U.S. patent application number 15/450610 was filed with the patent office on 2017-11-09 for system and method for consumer-selected advertising and branding in interactive media.
This patent application is currently assigned to CHEMTRON RESEARCH LLC. The applicant listed for this patent is CHEMTRON RESEARCH LLC. Invention is credited to Laura Lee KUSUMOTO, Earl David SACERDOTI, Leila Janine SIGLER, Sonya Lee SIGLER.
Application Number | 20170323306 15/450610 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40408932 |
Filed Date | 2017-11-09 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170323306 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
KUSUMOTO; Laura Lee ; et
al. |
November 9, 2017 |
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONSUMER-SELECTED ADVERTISING AND BRANDING IN
INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Abstract
A user of an interactive medium may select advertising for
display on the user's avatar, property, or other user-associated
environment. The invention presents one or more advertisements to
the user and allows the user to select at least one advertisement
to display. The user may also choose a location for displaying the
selected advertisement. The invention presents the selected
advertisement to other users of the interactive medium. The
invention tracks these presentations or displays and rewards the
original user based on the presentation. The tracking data may also
be used to bill the advertiser or optimize the process of selecting
and displaying advertisements.
Inventors: |
KUSUMOTO; Laura Lee; (San
Francisco, CA) ; SACERDOTI; Earl David; (Alamo,
CA) ; SIGLER; Leila Janine; (Palomar Park, CA)
; SIGLER; Sonya Lee; (San Carlos, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
CHEMTRON RESEARCH LLC |
Dover |
DE |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
CHEMTRON RESEARCH LLC
Dover
DE
|
Family ID: |
40408932 |
Appl. No.: |
15/450610 |
Filed: |
March 6, 2017 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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13773426 |
Feb 21, 2013 |
9589274 |
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15450610 |
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13204707 |
Aug 7, 2011 |
8407086 |
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13773426 |
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12267145 |
Nov 7, 2008 |
7996264 |
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13204707 |
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11128260 |
May 13, 2005 |
7797168 |
|
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12267145 |
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09675958 |
Sep 29, 2000 |
6954728 |
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11128260 |
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60204179 |
May 15, 2000 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/0224 20130101;
G06Q 30/02 20130101; G06Q 30/0214 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 30/02 20120101
G06Q030/02; G06Q 30/02 20120101 G06Q030/02; G06Q 30/02 20120101
G06Q030/02 |
Claims
1. A method, comprising: identifying, by a processing device,
advertising locations within a display in an interactive medium;
receiving a user input identifying a selection of a subset of the
advertising locations; identifying, by the processing device, a
selected advertisement for presentation within the interactive
medium from a set of at least one advertisement and based on said
selection of the subset of the advertising locations; selecting, by
the processing device, a reward based on said selection of said
advertising locations.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein said selecting the reward
comprises: tracking interactions with said selected advertisement
by users of the interactive medium; and wherein the selection of
the reward is based on a result of the tracking.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein said interactions includes
viewing of said selected advertisement.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: displaying
information about the set of at least one advertisement, wherein
the received user input includes a selection of a subset of the set
of at least one advertisement; and wherein identifying the selected
advertisement for the presentation within the interactive medium is
based on the selection of the subset of the advertisements.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the user input is associated with
a user of users the interactive medium.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein said interactive medium includes
at least one of a virtual world or an ancillary support
environment.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein said selection of said subset of
said advertising locations is provided in at least one of said
virtual world or said ancillary support environment.
8. The method of claim 2, wherein said interactions occur in at
least one of a computer game, a video game, an online chat, an
instant message, or a virtual scene.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein said virtual scene includes at
least one of a dance, party, sporting event, gambling event,
meeting, shopping mall, town square, trade show, rally, conference,
life simulation, or fantasy simulation.
10. The method of claim 2, wherein said tracking includes gathering
information about at least one of: providing said set of at least
one advertisement to a user of said users, receiving at least one
selection from the set of at least one advertisement from said
user; providing said set of at least one advertisement for said
user to choose said selected advertisement; or said presentation
within the interactive medium.
11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: providing the
gathered information to at least one of a host, an advertiser, or
at least one of said users.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein said gathered information
includes at least one of: a measured display time of said selected
advertisement to at least one of said users; a count of said users
that viewed said selected advertisement; anticipated display time
of said selected advertisement; information about said advertising
locations; or information on exposure of said set of at least one
advertisement to said at least one of said users.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein said reward includes at least
one of coupons, merchandise, credits, goods, services, information
about said interactive medium, opportunities in said interactive
medium, real money, or virtual money.
14. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating a consumer
profile for a user of users of the interactive medium, the user
associated with the user input, wherein said consumer profile
includes at least one of: registration information; environment
continuation information to allow said user to continue where said
user previously left in said interactive medium; information on the
selected advertisement; information on a user selection of said
selected advertisement; information on said selection of said
advertising locations; or information about the reward.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein said selected advertisement is
located on at least one of an avatar, a virtual space, or a virtual
object associated with a user of users of the interactive medium,
the user associated with the user input.
16. (canceled)
17. The method of claim 1, wherein said interactive medium is
provided by at least one of an electronic system including a server
and a database, or interactive television.
18. The method of claim 1, wherein said selected advertisement is
displayed at least at one of times designated by a user of users of
the interactive medium, the user associated with the user input, or
times designated by at least one of a host or an advertiser.
19. The method of claim 1, wherein said selected advertisement
includes at least one of text, symbols, graphics, graphics that are
texture-mapped in said interactive medium, or multimedia elements
of audio, video, and animation.
20. The method of claim 1, wherein said selected advertisement
includes at least one of corporate symbols, logos, trademarks,
advertising text or copy, graphical pictures, or multimedia
elements.
21. An apparatus, comprising: a memory device configured to store
instructions associated with an application program; and a
processing device that, in response to executing the instructions
stored in the memory device, is configured to: identify a plurality
of location identifiers each representing a different advertising
location selected from a plurality of advertising locations within
a display in an interactive medium; and receiving a user input
identifying a selection of a location from the plurality of
advertising locations; in response to receiving the user input,
associated the received user input to location identifier of the
plurality of location identifiers; and determine a reward based on
the associated location identifier.
22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the advertising locations
are associated with different reward values, and wherein the
processing device is further configured to identify a plurality of
advertisement identifiers each representing an advertisement
selected from a plurality of advertisements, wherein a reward value
associated with each of the plurality of advertisements is based on
a particular advertising location selected from the plurality of
advertising locations.
23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the advertising locations
are associated with different reward values, and wherein the
processing device is further configured to determine each of the
different reward values based on a location of a corresponding one
of the plurality of advertising locations.
24. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the processing device is
further configured to track data associated with an advertising
location selected from the plurality of advertising locations.
25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the advertising locations
are associated with different reward values, and wherein the
processing device is further configured to determine a reward value
of the different reward values based on the tracked data.
26. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the tracked data is
associated with a prior selection of the advertising location.
27. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the advertising locations
are associated with different reward values, and wherein the
processing device is further configured to: identify a plurality of
advertisements configured for display in each of the plurality of
advertising locations; receive an input indicating a selection of
an advertisement from the plurality of advertisements; and
determine a corresponding reward value of the different reward
values based on the selected advertisement.
28. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the processing device is
further configured to: identify a plurality of advertisements
configured for display in each of the plurality of advertising
locations; receive an input indicating a selection of an
advertisement from the plurality of advertisements; display the
advertisement in response to the input; and replace the
advertisement with a different advertisement in response to the
tracked data or changing the location of the advertisement in
response to the tracked data, or any combinations thereof.
29. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the advertising locations
are associated with different reward values, and wherein the
processing device is further configured to: rank each of the
plurality of advertising locations based on the tracked data; and
determine each of the different reward values based on a rank of a
corresponding advertising location selected from the plurality of
advertising locations.
30. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the processing device is
further configured to receive a user input identifying a selection
of the advertising location from the plurality of advertising
locations to present an advertisement associated with a user
identifier.
31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the processing device is
further configured to modify the advertisement or the advertising
location based on the tracked data.
32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the advertising locations
are associated with different reward values, and wherein the
processing device is further configured to increase a particular
reward value of the different reward values based on the
modifying.
33. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the processing device is
further configured to: track a characteristic of presentation of an
advertisement in one of the advertising locations corresponding to
the selection, the presentation within the display in the
interactive medium; and generate information based on the tracked
characteristics and send a communication over an electronic network
based on the generated information.
