Patent ID: 8334871

Claim:
A computer program product for projecting an avatar in a virtual universe, the computer program product comprising: one or more computer readable tangible storage devices; program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to receive a command to project the avatar, the command having a projection point in the virtual universe, wherein the avatar represents a user and can interact with objects in the virtual universe; program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to copy a geometry of the avatar to form a projected avatar, wherein the projected avatar occupies the projection point; program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to apply a rendering effect to the projected avatar, the rendering effect being distinct from a rendering effect applied to the avatar, wherein the rendering effect applied to the projected avatar is transmitted to a client computer; program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to receive a command to swap the avatar with the projected avatar, the avatar having a departure point; program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to teleport the avatar to the projection point; and program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to teleport the projected avatar to the departure point.