Patent ID: 8584026

Claim:
A method of orienting a new user to a three dimensional computer-generated virtual environment supported by a virtual environment application, the method comprising the steps of: initially presenting the new user with a beginning-user graphical user interface when the new user first starts to use the virtual environment application, the beginning-user graphical user interface being designed to indoctrinate the new user to the virtual environment; enabling the new user to selectively turn on and off individual aspects of the beginning-user graphical user interface to selectively enable the new user to control which aspects of the beginning-user graphical user interface are used to control interaction between the new user and the virtual environment; and as individual aspects of the beginning-user graphical user interface are disabled, enabling corresponding features of an advanced-user graphical user interface to enable the new user to control a transition from the beginning-user graphical user interface to the advanced-user graphical user interface; wherein the beginning-user graphical user interface is divided into two portions, a first portion created to show content of the virtual environment, and a second portion created to contain controls of the virtual environment application, the beginning-user graphical user interface being created such that only the first portion or the second portion is active and available for use by the new user at any one point in time, and wherein when one of the two portions is active and available for use, an appearance of the other of the two portions is altered to visually indicate to the new user that the other of the two portions is not active or available for use; wherein the beginning-user graphical user interface enables the new user to toggle between first and third person viewpoints, and wherein when the new user toggles from third person viewpoint to first person viewpoint a virtual camera representing the user flies in toward and ends at an Avatar representing the new user in the virtual environment to visually show the new user which Avatar represents them in the virtual environment; wherein the beginning-user graphical user interface has a vertical field of view restriction so that the new user is always able to see a horizon within the virtual environment; and wherein the beginning-user graphical user interface has a limited set of controls, and as the new user becomes more adept at interacting in the three dimensional computer-generated virtual environment the set of controls is increased to provide the new user with control over additional features of the virtual environment application.