Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Disney Enterprises, Inc.

Paul Cutsinger

Paul Alexander Gusmorino, Iii

David George De Vorchik

Kenneth Martin Tubbs

Lyon K F Wong

Steven Makofsky

Sasanka Chalivendra

Cornelis K Van Dok

Timothy P McKee

Jason Fergus Moore

Marc Adam Silbey

Relja Ivanovic

Brian E Manthos

Prashant Singh

Lyon King-Fook Wong

Helen Elizabeth Drislane

Louis A Martinez

Derek Richard Westcott

Eli Tamanaha

Harel M Williams

Patrice Lynn Miner

Chris J Guzak

Stephan Hoefnagels

Colin Ray Anthony

Richard Malcolm Banks

Tyler Kien Beam

Giampiero M Sierra

Richard M Banks

Song Zou

Marieke Iwema Watson

Seung Yang

Christopher W Heatherly

Li-Hsin Huang

John Holbrook Crocker

Ahsan Syed Kabir

Benjamin Betz

Robert E Corrington

Jeffrey C Belt

Lane Merrifield

Diane Shambaugh

Rick Molloy

David G DeVorchik

Zhong Chen

Aidan N Low

Robert David Rugge

Thomas J Layson

Donna B Andrews

Lei Tan

Herman H Ng

Kathryn G Rasmussen

Gerald Paul Joyce

Alex D Wade

Robert S Wigton

John R Bartlow

Stephen A Turton

Gamage I Viriththamulla

Bhargavi Hiremagalur

Jalayne Taber Boni

Douglas Koenig

Nathan William Bower

Mun (Scott) Ying Leong

Michael Vanloon

Techniques are disclosed to facilitate avatar personalization in a virtual environment. A request to generate an avatar in the virtual environment to represent a requesting entity is received. Data pertaining to the requesting entity is retrieved, the data not specifying any visual appearance of the avatar. A proposed avatar is generated based on the retrieved data. The proposed avatar is output to the requesting entity.

Avatar personalization in a virtual environment

In a graphical user interface environment, a situational-specific browser may be used to provide contextually appropriate levels of information for files whose information is to be displayed. As different views of files are to be displayed, the browser may dynamically adjust its configuration to display different types of information, features and/or command options. Different views may be predefined, or new views may be dynamically created in response to user navigation.

Scenario specialization of file browser

Various embodiments provide an add-on advisor that is designed to assist users in managing add-ons for a browser and/or other application programs. In at least some embodiments, the add-on advisor can be implemented to detect newly installed add-ons and provide notifications to a user of the detected add-ons. The notifications regarding new add-ons can be configured with options to permit the user to enable or disable the add-ons. Add-ons that are not explicitly enabled by a user can be prevented from operating by the add-on advisor. Further, in at least some embodiments, the add-on advisor can be implemented to monitor performance impact of add-ons and provide notifications to a user when add-ons adversely affect performance. The user can then interact with the add-on advisor to improve performance by selectively enabling and disabling add-ons.

Add-on performance advisor

Techniques are disclosed for validating input on a handheld device. In response to receiving an input and a request to access a computing resource, an application running on the handheld device may collect data from one or more sensors of the handheld device. The application may then determine, based on the collected sensor data, if an individual is interacting with the device and recognize the input as valid if such is the case. In one embodiment, the application may present a challenge to a user which is difficult for computer programs to perform, and determine whether an individual is interacting with the device based on successful completion of the challenge. In an alternative embodiment, the application may collect data and determine whether an individual is interacting with the device without presenting an explicit challenge to the user.

Validating input by detecting and recognizing human presence

There is provided a method and system for an approval based economy. The method comprises, receiving input corresponding to media content associated with a user, determining a number of approval units corresponding to the input, retrieving a user account associated with the user, and saving the approval units in the user account. The user account may include past approval units and an approval total. The approval total may account for the approval units and the past approval units, the approval units and the past approval units of active users and available media content only, or a maximum lifetime total of active users and available media content only. The approval based economy may provide new media content to users based on their respective approval total in their user account.