34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the characteristic includes
at least one of time that the advertisement is presented in an
environment, a count of other users that are visually exposed to
the advertisement, a count of non-participant viewers who are
visually exposed to the advertisement, or a total exposure time
based on at least time of visual exposure corresponding to the
other users or time of visual exposure corresponding to the
non-participant viewers.
35. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the electronic network
couples an electronic device corresponding to the interactive
medium and an electronic device of an advertiser of the
advertisement.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 13/773,426,
filed Feb. 21, 2013, which is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 13/204,707, filed on Aug. 7, 2011, now U.S.
Pat. No. 8,407,086, which is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 12/267,145, filed on Nov. 7, 2008, now U.S.
Pat. No. 7,996,264, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/128,260, filed on May 13, 2005, now U.S.
Pat. No. 7,797,168, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 09/675,958, filed on Sep. 29, 2000, now U.S.
Pat. No. 6,954,728, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Application No. 60/204,179, filed on May 15, 2000, the contents of
all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their
entireties.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] In conventional advertising formats, the consumer is a
recipient and relatively passive vis-a-vis the advertising. The
advertising is in effect pushed or thrust upon a non-voluntary and
often indifferent consumer, who may become jaded to the experience
and make an effort to ignore the advertising, or consider it part
of the background. Even when the advertising is applied to the
participant's own avatar in an interactive game (a race car, for
example), the participant has no say in what advertising is
applied, and no real interest in the issue.
[0003] In an increasingly interactive world, advertisers and media
outlets are using new venues to sell to and entertain consumers.
These venues make use of a wide range of diverse devices.
Simultaneously, the increased diversity has empowered consumers by
forcing advertisers and media outlets to find new ways to
distribute their messages. The interactive nature of the venues
provides the basis upon which to build a solution by bringing
consumers in as active participants.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The present invention provides a way for sponsors to promote
their brands or otherwise advertise products and services in
virtual and real environments such as computer networks and other
interactive media such as interactive television and
dynamically-modifiable displays, audio messages, streaming video,
or other multimedia modalities. The invention provides users with
the ability to choose, create, and the like sponsors' logos, names,
commercial symbols, advertisements and so on to appear on their
avatars, such as in a virtual spaces, on virtual objects or the
like within the virtual environments. According to aspects of the
invention, the virtual environment includes dynamically modifiable
presentations, audio streams, interactive television, etc., as well
as dynamically modifiable information sources. The invention
provides a mechanism for audience members (consumers) to choose,
create, or the like the logo, names, commercial symbols, virtual
objects associated or so on with an advertiser, or advertisements
that are presented on their avatars, game pieces, game elements
such as cards in an online card game, within information sources or
the like whose content the consumers may control or influence.
Similarly, the invention provides consumers with the ability to
choose the advertisements presented to them within audio, streaming
video, or other multimedia modalities. The invention also may
provide methods for deriving revenue or other rewards from those
choices, and may provide mechanisms for tracking, optimizing, and
billing for the usage of those logos, names, commercial symbols,
advertisements, or the like according to aspects of the
methods.
[0005] The invention seeks to involve participants more directly in
the matter of advertising, to provide incentives for them to adopt
and deploy advertising, and to provide a source of revenues based
thereon. It resolves or mitigates the conflict between the goals of
the user and the advertiser by providing a method of advertising
that makes participants in the virtual world willing agents of the
advertiser and advertising part of their activities. Participants
may include consumers, hosts, vendors, teams, groups or any other
variety of users of interactive media.
[0006] According to the aspects of the invention, the method for
selected advertising using a virtual world operates by providing an
advertisement group, concept, campaign or the like to a
participant, wherein the advertisement group includes at least one
of an advertisement, one or more advertisements of one or more
categories, or one or more advertisements of one or more
advertisement profiles; receiving a selection of the advertisement
group from the participant, where such selection may be the
creation of the ad by the participant; when a plurality of
locations exists, providing the plurality of locations for the
participant to choose to present the advertisement group using the
virtual world and receiving a selection of one or more locations
from the plurality of locations from the participant; when only one
location exists, selecting the location; creating a selected
advertisement group from the selection of the advertisement group
and either of i) the selection of the one or more locations or ii)
the one location; storing the selected advertisement group, the
selection of one or more locations; providing for presentation to a
user of the selected advertisement group using the virtual world,
wherein the users have access to the virtual world; and providing a
reward to at least the participant, wherein the reward is based on
at least the creating of a selected advertisement group and at
least one of the creation, selection, display or response to the
advertisement can be tracked. The tracking of data related to the
advertisement can then be used to adjust the creation, selection or
display systems and methods as well as the reward and billing
systems and methods associated with the creation, selection or
display processes. Sampling and tracking methods may include
advertising on a billboard or 3-D object with linking to a
web-based survey, requests made through groups, and the use of
survey bots (automated avatars for collecting data, which may be
transferred directly to a database, in a virtual world) as
examples. The data processing of the tracked information can employ
analytical techniques, including but not limited to statistical and
predictive modeling methods like multivariate analysis of variance,
or average variance extracted (AVE), for nomological, discriminant
and convergent validity. The analyzed information, be it in the
form of discrete data, trends, or patterns, can then be used either
in a manual or, more preferably, an automated system to optimize
the desired result of the advertisement. The desired result, in the
case of a participant or host, may be to increase participation via
the rewards. In the case of a participant, the desired result may
be to increase rewards via participation. In the case of an
advertiser, the desired result may be to create brand awareness to
sell more goods or services in and via the virtual environment.
[0007] Accordingly, in one aspect of the invention a machine
readable storage medium stores instructions that, when executed by
a machine, cause the machine to perform selected advertising within
an interactive medium. The instructions include providing an
advertisement group, which includes at least one advertisement, to
a first user. A selection of at least one advertisement from the
advertisement group by the first user is received and used to
generate a selected advertisement. The first user may also select
one or more locations from a plurality of locations for presenting
the selected advertisement. The selected advertisement is presented
to at least other user in the interactive medium, and the first
user receives a reward based on the presentation of the
advertisement. The instructions also generate tracking data that
can be used for billing purposes, optimizing the selection of an
advertisement, optimizing the selection of at least one location,
optimizing the process of creating a selected advertisement, and
optimizing the reward process.
[0008] The advertisement and the location may be selected using the
interactive medium or an ancillary support environment, such as an
interface for exchanging information and choices. Examples of an
ancillary support environment include electronic mail, web browser,
online agent, instant messaging, paging, text messaging, internet
resources, video messaging, and short message service. Examples of
an interface for exchanging information and choices include a
mobile station, a wireless device, user equipment, an internet
enabled device, a media player, and a gaming system. A machine may
be a processor executing the instructions or a plurality of
processors executing the instructions in a distributed manner.
Providing a reward may include tracking an interaction with the
advertisement and providing a reward to the first user based on
that interaction. Examples of an interaction include sharing at
least one aspect of the interactive medium using the advertisement,
tracking click events and click-through events, and transferring
aspects of the interactive medium to another medium. The reward may
include coupons, merchandise, credits, goods, services, information
about a virtual world, information about real world events,
opportunities in a virtual world, virtual money, money, discounted
products, discounted services, access to restricted content,
contest clues, licensing fees, royalty fees, a benefit in a game,
or increased social status.
[0009] The machine readable instructions may also include creating
a consumer profile, including registration information, environment
continuation information, information on the selected
advertisement, information on the selected location, and reward
information. The interactive medium may include media presented via
mobile devices, streaming video, streaming audio, radio,
television, voice portal, web site, web meeting, internet
resources, Internet enabled devices, gaming systems, or an
information presentation environment. A location for displaying an
advertisement may include a wearable display, a game piece, a game
card, a game element, a display controlled or influenced by the
first user, a portion of a web page, a portion of a web page for a
period of time, a time slot in an audio or video stream, a portion
of screen real estate in a video stream, a radio or television
broadcast, an on-hold audio message, real world clothing, an
electronic billboard, a billboard with a processor-controlled
display, a vending machine, programmable paper, a virtual
character, a virtual representation of a user, a virtual place,
media present in a real-world space, or media projected onto a
real-world space. The reward may also be provided to an advertiser
or a sponsor. The first user may be charged a fee based on the
selected advertisement. Presenting or displaying the advertisement
may occur at times and places selected by a user or determined by
sensors that provide information indicating a user's actions or a
user's location.
[0010] The interactive media may include media displayed on
interactive television, an electronic bumper sticker, an article of
clothing with a flexible screen, a billboard with a
processor-controlled display, a mobile telephone, a personal
digital assistant, a tablet computer, a mobile station, user
equipment, a gaming system, an augmented reality display, a
telepresence system, or a videoconference display. The interactive
medium may include a collaborative virtual environment, a
multi-user virtual environment, a massively multiplayer online
game, a virtual world, an interactive themed environment, or an
augmented reality system.
