Systems and methods for enhanced virtual reality interactions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025232542-A1
Application number	US-202519016985-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 10, 2025
Priority date	Jan 17, 2024
Publication date	Jul 17, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

A virtual reality (VR) computer system is provided. The computer system may be configured or programmed to: (1) communicate with the one or more user devices to cause the one or more user devices to present the virtual environment, the virtual environment including at least one virtual lockbox associated with a first user, the at least one virtual lockbox displayed within the virtual environment; (2) store one or more electronic documents in at least one memory in association with the at least one virtual lockbox; (3) identify one or more authorized users of the plurality of users having been granted authorized access to the one or more electronic documents stored in association with the at least one virtual lockbox; and/or (4) provide access to the one or more electronic documents in response to the identified one or more authorized users interacting with the virtual lockbox.

First claim

We claim:

1 . A virtual reality (VR) computer system for interaction with a plurality of users in a virtual environment, the VR computer system comprising at least one memory and at least one processor in communication with the at least one memory and one or more user devices, the at least one processor configured to:
communicate with the one or more user devices to cause the one or more user devices to present the virtual environment, the virtual environment including at least one virtual lockbox associated with a first user of the plurality of users, the at least one virtual lockbox displayed within the virtual environment as an actual lockbox; store one or more electronic documents in the at least one memory in association with the at least one virtual lockbox; identify one or more authorized users of the plurality of users having been granted authorized access to the one or more electronic documents stored in association with the at least one virtual lockbox; and provide access to the one or more electronic documents in response to the identified one or more authorized users interacting with the virtual lockbox in the virtual environment.

2 . The VR computer system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
receive, from a mobile device associated with the first user and configured to execute a mobile application, an instruction to store the one or more electronic documents in association with the at least one virtual lockbox; and store the one or more electronic documents in association with the at least one virtual lockbox in response to receiving the instruction.

3 . The VR computer system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
receive, from a first user device of the first user, user input data indicating an intention to store the one or more electronic documents in association with the at least one virtual lockbox; and store the one or more electronic documents in association with the at least one virtual lockbox in response to receiving the user input data.

4 . The VR computer system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
receive, from a mobile device associated with the first user and configured to execute a mobile application, an instruction to designate the one or more authorized users as authorized to access the one or more documents stored in association with the at least one virtual lockbox; and store within the at least one memory user data identifying the one or more authorized users based on the received instruction.

5 . The VR computer system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more electronic documents are displayed within the virtual environment as actual documents positioned or stored within the actual lockbox, and wherein the one or more electronic documents include one or more of an insurance policy document, an insurance card, or a document relating to an insurance claim.

6 . The VR computer system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more authorized users include one or more of an insurance policyholder associated with the one or more electronic documents, an insurance agent associated with the one or more electronic documents, or an individual associated with an insurance claim relating to the one or more electronic documents.

7 . The VR computer system of claim 1 , wherein the virtual environment includes at least one avatar associated with at least one of the plurality of users.

8 . The VR computer system of claim 7 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to control a position and an orientation of the at least one avatar within the virtual environment based upon user input data received from a corresponding one of the one or more user devices.

9 . A computer-implemented method for interaction with a plurality of users in a virtual environment, the computer-implemented method performed by a computer system including at least one memory and at least one processor in communication with the at least one memory and one or more user devices, the computer-implemented method comprising:
communicating with the one or more user devices to cause the one or more user devices to present the virtual environment, the virtual environment including at least one virtual lockbox associated with a first user of the plurality of users, the at least one virtual lockbox displayed within the virtual environment as an actual lockbox; storing one or more electronic documents in the at least one memory in association with the at least one virtual lockbox; identifying one or more authorized users of the plurality of users having been granted authorized access to the one or more electronic documents stored in association with the at least one virtual lockbox; and providing access to the one or more electronic documents in response to the identified one or more authorized users interacting with the virtual lockbox in the virtual environment.

10 . The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , further comprising:
receiving, from a mobile device associated with the first user and configured to execute a mobile application, an instruction to store the one or more electronic documents in association with the at least one virtual lockbox; and storing the one or more electronic documents in association with the at least one virtual lockbox in response to receiving the instruction.

11 . The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , further comprising:
receiving, from a first user device of the first user, user input data indicating an intention to store the one or more electronic documents in association with the at least one virtual lockbox; and storing the one or more electronic documents in association with the at least one virtual lockbox in response to receiving the user input data.

12 . The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , further comprising:
receiving, from a mobile device associated with the first user and configured to execute a mobile application, an instruction to designate the one or more authorized users as authorized to access the one or more documents stored in association with the at least one virtual lockbox; and storing within the at least one memory user data identifying the one or more authorized users based on the received instruction.

13 . The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the one or more electronic documents are displayed within the virtual environment as actual documents positioned or stored within the actual lockbox, and wherein the one or more electronic documents include one or more of an insurance policy document, an insurance card, or a document relating to an insurance claim.

14 . The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the one or more authorized users include one or more of an insurance policyholder associated with the one or more electronic documents, an insurance agent associated with the one or more electronic documents, or an individual associated with an insurance claim relating to the one or more electronic documents.

15 . The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the virtual environment includes at least one avatar associated with at least one of the plurality of users.

16 . The computer-implemented method of claim 15 , further comprising controlling a position and an orientation of the at least one avatar within the virtual environment based upon user input data received from a corresponding one of the one or more user devices.

17 . At least one non-transitory computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereo

Assignees

• State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co

Inventors

• Thoele Jody A
• Fields Brian
• Vivek Veena
• Cunanan Antonio
• Mahdi Fizza

Classifications

• G06F3/017

  Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures (interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883) · CPC title

• G06Q30/0644

  by graphically simulating physical shopping environments, e.g. virtual malls · CPC title

• G06Q30/015

  Providing customer assistance, e.g. assisting a customer within a business location or via helpdesk · CPC title

• G10L15/22

  Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue · CPC title

• G06F3/011

  Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality (blind teaching G09B21/00) · CPC title