The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 20, 2011
Filed:
May. 30, 2008
Stanley Jerrard-dunne, Dublin, IE;
Michael Roche, Dublin, IE;
Stanley Jerrard-Dunne, Dublin, IE;
Michael Roche, Dublin, IE;
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
An apparatus for providing for virtual communication and collaboration comprises a collaborative virtual environment (CVE) application executing within a distributed data processing system, and a shadow module implemented within the CVE application. The CVE application provides a virtual world represented as a grid of an interconnected set of locations each divided into a set of zones and each having an assigned context through a user interface provided to a plurality of users through one or more client systems. The CVE provides each user with a respective avatar representation for navigating and interacting within the locations of the virtual world. The shadow module provides a first user interface element through which a first user can create and leave a shadow object representation for the first user within a zone of a subset of the set of locations when the avatar representation for the user is currently located in that zone. The shadow object representation persists in the zone after the avatar representation for the first user has navigated away from the zone. The shadow module provides a second user interface element providing a second user with one or more selectable options for corresponding with the first user when the avatar representation for the second user is located in the zone with the shadow object representation.