IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,399,677
Granted Patent B2
US 12,399,677 · App. 18/805,196 · Granted Aug 26, 2025

Dynamically adjusting a personal boundary of an avatar in an XR environment

Inventors: Gyanveer Singh (Bangalore, IN); Dhananjay Lal (Englewood, CO); Reda Harb (Tampa, FL); Kyle Beckemeyer (Park Ridge, IL)
Assignee: Adeia Guides Inc.
G06F3/165G06F18/00G06F40/166G06T13/40G06T19/00G10L15/18G10L25/63G06T2219/024
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,399,677
App. No.
18/805,196
Granted
Aug 26, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for dynamically adjusting a personal boundary of an avatar in an XR environment. The system identifies a first avatar in an extended reality (XR) environment based on rule data stored in a storage. In response to the system detecting that the first avatar has entered a portion of the XR environment at a communicable distance from a second avatar, the system does the following steps. The system determines an offensiveness rating of the first avatar. The system retrieves, from the storage, an offensiveness tolerance of the second avatar. The system compares the offensiveness rating of the first avatar and offensiveness tolerance of the second avatar. In response to determining, based on the comparing, that the offensiveness rating of the first avatar exceeds the offensiveness tolerance of the second avatar, the system automatically censors one or more messages from the first avatar to the second avatar.

Claims (59)

1. A method comprising:

marking, using control circuitry, a particular avatar as a bad actor avatar in a user profile associated with a user avatar;

at a first time:

based on determining that the bad actor avatar is located within a first proximity zone in relation to the user avatar, applying a first level of censorship to one or more messages from the bad actor avatar to the user avatar; and

at a second time:

based on determining that the bad actor avatar is located within a second proximity zone in relation to the user avatar, applying a second level of censorship to the one or more messages from the bad actor avatar to the user avatar.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the applying the first level of censorship to the one or more messages from the bad actor avatar to the user avatar comprises silencing or replacing a portion of the one or more messages; and

the applying the second level of censorship to the one or more messages from the bad actor avatar to the user profile comprises silencing or replacing all messages from the bad actor avatar.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the silenced or replaced portion of the one or more messages comprises at least one of:

swear words;

derogatory terms;

abusive language;

aggressive language; or

terms associated with the user profile.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second proximity zone corresponds to a circular area around the user avatar and the first proximity zone corresponds to an area outside of the circular area.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein a diameter of the circular area is based on a user preference associated with the user profile.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the applying the second level of censorship to the one or more messages from the bad actor avatar to the user avatar comprises generating an option to move the bad actor avatar outside of a personal boundary of the user avatar.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the applying the second level of censorship to the one or more messages comprises generating an option to disappear the bad actor avatar such that the bad actor avatar is no longer visible to the user avatar.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the applying the first level of censorship to the one or more messages from the bad actor avatar to the user avatar comprises silencing all messages from the bad actor avatar while indicating that the bad actor avatar is speaking; and

the applying the second level of censorship to the one or more messages from the bad actor avatar to the user avatar comprises silencing all messages from the bad actor avatar without indicating that the bad actor avatar is speaking.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the marking the particular avatar as the bad actor avatar comprises:

identifying a user ID of the particular avatar; and

determining that the user ID of the particular avatar matches one of a plurality of bad actor user IDs associated with the user profile.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

adjusting the first level of censorship based on active analysis of activity within the first proximity zone; and

adjusting the second level of censorship based on active analysis of activity within the second proximity zone.

11. A system comprising:

input/output circuitry configured to:

receive a user interface input identifying a particular avatar as a bad actor avatar;

control circuitry configured to:

mark the particular avatar as the bad actor avatar in a user profile associated with a user avatar;

at a first time:

based on determining that the bad actor avatar is located within a first proximity zone in relation to the user avatar, apply a first level of censorship to one or more messages from the bad actor avatar to the user avatar; and

at a second time:

based on determining that the bad actor avatar is located within a second proximity zone in relation to the user avatar, apply a second level of censorship to the one or more messages from the bad actor avatar to the user avatar.