[0011] The advertisement group may include one or more
advertisements in one or more categories. The advertisement may
include an image, an audio clip, an animated image, a multimedia
movie, a behavior for an object in the interactive medium, an
object that confers a benefit in a game, or a multi-user event in
the interactive medium. The advertisement may also include a logo,
a name, a commercial symbol, a virtual object associated with an
advertiser, an audio clip, a video clip, or a banner. The
categories may include a type of product, a brand, a vendor, a
company, a specific product, products relevant to a specific
activity or interest, and advertisements of a specific
advertiser.
[0012] An advertisement group may include an advertisement profile,
which includes multiple advertisements selected from one or more
categories. Each advertisement may include an image, an audio clip,
an animated image, a multimedia movie, a behavior for an object in
the interactive medium, an object that confers a benefit in a game,
or a multi-user event in the interactive medium. The categories may
include a type of product, a brand, a vendor, a company, a specific
product, products relevant to a specific activity or interest, and
advertisements of a specific advertiser. Each advertisement may
include a logo, a name, a commercial symbol, a virtual object
associated with an advertiser, an audio clip, a video clip, or a
banner. The advertisement profile may be provided by a user, a host
of the interactive medium, or a party commissioned to create the
advertisement group (e.g. an advertising agency).
[0013] The advertisement may include an advertisement concept or an
advertisement campaign within the interactive medium. The reward
may include intangible rewards. The first user may create an
advertisement in the advertisement group. The reward may be
adjusted to incentivize the first user to choose certain options
when selecting an advertisement, selecting a location, or creating
a selected advertisement. Billing purposes may include billing a
host of the interactive medium, billing an advertising agency, and
billing a company that is advertising at least one of its products.
Certain steps, such as optimizing the selection of an
advertisement, optimizing the selection of a location, optimizing
the creation of a selected advertisement, and optimizing the giving
of a reward, may be automated processes. Automated processes may
include statistical processing, artificial intelligence, and
predictive analytical techniques.
[0014] According to another aspect of the invention, a method for
providing selected advertising within an interactive medium
includes providing an advertisement group, which includes an
advertisement, to a first user and receiving the selection of at
least one advertisement from the advertisement group from the first
user. The selection generates a selected advertisement. When
multiple locations exist, the method provides the locations to the
first user to choose a location for presenting the advertisement
within the interactive medium, and the method receives a selection
of one or more locations from the first user. The method also
presents the selected advertisements to another user in the
interactive medium and provides a reward to the first user based
the presentation. The method tracks the selected advertisement, the
presentation of the selected advertisement, and the reward to
generate tracking data that can be used for billing purposes,
optimizing the selection of an advertisement, optimizing the
selection of a location, optimizing the creation of a selected
advertisement, or optimizing the reward.
[0015] In yet another aspect of the invention, a system for
selected advertising within an interactive medium is described. The
system includes a means for providing an advertisement group, which
includes one or more advertisements, to a first user and a means
for receiving the selection of at least one advertisement from the
advertisement group from the first user. The selection generates a
selected advertisement. When multiple locations exist, the system
provides the locations to the first user to choose a location for
presenting the advertisement within the interactive medium, and the
system receives a selection of one or more locations from the first
user. The system also includes means for presenting the selected
advertisement to at least one user within the interactive medium
and means for providing a reward, based on the presentation of the
selected advertisement, to the first user. The system tracks the
selected advertisement, the presentation of the selected
advertisement, and the reward to generate tracking data that can be
used for billing purposes, optimizing the selection of an
advertisement, optimizing the selection of a location, optimizing
the creation of a selected advertisement, or optimizing the
reward.
[0016] Additional features, advantages, and embodiments of the
invention may be set forth or apparent from consideration of the
following detailed description, drawings, and claims. Moreover, it
is to be understood that both the foregoing summary of the
invention and the following detailed description are exemplary and
intended to provide further explanation without limiting the scope
of the invention as claimed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and
form part of the specification, illustrate aspects of the present
invention and, together with the description, further serve to
explain the principles of aspects of the invention.
[0018] FIG. 1 shows a diagram of the network components, data
repositories and their respective interconnections used in one
aspect of the invention.
[0019] FIGS. 2A-2D show flowcharts illustrating the various
operations of the method, according to aspects of the
invention.
[0020] FIG. 3 shows a sample branding selection screen as used in
one aspect of the invention.
[0021] FIGS. 4A, 4B and 4C show the database fields for users,
advertisers and transactions, respectively, as used in an aspect of
the invention.
[0022] FIG. 5 shows a scene from a virtual world in accordance with
one aspect of the invention, in which a participant's avatar is
wearing an item of clothing with a participant-selected designer
logo.
[0023] FIG. 6 shows a scene from a virtual activity in accordance
with one aspect of the invention, in which a participant has
selected to put a Coca-Cola.RTM. logo on the participant's avatar
and an Adidas.RTM. poster on the participant's furniture in a
virtual space.
[0024] FIG. 7 illustrates a diagram of a computing environment
capable of being adapted to perform the operations of the
advertising system, according to an aspect of the invention.
[0025] It should be understood that these figures depict aspects of
the invention. Variations of these aspects will be apparent to
persons skilled in the relevant art(s) based on the teachings
contained herein. For example, the flow charts contained in these
figures depict particular operational flows. However, the functions
and steps contained in these flow charts can be performed in other
sequences, as will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant
art(s) based on the teachings contained herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0026] Many forms of online interactive entertainment immerse
participants in a virtual world, which may closely reflect the real
world in some respects, but in other respects, a virtual world may
dramatically and selectively amplify real world experiences. To
personalize the user's experience, the concept of "self" must be
carried into the virtual environment as well. It is common in such
forms of entertainment for each participant to be provided with an
"avatar" that represents how the participant's "self" is manifested
in the virtual world.
[0027] The concept of an "avatar" is used extensively in this
application. To better understand how the term "avatar" is used
herein, it is helpful to consider how one interacts with the
virtual world or how users in the real world view the virtual
world, as is described in further detail herein.
[0028] As used herein, an "avatar" may be understood to include a
graphical object in 2D or 3D, often representing a persona of a
user, but not limited to such a representation, appearing within an
interactive medium. As the term is used in connection with aspects
of the invention (discussed in detail below), an avatar may act
under the direct control of the user and provides for interaction
with the environment in the user is found. However, it may be
pre-programmed or the like by the user to perform certain
behaviors, or it could simply perform behaviors, actions, or
functions that are hardwired by the system. According to aspects of
the invention, an avatar may take on the visual appearance of any
living creature in humanoid, animal, plant, mythical, or other
form, or it can be an animated depiction of a non-living thing such
as a robot, vehicle, weapon, computer, constellation of stars, etc.
In alterative aspects, the interactive medium can be viewed on a
modifiable display such as an electronic bumper sticker, a tee
shirt with a flexible LCD panel, a billboard display, or so on that
may be controlled by a computer or other processor, and the avatar
can be fashioned to look like an inanimate object or fill a portion
of, some part of, or fill the entire display to render one or more
advertisements.
[0029] According to aspects of the invention, an interactive medium
may be implemented using one or more computer networks and the like
(known as "networked virtual environment") and other interfaces
such as interactive television, interactive media players, mobile
stations, wireless devices, internet enabled devices, user
equipment (UE), and any future advancement thereof, and the like
and the projection of interactive content to an audience. The
interactivity provided by certain interfaces, such as interactive
television, may be narrower than the interactivity provided by the
aspects of the invention. They are not one and the same thing, and
the method provides for additional kinds of interactivity among
users, advertisers, etc., as are described in detail herein. Thus,
one of ordinary skill in the relevant arts would understand that
the aspects of the invention provide interactivity while utilizing
a greater range of devices as opposed to just television.
[0030] As one of ordinary skill would appreciate based at least on
the teachings provided herein, the interactivity of the invention
provides for the creation, selection and/or presentation of
advertisements in various forms through interactive environments.
As such, according to aspects of the invention, the interactive
nature of aspects of the invention may provide a system that is
changeable by a user and responsive to changes by the user,
advertisers, or in the virtual world. Also, mobile telephones or
other communicating mobile devices such as personal digital
assistants, tablet PCs, programmable displays on clothing,
automobiles, or other personal or real property, "real-world"
virtual environments or the like such as interactive themed
environments are also included as interactive media. It is
important to note, however, that none of the aspects of the
invention require the actual display to be interactive. A
"networked virtual environment" implements a virtual world, a 2D or
3D representation or simulation of a physical space. The networked
virtual environment may be accessible over a computer network,
digital media network or the like by multiple participants, who may
interact with the virtual world and with one another in near-real
time. Similarly, an "interactive television" may be a conventional
television content augmented with interactive facilities, that may
be delivered over a digital channel augmented by a back channel to
the content broadcaster and by a terminal, other control device or
the like. Users and viewers may be able to interact with the
content via the control device.
