphic presentation of the at least one identified virtual area is based on the determined recentness of interaction.
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52. A method, comprising a computer system performing operations comprising:
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associating place attribute values with interactions of communicants operating respective network nodes in a network communication environment supporting realtime interactions of the communicants in virtual areas, wherein the associating comprises, for each of respective ones of the interactions, generating a respective historical interaction record comprising a respective place attribute value that identifies the virtual area in which the interaction occurred and one or more communicant identifier attribute values that identify ones of the communicants who participated in the interaction, wherein the associating comprises including in each of one or more of the historical interaction records one or more data identifiers respectively identifying data shared from respective ones of the communicant network nodes during the respective interaction; and administering the network communication environment based on the historical interaction records, wherein the administering comprises querying the historical interaction records based on a query comprising at least one communicant identifier attribute value that respectively identifies at least one communicant, the query comprises the identifier attribute values identifying the particular communicants and the place attribute value identifying a particular one of the virtual areas, and determining from results of the querying at least one of a set of the virtual areas in which the at least one communicant interacted and a set of the communicants with whom the at least one communicant has interacted in respective ones of the virtual areas, wherein the determining comprises determining from results of the querying data shared in the particular virtual area while the particular communicants were co-present.
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53. A system, comprising:
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a memory storing processor-readable instructions; and a processor coupled to the memory, configured to execute the instructions, and based at least in part on the execution of the instructions configured to perform operations comprising associating place attribute values with realtime interactions of a user and other communicants operating respective network nodes and sharing a virtual communication environment supporting realtime communications between the user and the other communicants in the virtual areas, wherein the associating comprises, for each of respective ones of the interactions, generating a respective historical interaction record comprising a respective place attribute value that identifies the virtual area in which the interaction occurred and one or more communicant identifier attribute values that identify ones of the communicants who participated in the interaction, administering the network communication environment based on the historical interaction records, wherein the administering comprises querying the historical interaction records based on a query comprising at least one communicant identifier attribute value that respectively identifies the user and a place identifier value that identifies a particular one of the virtual areas, determining from results of the querying a set of the communicants with whom the user has interacted in the particular virtual area; ranking the communicants in the list based on the results of the querying, wherein the ranking comprises determining a respective relevance score for each of the communicants in the set of communicants based on at least one statistic derived from results of the querying of the interaction records; and ordering the communicants in the list by rank, wherein the ordering comprises ordering the communicants in the list of communicants by relevance score. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57)
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58. At least one non-transitory computer-readable medium having processor-readable instructions embodied therein, the processor-readable instructions adapted to be executed by a processor to implement a method comprising:
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associating place attribute values with realtime interactions of a user and other communicants operating respective network nodes and sharing a virtual communication environment comprising virtual areas and supporting realtime communications between the user and the other communicants in the virtual areas, wherein the associating comprises, for each of respective ones of the interactions, generating a respective historical interaction record comprising a respective place attribute value that identifies the virtual area in which the interaction occurred and one or more communicant identifier attribute values that identify ones of the communicants who participated in the interaction; administering the network communication environment based on the historical interaction records, wherein the administering comprises querying the historical interaction records based on a query comprising at least one communicant identifier attribute value that identifies the user and a place identifier value that identifies a particular one of the virtual areas, and determining from results of the querying a set of the communicants with whom the user has interacted in the particular virtual area; ranking the communicants in the list based on the results of the querying, wherein the ranking comprises determining a respective relevance score for each of the communicants in the set of communicants based on at least one statistic derived from results of the querying of the interaction records; and ordering the communicants in the list by rank, wherein the ordering comprises ordering the communicants in the list of communicants by relevance score.
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Specification