US Patent No: 5,982,372

Number of patents in Portfolio can not be more than 2000

Visual metaphor for shortcut navigation in a virtual world

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Importance

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Abstract

A technique for providing enhanced intuitive navigation in a virtual world. User selectable hot spots are provided within a virtual world that users may select to automatically be moved to predetermined move-to coordinates within the virtual world. The user may be transported directly to the move-to coordinates or the user may have its motion controlled by the virtual world to in essence walk the user to the move-to coordinates within the virtual world. The selectable hot spot may become inactive following selection of the hot spot by a user until the user moves off of the move-to coordinates, or a plurality of move-to coordinates may be provided such that the hot spot remains active until all of the move-to coordinates are occupied by users. Additionally, the hot spot may be visually enhanced to make it easier to be seen and selected when the user is more than a predetermined distance from the hot spot within the virtual world.

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First Claim

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Patent Owner(s)

Patent OwnerAddressTotal Patents
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATIONARMONK, NY68180

International Classification(s)

  • [Classification Symbol]
  • [Patents Count]

Inventor(s)

Inventor Name Address # of filed Patents Total Citations
Brush, II Abbott Purdy Woodbridge, CT 8 353
Cuomo, Gennaro A Apex, NC 53 655
Lection, David Bruce Raleigh, NC 38 1818
Redpath, Sarah D Cary, NC 10 457
Wood, Donald Robert Raleigh, NC 4 359

Cited Art

Patent Info (Count) # Cites Year
 
GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY (1)
5,682,506 Method and system for group visualization of virtual objects 20 1996
 
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION (1)
5,734,805 Apparatus and method for controlling navigation in 3-D space 44 1994
 
SUN MICROSYSTEMS, INC. (1)
5,684,943 Method and apparatus for creating virtual worlds 38 1995
 
UNIVERSITY CORPORATION FOR ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH (1)
5,490,239 Virtual reality imaging system 84 1994

Patent Citation Ranking

Forward Cites

Patent Info (Count) # Cites Year
 
SONY CORPORATION (15)
6,057,856 3D virtual reality multi-user interaction with superimposed positional information display for each user 121 1997
6,268,872 Client apparatus, image display controlling method, shared virtual space providing apparatus and method, and program providing medium 49 1998
6,577,328 Program providing medium and shared virtual space providing apparatus and method 34 1998
6,449,518 Storage medium, robot, information processing device and electronic pet system 57 1998
6,552,721 Graphic data generating apparatus, graphic data generation method, and medium of the same 7 1998
6,518,989 Graphic data generating apparatus, graphic data generation method, and medium of the same 19 1998
6,466,239 Method and apparatus for editing data used in creating a three-dimensional virtual reality environment 65 1998
6,401,237 Method and apparatus for editing data used in creating a three-dimensional virtual reality environment 5 1998
6,262,734 Graphic data generating apparatus, graphic data generation method, and medium of the same 18 1998
6,609,147 Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and information providing medium 16 1999
6,405,249 Information processing apparatus and method, information processing system and program providing medium 15 1999
6,820,112 Information processing system, information processing method and apparatus, and information serving medium 5 2000
6,748,326 Information processing apparatus and method for displaying weather data as a background for an electronic pet in a virtual space 12 2000
6,803,909 Data processing apparatus, method, system, and storage medium 0 2001
7,653,877 Information processing apparatus and method, and storage medium 0 2004
 
XDYNE, INC. (5)
7,269,632 Networked computer system for communicating and operating in a virtual reality environment 22 2001
7,570,261 Apparatus and method for creating a virtual three-dimensional environment, and method of generating revenue therefrom 13 2004
8,429,245 Networked computer system for communicating and operating in a virtual reality environment 0 2011
8,417,822 Networked computer system for communicating and operating in a virtual reality environment 0 2011
8,150,941 Networked computer system for communicating and operating in a virtual reality environment 1 2011
 
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION (4)
6,064,389 Distance dependent selective activation of three-dimensional objects in three-dimensional workspace interactive displays 15 1997
8,345,049 Method and apparatus for predicting avatar movement in a virtual universe 0 2007
8,248,404 Event determination in a virtual universe 0 2008
8,398,486 Creating a tunnel between virtual universes 0 2010
 
MICRON TECHNOLOGY, INC. (3)
7,366,985 Text based markup language resource interface 2 1999
7,503,002 Text based markup language resource interface 0 2006
7,523,400 Text based markup language resource interface 0 2006
 
ACTIVISION PUBLISHING, INC. (2)
7,990,387 Method and apparatus for spawning projected avatars in a virtual universe 0 2007
8,334,871 Spawning projected avatars in a virtual universe 0 2011
 
EOLAS TECHNOLOGIES, INC. (2)
6,616,701 Method and apparatus for identifying features of multidimensional image data in hypermedia systems 12 2001
7,792,862 Method and apparatus for identifying features of multidimensional image data in hypermedia systems 0 2008
 
SOCIAL COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY (2)
8,397,168 Interfacing with a spatial virtual communication environment 0 2009
8,191,001 Shared virtual area communication environment based apparatus and methods 3 2009
 
BLUE OAK MOUNTAIN TECHNOLOGIES, INC. (1)
8,086,551 Electronic system with simulated sense perception and method of providing simulated sense perception 1 2008
 
FUJITSU LIMITED (1)
6,879,322 Three-dimensional object display system, three-dimensional object display method and recording medium recording a three-dimensional object display program 2 2001
 
NOKIA CORPORATION (1)
8,136,038 Offering menu items to a user 0 2005
 
PERSONALIZED ONLINE PHOTO LLC (1)
7,859,551 Object customization and presentation system 7 2002
 
SCIENCE APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION (1)
6,784,901 Method, system and computer program product for the delivery of a chat message in a 3D multi-user environment 94 2000
 
SEGA CORPORATION (1)
6,697,068 Game screen display control method and character movement control method 0 2002
 
OTHER [CHECK PATENT PROFILE FOR ASSIGNMENT INFORMATION] (1)
8,065,615 Method of retrieving information associated with an object present in a media stream 0 2003