[0031] Traditionally, avatars are thought of as representations of
people, which are distinct from the rest of an interactive medium,
such as a virtual world. This delineation is not required, however,
by the aspects of the invention, which goes beyond the classical
utilization of avatars. Examples of this are clear from the aspects
described herein, such as, but not limited to the application to
wearable displays, which may be on tee-shirts, which allow for the
avatar to be the display portion of the tee-shirt, and the virtual
world to be presented through it to other users. In an early,
traditional sense, the avatar usually takes the form, for example,
of "first-person" games, where the view of the virtual world is
through the eyes of the avatar, as the central acting figure, or a
third-person perspective (from the point of view of a third-party
avatar or camera watching them). According to these aspects,
participants interacting with the virtual environment may view
advertisements, or alternatively, the advertisements may be
presented to non-participants who are not represented by an avatar
in the environment or who may be outside in the real world looking
at a display of the virtual world.
[0032] The concept of "advertising" is also used throughout this
application. For purposes hereof, the term "advertising" is used in
a broad sense, and is intended to cover traditional advertisements,
as well as the use of "brand marks," which can take the form of a
corporate symbol or logo, a trademark, advertising text or copy, a
graphical picture, a banner ad on a web page, any visual or
auditory multimedia or streaming media element or the like employed
for the purposes either of advertising per se, or simply promoting
or exposing a product, brand, trademark service mark, and so on.
Even when used alone without specific reference to branding and
brand marks, the term "advertising" should be understood to refer
to the use of such images and indicia as well as to traditional
advertising.
[0033] According to aspects of the invention, the method may
operate to accomplish, but it is not limited to, one or more of the
following:
[0034] Encouraging positive rather than negative consumer attitudes
about advertising by giving the consumers a positive role in the
selection of advertising;
[0035] Further encouraging consumer adoption and deployment of
advertising by providing financial incentives for participants,
hosts, or users to adopt and deploy advertising indicia;
[0036] Developing advertising pricing models based on such methods
of ad deployment;
[0037] Developing server pricing models for the consumer based on
application of offsetting ad revenues;
[0038] Providing a mechanism for the participants, hosts, users,
and so on to display advertising for his/her own products,
services, or interests;
[0039] Developing on-line events, dealings, interactions, or the
like based on common chosen sponsorship;
[0040] Providing a means for participants, hosts, users and so on
to become creative contributors to commercial advertising
media;
[0041] Providing a means for user-selected or created advertising
to be placed on web pages for viewing by the user or by others;
and
[0042] Providing a means for user-selected advertising to become
integrated with real world items like clothing, dress, stickers,
billboards, posters, vending machines, "programmable paper," media
or the like projected onto a real-world space, or any other
programmable or dynamically modifiable display or device.
[0043] Providing a means for tracking one or more of the creation,
selection or display of the advertisement.
[0044] Providing a means for analyzing the data from the tracking
of one or more of the selection, creation or display of the
advertisement.
[0045] Providing a means for using the data or the analysis of the
data to modify one or more of the creation, selection, or display
of the advertisement.
[0046] Providing a means for the participant, host or user to
access the collected or analyzed data for their use.
[0047] Providing a means for modifying the reward for the
advertisement based on the collected data or the analysis of the
collected data.
[0048] Providing a means to employ modeling and predictive analysis
on the collected data to automate changes in advertisements.
[0049] Providing a means for automatic changes in advertisements to
impact the creation, selection, display or reward aspects of the
invention. The automatic changes may include shifts in type of
advertisement, location of advertisement, transmission method of
advertisement, reward system for advertisement and so on.
[0050] In further aspects of the invention, the method may collect
data on consumer preferences without encountering the resistance to
disclosing product and brand preferences commonly expressed by
consumers in surveys and the like. Advertisers may be billed or
rewarded on a number of bases, including ad exposure, ad response,
ad location, ad transmission and the like. The billing or rewarding
methods may also be tied to the automated changing of the
advertisements.
[0051] Recruiting participants who may then use interactive media
to advertise to the users, i.e., other participants and viewers, of
that medium, may accomplish at least the above described features
of the invention. Each user entering or viewing an interactive
medium may select from or create at least a set of available
advertisements, which may be displayed in the medium. Users may be
provided with incentives to do this by the availability of rewards,
such as coupons or real or virtual money or other resources, which
may be provided by the advertising sponsors, based on adoption of
the advertising by the user, as well as on factors such as exposure
of the selected advertisements to other users in the virtual
world.
[0052] By allowing the user, participant, or host to exercise
advertising choice, this aspect also facilitates collection of data
regarding consumer preferences.
[0053] The aspect of the consumer-choice-avatar advertising-method
aspect of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 1-5, and described
in the text that follows. Although the following focuses on
particular aspects of the invention, the claims appended to this
application should not be interpreted as limited by the particular
details disclosed in connection with those aspects.
[0054] Referring to FIG. 1A the networked virtual environment of
one aspect of the invention may be generated on one or more servers
102, 104, etc. distributed over a computer network 110; received by
participating consumers' computers 112, 114, 116, etc. by client
computer programs 122, 124, 126, etc. (which may be of an animated
graphical nature); and displayed on consumers' devices, such as
computer displays 132, 134, 136, etc. by those programs. The
networked virtual environment may be accessible over the computer
network by multiple participants simultaneously.
[0055] The environment projected may be the setting for a networked
(online) game or other online entertainment activity such as a
virtual dance, virtual sporting event, life or fantasy simulation,
networked gambling, etc. It may also be an online commerce setting
such as a virtual store, virtual shopping mall, virtual town
square, or virtual trade show; or it can be an online
communications setting such as chat, instant messaging, virtual
meetings, virtual rallies, virtual conferences, etc. The host may
also allow consumers to merely watch the virtual world on other
devices, as described elsewhere herein, such as, for example,
billboards, store-front signs, banners, and other public displays,
as one of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate based at least
on the teachings provided herein.
[0056] Alternative aspects of FIG. 1 include the application of
automated teller machines (ATM), telephones, smart cards, and other
devices, as one of ordinary skill in the relevant art(s) would
appreciate based at least on the teachings provided herein, as
client computers 112, 114, and 116. In addition, various aspects of
the invention may make use of an ancillary support environment 111
within at least program 122, as shown in FIG. 1. In alternative
aspects of the invention, the ancillary support environment 111
may, as is indicated in FIG. 1, be implemented on another or more
than one platform. In such aspects, the ancillary support
environment may operate on more than one client or type of
device.
[0057] According to an aspect of the invention, the ancillary
support environment 111 may provide an interface for the client
computer 112 via the computer network 110 to the server 102. The
networked virtual environment may be supported by an ancillary
support environment (such as ancillary support environment 111
described in greater detail herein) that may have access to one or
more distinct networks, such as, but not limited to, computer
network 110, in various forms, but is distinct, separate or outside
of the virtual world, for example, menus, dialog boxes, control
panels or the like provided by client programs such as client
program 122, or separately enabled, but interconnected via the
computer network 110, or implemented on the server 102. In optional
aspects of the invention, the ancillary support environment 111 may
be implemented on more than one of these systems. While FIG. 1
describes components of the networked virtual environment to
project a setting for a networked game or other online
entertainment activity, a virtual world may be implemented in other
interactive media such as interactive television. In addition, the
ancillary support environment may be implemented using traditional
communications media such as telephone, email, a form on a web
site, mobile phone, or paper and physical mail, and communicated to
the servers using conventional means such as optical character
recognition or manual data conversion. Further, the preferences
specified in the ancillary support environment may be stored in
digital media that are off-line from the network, for example, on a
"smart card," and acquired by the networked environment at the time
the user accesses the network.
[0058] When participating in the virtual world, consumers may be
exposed to the images and sounds of their own and other consumers'
avatars interacting with one another in the virtual environment. A
flow chart depicting a simple course of interaction between a user
and this aspect of the invention is shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B. The
user selects a presentation location (206), which may be on an
avatar or some other location, as described elsewhere herein which
the participant may have the ability to select as a location for
the advertisement. The advertisement or advertisements may then
appear on the object or in the interactive media. This may be
permitted within the ancillary support environment 111, within the
virtual environment, or both. When creating or modifying their
avatars, users may be presented with multiple choices for the
advertisements that may be displayed on the avatars or in the
interactive media. The user may select (208) one or more
advertisements to appear in parts of the avatars, they may place
the advertisements on the avatars.
