Interactive content representations enabling content sharing

• US 7,849,420 B1
• Filed: 02/26/2007
• Issued: 12/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qurio Holdings Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Qurio Holdings Incorporated
• Inventors: Amidon, Christopher M., Walsh, Richard J., Issa, Alfredo C., Kandekar, Kunal
• Primary Examiner(s): Basehoar, Adam L
• Assistant Examiner(s): Scott, Michael
• Application Number:
  US11/678,813
• Time in Patent Office: 1,380 Days
• Field of Search: 715/200, 715/219, 715/227, 715/700, 715/764, 715/848, 709/219, 709/227
• US Class Current: 715/848
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/131 Protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066

Abstract

A system and method providing interactive content representations enabling content sharing are disclosed. In general, a content representation that is descriptive of content made accessible by a hosting user is presented in association with a content representation host representing the hosting user. The content representation host may be, for example, an avatar in a virtual environment, a custom webpage of the hosting user, an identifier of the hosting user in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network, an identifier of the hosting user in a mobile network, or the like. Based on the content representation, a viewing user can determine whether content of interest is accessible from the hosting user. The viewing user may interact with the content representation to further explore the content made accessible by the hosting user and, if desired, initiate transfer of at least some of the content to a client device associated with the viewing user.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

displaying to a viewing user represented with an avatar in a three-dimensional environment a content representation in association with an avatar representing a hosting user at a client device of the viewing user, the content representation descriptive of content made accessible by the hosting user;

generating a navigation tree in the three-dimensional environment when the viewing user interacts with the content representation, the navigation tree comprising a plurality of content representation layers having content representations descriptive of the content made accessible by the hosting user, wherein each of the plurality of content representation layers has a different content representation displayed to the viewing user based on a distance between the avatar representing the viewing user and the avatar representing the hosting user in the three-dimensional environment;

enabling the viewing user to navigate through the navigation tree in the three-dimensional environment by interacting with the plurality of content representations;

displaying in the three-dimensional environment a content representation from the plurality of content representations in association with the avatar representing the hosting user to the viewing user when the viewing user navigates through the navigation tree;

receiving a content transfer initiation event from the client device of the viewing user for initiating transfer of at least a portion of the content made accessible by the hosting user related to the content representation to the client device of the viewing user when the viewing user selects the content representation; and

in response to the content transfer initiation event, effecting transfer of the at least a portion of the content made accessible by the hosting user related to the content representation from the avatar representing the hosting to user to the avatar representing the viewing user within the three-dimensional environment.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein enabling the viewing user to navigate through the navigation tree comprises:

receiving a navigation event from the client device of the viewing user for navigating from the content representation in the navigation tree to at least one related content representation from the plurality of content representations in an adjacent layer of the navigation tree;

identifying the at least one related content representation in the adjacent layer of the navigation tree; and

effecting presentation of the at least one related content representation in the adjacent layer of the navigation tree in association with the avatar representing the hosting user to the viewing user at the client device of the viewing user.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the navigation tree comprises a first level comprising a first one of the plurality of content representations and a second level comprising second ones of the plurality of content representations related to the first one of the plurality of content representations.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the navigation tree further comprises at least one additional level, each of the at least one additional level comprising additional ones of the plurality of content representations, wherein each of the additional ones of the plurality of content representations is related to at least one content representation from an adjacent level of the navigation tree.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein generating the navigation tree comprises:

identifying a plurality of applicable content representations that are descriptive of the content made accessible by the hosting user from a defined set of content representations, the plurality of applicable content representations comprising the plurality of content representations; and

generating the navigation tree comprising the plurality of content representations from the plurality of applicable content representations.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein generating the navigation tree from the plurality of applicable content representations comprises generating the navigation tree from the plurality of applicable content representations based on a navigation preference of the viewing user, the navigation preference defining a manner in which the viewing user desires to navigate through content representations describing the content made accessible by the hosting user.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein generating the navigation tree from the plurality of applicable content representations comprises:

filtering the plurality of applicable content representations based on user preferences of the viewing user to provide the plurality of content representations; and

generating the navigation tree from the plurality of content representations.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the user preferences comprise at least one preference from a group consisting of:

at least one preferred music genre of the viewing user, at least one preferred movie genre of the viewing user, at least one preferred television program genre of the viewing user, at least one preferred time period of the viewing user, at least one preferred music artist of the viewing user, at least one preferred actor or actress of the viewing user, and at least one preferred acoustic style of the viewing user.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the user preferences further comprise a navigation preference of the viewing user defining a manner in which the viewing user desires to navigate through the plurality of content representations describing the content made accessible by the hosting user.

