Web based video enhancement apparatus, method, and article of manufacture

1. A computer implemented method of controlling an event in a virtual environment, comprising:

receiving video data comprising a first image of a subject;

causing a virtual environment and a second image of the subject that is based on the first image of the subject to be displayed in a client application;

determining if the second image of the subject has interacted with a feature in the virtual environment; and

controlling an event in the virtual environment based on the determination.

2. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein determining if the second image of the subject has interacted with a feature in the virtual environment includes a web browser extension module executing a video enhancement routine.

3. A method as recited in claim 2 , wherein the video enhancement routine, the web browser extension module, or both, is located on a server.

4. A method as recited in claim 1 , further including causing one or more images representative of interacting with an object to be displayed.

5. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the subject is a person and determining if the second image of the subject has interacted with a feature in the virtual environment includes identifying and tracking a head of the person in the first image of the subject using the video data.

6. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein determining if the second image of the subject has interacted with a feature in the virtual environment includes determining when at least two tracked features displayed in the client application collide.

7. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein:

the second image of the subject is substantially identical to the first image of the subject; or

the second image of the subject is a cartoon rendering of the first image of the subject.

8. A method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising modifying the first image of the subject to create the second image of the subject.

9. A method as recited in claim 8 , wherein modifying the first image of the subject includes superimposing an animated feature over at least a portion of the first image of the subject.

10. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the subject is a first user, the method further comprising:

receiving data representative of an image of a second user interacting with a feature in the virtual environment; and

causing the image of the second user interacting with the feature in the virtual environment to be displayed in the client application.

11. A method as recited in claim 10 , wherein the data representative of an image of the second user interacting with a feature in the virtual environment includes video data comprising one or more real-time video images of the second user, video data comprising one or more real-time video images of a portion of the second user, or video data comprising one or more cartoon renderings of the second user.

12. A method as recited in claim 10 , wherein the data representative of an image of the second user interacting with a feature in the virtual environment is received from a computing device associated with the second user directly over a wide area network, or from a server not directly linked to the computing device associated with the second user.

13. A method as recited in claim 10 , further comprising sending data representative of an image of the first user interacting with a feature in the virtual environment to a computing device associated with the second user.

14. A computer implemented method comprising:

receiving video data comprising an image of a subject;

determining that the image of the subject has interacted with a feature in a virtual environment;

controlling an event in the virtual environment based on the determination; and

sending data representative of the controlled event in the virtual environment to a client application.

15. A method as recited in claim 14 , wherein the subject is a first user and the client application is a first client application associated with the first user, the method further comprising sending data representative of the controlled event in the virtual environment to a second client application associated with a second user.

16. A method as recited in claim 15 , wherein the feature is a first feature and the event is a first event, the method further comprising:

receiving video data comprising an image of the second user;

determining that the image of the second user has interacted with a second feature in the virtual environment;

controlling a second event in the virtual environment based on the determination that the image of the second user has interacted with a second feature in the virtual environment; and

sending data representative of the second controlled event in the virtual environment to the first and second client applications.

17. A method as recited in claim 16 , further comprising sending the video data comprising the image of the first user to the second client application and sending the video data comprising the image of the second user to the first client application.

18. A system for controlling an event in a virtual environment, comprising:

means for receiving video data comprising a first image of a subject;

means for causing display of a virtual environment and a second image of the subject that is based on the first image of the subject;

means for determining if the second image of the subject has interacted with a feature in the virtual environment; and

means for controlling an event in the virtual environment based on the determination.