Approval based economy

Various embodiments provide a target element zoom component that is configured to perform a focal point zoom operation on a target element using an appropriate zoom factor. In at least some embodiments, the target element zoom component receives a request to perform a zoom operation at a focal point of a target element in a page displayed in a display area. In at least some embodiments, the request is received via two-finger tap input on a screen of a touch enabled device. The target element zoom component then determines an appropriate zoom factor for the zoom operation. Responsive to determining the appropriate zoom factor, the target element zoom component performs the zoom operation on the page using the appropriate zoom factor so that the target element remains within the display area with the focal point retained.

Target element zoom

A property tree user interface permits user assignment of values to metadata properties and user navigation of data, within a system that includes a data storage subsystem in which data items are organized and queried by way of properties. The property tree includes nodes that expose properties of data items. A user may interact with the property tree in order to effect an assignment of a property, in which case the value associated with the property in the data storage subsystem is modified. The property tree may also display nodes that represent folders within a hierarchical file system, nodes that represent properties with inherent hierarchy, and nodes that represent user-defined hierarchical properties, and the property tree may display such nodes in a carousel control.

Carousel control for metadata navigation and assignment

A file system shell is provided. One aspect of the shell provides virtual folders which expose regular files and folders to users in different views based on their metadata instead of the actual physical underlying file system structure on the disk. Users are able to work with the virtual folders through direct manipulation (e.g., clicking and dragging, copying, pasting, etc.). Filters are provided for narrowing down sets of items. Quick links are provided which can be clicked on to generate useful views of the sets of items. Libraries are provided which consist of large groups of usable types of items that can be associated together, along with functions and tools related to the items. A virtual address bar is provided which comprises a plurality of segments, each segment corresponding to a filter for selecting content. A shell browser is provided with which users can readily identify an item based on the metadata associated with that item. An object previewer in a shell browser is provided which is configured to display a plurality of items representing multiple item types.

User interface for a file system shell

An information server may function as a centralized query broker that accepts queries from query clients, dispatches queries to potentially disparate data sources, and returns query results to query clients. An information server may centralize information access and security/control operations and may provide a set of uniform interfaces for accessing various types of data sources. A pluggable data source interface may be used for extending the data and actions that are available to an information server. The queries that arrive at the data sources are typically simple queries, which contain no sub-query addressing to a different data source. To make a data source pluggable, a data source may expose a standard interface and may store information about the data source's existence so that an information server will be able to determine, from the stored information, which data sources are available for responding to queries in the information server system.

Information server and pluggable data sources

Systems and methods for defining at least one visual-display characteristic of at least one user-interface control are disclosed. In accordance with various embodiments of the invention, a dialog template specifies at least one style selector for the at least one user-interface control. A transformation module extracts the at least one style selector from the dialog template. A style sheet defines at least one visual-display-characteristic value that is applicable to the at least one user-interface control and that is associated with the at least one style selector. A style sheet-parsing engine uses the at least one style selector to retrieve the at least one visual-display-characteristic value from the style sheet. And a user-interface-control-drawing module draws the at least one user-interface control in accordance with the at least one visual-display-characteristic value retrieved by the style sheet-parsing engine.

Defining the visual appearance of user-interface controls

Computer system navigation tools provide 'links' to various different files, lists, folders, and/or other storage elements and allow users to organize files, e.g., by hierarchical properties, lists, auto lists, folders, and the like. Such systems and methods allow users to assign properties to a file (optionally in a hierarchical manner), to change assigned properties, to search, view, and retrieve information based on the assigned properties, and the like.

Systems, methods, and user interfaces for storing, searching, navigating, and retrieving electronic information

Growing community of inventors

Redmond, WA, United States of America

Paul Cutsinger