Patent ID: 7908554

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for modifying an avatar associated with an identity, the method comprising: inferring, by one or more processors, a mood of an online user based on information other than an explicit user indication of the mood and other than instant messaging communications, the mood including an emotional state, wherein inferring the mood of the online user includes: determining, from the user's computer, other applications that are active near the time that an instant message is sent, and inferring a mood of an online identity based on the determined other applications; and modifying, by the one or more processors, an avatar associated with the online user in response to the inferred mood, the modification causing the avatar to exhibit the inferred mood, and the modifying including: accessing information that maps a single trigger used to animate the avatar to multiple different avatar animations, the single trigger including a character string, and each of the multiple avatar animations being associated with a different mood such that the single trigger causes a different animation to be played for each mood exhibited by the avatar, and modifying, based on the accessed information, the avatar in response to the inferred mood of the user such that identification, by a processor, of the trigger in an instant message causes a different animation to be played by the modified avatar than the animation caused to be played by the unmodified avatar in response to the trigger.