Systems and methods for inserting contextual advertisements into a virtual environment

1. A method comprising:

determining a respective surface of a number of surfaces displayed in a virtual environment for placement of a selected advertisement;

determining a currently-displayed viewing angle relative to a fixed reference position in the virtual environment;

determining an orientation of a virtual object relative to the fixed reference position;

calculating a currently-displayed angle of a surface of the virtual object;

calculating an image transformation matrix that matches the currently-displayed angle of the surface of the virtual object;

transforming an image of the selected advertisement using the image transformation matrix; and

displaying the virtual object with the transformed image of the selected advertisement overlaid over the surface of the virtual object at the currently-displayed angle of the surface of the virtual object.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the respective surface comprises:

determining, by a processor, whether each respective surface of the number of surfaces displayed in the virtual environment is suitable for placement of the selected advertisement; and

selecting the respective surface for placement of the selected advertisement.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the determining whether each respective surface is suitable for placement of the selected advertisement comprises:

analyzing a size, lighting and curvature of the respective surface, as viewed from a perspective of a user from which a user input was received.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

monitoring a user's speech for keywords; and

detecting a keyword from the user's speech, wherein the selecting the advertisement is based on the detected keyword.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the selecting the advertisement based on the keyword further comprises:

identifying a category of advertisement related to a user input;

determining a particular respective advertisement based on a user profile and the identified category; and

selecting the particular respective advertisement.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the orientation of the virtual object relative to the fixed reference position comprises:

using content processing circuitry to track a single point, surface edge, or vertex of the virtual object as a reference point from which to display the virtual object; and

comparing the virtual object reference point with the fixed reference position.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the orientation of the virtual object relative to the fixed reference position comprises:

identifying a plurality of virtual objects currently being displayed in the virtual environment; and

retrieving metadata of a first virtual object of the plurality of virtual objects.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the currently-displayed angle of the surface of the virtual object comprises:

using content processing circuitry to identify the fixed reference position;

analyzing a point in the virtual environment that is identified by a set of coordinates describing a number of degrees from the fixed reference position in a horizontal plane and a number of degrees above or below the fixed reference position in a vertical plane; and

calculating an angle between the point and the fixed reference position.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining whether the virtual object currently displayed in the virtual environment is suitable for displaying the selected advertisement by:

identifying a plurality of virtual objects currently being displayed in the virtual environment;

identifying a respective type of each of the plurality of virtual objects; and

determining whether any virtual object of the plurality of virtual objects is of a type that is suitable for displaying the selected advertisement.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the virtual environment is an augmented reality environment.

11. A system comprising:

a memory; and

a control circuitry configured to:

determine a respective surface of a number of surfaces displayed in a virtual environment for placement of a selected advertisement;

determine a currently-displayed viewing angle relative to a fixed reference position in the virtual environment;

determine an orientation of a virtual object relative to the fixed reference position;

calculate a currently-displayed angle of a surface of the virtual object;

calculate an image transformation matrix that matches the currently-displayed angle of the surface of the virtual object;

transform an image of the selected advertisement using the image transformation matrix, wherein the transformed image is stored in the memory; and

display the virtual object with the transformed image of the selected advertisement overlaid over the surface of the virtual object at the currently-displayed angle of the surface of the virtual object.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is configured to determine the respective surface by:

determining, by a processor, whether each respective surface of the number of surfaces displayed in the virtual environment is suitable for placement of the selected advertisement; and

selecting the respective surface for placement of the selected advertisement.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the control circuitry is configured to determine whether each respective surface is suitable for placement of the selected advertisement by:

analyzing a size, lighting and curvature of the respective surface, as viewed from a perspective of a user from which a user input was received.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

monitor a user's speech for keywords; and

detect a keyword from the user's speech, wherein the selecting the advertisement is based on the detected keyword.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to select the advertisement based on the keyword by:

identifying a category of advertisement related to a user input;

determining a particular respective advertisement based on a user profile and the identified category; and

selecting the particular respective advertisement.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is configured to determine the orientation of the virtual object relative to the fixed reference position by:

using content processing circuitry to track a single point, surface edge, or vertex of the virtual object as a reference point from which to display the virtual object; and

comparing the virtual object reference point with the fixed reference position.

17. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is configured to determine the orientation of the virtual object relative to the fixed reference position by:

identifying a plurality of virtual objects currently being displayed in the virtual environment; and

retrieving metadata of a first virtual object of the plurality of virtual objects.

18. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is configured to calculate the currently-displayed angle of the surface of the virtual object by:

using content processing circuitry to identify the fixed reference position;

analyzing a point in the virtual environment that is identified by a set of coordinates describing a number of degrees from the fixed reference position in a horizontal plane and a number of degrees above or below the fixed reference position in a vertical plane; and

calculating an angle between the point and the fixed reference position.

19. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

determine whether the virtual object currently displayed in the virtual environment is suitable for displaying the selected advertisement by:

identifying a plurality of virtual objects currently being displayed in the virtual environment;

identifying a respective type of each of the plurality of virtual objects; and

determining whether any virtual object of the plurality of virtual objects is of a type that is suitable for displaying the selected advertisement.

20. The system of claim 11 , wherein the virtual environment is an augmented reality environment.