International Business Machines Corporation

Activision Publishing, Inc.

Jim Chun-Ta Chen

Cary Lee Bates

Zachary Adam Garbow

Gregory Edward Young

Rafal Przemyslaw Konik

Wen Wen Yang

Yi Jie Ma

Mariah Nordlund

Leah Temple

Live documentation mapping is described which includes tracking executed actions in the software program by an end user, tracking the end user's interaction with technical documentation, and tracking the end users other communication about a product. The tracked information is mapped to a virtual living/updating technical documentation of the software program. The tracked executed actions and updated technical documentation are then aggregated for a total install base of users for a software program and used to generate system reports for the software program including directives on how the system should react from a development and/or business direction.

Refining a software system using live documentation mapping

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a computer-implemented method for translating a content item. Aspects include obtaining a user profile for a reader of the content item, the user profile comprising a native language of the reader, a second language of the reader and skill level associated with the second language. Aspects also include obtaining the content item, wherein the content item is in the second language. Aspects further include creating a translated content item by determining, for each phrase in the content item, a confidence score that the reader will understand the phrase based at least in part on the user profile and replacing each phrase in the content item having the confidence score less than a threshold level with an alternate phrase. Aspects also include presenting the translated content item to the reader.

Translation of a content item

Embodiments of the invention provide techniques for providing information for avoiding specific users of an immersive virtual environment. Generally, a primary user may specify other users to be avoided in a blacklist. The blacklisted users may be specified to be avoided at all times, or may be specified to be avoided in certain situations. In one embodiment, a user may be added to the blacklist during a specific situation, resulting in the characteristics of the situation being automatically stored in the blacklist. Subsequently, the blacklist may be used to determine the locations of the blacklisted users matching the current situation. The primary user may then avoid the locations having the greatest probability of encountering blacklisted users.

Generating data for managing encounters in a virtual world environment

Embodiments of the invention provide techniques for generating song playlists for use in an immersive virtual environment. Generally, playlists may be generated based on stored music preference data. The music preference data may be generated by storing user interactions with specific songs. The user interactions may be associated with characteristics of the user's situational context within the virtual world. The music preference data may be indexed by song name, and/or by musical properties. Subsequently, the music preference data may be used to generate a playlist adapted to the user's current situation within the virtual world.

Media playlist construction for virtual environments

Methods and apparatus associate a computed trust level to avatars that interact with one another in a simulated environment. The avatars may represent legitimate users of the virtual world or spammers. System monitoring of each avatar provides ability to recognize potential spammers and create an alternate indication of the spammers. A user index may be used to store data describing attributes of each avatar for analysis using programs stored in memory.

Managing interactions in a virtual world environment

Embodiments of the invention may be used to place a targeted advertisement on a billboard (or other advertising location) in an immersive virtual environment by determining the interests of a group of users at a given location to calculate an advertisement matching the whole group. The selected advisement may be based not only on the sum of individual interests for the avatars present in the particular location, but also current interaction between the avatars. As groups of users communicate with one another within a virtual world, the substance of their communications may contribute to what advertisement is selected and presented to the avatars at the advertising location.

Advertising in virtual environments based on crowd statistics

Embodiments of the invention provide techniques for abstracting conversations between avatars within a virtual world. In one embodiment, the user of an avatar observing a conversation between other avatars may be presented with an abstracted version of the conversation. The abstraction may be performed so as to enable the user to determine the general topic or nature of the conversation, without receiving sensitive or detailed information included in the conversation. In one embodiment, the abstraction is performed by substituting words of the conversation with fewer words, or words having a more general meaning. The degree of abstraction performed may be based on a level of trust between the observer and the users engaged in conversation.

Conversation abstractions based on trust levels in a virtual world

System for managing encounters in a virtual world environment

Embodiments of the invention provide techniques for filtering and presenting elements of an immersive virtual environment. The elements may be filtered according to importance to the user, based on user-specified importance of each element, the number and type of past interactions with the elements, and the like. Further, the filtering may be performed on the basis of the user's preference for density of element presentation. The user may then be presented with a view of the virtual world in which elements having a higher degree of interest to the user are highlighted visually, and in which elements having a lesser degree of interest to the user are made partially transparent or invisible.

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Rochester, MN, United States of America

Jim Chun-Ta Chen