Methods and systems for determining interest in a cohort-linked avatar

• US 9,418,368 B2
• Filed: 12/20/2007
• Issued: 08/16/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Levien, Royce A., Rinaldo, Jr., John D., Lord, Robert W., Wood, JR., Lowell L., Malamud, Mark A., Jung, Edward K. Y., Leuthardt, Eric C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hershley, Mark E
• Application Number:
  US12/005,168
• Publication Number:
  US 20090164549A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,162 Days
• Field of Search: 707/999.21, 707/612, 707/620
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/27 Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/273 Asynchronous replication or reconciliation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

Avatars, methods, apparatuses, computer program products, devices and systems are described that carry out receiving an indication of interest in at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute; and transmitting the at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute in response to the indication of interest.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

presenting at least one characteristic to at least one member of at least one population cohort;

measuring at least one physiologic activity of the at least one member of the at least one population cohort, the at least one physiologic activity proximate to the presented at least one characteristic;

associating the measured at least one physiologic activity with at least one mental state;

storing, in at least one cohort-linked attribute store, at least one association of at least one avatar attribute with the at least one population cohort at least partially based on the at least one characteristic and the at least one mental state;

receiving at least one indication of interest in at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute;

obtaining at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute from the at least one cohort-linked attribute store responsive to the received at least one indication of interest; and

transmitting the obtained at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute.

2. A system, comprising:

circuitry for presenting at least one characteristic to at least one member of at least one population cohort;

circuitry for measuring at least one physiologic activity of the at least one member of the at least one population cohort, the at least one physiologic activity proximate to the presented at least one characteristic;

circuitry for associating the measured at least one physiologic activity with at least one mental state;

circuitry for storing, in at least one cohort-linked attribute store, at least one association of at least one avatar attribute with the at least one population cohort at least partially based on the at least one characteristic and the at least one mental state;

circuitry for receiving at least one indication of interest in at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute;

circuitry for obtaining at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute from the at least one cohort-linked attribute store responsive to the received at least one indication of interest; and

circuitry for transmitting the obtained at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for receiving at least one indication of interest in at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute comprises:

circuitry for receiving the at least one indication of interest in the at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute from at least one merchant.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for receiving at least one indication of interest in at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute comprises:

circuitry for receiving the at least one indication of interest in the at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute from at least one advertiser.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for receiving at least one indication of interest in at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute comprises:

circuitry for soliciting at least one entity for the at least one indication of interest in the at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein circuitry for soliciting at least one entity for the at least one indication of interest in the at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute comprises:

circuitry for posting at least one availability of information relating to the at least one cohort-linked attribute store to at least one internet website accessible by one or more of at least one merchant, at least one advertiser, or at least one marketer.

7. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for receiving at least one indication of interest in at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute comprises:

circuitry for receiving the at least one indication of interest in the at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute in response to a posting.

8. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for receiving at least one indication of interest in at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute comprises:

circuitry for receiving at least one request for at least one subscription to the at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute.

9. The system of claim 3, wherein circuitry for receiving at least one indication of interest in at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute comprises:

circuitry for receiving at least one indication of interest in at least one of a physical appearance attribute, a media content attribute, a demographic attribute, a syntax attribute, a semantic attribute, or a sound attribute as the at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute.

10. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for receiving at least one indication of interest in at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute comprises:

circuitry for receiving at least some compensation for the at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein circuitry for receiving at least some compensation for the at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute comprises:

circuitry for receiving at least one payment for the at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute, including at least receiving at least one scheduled payment according to at least one payment schedule in accordance with at least one subscription associated with scheduled updates related to the at least one cohort-linked avatar.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein circuitry for receiving at least some compensation for the at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute comprises:

circuitry for receiving at least one “

per access”

-basis micropayment for the at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute, the at least one “

per access”

-basis micropayment associated with at least one single access of the at least one cohort-linked avatar.

13. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for transmitting the obtained at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute comprises:

circuitry for sending to at least one merchant the obtained at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute.

14. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for transmitting the obtained at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute comprises:

circuitry for sending to at least one advertiser the obtained at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute.

15. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for obtaining at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute from the at least one cohort-linked attribute store responsive to the received at least one indication of interest comprises:

circuitry for obtaining at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute linked to one or more of at least one age cohort, at least one ethnicity cohort, or at least one gender cohort in response to the at least one indication of interest.

16. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for receiving at least one indication of interest in at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute comprises:

circuitry for receiving at least one indication of interest in at least one cohort-linked avatar.

17. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for storing, in at least one cohort-linked attribute store, at least one association of at least one avatar attribute with the at least one population cohort at least partially based on the at least one characteristic and the at least one mental state comprises:

circuitry for determining whether the at least one mental state is associated with a positive mental state and, if the at least one mental state is associated with a positive mental state, associating the stored at least one avatar attribute in relation to the at least one population cohort with a positive response.

18. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for obtaining at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute from the at least one cohort-linked attribute store responsive to the received at least one indication of interest comprises:

circuitry for querying the at least one cohort-linked attribute store for the at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute using at least one indicator of at least a portion of the received at least one indication of interest as at least one search query.

19. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for presenting at least one characteristic to at least one member of at least one population cohort comprises:

circuitry for presenting the at least one characteristic to the at least one member of the at least one population cohort, the at least one characteristic also associated with the at least one member of the at least one population cohort.

20. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for presenting at least one characteristic to at least one member of at least one population cohort comprises:

circuitry for presenting the at least one characteristic to the at least one member of the at least one population cohort, the at least one characteristic not associated with a member of the at least one population cohort.

21. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for presenting at least one characteristic to at least one member of at least one population cohort comprises:

circuitry for presenting at least one characteristic to at least one member of at least one established population cohort.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein circuitry for presenting at least one characteristic to at least one member of at least one established population cohort comprises:

circuitry for presenting the at least one characteristic to at least one member of one or more of at least one established age cohort, at least one established gender cohort, or at least one established ethnic cohort.

23. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for presenting at least one characteristic to at least one member of at least one population cohort comprises:

circuitry for presenting one or more of at least one physical appearance characteristic, at least one language characteristic, at least one cultural characteristic, at least one personal interest characteristic, at least one educational characteristic, or at least one personality characteristic to the at least one member of the at least one population cohort.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein circuitry for presenting one or more of at least one physical appearance characteristic, at least one language characteristic, at least one cultural characteristic, at least one personal interest characteristic, at least one educational characteristic, or at least one personality characteristic to the at least one member of the at least one population cohort comprises:

circuitry for presenting one or more of at least one facial feature characteristic, at least one body feature characteristic, at least one clothing characteristic, or at least one accoutrement characteristic as the at least one physical appearance characteristic.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein circuitry for presenting one or more of at least one physical appearance characteristic, at least one language characteristic, at least one cultural characteristic, at least one personal interest characteristic, at least one educational characteristic, or at least one personality characteristic to the at least one member of the at least one population cohort comprises:

circuitry for presenting one or more of at least one regional dialect characteristic, at least one accent characteristic, at least one manner of speech characteristic, or at least one voice characteristic as the at least one language characteristic.

26. The system of claim 23, wherein circuitry for presenting one or more of at least one physical appearance characteristic, at least one language characteristic, at least one cultural characteristic, at least one personal interest characteristic, at least one educational characteristic, or at least one personality characteristic to the at least one member of the at least one population cohort comprises:

circuitry for presenting one or more of at least one gesture characteristic, at least one food characteristic, at least one hairstyle characteristic, at least one cosmetics characteristic, or at least one facial hair characteristic as the at least one cultural characteristic.

27. The system of claim 23, wherein circuitry for presenting one or more of at least one physical appearance characteristic, at least one language characteristic, at least one cultural characteristic, at least one personal interest characteristic, at least one educational characteristic, or at least one personality characteristic to the at least one member of the at least one population cohort comprises:

circuitry for presenting one or more of at least one of a hobby interest characteristic, at least one travel interest characteristic, at least one shopping interest characteristic, at least one pet interest characteristic, at least one television characteristic, at least one movie interest characteristic, at least one music interest characteristic, at least one politics interest characteristic, or at least one sports interest characteristic as the at least one personal interest characteristic.

28. The system of claim 23, wherein circuitry for presenting one or more of at least one physical appearance characteristic, at least one language characteristic, at least one cultural characteristic, at least one personal interest characteristic, at least one educational characteristic, or at least one personality characteristic to the at least one member of the at least one population cohort comprises:

circuitry for presenting one or more of at least one of a literature interest characteristic, at least one science interest characteristic, at least one mathematics interest characteristic, at least one college characteristic, or at least one university characteristic as the at least one educational interest characteristic.

