Abstract:
The invention relates generally to virtual universe environments and, more particularly, to discerning and displaying information regarding relationships between two or more avatars in a virtual universe environment. In one embodiment, the invention includes determining whether a first avatar and a second avatar have at least one relationship with one or more common avatars in response to the first avatar initiating an interaction with the second avatar, and in the case that the first and second avatars have at least one relationship with at least one common avatar, displaying information regarding the relationship with the common avatar to at least one of the first and second avatar.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The invention relates generally to virtual universe environments and, more particularly, to discerning and displaying information regarding relationships between two or more avatars in a virtual universe environment. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Avatars in virtual worlds can have a wide range of business and social experiences. Such experiences are becoming more important as business and social transactions are becoming common in virtual worlds such as Second Life®. (Second Life is a trademark of Linden Research in the United States, other countries, or both.) It is important that such virtual environments replicate, as closely as possible, the experiences that individuals have come to expect and appreciate in equivalent physical environments. 
         [0003]    In the physical world, social networks are generally understood and propagated verbally, through specific memberships, and through other similar means. In virtual environments, though, it is often difficult to quickly discover varying degrees of social networks or information regarding the members of such networks. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    The invention provides a method, system, and program product for discerning and displaying information regarding a relationship between at least two avatars in a virtual universe environment. 
         [0005]    A first aspect of the invention provides a method of discerning and displaying information regarding a relationship between at least two avatars in a virtual universe environment, the method comprising: determining whether a first avatar and a second avatar have at least one relationship with one or more common avatars in response to the first avatar initiating an interaction with the second avatar; and in the case that the first and second avatars have at least one relationship with at least one common avatar, displaying information regarding the relationship with the common avatar to at least one of the first and second avatar. 
         [0006]    A second aspect of the invention provides a system for discerning and displaying information regarding a relationship between at least two avatars in a virtual universe environment, the method comprising: a system for determining whether a first avatar and a second avatar have relationships with one or more common avatars; and a system for displaying information regarding a relationship with a common avatar to at least one of the first and second avatar. 
         [0007]    A third aspect of the invention provides a program product stored on a computer-readable medium, which when executed, discerns and displays information regarding a relationship between at least two avatars in a virtual universe environment, the program product comprising: program code for determining whether a first avatar and a second avatar have relationships with one or more common avatars; and program code for displaying information regarding a relationship with the common avatar to at least one of the first and second avatar. 
         [0008]    A fourth aspect of the invention provides a method for deploying an application for discerning and displaying information regarding a relationship between at least two avatars in a virtual universe environment, comprising: providing a computer infrastructure being operable to: determine whether a first avatar and a second avatar have relationships with one or more common avatars; and display information regarding a relationship with a common avatar to at least one of the first and second avatar. 
         [0009]    The illustrative aspects of the present invention are designed to solve the problems herein described and other problems not discussed, which are discoverable by a skilled artisan. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]    These and other features of this invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description of the various aspects of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings that depict various embodiments of the invention, in which: 
           [0011]      FIGS. 1 and 2  show illustrative relationships between avatars in a virtual universe; 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  shows an illustrative window for characterizing a relationship between avatars; 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  shows a result of an illustrative query of relationships of an avatar; 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  shows a flow diagram of an illustrative method according to the invention; and 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  shows a block diagram of an illustrative system according to the invention. 
       
    
    
       [0016]    It is noted that the drawings of the invention are not to scale. The drawings are intended to depict only typical aspects of the invention, and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope of the invention. In the drawings, like numbering represents like elements between the drawings. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0017]    Turning now to the drawings,  FIG. 1  shows a relationship display  100  as might be provided to a first avatar participating in an interaction with a second avatar with whom the first avatar has no prior experience. Here, the first avatar Adam  102  is interacting  102 A with a second avatar Bill  104 . Adam  102  may wish to know whether any other avatars with whom Adam is familiar have existing relationships or have had prior interactions with Bill  104 . Relationship display  100 , therefore, provides information regarding relationships between avatars known to both Adam  102  and Bill  104 , whether such relationships are direct or indirect, and, if indirect, the degree of removal of the relationship. 
