Patent ID: 8788253

Claim:
A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable software code that when executed causes a computer to perform a method comprising: storing a health state of a virtual pet that defines a health of the virtual pet; receiving a signal representing the health state of the virtual pet, the health state having an associated haptic effect; outputting, to a user via an actuator, the associated haptic effect based on the received signal, wherein the haptic effect is a vibration having a magnitude component and a frequency component comprising magnitude and frequency values that are scaled in accordance with the health state of the virtual pet; selecting whether to customize the haptic effect or maintain the haptic effect; upon selecting to customize, customizing at least one from a group comprising the frequency component, the magnitude component, or an envelope of a waveform of the haptic effect, where the customizing is responsive to at least one set of output effects associated with the virtual pet, the at least one set of output effects comprising output haptic effects and at least one of output audio effects or output visual effects; generating a visual image of the virtual pet on a display, wherein the visual image is coordinated to correspond to the associated haptic effect; detecting a movement of a cursor over the visual image of the virtual pet for a predetermined period of time; and outputting to the user, via the actuator, a periodic vibration having a magnitude component and a frequency component that vary over a period of time.