Bridging physical and virtual spaces

• US 9,288,242 B2
• Filed: 10/17/2013
• Issued: 03/15/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sococo, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Social Communications Company
• Inventors: Brody, Paul J., Jennings, Joseph W., Van Wie, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Boutah, Alina N
• Application Number:
  US14/056,192
• Publication Number:
  US 20140115059A1
• Time in Patent Office: 880 Days
• Field of Search: 345/419, 345/632, 345/633, 709/203, 709/204, 715/757
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04812 Interaction techniques based on cursor appearance or behaviour, e.g. being affected by the presence of displayed objects
• 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: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0613 Third-party assisted
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1813 for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms instant messaging H04L51/04; protocols for multimedia communication H04L65/1101; arrangements for multi-party communication H04L65/403; telephonic conference arrangements H04M3/56; television conference systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1822 Conducting the conference, e.g. admission, detection, selection or grouping of participants, correlating users to one or more conference sessions, prioritising transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1827 Network arrangements for conference optimisation or adaptation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/30 Profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/30 Determination of the location of a subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/567 Multimedia conference systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/157 defining a virtual conference space and using avatars or agents computer conference optimisation or adaptation H04L12/1827
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring

Abstract

Examples of systems and methods for bridging virtual and physical spaces are described. In some of these examples, a particular communicant'"'"'s real world state drives changes in one or more of the communications connections, virtual state, and communications interface of the particular communicant or another communicant.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

administering realtime communications between network nodes respectively associated with a user and other communicants in a network communications environment;

receiving real world data comprising one or more attributes defining a physical state of the user, wherein at least one of the one or more attributes defines a real world location of the user;

applying one or more conditions to the one or more attributes; and

based on results of the applying, establishing a presence of the user in a virtual area defining a context for realtime communications in the network communications environment based on a determination that the real world location of the user is within a particular physical area that is defined in relation to a current real world location of another communicant.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the applying comprises applying a proximity predicate to the real world location of the user in relation to the real world location of the other communicant, and the user'"'"'s presence in the virtual area is established based on a determination that the user and the other communicant are within a particular distance of one another specified by the proximity predicate.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the applying comprises applying a minimum duration predicate to a length of time during which the user is physically present within the particular physical area, and the user'"'"'s presence in the virtual area is established based on a determination that the length of time the user is physically present within the particular physical area satisfies the minimum duration predicate.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the other communicant is present in the virtual area before and after the user'"'"'s presence in the virtual area has been established.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, before the establishing, automatically creating the virtual area based on the determination that the real world location of the user is within the particular physical area.

6. A method, comprising:

administering realtime communications between network nodes respectively associated with a user and other communicants in a network communications environment;

receiving real world data comprising one or more attributes defining a physical state of the user;

applying one or more conditions to the one or more attributes; and

based on results of the applying, establishing a presence of the user in a virtual area defining a context for realtime communications in the network communications environment based on a determination that the user and the other communicant are physically co-present.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the establishing comprises creating the virtual area for the user and the other communicant based on a determination that the real world locations of the user and the other communicant are physically co-present.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the presence of the user in the virtual area is established based a determination that the user and the other communicant are physically co-present for more than a threshold length of time.

9. A method, comprising:

administering realtime communications between network nodes respectively associated with a user and other communicants in a network communications environment;

receiving real world data comprising one or more attributes defining a physical state of the user;

applying one or more conditions to the one or more attributes; and

based on results of the applying, establishing a presence of a other a communicant other than the user in a virtual area defining a context for realtime communications in the network communications environment.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the establishing is performed in response to a determination that the one or more attributes satisfy the one or more conditions for at least a minimum duration.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the applying comprises applying a minimum duration predicate to a length of time during which the user is physically present within a particular physical area, and the presence of the other communicant in the virtual area is established based on a determination that the length of time the user is physically present within the particular physical area satisfies the minimum duration predicate.

12. A method, comprising:

administering realtinme communications between network nods respectively associated with a user and other communicants in a network communications environment;

receiving real world data comprising one or more attributes defining a physical state of the user, wherein at least one of the one or more attributes defines a real world location of the user;

applying one or more conditions to the one or more attributes; and

based on results of the applying, terminating the presence of the user in a virtual area defining a context for realtime communications in the network communications environment based on a determination that the real world location of the user is outside a particular physical area that is defined in relation to a current real world location of a communicant other than the user.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the applying comprises applying a minimum duration predicate to a length of time during which the user is outside the particular physical area, and the user'"'"'s presence in the virtual area is terminated based on a determination that the length of time the user is outside the particular physical area satisfies the minimum duration predicate.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising, after the terminating, automatically deleting the virtual area based on the determination that the user has left the real world location.

15. A method, comprising:

administering realtime communications between network nodes respectively associated with a user and other communicants in a network communications environment;

receiving real world data comprising one or more attributes defining a physical state of the user;

applying one or more conditions to the one or more attributes; and

based on results of the applying, terminating the presence of the user in a virtual area defining a context for realtime communications in the network communications environment based on a determination that the real world locations of the user and a communicant other than the user are not physically co-present.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the presence of the user in the virtual area is terminated based a determination that the user and the other communicant are not physically co-present for more than a threshold length of time.

17. A method, comprising:

administering realtime communications between network nodes respective associated with a user and other communicants in a network communications environment;

receiving real world data comprising one or more attributes defining a physical state of the user;

applying one or more conditions to the one or more attributes; and

based on results of the applying, terminating the presence of a communicant other than the user in a virtual area defining a context for realtime communications in the network communications environment.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the terminating is performed in response to a determination that one or more of the attributes satisfy the one or more conditions for at least a minimum duration.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the applying comprises applying a minimum duration predicate to a length of time during which the user is outside a particular physical area, and the presence of the other communicant in the virtual area is terminated based on a determination that the length of time the user is outside the particular physical area satisfies the minimum duration predicate.