         [0018]    For example, Chuck  112  and Dave  122  are shown in first degree relationships to both Adam  102  and Bill  104 . That is, Adam  102  has characterized Chuck  112  as a FRIEND  102 B, who, in turn, has characterized Bill  104  as a FRIEND  112 A. Thus, Chuck  112  has first degree relationships with both Adam  102  and Bill  104 . Given that Adam  102  considers Chuck  112  a friend, Adam may give great weight to the fact that Chuck  112  has characterized Bill  104  as a friend in deciding how to approach his interaction  102 A with Bill  104 . Similarly, since Adam  102  has characterized Dave  122  as someone he does not trust (“DO NOT TRUST”  102 C), he may not give much or any weight to the fact that Dave  122  has characterized Bill  104  as someone he does not trust (“DO NOT TRUST”  122 A). 
         [0019]    Relationship display  100  may include any number of degrees of relationship, depending on how useful a particular user believes they may be. For example, in relationship display  100 , Eric  132  is shown in a second degree relationship with Bill  104 . Here, Eric  132 , whom Adam has characterized as a FRIEND  102 D has indicated that he does not trust (“DO NOT TRUST”  132 A) Dave  122 , who, in turn, has indicated that he does not trust Bill  104 . In this case, the inclusion of the second degree relationship involving Eric  132  may not provide much additional information of value to Adam  102 , given that he has a first degree relationship with Dave  122 , whom he has also indicated he does not trust. However, if Adam  102  did not have a relationship with Dave  122 , the inclusion of the second degree relationship involving Eric  132  may be very helpful in resolving the conflicting relationships between Chuck  112  and Bill  104  (FRIEND  112 A) and Dave  122  and Bill  104  (DO NOT TRUST  122 A). 
         [0020]    In some embodiments, the decision as to how many relationships or what degree of relationships to include may be made on a sliding scale. For example, if it is determined that there are five first degree relationships between Adam  102  and Bill  104 , it may not be necessary to provide any second degree relationships in relationship display  100 . If only four first degree relationships exist, it may be beneficial to include, for example, two second degree relationships as well. Similarly, the number of relationships to include in relationship display  100  may be based on the strength of the relationships. For example, if Bill  104  were characterized as completely untrustworthy by an avatar that Adam  102  considers completely trustworthy, it may be unnecessary to include any second degree relationships, or even any additional first degree relationships, in relationship display  100 . 
         [0021]    Relationship display  100  may be displayed to one or more avatars (e.g., to Adam  102  and/or Bill  104 ). It is quite possible, however, that a particular relationship display  100  may be applicable to only one avatar. For example, it may be the case that some avatars with whom Bill  104  has relationships have characterized their relationships with Adam  102  but those relationships have not been similarly characterized by Adam  102 . Thus, the inclusion of such relationships would only be of value to Bill  104 . 
         [0022]    Relationships may be shown in any number of ways, depending on what format or style is most beneficial to a particular user. For example,  FIG. 2  shows a relationship display  200 , wherein additional avatars  212 ,  222  are shown between Adam  202  and Bill  204  and categorized  240 A,  240 B according to relationship. Here, Chuck  212  is shown within the “Friend Of” category, meaning Bill  204  has been characterized by Chuck  212  as his friend. Similarly, Dave  222  is shown within the “Not Trusted By” category, meaning Bill  204  is not trusted by Dave  222 . Here, an indicator  202 C has been included with respect to Dave  222  to show that Adam&#39;s  202  own characterization of Dave  222  indicates that Dave&#39;s  222  characterization of Bill  204  and/or their relationship should not be trusted (see  FIG. 1 , wherein Adam  102  has indicated that he does not trust Dave  122 ). 
         [0023]    The relationship displays shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  are merely illustrative of the ways in which relationships among and between avatars may be displayed. For example, a particular user may prefer simple text displays of information or that the characterizations of relationships be provided as icons or in numeric form. Any and all display of relationship information is within the scope of the invention. 
         [0024]      FIG. 3  shows a relationship characterization window  300  in which a user may characterize his/her relationship with another avatar. Window  300  is shown having a categorization portion  310  in which a user may select relevant pre-defined  314 A-D or user-defined  314 E characterizations within one or more categories  314 ,  316 ,  318 , a freeform text portion  340  in which a user may make freeform comments within a text window  344  and, optionally, choose to share  343 A or not share  342 B such freeform comments with others, and a trust meter portion  350  in which a user may indicate his/her relative level of trust of the avatar by moving a slider  354  along a trust scale  352 . These are merely illustrative of the kinds of information and the ways in which they may be displayed within relationship characterization window  300 . For example, in a business environment, it may be desirable to have characterizations or evaluations of particular abilities or skills of an avatar. Once completed, a user may choose to save  360  the entries for later use by him/herself or for sharing with others. 
