Sococo, Inc.

Social Communications Company

Knapp Investment Company Limited

Matthew Leacock

David M Van Wie

Paul J Brody

Robert J Butler

Eric Cozzi

Josh Moyers

F Randall Farmer

Seth Miller

A web browser interface for visualizing realtime network communications in spatial communication environments allows communicants to interact with other communicants in an immersive spatial communication environment without having to install any specialized communication software and without requiring special proxies or firewall additions or exceptions.

Visual communications

A persistent virtual area that supports establishment of respective presences of communicants operating respective network nodes connected to the virtual area even after all network nodes have disconnected from the virtual area is maintained. A presence in the virtual area is established for a user of a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) terminal device. Transmission of data associated with the virtual area to the PSTN terminal device.

In a network communications environment supporting realtime communications between respective network nodes of a user and other communicants in virtual areas each of which is associated with its own respective set of communicant members, a graphical user interface is provided in connection with the user's network node. The graphical user interface includes controls for establishing presence in respective ones of the virtual areas, managing realtime communications with other communicants in respective ones of the virtual areas, and presenting different views of communicants associated with the network communications environment. Based on user input in connection with the graphical user interface, a presence is established for the user in a selected one of the virtual areas, realtime communications are administered between the user and one or more communicants who are present in the selected virtual area, and a visualization that shows graphical representations, locations of presence, and realtime activities of communicants across respective ones of the virtual areas is displayed.

Promoting communicant interactions in a network communications environment

Apparatus and methods of managing a virtual area based on communicant capabilities are described. The communicant capabilities are updated based on rules in response to events in the virtual area. An action by one communicant can affect the capabilities of another communicant. Communicant capabilities can be stored in respective server-side proxies and the virtual area can be managed without transmitting any of the capabilities to the communicants' client network nodes. Capability-based permissions checks can be performed against communicant capabilities with wildcarded attribute fields.

Capabilities based management of virtual areas

Web browser interface for spatial communication environments

Apparatus and methods relating to persistent network resource and virtual area associations for realtime collaboration include managing and displaying an object associated with a virtual area that supports establishment of respective presences of communicants operating respective client network nodes. Examples of the object include an object that has one or more user-modifiable property fields and an object that is associated with screen sharing functionality of the client network node.

Persistent network resource and virtual area associations for realtime collaboration

Apparatus and methods of managing a virtual area based on communicant capabilities are described. The communicant capabilities are updated based on rules in response to events in the virtual area. An action by one communicant can affect the capabilities of another communicant. Communicant capabilities can be stored in respective server-side proxies and the virtual area can be managed without transmitting any of the capabilities to the communicants' client nodes. Capability-based permissions checks can be performed against communicant capabilities with wildcarded attribute fields.

Growing community of inventors

Sunnyvale, CA, United States of America

Matthew Leacock