[0059] For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the user may be provided an
ancillary dialog box 301 with "Designer Logo" selections 303, 305,
307 (that may read from advertisement database 152 in FIG. 2A for
example) that may be selected with a mouse and dragged onto an
appropriate location (309) on the clothing of avatar 310.
Alternately, the user may find appropriate branded materials in the
virtual world, and apply them by taking actions solely in that
world. Preferably, the advertisement may be associated with a
display mode constraint to require it to be displayed in the
specified manner and orientation, and preferably further in a
manner that makes its association with the avatar of the consumer
who selected the advertisement obvious to most participants.
[0060] The advertising selection ancillary control (such as dialog
box 301) may also specify how the advertisement may be displayed if
selected, the amount of control the consumer may exercise over the
time and manner of the display, what rewards may be given to the
consumer for displaying each advertisement, and the variables upon
which the nature and size of the reward depend. Alternatively, the
various aspects of the invention described herein may be determined
by software operating on either or both of the server(s) 102, 104.
For example, in aspects of the invention, the software may specify
how the advertisement may be displayed if selected, the amount of
control the consumer may exercise over the time and manner of the
display, what rewards may be given to the consumer for displaying
each advertisement, and the variables upon which the nature and
size of the reward depend.
[0061] The user may perform the selection and placement process by
using the client computer programs (122, etc. in FIG. 1). When the
user indicates s/he is satisfied with the selection (210 in FIG.
2A), the relevant information may be transmitted to the server(s)
102, 104 and stored in consumer database 150 and presentation
tracking database 154. Then, whenever the servers cause the avatar
representing that user to appear in the networked virtual
environment (221), the relevant advertisements may be dynamically
included (223) in the presentation of the avatar within the
networked virtual environment. Other users whose avatars are nearby
in the virtual world thus "see" this advertisement. The user also
sees (225) ads placed by other users on or in connection with their
avatars. Server(s) 102, 104 may cause the exposure of
advertisements in this manner to be logged in databases 150,
154.
[0062] One of ordinary skill in the art, based at least on the
teachings provided herein, will be able to understand that,
according to the aspects of the invention, the information
concerning the user's choices in the selection and placement
process may alternatively be stored in offline media such as a
"smart card" or in the memory of mobile devices such as cell
phones. According to aspects of the invention, interactive display
devices such as digital billboards, or the electronic display of
vending machines may be used to present the advertisements to
users. Information concerning this presentation may then be
transmitted by the device, or stored in the offline medium for
later transmission to server(s) 102, 104.
[0063] In FIG. 2C, a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method of
the invention, according to various aspects of the invention. The
method may be performed, as is described herein, by computers or
other machines with access to machine readable storage medium. The
method begins operation at 248 and may proceed to operation 250,
where an advertisement group may be provided to a participant.
According to aspects of the invention, the advertisement group
itself may include at least one of an advertisement, one or more
advertisements of one or more categories, or one or more
advertisements of one or more advertisement profiles. The method
may proceed to operation 252.
[0064] At operation 252, the method may receive a selection of the
advertisement group from the participant, and may proceed to
operation 254. At operation 254, the method determines whether
there is more than one location upon which the advertisement group
may be placed. When a plurality of locations exists, the method may
proceed to operation 256 and may provide the plurality of locations
for the participant to choose from, in order to present the
advertisement group using the virtual world. The method, at
operation 258, may receive a selection of one or more locations
from the plurality of locations from the participant. When only one
location exists, the method, at operation 260, may select the
location.
[0065] At this point, from either of operations 258 or 260, the
method may proceed to operation 262, and may create a selected
advertisement group from the selection of the advertisement group
and, when there is more than one location, the selection of the one
or more locations.
[0066] The method of the invention, according to various aspects of
the invention, may proceed at operation 264 to store the selected
advertisement group. In aspects of the invention, the method may
store one or more of these items in one or more of the various
databases described above with respect to FIG. 1, 2A or 2B. The
method then may proceed to operation 266.
[0067] At operation 266, the method may provide for presentation to
a user of the selected advertisement group using the virtual world,
wherein the users have access to the virtual world; and, then, at
operation 268, the method then may provide a reward to at least the
participant. According to aspects of the invention, the reward may
be based on at least the creating of the selected advertisement
group. In an alternative aspect, the reward may be based on other
criteria, as described elsewhere herein, and as one of ordinary
skill in the art would appreciate based at least on the teachings
provided herein.
[0068] In aspects of the invention, the advertisement group and the
plurality of locations may be provided using at least one of i) the
virtual world or ii) an ancillary support environment. In
additional aspects of the invention, the ancillary support
environment may include one or more interfaces for exchanging
information and choices.
[0069] In FIG. 2D, the method of the invention may, according to
aspects, perform the additional operations of: (operation 270)
tracking one or more interactions with the selected advertisement
group by the user; and (operation 272) providing a reward to at
least the participant, wherein the reward may be based on at least
the one or more interactions or the like.
[0070] According to aspects of the invention, the reward may be
tangible or intangible and may include at least one of coupons,
merchandise, credits, goods, services, information about the
virtual world, information about real world events, opportunities
in the virtual world, real money, virtual money, codes to unlock
levels in a game, information to access restricted areas of a
virtual world, digital music downloads or the like.
[0071] In an optional aspect of the invention, the method may
perform the operation 274 of creating a consumer profile for the
participant, wherein the consumer profile includes at least one of
(a) registration information, (b) environment continuation
information to allow the participant to continue where the
participant previously left in the virtual world, (c) information
on one or more the selected advertisement groups of the
participant, (d) information on the selection of the advertisement
group, or (e) information on the at least one selection of the one
or more locations, or (f) reward information. This operation is
illustrated in FIG. 2D, as operation 274. In further aspects of the
invention, the category may include type of product, brand, vendor,
company, a specific product, products relevant to a specific
activity or interest, or advertisements of a specific advertiser or
the like.
[0072] In another aspect of the invention, the advertisement
profile may include a plurality of the advertisements selected from
one or more categories. In yet another aspect of the invention, the
advertisement profile may be provided by the participant.
[0073] As one of ordinary skill in the relevant art would
recognize, the interactive medium, which includes a virtual world
or a virtual environment, may include, based on the expanded
teachings of interactivity provided herein, media displayed on
mobile devices, streaming video, streaming audio, radio,
television, voice portal, web site, web meeting, an information
presentation environment and the like. According to other aspects
of the invention, the storing operation of the method may use a
computer, an off-line storage medium, a portable device, and so on
as is described elsewhere herein with respect to at least FIG.
1.
[0074] According to alternative aspects of the invention, the
ancillary support environment 111 may include electronic mail, web
browser, online agent, instant messaging, paging, text messaging,
short message service, mobile station, internet-enabled device,
user equipment (UE), any future advancement thereof, or the
like.
[0075] As described elsewhere herein, according to aspects of the
invention, the advertisement may include a logo, name, commercial
symbol, virtual object associated with an advertiser, audio, video,
banner, spokesperson, mascot, character or so on.
[0076] As one of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate based
at least on the teachings provided herein, the location may
include, but is not limited to, a wearable display, a game piece, a
game card, a game element, a display controlled or influenced by
the participant, a web page, an internet resource, a time slot in
an audio or video stream, radio or television broadcast, on-hold
audio message, real world clothing, dress, sticker, billboard,
poster, vending machine, programmable paper, media projected onto a
real-world space or the like.
[0077] As one of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate based
at least on the teachings provided herein, the reward may be
tangible or intangible such as contest clues, licensing fees
royalty fees or so on.
[0078] In one aspect of the invention, the one or more interactions
may include increasing the reward when aspects of the virtual world
are shared using the advertisement group, tracking click events and
click-through events, or transferring aspects of the virtual world
to another medium. For example, rewards to a participant may be
increased if his or her advertisements are clicked on by a user,
resulting in bringing up a web page from which a purchase may be
effected.
[0079] In many of the aspects described herein the method may
operate to pay the reward(s) to an advertiser. In alternative
aspects of the invention, the reward to the advertiser may be
different from the award to the consumer. In further aspects, there
may not be an immediate reward to anyone.
[0080] In an alternative aspect of the invention, the method may
include the operation of charging a fee to the participant based on
the selected advertisement group. This operation is illustrated in
FIG. 2D as operation 276. In aspects of the invention, the method
may charge a fee to a participant for access to particular
advertising materials, such as those including various celebrities,
new products, various musical soundtracks, scores, etc.