         [0025]    In a preferred embodiment, data from a plurality of relationship characterization windows  300  are stored in a relational database that may be queried by a large number of avatars to both find and report relationships among and between avatars in a virtual universe. In such an embodiment, it may be possible to retrieve relevant data from the database using a “Get Info” button  312  or similar command. For example, retrieving such data may enable an initial level of trust to be established for an avatar based on the trust levels set by other avatars, preferably avatars with whom the querying avatar has relationships and whose judgment the querying avatar would consider helpful. 
         [0026]      FIG. 4  shows a relationship information window  400  that may be provided following a database query such as that described above. Here, the relationship characterizations  412 A,  422 A of avatars with whom Adam  102  ( FIG. 1 ) has an existing first degree relationship are shown. Again, as in  FIG. 2 , an indicator  402 C has been included with respect to Dave&#39;s characterization  422 A to show that Adam&#39;s  102  own characterization of Dave  122  ( FIG. 1 ) indicates that Dave&#39;s  122  characterization of Bill  104  ( FIG. 1 ) and/or their relationship should not be trusted. While shown in  FIG. 4  with respect to individual avatars, the results of a database query may alternatively be reported in aggregate or summary form, or a combination of these or other forms. In addition, while shown in  FIG. 4  as a query based on any avatar having a first degree relationship with Bill  104  with whom Adam  102  also has a relationship, a query may include any number or relevant variables. For example, the query may return data only avatars with a first degree relationship to Adam  102  and for whom Adam  102  has attributed a high level of trust. Alternatively, the query may return data from avatars having a second, third, fourth, or higher degree relationship with Adam  102  or Bill  104 , or data only from avatars that have characterized their relationships with Bill  104  unfavorably. 
         [0027]    In some embodiments, an avatar may have the ability to opt out of participating in such characterizing and querying of avatar-to-avatar relationships. For example, an avatar may be permitted to prohibit another avatar from submitting data to a database regarding their relationship. In such a case, the avatar opting out of participation may similarly be prohibited from making queries of a database to retrieve data related to other avatar-to-avatar relationships. 
         [0028]      FIG. 5  shows a flow diagram of an illustrative method according to the invention. At A, a first avatar initiates or engages in an interaction with a second avatar. At B, it is determined whether the first and second avatars have a relationship with one or more common avatars. If not (i.e., No at B), the first and/or second avatar may optionally choose to characterize their interaction at E. As noted above, such characterizations are preferably included in a relational database for future querying and reporting. 
         [0029]    If the first and second avatars have relationships with one or more common avatars (i.e., Yes at B), the degree of the relationship(s) may optionally be calculated at C. At D, the relationship data are displayed to one or both of the first and second avatars. If relationship degree(s) were calculated at C, these may be included in the display at D. 
         [0030]    At F, it may optionally be determined whether any of the common avatars are available online. If not (i.e., No at F), the first and/or second avatar may optionally choose to characterize their interaction at E. If a common avatar is available online (i.e., Yes at F), the avatar&#39;s availability may be displayed to one or both of the first and second avatar at G. At H, one or both of the first and second avatar may query the common avatar(s) to inquire about the other. Finally, the first and/or second avatar may optionally choose to characterize their interaction at E. 
         [0031]      FIG. 6  shows an illustrative system  10  for discerning and displaying relationships between and among avatars. To this extent, system  10  includes a computer infrastructure  12  that can perform the various process steps described herein for discerning and displaying relationships between and among avatars. In particular, computer infrastructure  12  is shown including a computer system  14  that comprises an avatar relationship system  40 , which enables computer system  14  to discerning and displaying relationships between and among avatars by performing the process steps of the invention. 
         [0032]    Computer system  14  is shown including a processing unit  20 , a memory  22 , input/output (I/O) interfaces  26 , and a bus  24 . Further, computer system  14  is shown in communication with external devices  28  and a storage system  30 . As is known in the art, in general, processing unit  20  executes computer program code, such as avatar relationship system  40 , that is stored in memory  22  and/or storage system  30 . While executing computer program code, processing unit  20  can read and/or write data from/to memory  22 , storage system  30 , and/or I/O interface  26 . Bus  24  provides a communication link between each of the components in computer system  14 . External devices  28  can comprise any device that enables a user (not shown) to interact with computer system  14  or any device that enables computer system  14  to communicate with one or more other computer systems. 