10. The method of claim 7 further comprising enabling the viewing user to expand the navigation tree to include additional ones of the plurality of applicable content representation in addition to the plurality of content representations.

11. The method of claim 5 wherein generating the navigation tree from the plurality of applicable content representations comprises:

filtering the plurality of applicable content representations based on user preferences of a third user selected by the viewing user to provide the plurality of content representations; and

generating the navigation tree from the plurality of content representations.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the user preferences comprise at least one preference from a group consisting of at least one preferred music genre of the third user, at least one preferred movie genre of the third user, at least one preferred television program genre of the third user, at least one preferred time period of the third user, at least one preferred music artist of the third user, at least one preferred actor or actress of the third user, and at least one preferred acoustic style of the third user.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the user preferences further comprise a navigation preference of the third user defining a manner in which the third user desires to navigate through content representations describing the content made accessible by the hosting user.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising enabling the viewing user to initiate the transfer of content related to a select one of the plurality of content representations while navigating through the navigation tree.

15. The method of claim 1 further comprising authorizing the transfer of the at least a portion of the content made accessible by the hosting user related to the select one of the plurality of content representations to the client device of the viewing user.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein effecting transfer of the at least a portion of the content made accessible by the hosting user related to the select one of the plurality of content representations comprises:

identifying a plurality of content items from the content made accessible by the hosting user related to the select one of the plurality of content representations to transfer to the client device of the viewing user; and

effecting transfer of the plurality of content items to the client device of the viewing user.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein identifying the plurality of content items comprises identifying the plurality of content items using a recommendation engine.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein effecting transfer of the plurality of content items comprises:

generating a content transfer plan, the content transfer plan comprising information that identifies the plurality of content items and defines an order in which the plurality of content items are to be transferred to the client device of the viewing user; and

effecting transfer of the plurality of content items to the client device of the viewing user according to the content transfer plan.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising:

receiving an event from the client device of the viewing user that requires reconfiguration of the content transfer plan; and

reconfiguring the content transfer plan in response to the event to provide an updated content transfer plan.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein,

in response to the content transfer initiation event, effecting transfer of metadata describing at least a portion of the content made accessible by the hosting user related to the select one of the plurality of content representations to the client device of the viewing user.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the metadata further comprises information enabling subsequent download of the at least a portion of the content made accessible by the hosting user related to the select one of the plurality of content representations.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein,

in response to the content transfer initiation event, effecting transfer of at least one playlist identifying at least a portion of the content made accessible by the hosting user related to the select one of the plurality of content representations to the client device of the viewing user.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the at least one playlist further comprises information enabling subsequent download of the at least a portion of the content made accessible by the hosting user related to the select one of the plurality of content representations.

24. A hardware server comprising:

a communication interface communicatively coupling the server to a first client device associated with a viewing user and a second client device associated with a hosting user; and

a control system associated with the communication interface and adapted to;

display to a viewing user represented with an avatar in a three-dimensional environment a content representation in association with an avatar representing a hosting user at a client device of the viewing user, the content representation descriptive of content made accessible by the hosting user;

generate a navigation tree in the three-dimensional environment when the viewing user interacts with the content representation, the navigation tree comprising a plurality of content representation layers having content representations descriptive of the content made accessible by the hosting user, wherein each of the plurality of content representation layers has a different content representation displayed to the viewing user based on a distance between the avatar representing the viewing user and the avatar representing the hosting user in the three-dimensional environment;

enable the viewing user to navigate through the navigation tree in the three-dimensional environment by interacting with the plurality of content representations;

display in the three-dimensional environment of a content representation from the plurality of content representations in association with host the avatar representing the hosting user to the viewing user when the user navigates through the navigation tree;

receive a content transfer initiation event from the client device of the viewing user for initiating transfer of at least a portion of the content made accessible by the hosting user related to the content representation to the client device of the viewing user when the user selects the content representation; and

in response to the content transfer initiation event, effect transfer of the at least a portion of the content made accessible by the hosting user related to the content representation from the avatar representing the hosting to user to the avatar representing the viewing user within the three-dimensional environment.