Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Manuel Vellon

Anoop Gupta

Steven Mark Drucker

Greg A Kimberly

Harry R Chesley

Christopher A Liles

A database of objects is distributed between a server computer and multiple client computers as an object oriented virtual world environment (VWE) with multimedia presentation features. A primary database is maintained on the server and includes at least one entry for each object disposed within the VWE. In one implementation a presentation virtual world environment has a multi-user virtual presentation room object (ShowRoom) in which presentation or information element objects (ShowItems) are presented from a server to multiple viewers at multiple client computers. The presentation room object and presentation element objects are global objects in that they are provided from server to client computers as part of a presentation VWE. The presentation element objects provide a model representing a presentation in the presentation VWE. Interface objects at the client computers provide a view of the presentation, with user interface and control elements, which view is separate from the model provided by the presentation element objects.

Presentation system with distributed object oriented multi-user domain and separate view and model objects

Avatars representing participants in a graphic chat session are periodically animated to produce a gesture that conveys an emotion, action, or personality trait. Each participant in the chat session is enabled to select one of a plurality of different avatars to represent the participant in a graphic chat session. Associated with each avatar is a bitmap file that includes a plurality of frames illustrating the avatar in different poses, actions, and emotional states. Selected frames are displayed in rapid sequence in accord with a script file to create an animation effecting each gesture. The same script file is used to define a gesture for all of the avatars used in the chat session. A selected gesture can be transmitted with a text message to convey the user's emotional state. A gesture associated with the avatar is automatically displayed from time to time when the avatar is not otherwise gesturing or moving. The user can determine participants in the chat session with whom the user will interact, e.g., by defining a proximity radius around the user's avatar or by selecting the specific participants from a list. Avatars of participants that are outside the proximity radius (or otherwise not selected) and messages received from them are not displayed on the user's monitor.

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Bellevue, WA, United States of America

Manuel Vellon