On-line interaction system

Abstract

An avatar display system monitors the activities or status of different members on a network site. Avatars representing the different members are displayed in conjunction with an on-line application according to the different identified member activities or status. Different avatar display techniques and filtering schemes are used to both promote and improve interactions between different members of the on-line application or website.

1 . A method, comprising: 
 monitoring the activities or status of different members on a network site;    identifying avatars representing the different members that may include any combination of image, video, or sounds; and    displaying the avatars on a display page according to the different activities or status of the members on the network site.    
   
   
       2 . The method according to  claim 1  including scrolling the avatars across, down, or around the display as a human ticker.  
   
   
       3 . The method according to  claim 1  including fading images or sounds in and out of the avatars.  
   
   
       4 . The method according to  claim 1  including: 
 displaying a first image in one of the avatars representing one of the members; and    fading the first image out of the avatar while fading in a second image in to the avatar representing a second member.    
   
   
       5 . The method according to  claim 1  including playing out audio clips associated with the members while displaying still or moving images in the avatars associated with the same members.  
   
   
       6 . The method according to  claim 1  including displaying different avatar colors, highlighting, or shapes according to the member status or activities.  
   
   
       7 . The method according to  claim 1  including: 
 identifying membership levels assigned to the members according to types of interactions performed by the members on the network site; and    varying how the avatars are displayed for the members according to their assigned member ship levels.    
   
   
       8 . The method according to  claim 1  including displaying only the avatars for members that are currently logged onto the network site.  
   
   
       9 . The method according to  claim 1  including displaying the avatars for new members or new users of the network site differently than the avatars for other members.  
   
   
       10 . The method according to  claim 1  displaying the avatars for members that have paid an associated avatar fee differently than the avatars for other members.  
   
   
       11 . An apparatus, comprising: 
 a computing device displaying images across one or more display pages of an on-line application representing different users of the on-line application, the computing device varying how the images are displayed for the different users according to activities performed by the users on the on-line application or according to profile information associated with the different users.    
   
   
       12 . The apparatus according to  claim 11  wherein the computing device varies the color or shape of the displayed images according to a number of pictures uploaded by the users to the on-line application.  
   
   
       13 . The apparatus according to  claim 11  wherein the computing device varies the color or shape of the displayed images according how long the users have been logged into the on-line application.  
   
   
       14 . The apparatus according to  claim 11  wherein the computing device varies the color or shape of the displayed images according to a number of blog postings by the users on the on-line application.  
   
   
       15 . The apparatus according to  claim 10  wherein the computing device: 
 searches log files to determine what areas of the on-line application are currently being browsed by the users; and    displays the images of users that are currently browsing the same areas of the on-line application.    
   
   
       16 . The apparatus according to  claim 10  wherein the computing device: 
 determines what activities are currently being performed on the on-line application by the users; and    displays the images of other users that are currently performing the same activities.    
   
   
       17 . An apparatus, comprising: 
 one or more processors; and    a memory coupled to the one or more processors comprising instructions executable by the processors, the processors operable when executing the instructions to:    identify avatars representing users for a network site, the avatars including any combination of images and/or sounds;    display the identified avatars;    monitor activities, profiles, or contacts for the users of the network site;    identify users having related activities, profiles, and/or contacts; and    displaying the avatars for the identified users differently than the avatars for other users.    
   
   
       18 . The apparatus according to  claim 17  wherein the one or more processors scroll the avatars across or around a webpage as a human ticker.  
   
   
       19 . The apparatus according to  claim 17  wherein the one or more processors: 
 identify geographic location information for the users; and    display the avatars for the users having related geographic location information differently than the avatars for other users.    
   
   
       20 . The apparatus according to  claim 17  wherein the one or more processors: 
 identify sex, age, or personal interest information for the users; and    display the avatars for the users having related sex, age, or personal interest information differently than the avatars for other users.    
   
   
       21 . The apparatus according to  claim 17  wherein the one or more processors: 
 identify avatar preferences in the user profiles; and    display the avatars for users associated with the avatar preferences and filter the remaining avatars for other users.    
   
   
       22 . The apparatus according to  claim 17  wherein the one or more processors: 
 search user contact lists to identify known users; and    only display the avatars for the identified known users or display the avatars for the identified known users differently than the avatars displayed for other users.    
   