29. The system of claim 23, wherein circuitry for presenting one or more of at least one physical appearance characteristic, at least one language characteristic, at least one cultural characteristic, at least one personal interest characteristic, at least one educational characteristic, or at least one personality characteristic to the at least one member of the at least one population cohort comprises:

circuitry for presenting one or more of at least one talkative personality characteristic, at least one aggressive personality characteristic, at least one deferential personality characteristic, at least one humorous personality characteristic, or at least one whimsical personality characteristic as the at least one personality characteristic.

30. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for presenting at least one characteristic to at least one member of at least one population cohort comprises:

circuitry for presenting at least one characteristic to one or more of at least one virtual world participant, at least one computer game participant, at least one online shopping participant, or at least one social networking website participant as the at least one member of the population cohort.

31. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for presenting at least one characteristic to at least one member of at least one population cohort comprises:

circuitry for presenting at least two characteristics separated by at least one time delay to the at least one member of a population cohort.

32. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for measuring at least one physiologic activity of the at least one member of the at least one population cohort, the at least one physiologic activity proximate to the presented at least one characteristic comprises:

circuitry for measuring at least one physiologic activity of the at least one member of the at least one population cohort using functional near-infrared imaging, the at least one physiologic activity proximate to the presented at least one characteristic.

33. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for measuring at least one physiologic activity of the at least one member of the at least one population cohort, the at least one physiologic activity proximate to the at least one presented at least one characteristic comprises:

circuitry for measuring at least one physiologic activity of the at least one member of the at least one population cohort using at least one of electroencephalography, computed axial tomography, positron emission tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, functional magnetic resonance imaging, functional near-infrared imaging, or magnetoencephalography, the at least one physiologic activity proximate to the presented at least one characteristic.

34. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for measuring at least one physiologic activity of the at least one member of the at least one population cohort, the at least one physiologic activity proximate to the presented at least one characteristic comprises:

circuitry for measuring at least one physiologic activity of the at least one member of the at least one population cohort in near real time, the at least one physiologic activity proximate to the presented at least one characteristic.

35. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for measuring at least one physiologic activity of the at least one member of the at least one population cohort, the at least one physiologic activity proximate to the presented at least one characteristic comprises:

circuitry for measuring at least one physiologic activity of the at least one member of the at least one population cohort, the at least one physiologic activity proximate to at least two presented characteristics.

36. The system of claim 2, further comprising:

circuitry for performing successive iterations of the presenting at least one characteristic to at least one member of at least one population cohort, the measuring at least one physiologic activity of the at least one member of the at least one population cohort, the at least one physiologic activity proximate to the presented at least one characteristic, and the associating the measured at least one physiological activity with at least one mental state.

37. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for storing, in at least one cohort-linked attribute store, at least one association of at least one avatar attribute with the at least one population cohort at least partially based on the at least one characteristic and the at least one mental state comprises:

circuitry for posting at least one availability of information relating to one or more cohort-linked avatar attributes associated with the at least one cohort-linked attribute store.

38. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for storing, in at least one cohort-linked attribute store, at least one association of at least one avatar attribute with the at least one population cohort at least partially based on the at least one characteristic and the at least one mental state comprises:

circuitry for posting at least one availability of information relating to one or more cohort-linked avatar attributes associated with the at least one cohort-linked attribute store, and

wherein circuitry for receiving at least one indication of interest in at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute comprises;

circuitry for receiving at least one indication of interest in at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute in response to the posting.

39. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for receiving at least one indication of interest in at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute comprises:

circuitry for receiving at least one indication of interest in at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute, the at least one indication of interest received in response to posting at least one availability of information relating to one or more cohort-linked avatar attributes associated with the at least one cohort-linked attribute store subsequent to the storing.

40. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for storing, in at least one cohort-linked attribute store, at least one association of at least one avatar attribute with the at least one population cohort at least partially based on the at least one characteristic and the at least one mental state comprises:

circuitry for storing, in at least one neuromarketing store, at least one association of at least one avatar attribute with the at least one population cohort at least partially based on the at least one characteristic and the at least one mental state.

41. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for measuring at least one physiologic activity of the at least one member of the at least one population cohort, the at least one physiologic activity proximate to the presented at least one characteristic comprises:

circuitry for measuring, at least partially via at least one neuro-headset worn by the at least one member of the at least one population cohort, at least one physiologic activity of the at least one member of the at least one population cohort, the at least one physiologic activity proximate to the presented at least one characteristic.

42. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for measuring at least one physiologic activity of the at least one member of the at least one population cohort, the at least one physiologic activity proximate to the presented at least one characteristic comprises:

circuitry for measuring, at least partially via at least one wireless EEG headset worn by the at least one member of the at least one population cohort, at least one physiologic activity of the at least one member of the at least one population cohort, the at least one physiologic activity proximate to the presented at least one characteristic.

43. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for associating the measured at least one physiologic activity with at least one mental state comprises:

circuitry for determining at least one level of engagement or attention of the at least one member of the at least one population cohort associated with the presented at least one characteristic at least partially based on the measured at least one physiologic activity.

44. The system of claim 2, wherein circuitry for receiving at least one indication of interest in at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute comprises:

circuitry for receiving at least one indication of interest in at least some neuromarketing data related to the at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute.

45. A system, comprising:

circuitry for presenting at least one characteristic to at least one member of at least one population cohort;

circuitry for measuring at least one brain activity surrogate marker of the at least one member of the at least one population cohort, the at least one brain activity surrogate marker proximate to the presented at least one characteristic;

circuitry for associating the measured at least one brain activity surrogate marker with at least one mental state;

circuitry for storing, in at least one cohort-linked attribute store, at least one association of at least one avatar attribute with the at least one population cohort at least partially based on the at least one characteristic and the at least one mental state;

circuitry for receiving at least one indication of interest in at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute;

circuitry for obtaining at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute from the at least one cohort-linked attribute store responsive to the received at least one indication of interest; and

circuitry for transmitting the obtained at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein circuitry for measuring at least one brain activity surrogate marker of the at least one member of the at least one population cohort, the at least one brain activity surrogate marker proximate to the presented at least one characteristic comprises:

circuitry for measuring the at least one brain activity surrogate marker of the at least one member of the at least one population cohort using at least one of iris dilation or constriction, pupil dilation, gaze tracking, skin response, eye movement, face movement, or voice response, the at least one brain activity surrogate marker proximate to the presented at least one characteristic.

47. The system of claim 45, wherein circuitry for associating the measured at least one brain activity surrogate marker with at least one mental state comprises:

circuitry for utilizing at least one machine learning algorithm to obtain at least one brain activity surrogate marker associated with engagement or attention in the at least one member of the at least one population cohort previous to the presenting the at least one characteristic to the at least one member of the at least one population cohort.

48. A system, comprising:

a computing device; and

one or more instructions that when executed on the computing device cause the computing device to at least;

present at least one characteristic to at least one member of at least one population cohort;

measure at least one physiologic activity of the at least one member of the at least one population cohort, the at least one physiologic activity proximate to the presented at least one characteristic;

associate the measured at least one physiologic activity with at least one mental state;

store, in at least one cohort-linked attribute store, at least one association of at least one avatar attribute with the at least one population cohort at least partially based on the at least one characteristic and the at least one mental state;

receive at least one indication of interest in at least one cohort-linked avatar;

obtain at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute from the at least one cohort-linked attribute store responsive to the received at least one indication of interest; and

transmit the obtained at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute.

49. The system of claim 48, wherein the computing device comprises:

one or more of a personal digital assistant (PDA), a personal entertainment device, a mobile phone, a laptop computer, a tablet personal computer, a networked computer, a computing system comprised of a cluster of processors, a computing system comprised of a cluster of servers, a workstation computer, and/or a desktop computer.

50. The system of claim 48, wherein the computing device is operable to at least present at least one characteristic to at least one member of at least one population cohort, measure at least one physiologic activity of the at least one member of the at least one population cohort, the at least one physiologic activity proximate to the presented at least one characteristic, associate the measured at least one physiologic activity with at least one mental state, store, in at least one cohort-linked attribute store, at least one association of at least one avatar attribute with the at least one population cohort at least partially based on the at least one characteristic and the at least one mental state, receive at least one indication of interest in at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute, obtain at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute from the at least one cohort-linked attribute store in response to the received at least one indication of interest, and transmit the obtained at least one cohort-linked avatar attribute from at least one memory.