[0081] In an alternative aspect of the invention, the method may
optionally aggregate the selection, after the receiving the
selection of the advertisement group, based on at least one of i) a
count of the advertisement group or ii) a count of the
participants, as is illustrated in FIG. 2D as operation 278. In
further aspects of the invention, the method may aggregate other
elements generated or tracked before, during or after each or any
of the operations described herein. In one aspect of the invention,
the aggregation operation may be performed at a public event, such
as, but not limited to, a theatre, where participants in the
audience make individual selections of one or more advertisement
groups that are aggregated to determine a selection of the overall
audience.
[0082] In another aspect of the invention, the method may provide
for the presentation of the selected advertisement group, which may
occur at user-selected places and times or at places and times
determined by at least sensors that provide information indicating
the user's actions or the user's location. For example, a cellular
telephone equipped with short-range wireless technology may provide
persistent information about the selected advertisement group, and
places and times for its presentation on a publicly-viewable
display when the user carries the phone within the wireless
communication range of the display.
[0083] If the advertisement(s) are purely graphical in nature, they
may be presented on the 2D avatar image or 3D avatar form using any
means known to those of ordinary skill in the art. If they contain
audio or animation or other multimedia elements, these elements may
be played as part of the avatars' behavior at times designated by
the user or determined by the system. FIG. 5 shows a screen from an
aspect of the invention in which branding 501 is displayed on
avatar 510, which is engaged in animated activity within the
virtual world. Other presentation forms are contemplated.
[0084] The time and manner of the presentation of the selected
advertisement may be determined entirely by the consumer, or may be
at least partially controlled by server(s) 102, 104. For example, a
corporate logo may be available for presentation on a cap worn by
an avatar, an audio sequence may be available to play each time an
avatar performs a specified action, such as waving, and a musical
routine may be available for an avatar to perform whenever the
consumer controlling the avatar chooses. The advertisement may be
created by any party commissioned to do so by the advertiser,
including the consumers themselves. Consumers might be encouraged
to submit ideas to the host or the advertiser regarding
advertisements that may be made available for presentation in the
virtual world. Consumers might also themselves be advertisers, and
submit and place their own advertising. Alternatively, consumers
may be empowered to combine, or "mash up," elements to create new
ads. Such mash-ups may be available to only the consumer who
creates the mash-up, or they may be available to all consumers. In
addition, there may be prizes or other rewards offered to the
consumer(s) who creates the most popular and/or effective
mash-ups.
[0085] In addition, as described herein, the placement of an
advertisement is not limited to the virtual person of a human-like
avatar. For example, a poster may advertise a product in a virtual
space that may be controlled or shared by an avatar, such as the
avatar's virtual room, studio, or virtual wall space. In
alternative aspects, a user may operate a virtual store with
multiple advertisements being presented within a space that is
controlled by him/her. For example, in one or more aspects of the
invention, space and room are examples of locations in the virtual
world, however, the locations are not limited to just these
examples, as one of ordinary skill would appreciate based at least
on the teachings provided herein, other locations may be
constructed, selected, and/or provided. For example, FIG. 6 shows a
screen from an aspect of the invention in which an avatar 630 is
engaged in animated activity within the virtual world. The consumer
has named the avatar 630 Angel, and s/he has selected to place the
Coca Cola.RTM. logo on her body 640. The consumer has also selected
to place an Adidas.RTM. poster on the turntable 620. If the
advertisement(s) are purely graphical in nature, they are
texture-mapped onto the 2D image or 3D form in virtual spaces. If
they contain audio or animation or other multimedia elements, these
elements may be played at times designated by the user or
determined by the system.
[0086] Alternatively, the advertisement may be presented on a
display controlled or shared by a user and viewable by the user or
by others in the real world. The presentation may occur at
user-selected places and times, or the determination of place and
time for presentation could be performed by the server(s) 102, 104
based in part on sensors known in the art that provide information
indicating the user's actions or location (for example, sensing
real-world location from Global Positioning signals).
[0087] Another aspect of the invention is that users may be given
incentives for choosing to include advertisements on their avatars.
In exchange for choosing a particular advertisement, the consumer
may be awarded units of money, credits or coupons that can be
applied towards buying whole or fractional goods and services (in
the real or virtual world), clues for winning games and contests,
other information or opportunities with perceived value, or any
other scarce or present resource. In one aspect, the invention
provides a mechanism for money or credits to be deducted directly
from the sponsor's account, though this is optional.
[0088] Rewards may accrue to a user simply for the act of choosing
an advertisement. At a minimum, the user him/herself is exposed to
the ad as a result, and the potential created for later exposure to
other users. The size of the reward may depend on criteria such as
exposure (measured or anticipated) of the advertisement to the
audience, as measured in number of users in the environment, the
number of users viewing the environment, the number of minutes the
advertisement is presented in the environment, or some combination
of these. According to additional aspects of the invention, rewards
may be based on attributes of the presented ad such as its size,
orientation, or the presence of animation or sound.
[0089] Rewards might also take into account the user's status in
the virtual world, such as the amount of land or other relevant
resources accumulated in a multi-player game of conquest, or
elements in the consumer's profile in the consumer database 150. An
advertiser may also reward consumers for submitting for the
advertiser's consideration designs for inclusion in the list of
advertisements available for selection and presentation by other
consumers in the virtual world. Further, user rewards may be based
in whole or in part on a proportion of the compensation paid to the
host by the advertiser whose advertisement has been selected, or on
any other criterion deemed suitable by the advertiser or the host
proprietor.
[0090] Moreover, host and advertiser could structure the rewards
with a view toward increasing traffic to and average time spent in
the particular virtual world. For example, the size of the reward
could increase with the amount of time spent presenting the
advertisement, and thus with the amount of time spent in the
virtual world. In another aspect of the invention, the size of the
reward could increase when the consumer shares aspects of the
visual world (such as scenes or links) with others, when a viewer
of the advertisement connects with other networked information
related to the advertisement (such as "clicking through" from the
advertisement in a virtual world to an informational web page
elsewhere in the networked environment), or when the user transfers
a scene containing the advertisement to another medium (such as an
email or a printed image). The consumer presumably will take into
account the reward structure in making decisions regarding his/her
participation in the virtual world. The decisions of interest to
the host may be recorded in the presentation tracking database
154.
[0091] Depending on the nature of the reward, distribution of the
rewards to users may be handled in the virtual or in the real
world. Increasing the credit an avatar may draw on in a virtual
casino, for example, may likely be done entirely in the virtual
world, while awarding product samples may require mailing those
samples in the real world, just as rewarding frequent flier miles
would require updating the consumer's account stored in a computer
that is not necessarily part of the virtual world. The host may
establish appropriate ancillary systems of well-known types to
handle such tasks.
[0092] Server(s) 102, 104 may maintain several databases, including
customer database 150 and presentation tracking database 154
mentioned above, as well as advertising database 152. FIGS. 4A, 4B
and 4C show the database fields for users, advertisers and
transactions, respectively, as used in aspects of the invention. As
one of ordinary skill in the relevant arts would appreciate based
at least on the teachings provided herein, the database fields may
be constructed to facilitate the exchange and tracking of
information in accordance with the aspects of the invention. Other
database arrangements are contemplated.
[0093] The server(s) 102, 104 may track and record in the
appropriate database, 152, information relevant to billing an
advertiser, such as the total time 433 that advertisement 431 is
presented in the environment 432, the number of other users that
are visually exposed to the advertisement 434, the number of
non-participant viewers who are visually exposed to the
advertisement 436, or the total times of these exposures 438. This
information may be stored in presentation tracking database 154 by
the server. Off line programs (shown in FIG. 1 as billing system
170) may use this information to generate information for billing
the advertisers. Alternatively, the client software may track this
information, and transmit it periodically to the server. In another
alternative aspect, some or all of the information may be stored in
a smart card or other off-line storage medium, as described
elsewhere herein. In addition, such off-line storage devices may be
updated periodically and may not require a persistent
connection.
[0094] Consumer database 150 may include profiles of consumers
(401) who have participated or have expressed an intention to
participate in the particular virtual world. It may include user
registration information (402-405). The consumer database may
include information (406) necessary to allow a consumer to pick up
where s/he previously left the virtual world by storing information
about her/his avatar and its recent activities. The database may
also be used to assemble information about the consumer from any
kind of virtual or real world source to allow the advertisers to
better target their advertisements and reward offers 407.