   
       23 . A computer, comprising: 
 one or more processors to identify members of an associated on-line application or communication group and display images representing the identified members of the associated on-line application or communication group, the one or more processors monitoring activities or status of the identified members with the on-line application or communication group and varying how their images are displayed according to the monitored activities or status.    
   
   
       24 . The computer according to  claim 23  wherein the one or more processors only display the images of the members that are currently logged into the on-line application or communication group.  
   
   
       25 . The computer according to  claim 23  wherein the one or more processors scroll the images of the identified members across or around an electronic mail (email) page.  
   
   
       26 . The computer according to  claim 23  wherein the one or more processors: 
 detect selection of any of the displayed images; and    automatically open a new email containing an email address of the member associated with the selected image.    
   
   
       27 . The computer according to  claim 23  wherein the one or more processors: 
 identify how many unread email messages are associated with the members; and    display the images for the members having the most unread email messages or display the identified number of unread email messages next to the displayed images of the associated members.    
   
   
       28 . The computer according to  claim 23  wherein the one or more processors: 
 identify how long email messages associated with the members have gone unread; and    display the images for the members having the oldest unread email messages or display unread email message times next to the displayed images of the associated members.    
   
   
       29 . The computer according to  claim 23  wherein the one or more processors: 
 identify in office and out of office status for the members; and    either display images or vary a color or other features of the displayed images according to the in office or out of office status of the associated members.    
   
   
       30 . The computer according to  claim 29  wherein the one or more processors gray or dim out displayed images for members that are identified with out of office status or not currently logged into the on-line application or communication group.  
   
   
       31 . The computer according to  claim 23  wherein the one or more processors: 
 identify the contacts for the members; and    display the images or modify the displayed images for the members associated with the identified contacts.    
   
   
       32 . The computer according to  claim 23  wherein the one or more processors detect members that have purchased a particular status level with the on-line application or communication group and vary how the images for the detected members are displayed according to the purchased status level.  
   
   
       33 . A method comprising: 
 identifying avatars for members of a website or on-line application;    searching contact information for the members;    identifying the members having at least some common contact information; and    only displaying the avatars for the identified members or varying how the avatars are displayed for the identified members.    
   
   
       34 . The method according to  claim 33  including displaying a contact tree along with the avatars showing a relationship between the common contact information of different members.  
   
   
       35 . The method according to clam  33  including: 
 searching through the contact information to identify a first list of known members;    searching through the contacts for the first list of members to identify a second list of members; and    displaying avatars for at least some of the first and second list of members.    
   
   
       36 . The method according to  35  including displaying a contact tree identifying a relationship between the members in the first and second list.  
   
   
       37 . The method according to  claim 33  including: 
 detecting selection by a first member of the avatar associated with a second member;    identifying any relationships between the members known by the first member and the members known by the second member; and    displaying the identified relationships to the first member.    
   
   
       38 . The method according to  claim 33  including: 
 detecting a first member selecting or hovering a cursor over the avatar of a second member; and    notifying the second member that the first member selected or hovered the cursor over the image of the second member.    
   
   
       39 . A computer readable medium including instructions that when executed comprise: 
 identifying filter parameters from a user profile;    calculating avatar filters according to the identified filter parameters;    filtering avatars received from others or filtering avatars sent to others according to the calculated avatar filters.    
   
   
       40 . The computer readable medium according to  claim 39  further comprising: 
 identifying outgoing filter parameters;    deriving outgoing avatar filters according to the identified outgoing filter parameters; and    filtering the avatars sent to others according to the derived outgoing filters.    
   
   
       41 . The computer readable medium according to  claim 39  further comprising: 
 identifying incoming filter parameters;    deriving incoming filters according to the identified incoming filter parameters; and    filtering avatars received by the user according to the derived incoming filters.    
   
   
       42 . The computer readable medium according to  claim 39  further comprising: 
 identifying a user activity or status; and    filtering the avatars sent to others or filtering the avatars received from others according to the identified user activity or status.    
   
   
       43 . The computer readable medium according to  claim 39  further comprising: 
 identifying a paid for filtering status; and    filtering different types of avatars according to the paid for filtering status.    
   
   
       44 . The computer readable medium according to  claim 39  further comprising: 
 identifying a user activity or status that match an activity or status of others; and    displaying avatars to the others associated with the matching activities or status.