ACCESSIBILITY IN VIRTUAL WORLDS USING TAGS

• US 20090210812A1
• Filed: 02/20/2008
• Published: 08/20/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Garbow, Zachary Adam, Cragun, Brian John, Peterson, Christopher A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,595,631 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/771
• 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 3/16 Sound input; Sound output speech processing G10L
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 21/006 using audible presentation of the information

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention include a method and apparatus for describing elements within a virtual world to a user of the virtual world. An element may be identified based on a position of an avatar within the virtual world. The avatar is a representation of the user within the virtual world. A tag associated with the element is selected. The tag includes a description of the element. The element is described to the user based on the description.

Claims

1. A method of describing an element within a virtual world to a first user of the virtual world, the method comprising:

identifying one or more elements of the virtual world based on a position of an avatar within the virtual world controlled by the first user;

selecting a tag associated with an element of the one or more elements, wherein the tag includes a description of the element contributed by a second user; and

describing the element to the first user based on the description.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the element is further based on at least one of:

a rate of movement of the avatar; and

a direction of movement of the avatar.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the description includes at least one of a textual description of the element of the virtual world and an audio recording that describes the element of the virtual world, and wherein describing the element to the first user comprises at least one of:

generating a text-to-speech recording from the textual description and playing text-to-speech recording for the first user; and

playing the audio recording for the first user.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first user and the second user are members of a social network provided by the virtual world.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of elements is identified further based on an amount of time available to describe the identified elements to the first user, and further comprising:

selecting a plurality of tags each respectively associated with the identified elements, wherein the plurality of tags includes a respective plurality of descriptions contributed by a respective plurality of second users; and

describing the identified elements to the first user based on the plurality of descriptions.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the tag includes a plurality of descriptions of the element contributed by a plurality of second users, and wherein describing the element to the first user based on the description comprises selecting one of the plurality of descriptions and presenting the selected description to the first user.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein selecting the one of the plurality of descriptions is based on:

a length of each of the plurality of descriptions; and

an amount of time available to describe the element to the first user, wherein the amount of time is based on at least one of;

a rate of movement of the avatar; and

a user-specified preference.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the tag includes a rating for each of the plurality of descriptions, and wherein the description presented to the first user is selected further based on the rating.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the tag includes a rating for each of the plurality of second users, and wherein the description presented to the first user is selected based on the rating.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of elements is identified, and further comprising:

receiving a first user request specifying that a first filter is active, wherein a filter includes preferences for detail specified by the first user, and identifying the plurality of elements is further based on one or more active filters;

selecting a respective plurality of tags associated with the identified elements, wherein the plurality of tags includes a respective plurality of descriptions contributed by a plurality of second users; and

describing the identified elements to the first user based on the plurality of descriptions.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving a second user request specifying that a second filter is active, and that the first filter is not active.

12. A computer-readable storage medium containing a program that, when executed, performs an operation for describing an element within a virtual world to a first user of the virtual world, the operation comprising:

identifying one or more elements of the virtual world based on a position of an avatar within the virtual world controlled by the first user;

selecting a tag associated with an element of the one or more elements, wherein the tag includes a description of the element contributed by a second user; and

describing the element to the first user based on the description.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein identifying the element is further based on at least one of:

a rate of movement of the avatar; and

a direction of movement of the avatar.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the description includes at least one of a textual description of the element of the virtual world and an audio recording that describes the element of the virtual world, and wherein describing the element to the first user comprises at least one of:

generating a text-to-speech recording from the textual description and playing text-to-speech recording for the first user; and

playing the audio recording for the first user.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the first user and the second user are members of a social network provided by the virtual world.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein a plurality of elements is identified further based on an amount of time available to describe the identified elements to the first user, and the operation further comprises:

selecting a plurality of tags each respectively associated with the identified elements, wherein the plurality of tags includes a respective plurality of descriptions contributed by a respective plurality of second users; and

describing the identified elements to the first user based on the plurality of descriptions.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the tag includes a plurality of descriptions of the element contributed by a plurality of second users, and wherein describing the element to the first user based on the description comprises selecting one of the plurality of descriptions and presenting the selected description to the first user.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein selecting the one of the plurality of descriptions is based on:

a length of each of the plurality of descriptions; and

an amount of time available to describe the element to the first user, wherein the amount of time is based on at least one of;

a rate of movement of the avatar; and

a user-specified preference.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the tag includes a rating for each of the plurality of descriptions, and wherein the description presented to the first user is selected further based on the rating.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the tag includes a rating for each of the plurality of second users, and wherein the description presented to the first user is selected based on the rating.

21. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein a plurality of elements is identified, and the operation further comprises:

receiving a first user request specifying that a first filter is active, wherein a filter includes preferences for detail specified by the first user, and identifying the plurality of elements is further based on one or more active filters;

selecting a respective plurality of tags associated with the identified elements, wherein the plurality of tags includes a respective plurality of descriptions contributed by a plurality of second users; and

describing the identified elements to the first user based on the plurality of descriptions.

22. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 21, the operation further comprising:

receiving a second user request specifying that a second filter is active, and that the first filter is not active.

23. A system comprising:

a processor;

a memory containing a program that, when executed by the processor describes an element within a virtual world to a first user of the virtual world, by performing the steps of;

identifying one or more elements of the virtual world based on a position of an avatar within the virtual world controlled by the first user;

selecting a tag associated with an element of the one or more elements, wherein the tag includes a description of the element contributed by a second user; and

describing the element to the first user based on the description.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein describing the element to the first user comprises at least one of:

generating a text-to-speech recording from the textual description and playing text-to-speech recording for the first user; and

playing the audio recording for the first user.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein the tag includes a plurality of descriptions of the element contributed by a plurality of second users, and wherein describing the element to the first user based on the description comprises selecting one of the plurality of descriptions and presenting the selected description to the first user.