Consistent with privacy obligations and commitments, the host may
keep track of various data relating to a consumer's participation
in the virtual world, such as the actions of the user's avatar, the
user's purchases, the amount of time the consumer spends in the
virtual world, the scores or other quantifications of
accomplishment achieved by the avatar in a game, as well as the
consumer's choices with respect to the advertisements offered to
him/her for present in the virtual world 408. The host may also use
these data to update the consumer's profile in the consumer
database 150.
[0095] The advertisement database 152 may include an ID (421) for
each advertisement available for selection by the consumer. The
advertisement may include text, symbols such as corporate logos,
graphic elements such as pictures of a product, video or animation
sequences, audio elements, or any other multimedia elements
designed or the like to enhance a particular brand, to create
consumer awareness of a particular product or the consumer's need
for it, to promote sales of a particular product, or to promote
awareness of a particular source of consumer goods. If the
advertisement is being served externally, an appropriate address or
pointer may be placed in the database. The advertisement may be as
simple as branding or as complex as a video/audio sequence in the
style of a television commercial. The advertisement database may
also may include information on how the advertisement will be
presented once a consumer selects it.
[0096] To derive revenue from the advertisements, the host of the
networked virtual environment may do one or more of the
following:
[0097] Charge the advertiser based upon exposure (measured or
anticipated) of the advertisement to the audience, as measured in
number of consumers in the environment, the number of
non-participants viewing the environment, the number of minutes the
avatar presents the advertisement in the environment, or some
combination of these.
[0098] Charge the advertiser a fixed or time-variable fee for its
advertisements to be included in the set of advertisements that the
consumer can choose from.
[0099] Charge the consumer a fee which is passed in part to the
sponsor as a licensing fee or royalty. Factors determining the fee
to the advertiser may also include the make-up of the pool of
participants in the virtual world, the hours of the day during
which the advertisement is displayed, the complexity of the
advertisement, the number of times a particular advertisement was
selected in a given period of time, the total time that the
advertisement is displayed, and the actual or anticipated number of
participant and/or users exposed to the advertisement.
[0100] The actual billing of the advertiser may be handled using a
billing support system 170 that uses information obtained from
databases 150, 152 and 154 to calculate the fee owed by the various
advertisers in accordance with the applicable factors as discussed
above.
[0101] There are a number of other benefits that may result from
consumer-chosen advertising in accordance with the present
invention. When selecting a particular advertisement, the consumer
not only confirms his/her own interest in a particular product or
his/her allegiance to a particular brand, but also may (i) become
an advertising subject, and (ii) become a vehicle for delivering
advertising to the other consumers participating in or viewing the
world. In an aspect of the invention, for these other consumers,
the advertisement presented by this avatar contains information
about the interests and beliefs of the consumer who is represented
by this avatar, or the role this consumer wants his/her avatar to
play. Thus, noticing the advertisements presented by the various
participants may further the consumers' intentions in participating
in the virtual world in the first place. For example, the
particular advertisement presented by a participant may become a
conversation opener in a chat-room, or a basis for choosing allies
in a multi-player game just to name a few.
[0102] In an alternative aspect of the invention, one of ordinary
skill in the art will be able to use the advertising method
depicted in FIG. 1 and described herein for presenting virtual
advertisements in the `real world.` The user may perform the
selection and placement process by using the client computer
programs (122, etc. in FIG. 1), which need not have continuous
connectivity to the computer network (110). When the user indicates
s/he is satisfied with the selection, the relevant information may
be transmitted to the server(s) 102, 104 and may be optionally
stored in consumer database 150 or presentation tracking database
154, or other devices as described elsewhere herein. At selected
times or places, the relevant advertisements may be dynamically
included in the presentation on the display(s) 132, 134, 136. Other
users who are nearby in the real world may thus exposed to this
advertisement. The user also may view ads placed by other users on
or in connection with their displays. Server(s) 102, 104 cause the
exposure of advertisements in this manner to be logged in databases
150, 154.
[0103] In another alternative aspect of the invention, one of
ordinary skill in the art may be able to use the advertising method
depicted in FIG. 1 and described herein to store the consumer
database 150 and/or presentation tracking database 154 on an
off-line storage medium such as a "smart card," or on storage media
not directly connected to server(s) 102, 104.
[0104] Other applications of the present invention may include the
following:
[0105] "Advertisements" promoting anything at all can be
constructed by user-participants for other user-participants to
use. All the compensation schemes discussed above may be applied,
with virtual-world money or possibly real-world money.
[0106] User-participants may organize sponsored events (perhaps
only open to avatars sporting the appropriate advertisement) in the
virtual world and receive compensation for this.
[0107] User-participants may construct novel advertisements (on
behalf of real-world advertisers) that are appropriate to the
networked virtual world. These may be submitted electronically to
the advertiser for approval. If approved, they would become
available for consumers to place on their avatars. Optionally, the
constructor of the approved advertisement may receive compensation
from the advertiser based on any of the above compensation
schemes.
[0108] User-participants can select advertisement(s) to be
presented on a web page (for example, a "banner ad") served by a
server for him/herself or other real-world people to see, with
compensation determined as above.
[0109] Users may select advertisement(s) to be placed on a
real-world object that is custom-built using techniques known in
the art for custom manufacturing, for example, an article of
clothing, a towel, a vehicle license plate, or a vehicle license
plate holder.
[0110] The avatar may operate in the real world rather than a
virtual world, for example as a robot or other means of
`telepresence.`
[0111] The display may be wearable and connected via wireless
connection to the client computer, and the wearer of the display
may select advertisement(s) to be presented for other real-world
people to see, with compensation determined as above.
[0112] The display may be transported by the consumer (for example,
on an automobile or shopping cart) and connected via wireless
connection to the client computer, and the transporter of the
display may select advertisement(s) to be displayed for him/herself
other real-world people to see, with compensation determined as
above.
[0113] The advertisements may be audio or video, and inserted into
streaming media (such as a telephone conversation, an audio stream
from a radio broadcaster or voice portal, an on-hold message, or a
video stream transmitted to or recorded by the user or the like) at
points in time or upon events selected by the user, for
presentation to him/herself or other real-world people.
[0114] Avatars may be configured, and advertisements may be
selected and/or constructed not by the users themselves but by
software agents or "bots" that are instructed or programmed by the
users.
[0115] The display and computer may both be wearable, with the
computer connected via wireless connection to the network, and the
wearer of the display may select an advertisement to be displayed
for other real-world people to see, with compensation determined as
above.
[0116] User-participants may select a group or category of
advertisement (such as ads about a specific product type, a
specific product, products relevant to a specific activity or
interest, or advertisements of a specific advertiser), after which
the system or host may select the specific ad from the selected
group or category.
[0117] User-participants may participate in a group selection
process to determine the advertisement(s) to be presented, e.g., in
a voting process.
[0118] User-participants may create a user profile indicating the
groups or categories of advertisements they wish to present. Then
the system or host may select the specific ad from the selected
group or category based on information stored in the user-created
profile.
[0119] User-participants can select modified or enhanced behaviors
to be presented in conjunction with the selected advertisement.
[0120] The present invention (i.e., the operations or components of
the invention, including those illustrated in the figures or any
part thereof) may be implemented using hardware, software or a
combination thereof and may be implemented in one or more computer
systems or other processing systems. In one aspect, the invention
may comprise one or more computer systems capable of carrying out
the functionality described herein. An example of a computer system
700 is shown in FIG. 7. The computer system 700 may include one or
more processors, such as processor 704. The processor 704 may be
connected to a communication infrastructure 706 (e.g., a
communications bus, cross over bar, or network). Various software
aspects are described in terms of this exemplary computer system.
After reading this description, it will become apparent to a person
skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implement the invention using
other computer systems and/or computer architectures.
[0121] Computer system 700 may include a display interface 702 that
may forward graphics, text, and other data from the communication
infrastructure 706 (or from a frame buffer not shown) for display
on the display unit 730.
[0122] Computer system 700 may also include a main memory 708,
preferably random access memory (RAM), and may also include a
secondary memory 710. The secondary memory 710 may include, for
example, a hard disk drive 712 and/or a removable storage drive
714, representing a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, an
optical disk drive, etc., but which is not limited thereto. The
removable storage drive 714 may read from and/or write to a
removable storage unit 718 in a well-known manner. Removable
storage unit 718, may represent a floppy disk, magnetic tape,
optical disk, etc. which may be read by and written to by removable
storage drive 714. As will be appreciated, the removable storage
unit 718 may include a computer usable storage medium having stored
therein computer software and/or data.
