Virtual world system supporting a consumer experience

• US 10,242,032 B2
• Filed: 09/04/2015
• Issued: 03/26/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Sundaresan, Neelakantan, Graziano, Evan, Jamilkowski, Joshua, Kamsler, Zachary, Kidder, Benjamin, Peterson, Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): Long, Andrea N
• Application Number:
  US14/846,603
• Publication Number:
  US 20150379046A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,299 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5854 using shape and object relationship
• 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

Abstract

A system and method for creating a virtual world for supporting a consumer experience is disclosed. The apparatus in an example embodiment includes providing access to a database of item listing categories, each item listing category in the database having an associated link to a source for physical items corresponding to the item listing category; generating an image of a virtual store in a three-dimensional (3D) virtual environment; populating the virtual store with at least one first object representing an item listing category; receiving a signal indicative of user interaction with the at least one first object; and using the associated link to re-direct the user to the source for physical items corresponding to the item listing category represented by the at least one first object with which the user interacted.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

presenting, in a three-dimensional (3D) virtual environment, a 3D virtual store that includes a plurality of virtual objects, each respective object of the plurality of virtual objects associated with a respective item listing that has a respective mapping to a real-world source for a respective physical product;

connecting a first user of a plurality of users associated with the 3D virtual environment to an application associated with generating one or more tags for one or more objects of the plurality of virtual objects by connecting a first user application object associated with the first user to a main application object associated with managing the application;

connecting a second user of the plurality of users to the application by connecting a second user application object associated with the second user to the main application object;

displaying, to the first user and the second user by using the first user application object, the second user application object, and the main application object, an image associated with one of the plurality of virtual objects;

receiving a first input of one or more keywords associated with the image from the first user and a second input of one or more keywords associated with the image from the second user;

identifying one or more keywords from the first input and the second input that match;

assigning the one or more keywords that match as a tag corresponding to the one of the plurality of virtual objects associated with the image;

receiving a search query from a third user of the plurality of users associated with the 3D virtual environment;

causing display of, to the third user, search results that include the image in response to the search query matching the tag;

receiving a signal that indicates the third user has interacted with the image; and

re-directing the third user from the 3D virtual environment to a website corresponding to the real-world source for the respective physical product associated with the one of plurality of virtual objects based on the respective mapping.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising causing display, to the third user, an item listing category associated with the image.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising populating the 3D virtual store with at least one visual aid.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising texturing at least one of the plurality of virtual objects.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising associating a script with the one of the plurality of virtual objects associated with the image.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising populating the 3D virtual store with at least one banner associated with initiating the application.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

obtaining, using the main application object, the image from a server associated with the plurality of virtual objects; and

forwarding, using the main application object, the image to the first user application object and the second user application object.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said connecting the first user to the application further comprises:

detecting the first user interacting with at least one of the plurality of virtual objects; and

performing said connecting the first user to the application in response to said detecting.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising weighting the tag based on a frequency of how often the tag is used to correspond to the image;

and

ranking the search results based on weighted tags.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

maintaining a list of taboo words; and

restricting the first user or the second user from entering a taboo word included in the list of taboo words as the one or more keywords of the first input or the second input.

11. An apparatus comprising:

a processor system that implements;

a virtual store generator to present, in a three-dimensional (3D) environment, a 3D virtual store that includes a plurality of virtual objects, each respective object of the plurality of virtual objects associated with a respective item listing that has a respective mapping to a real-world source for a respective physical product;

an application generator to;

connect a first user of a plurality of users associated with the 3D virtual environment to an application associated with generating one or more tags for one or more objects in the plurality of virtual objects by connecting a first user application object associated with the first user to a main application object associated with managing the application;

connect a second user of the plurality of users to the application by connecting a second user application object associated with the second user to the main application object;

display, to the first user and the second user by using the first user application object, the second user application object, and the main application object, an image associated with one of the plurality of virtual objects;

receive a first input of one or more keywords associated with the image from the first user and a second input of one or more keywords associated with the image from the second user;

identify one or more keywords from the first input and the second input that match; and

assign the one or more keywords that match as a tag corresponding to the one of the plurality of virtual objects associated with the image; and

one or more server interfaces to;

receive a search query from a third user of the plurality of users associated with the 3D virtual environment;

cause display of, to the third user, search results that include the image in response to the search query matching the tag;

communicate a signal that indicates the third user has interacted with the image; and

re-direct the third user from the 3D virtual environment to a website corresponding to the real-world source for the respective physical product associated with the one of plurality of virtual objects based on the respective mapping.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the virtual store generator is further configured to present an item listing category in response to identifying user interaction with at least one of the plurality of virtual objects.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium including instructions that, responsive to execution by one or more processors of a machine, causes the machine to perform operations comprising:

causing, in a three-dimensional (3D) virtual environment, presentation of a 3D virtual store that includes a plurality of virtual objects, each respective object of the plurality of virtual objects associated with a respective item listing that has a respective mapping to a real-world source for a respective physical product;

connecting a first user of a plurality of users associated with the 3D virtual environment to an application associated with generating one or more tags for one or more objects of the plurality of virtual objects by connecting a first user application object associated with the first user to a main application object associated with managing the application;

connecting a second user of the plurality of users to the application by connecting a second user application object associated with the second user to the main application object;

causing display of, to the first user and the second user by using the first user application object, the second user application object, and the main application object, an image associated with one of the plurality of virtual objects;

receiving a first input of one or more keywords associated with the image from the first user and a second input of one or more keywords associated with the image from the second user;

identifying one or more keywords from the first input and the second input that match;

assigning the one or more keywords that match as a tag corresponding to the one of the plurality of virtual objects associated with the image;

receiving a search query from a third user of the plurality of users at the 3D virtual store;

causing display of, to the third user, search results that include the image in response to the search query matching the tag;

receiving a signal that indicates the third user has interacted with the image; and

re-directing the third user from the 3D virtual environment to a website corresponding to the real-world source for the respective physical product associated with the one of plurality of virtual objects based on the respective mapping.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein said operations further comprise:

detecting user interaction with the one of the plurality of virtual objects; and

causing display of, via a display object and to a user of the plurality of users that is associated with the user interaction, an item listing category associated with the one of the plurality of virtual objects.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein said causing display of the image further comprises communicating, using the main application object, with a server using a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request or HTTP query.

16. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 15, wherein said operations further comprise receiving, via the main application object, a response from the server that includes at least one of:

a Universal Resource Locator (URL) associated with the image;

an image identifier (ID) associated with the image;

or

taboo words that are restricted keywords.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein said assigning the one or more keywords that match as the tag further comprises communicating, using the main application object, a request to update tag information to a server using a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein said operations further comprise:

detecting an end to the application;

sending an alert to the first user application object or the second user application object that the application has ended; and

forwarding, using the main application object, application information associated with the first user or the second user to a server.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein said operations further comprise:

detecting the first user has interacted with the first user application object; and

performing said connecting the first user to the application based on said detecting.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein said re-directing the third user to the website further comprises:

identifying an item list category associated with the one of the plurality of virtual objects; and

re-directing the third user to a website that is a source for one or more physical products corresponding to the item listing category.