System and method for creating an avatar

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10022631-B2
Application number	US-47672409-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 2, 2009
Priority date	Jun 2, 2008
Publication date	Jul 17, 2018
Grant date	Jul 17, 2018

Abstract

An avatar or avatar environment to visualize data may be provided within a social networking system or service, for example as part of the Internet, and/or within a desktop widget, panel, gadget, or the like. The avatar may further evolve or alter its appearance, animation, or other visual or audio characteristics in response to the data or other input such as athletic activity performed by a corresponding user. In particular, the avatar of an embodiment may respond to and provide visualization of athletic or sport performance data.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method for creating an avatar representing a level of athletic activity of a user, the method comprising:
receiving, at a computing device, user specifications for creating the avatar representing an amount of athletic activity performed by the user;
determining, by the computing device, a set of one or more selectable avatar customization options based on the amount of athletic activity performed by the user;
providing the set of one or more avatar customization options to the user;
determining, by the computing device, a frequency of a type of athletic activity previously performed by the user;
generating a user interface displaying the avatar and other avatars in a distance traversed competition, where each avatar represents a user competing in the distance traversed competition, the user interface including a first portion displaying all avatars in the distance traversed competition and representing an entirety of a distance associated with the distance traversed competition, where a horizontal position of each displayed avatar represents the distance covered by the user represented by the avatar during the distance traversed competition, and a second portion displaying a portion of the distance associated with the distance traversed competition, the portion of the distance being less than the entirety of the distance associated with the distance traversed competition and the portion of the distance being dynamically determined based on a number of avatars matching a predetermined number of avatars for display in the second portion, the second portion displaying fewer than all of the avatars in the distance traversed competition; and
based on the determined frequency of the type of athletic activity previously performed by the user:
selecting a type of activity for the avatar to perform, wherein different frequencies of the type of athletic activity previously performed by the user correspond to different respective types of activity for the avatar to perform and wherein the selected type of activity is different from the type of athletic activity previously performed by the user; and
animating the avatar to perform the selected type of activity and display the avatar in the second portion.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more avatar customization options include apparel worn by the avatar.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the apparel includes footwear.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the apparel includes shirts.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more avatar customization options includes a physical characteristic of the avatar.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the physical characteristic includes a facial expression.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a user selection of an avatar characteristic from the set of one or more avatar customization options; and
generating the avatar based on the user specifications and the user selection.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
determining a facial expression of the avatar based on the amount of athletic activity performed by the user; and
applying the facial expression to the avatar.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
determining an interface background based on the amount of athletic activity performed by the user; and
displaying the avatar against the interface background.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user specifications include an animated facial expression of the avatar.

11. An apparatus comprising:
a processor; and
memory storing computer readable instructions that, when executed, cause the apparatus to:
receive user specifications for creating an avatar representing an amount of athletic activity performed by a first user;
determine a set of one or more selectable avatar customization options based on the amount of athletic activity performed by the first user;
provide the set of one or more avatar customization options to the first user;
determine a frequency of a type of athletic activity previously performed by the first user;
generate a user interface displaying the avatar and other avatars in a distance traversed competition, where each avatar represents a user competing in the distance traversed competition, the user interface including a first portion displaying all avatars in the distance traversed competition and representing an entirety of a distance associated with the distance traversed competition, where a horizontal position of each displayed avatar represents the distance covered by the user represented by the avatar during the distance traversed competition, and a second portion displaying a portion of the distance associated with the distance traversed competition, the portion of the distance being less than the entirety of the distance associated with the distance traversed competition and the portion of the distance being dynamically determined based on a number of avatars matching a predetermined number of avatars for display in the second portion, the second portion displaying fewer than all of the avatars in the distance traversed competition; and
based on the determined frequency of the type of athletic activity previously performed by the first user:
select a type of activity for the avatar to perform, wherein different frequencies of the type of athletic activity previously performed by the first user correspond to different respective types of activity for the avatar to perform and wherein the selected type of activity is different from the type of athletic activity previously performed by the first user; and
animate the avatar to perform the selected type of activity and display the avatar in the second portion.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the one or more avatar customization options include apparel worn by the avatar.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the apparel includes footwear.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the apparel includes shirts.

15. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the one or more avatar customization options includes a physical characteristic of the avatar.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the physical characteristic includes a facial characteristic.

17. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the computer readable instructions, when executed, further cause the apparatus to:
receive a user selection of an avatar characteristic from the set of one or more avatar customization options; and
generate the avatar based on the user specifications and the user selection.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the computer readable instructions, when executed, further cause the apparatus to:
determine a facial expression of the avatar based on the amount of athletic activity performed by the user; and
apply the facial expression to the avatar.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 , further comprising:
determine an interface background based on the amount of athletic activity performed by the first user; and
display the avatar against the interface background.

20. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the user specifications include an animated facial expression of the avatar.

21. The apparatus of claim 11 , further including:
receiving user input from the first user associated with the avatar, the user input including a comment associated with the avatar; and
determining whether a second user has an avatar in the second portion;
responsive to determining that the second user has an avatar in the second portion, displaying the received com

Assignees

• Nims Jason
• Tagliabue Roberto
• Quatrochi Danielle
• Nike Inc

Inventors

• Nims Jason
• Tagliabue Roberto
• Quatrochi Danielle

Classifications

• A63F13/816

  Athletics, e.g. track-and-field sports · CPC title

• A63F13/58

  by computing conditions of game characters, e.g. stamina, strength, motivation or energy level · CPC title

• A63F13/55

  Controlling game characters or game objects based on the game progress · CPC title

• A63F2300/69

  Involving elements of the real world in the game world, e.g. measurement in live races, real video · CPC title

• A63F13/53

  involving additional visual information provided to the game scene, e.g. by overlay to simulate a head-up display [HUD] or displaying a laser sight in a shooting game · CPC title