         [0033]    In any event, computer system  14  can comprise any general purpose computing article of manufacture capable of executing computer program code installed by a user (e.g., a personal computer, server, handheld device, etc.). However, it is understood that computer system  14  and avatar relationship system  40  are only representative of various possible computer systems that may perform the various process steps of the invention. To this extent, in other embodiments, computer system  14  can comprise any specific purpose computing article of manufacture comprising hardware and/or computer program code for performing specific functions, any computing article of manufacture that comprises a combination of specific purpose and general purpose hardware/software, or the like. In each case, the program code and hardware can be created using standard programming and engineering techniques, respectively. 
         [0034]    Similarly, computer infrastructure  12  is only illustrative of various types of computer infrastructures for implementing the invention. For example, in one embodiment, computer infrastructure  12  comprises two or more computer systems (e.g., a server cluster) that communicate over any type of wired and/or wireless communications link, such as a network, a shared memory, or the like, to perform the various process steps of the invention. When the communications link comprises a network, the network can comprise any combination of one or more types of networks (e.g., the Internet, a wide area network, a local area network, a virtual private network, etc.). Regardless, communications between the computer systems may utilize any combination of various types of transmission techniques. 
         [0035]    As previously mentioned, the avatar relationship system  40  enables the computer system  14  to discerning and displaying relationships between and among avatars. To this extent, the avatar relationship system  40  is shown including an avatar interaction system  42 , a common avatar querying system  44 , a relationship degree calculating system  46 , a display system  48 , an availability determining system  50 , and a characterization system  52 . Operation of each of these systems is discussed above. The avatar relationship system  40  may further include other system components  54  to provide additional or improved functionality to the avatar relationship system  40 . It is understood that some of the various systems shown in  FIG. 6  can be implemented independently, combined, and/or stored in memory for one or more separate computer systems  14  that communicate over a network. Further, it is understood that some of the systems and/or functionality may not be implemented, or additional systems and/or functionality may be included as part of system  10 . 
         [0036]    While shown and described herein as a method and system for discerning and displaying relationships between and among avatars in a virtual world, it is understood that the invention further provides various alternative embodiments. For example, in one embodiment, the invention provides a computer-readable medium that includes computer program code to enable a computer infrastructure to discern and display relationships between and among avatars. To this extent, the computer-readable medium includes program code, such as avatar relationship system  40 , that implements each of the various process steps of the invention. It is understood that the term “computer-readable medium” comprises one or more of any type of physical embodiment of the program code. In particular, the computer-readable medium can comprise program code embodied on one or more portable storage articles of manufacture (e.g., a compact disc, a magnetic disk, a tape, etc.), on one or more data storage portions of a computer system, such as memory  22  and/or storage system  30  (e.g., a fixed disk, a read-only memory, a random access memory, a cache memory, etc.), and/or as a data signal traveling over a network (e.g., during a wired/wireless electronic distribution of the program code). 
         [0037]    In another embodiment, the invention provides a business method that performs the process steps of the invention on a subscription, advertising, and/or fee basis. That is, a service provider could offer to discern and display relationships between and among avatars in a virtual world, as described above. In this case, the service provider can create, maintain, support, etc., a computer infrastructure, such as computer infrastructure  12 , that performs the process steps of the invention for one or more customers. In return, the service provider can receive payment from the customer(s) under a subscription and/or fee agreement and/or the service provider can receive payment from the sale of advertising space to one or more third parties. 
         [0038]    In still another embodiment, the invention provides a method of generating a system for discerning and displaying relationships between and among avatars. In this case, a computer infrastructure, such as computer infrastructure  12 , can be obtained (e.g., created, maintained, having made available to, etc.) and one or more systems for performing the process steps of the invention can be obtained (e.g., created, purchased, used, modified, etc.) and deployed to the computer infrastructure. To this extent, the deployment of each system can comprise one or more of (1) installing program code on a computer system, such as computer system  14 , from a computer-readable medium; (2) adding one or more computer systems to the computer infrastructure; and (3) incorporating and/or modifying one or more existing systems of the computer infrastructure, to enable the computer infrastructure to perform the process steps of the invention. 
         [0039]    As used herein, it is understood that the terms “program code” and “computer program code” are synonymous and mean any expression, in any language, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a computer system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after either or both of the following: (a) conversion to another language, code or notation; and (b) reproduction in a different material form. To this extent, program code can be embodied as one or more types of program products, such as an application/software program, component software/a library of functions, an operating system, a basic I/O system/driver for a particular computing and/or I/O device, and the like. 
         [0040]    The foregoing description of various aspects of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and obviously, many modifications and variations are possible. Such modifications and variations that may be apparent to a person skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the invention as defined by the accompanying claims.