[0123] In alternative aspects, secondary memory 710 may include
other similar means for allowing computer programs or other
instructions to be loaded into computer system 700. Such means may
include, for example, a removable storage unit 722 and an interface
720. Examples of such may include, but are not limited to, a
program cartridge and cartridge interface (such as that found in
video game devices), a removable memory chip (such as an EPROM, or
PROM) and associated socket, USB based "thumb" drives, and/or other
removable storage units 722 and interfaces 720 that may allow
software and data to be transferred from the removable storage unit
722 to computer system 700.
[0124] Computer system 700 may also include a communications
interface 724. Communications interface 724 may allow software and
data to be transferred between computer system 700 and external
devices. Examples of communications interface 724 may include, but
are not limited to, a modem, a network interface (such as an
Ethernet card), a communications port, a PCMCIA slot and card, etc.
Software and data transferred via communications interface 724 may
be in the form of signals 728, which may be, for example,
electronic, electromagnetic, optical or other signals capable of
being received by communications interface 724. These signals 728
may be provided to communications interface 724 via a
communications path (i.e., channel) 726. This channel 726 may carry
signals 728 and may be implemented using wire or cable, fiber
optics, a phone line, a cellular phone link, an RF link and/or
other communications channels.
[0125] According to an exemplary aspect of the invention, the
participants may include a company with a product to promote ("the
company"), an advertising agency working on behalf of the company
("the agency"), at least one provider of an interactive medium
("the host"), and at least one user of an interactive medium ("the
user' or "users"). The agency may develop an advertising campaign
for the launch of a new product from the company. The campaign may
include a range of ads that may be used to decorate objects. At
least some of the ads in the campaign may include an interactive
corporate logo. The ads, including the company logo, may be
animated and/or may contain an audio component. As an alternate
aspect, the user may be able to create customized advertisements by
combining (or "mashing up") individual advertisement components
and/or elements. Examples of elements include a company logo, a
representation of the product, a representation of a company
spokesperson, and company trademarks.
[0126] A user may be asked to register with the advertising
campaign and to use at least one ad, either provided by the agency
and/or company or created by the user, in some version on the
user's avatar, space, property, user-controlled space, or similar
user-affiliated nvironment in the interactive medium, a portion of
the user's web page or blog, the user's instant messaging
application, or the like. Alternatively, the user may transmit the
animated and/or audible advertisement, including the company's
logo, in the user's email, video or audio blog (also known as a
"podcast"), or website. The company, agency, and/or host may find
it desirable to limit the size, type, and/or number of
advertisements a user displays (e.g. on the user's avatar) to avoid
over exposure that may generate negative sentiments among the
viewers of the advertisements. As a reward for registering with the
advertising campaign and downloading the advertisement, the user
may receive, for example, a free download of a digital music file
of the user's choosing. Other rewards, including those discussed
elsewhere in this application, are contemplated and are within the
scope of the invention.
[0127] The advertisement itself may be linked to a tracking system
that accumulates statistics on the registered user and records each
time, for example, the user places the advertisement in an email
message, the user displays the advertisement on a web page, or the
advertisement is clicked on, viewed, or otherwise interacted with
by another user (not the registered user) in the interactive
medium. Clicking on an ad, as an example of an interaction, may,
e.g., send a viewer to a web page about the company or to an area
of a virtual world dedicated to the company and the advertising
campaign. Tracking data may be made available to the agency, the
company, the host, and/or the registered user.
[0128] The user may receive additional rewards, as outlined above,
for reaching certain thresholds or quotas of interaction.
Continuing the above example, the user may receive an additional
free digital music download or similar reward at 20 interactions,
50 interactions, and every 100 interactions thereafter.
Alternatively, different types of interactions may be weighted
differently, as evidenced by a "point value" or other scheme, based
on the relative value placed on each type of interaction by the
company, agency, and/or host. For example, simply viewing an
advertisement on a web page may only be worth 1 point per view.
Each time a visitor to the web page clicks on the advertisement,
the registered user may be awarded 5 points. Each time the
advertisement is interacted with on the user's avatar in, for
example, a virtual world, the user may receive 30 points. Under
this aspect, the points may be redeemed for rewards based on a rate
determined by the agency, the company, and/or the host. For example
purposes only, each digital music download may "cost" 25 points.
Regardless of the reward scheme used, it may also be desirable to
provide an extra incentive and provide a substantial reward to the
top registered users at the end of the campaign. Under such an
aspect, a number, e.g. one thousand, of the registered users with
the most, e.g., interactions or overall points may receive a prize
of substantial value. This prize may be, by way of example only, a
top-of-the-line digital music player, a high-end mobile phone with
a year of free service or the like.
[0129] Additional examples of prizes include coupons, gift cards,
codes to gain access to restricted areas in a virtual world, and
information to unlock levels in a game. The "grand prize" awarded
to top performer(s) may, for example purposes only, be the
opportunity to appear in the company's commercials. Such
commercials may appear on traditional media, such as television and
print ads, or on interactive media, such as a virtual world, or
both.
[0130] By making tracking data available to the registered users,
the agency, company, and/or host may empower the users to create
and deploy more effective advertisements. In other words, the
registered users may be incentivized to display ads through the
reward system. By reviewing a user's tracking data, the user may be
able to determine which ads are more effective at generating
rewards for the user. The user may then create more ads, or adjust
the manner in which the ads are displayed, to maximize the user's
reward. These ads, presumably, are also more effective at conveying
the company's message and achieving the goals of the advertising
campaign. Moreover, by adjusting the rewards assigned to certain
categories of advertisements, the agency and/or company may, for
example, encourage users to create ads in those categories. The
agency and/or company may adjust point value, or other rewards,
based on, for example, tracking data about which types of
advertisements or which advertising channels are the most
effective. For example, virtual reality may be more effective than
web pages. Alternatively, the company and/or agency could weight
ads to emphasize more interactive ads, such as, for example, those
implemented in a virtual world, over more traditional "push" or
display ads.
[0131] If the rewards offered to registered users are complementary
goods to the product being advertised, then the company and/or
agency may also track to see which of the users purchase the
product. For example, a campaign for a new digital music player may
offer free digital music downloads, carrying cases, headphones, and
other related goods as rewards. The company and/or agency may wish
to collect information related to which of the registered users
bought the advertised digital music player. The company and/or
agency may also wish to collect related information, such as, e.g.,
whether the user already owned a digital music player, and whether
that player was made by the company or one of its competitors, in
an effort to determine how many registered users were induced by
the rewards to purchase the product and how many users registered
with the advertising campaign because they already owned a related
device.
[0132] Additionally, the invention contemplated herein may also
include optimizing any one or more of the above-described processes
including optimizing the selecting of an advertisement, optimizing
the selecting of a location, optimizing the creating of a selected
advertisement, optimizing the providing of a reward and so on. This
optimization may be executed in an automated manner. Moreover, the
automated manner may be a process performed by one of statistical
processing, artificial intelligence, predictive analytical
techniques or the like.
[0133] In this document, the terms machine or computer readable
storage medium and machine or computer usable medium are used to
generally refer to media such as, but not limited to, removable
storage drive 714, a hard disk installed in hard disk drive 712,
and signals 728. These computer program media are means for
providing software to computer system 700.
[0134] Computer programs (also called, among other things, computer
control logic) may be stored in main memory 708 and/or secondary
memory 710. Computer programs may also be received via
communications interface 724. Such computer programs, when
executed, enable the computer system 700 to perform the features of
the invention as discussed herein. In particular, the computer
programs, when executed, may enable the processor 704 to perform
the invention in accordance with the above-described aspects.
Accordingly, such computer programs represent controllers of the
computer system 700.
[0135] In an aspect where the invention is implemented using
software, the software may be stored in a computer program product
and loaded into computer system 700 using, for example, removable
storage drive 714, hard drive 712 or communications interface 724.
The control logic (software), when executed by the processor 704,
causes the processor 704 to perform the functions of the invention
as described herein.
[0136] In another aspect, the invention may be implemented
primarily in hardware using, for example, hardware components such
as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Implementation
of the hardware state machine so as to perform the functions
described herein will be apparent to persons skilled in the
relevant art(s). As discussed above, the invention is implemented
using any combination of hardware, firmware and software.
[0137] While various aspects of the invention have been described
above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way
of example, and not limitation. It will be apparent to persons
skilled in the relevant art that various changes in form and detail
may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of
the invention, This is especially true in light of technology and
terms within the relevant art(s) that may be later developed. Thus
the invention should not be limited by any of the above-described
exemplary aspects, but should be defined only in accordance with
the following claims and their equivalents.
* * * * *