Patent ID: 10817840

Abstract:
The present invention provides methods and system that allow a first person to create a virtual persona of another person in an open overlay service. The virtual persona is virtual in that it makes it appear that the person is a subscriber of the open overlay service even if that person does not have a real account with the open overlay service. The real person may or may not have their own account on the open overlay service. The virtual persona allows its creator to easily follow the activities, such as blog updates, RSS feeds, etc., on online services of the other person without having to establish accounts at these services or visit these services regularly checking for updates. The virtual persona also serves as a template for a pre-configured account that may be issued to the real person. For example, after establishing the virtual persona, the creator may send an invitation to the real person being emulated. Upon accepting, the settings of the virtual persona are transferred to an account preconfigured for the real person and that person may then continue to use the services already established. The creator of the virtual persona remains in control of the virtual persona and may choose to remove it once the real person joins the open overlay service. However, the creator of the virtual persona may continue to use it for various reasons. Future changes to the account of the real person do not affect virtual persona profile and vice versa.