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

apply the first level of censorship to the one or more messages from the bad actor avatar to the user avatar by silencing or replacing a portion of the one or more messages; and

apply the second level of censorship to the one or more messages from the bad actor avatar to the user profile by silencing or replacing all messages from the bad actor avatar.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the silenced or replaced portion of the one or more messages comprises at least one of:

swear words;

derogatory terms;

abusive language;

aggressive language; or

terms associated with the user profile.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the second proximity zone corresponds to a circular area around the user avatar and the first proximity zone corresponds to an area outside of the circular area.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein a diameter of the circular area is based on a user preference associated with the user profile.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is configured to apply the second level of censorship to the one or more messages from the bad actor avatar to the user avatar by generating an option to move the bad actor avatar outside of a personal boundary of the user avatar.

17. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is configured to apply the second level of censorship to the one or more messages by generating an option to disappear the bad actor avatar such that the bad actor avatar is no longer visible to the user avatar.

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

apply the first level of censorship to the one or more messages from the bad actor avatar to the user avatar by silencing all messages from the bad actor avatar while indicating that the bad actor avatar is speaking; and

apply the second level of censorship to the one or more messages from the bad actor avatar to the user avatar by silencing all messages from the bad actor avatar without indicating that the bad actor avatar is speaking.

19. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is configured to mark the particular avatar as the bad actor avatar by:

identifying a user ID of the particular avatar; and

determining that the user ID of the particular avatar matches one of a plurality of bad actor user IDs associated with the user profile.

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

adjust the first level of censorship based on active analysis of activity within the first proximity zone; and

adjust the second level of censorship based on active analysis of activity within the second proximity zone.

Assignments (3)
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 28, 2025
From: ADEIA INC. (F/K/A XPERI HOLDING CORPORATION); ADEIA HOLDINGS INC.; ADEIA MEDIA HOLDINGS INC.; ADEIA IMAGING LLC; ADEIA MEDIA LLC; ADEIA MEDIA SOLUTIONS INC.; ADEIA SEMICONDUCTOR BONDING TECHNOLOGIES INC.; ADEIA TECHNOLOGIES INC.; ADEIA GUIDES INC.; ADEIA SOLUTIONS LLC; ADEIA SEMICONDUCTOR ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES INC.; ADEIA SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS LLC; ADEIA SEMICONDUCTOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LLC; ADEIA SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES LLC; ADEIA PUBLISHING INC.
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 071454/0343 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Oct 4, 2024
From: ROVI GUIDES, INC.
To: ADEIA GUIDES INC.
Reel/Frame 069113/0413 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 21, 2024
From: SINGH, GYANVEER; LAL, DHANANJAY; HARB, REDA; BECKEMEYER, KYLE
To: ROVI GUIDES, INC.
Reel/Frame 068353/0250 →
Continuity (2)
Continuation 17941489 · Sep 9, 2022
Related Publication 20250117184A1 · Apr 10, 2025
References Cited (20)
US 11043219B1 · Walters · 2021 [cited by examiner]
US 12093603B2 · Singh et al. · 2024 [cited by applicant]
US 20150070516A1 · Shoemake · 2015 [cited by examiner]
US 20160300388A1 · Stafford · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 20190221045A1 · Li · 2019 [cited by examiner]
US 20220284735A1 · Zavesky · 2022 [cited by examiner]
US 20230351098A1 · Liu · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 20240086142A1 · Singh et al. · 2024 [cited by applicant]
“Graph API”, https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api, retrieved on Aug. 24, 2022. [cited by applicant]
“The Metaverse's dark side: Here come harassment and assaults”, New York Times, Sep. 9, 2022, 3. [cited by applicant]
“Users, Friends, and Relationships”, https://developer.oculus.com/documentation/native/ps-presence/, retrieved on Aug. 24, 2022. [cited by applicant]
Anonymous , “Personal Boundaries in Virtual Reality”, Technical Disclosure Commons, https://www.tdcommons.org/dpubs_series/3588, Sep. 9, 2020. [cited by applicant]
Chittaro, Luca , et al., “A Visual Tool for Tracing Users' Behavior in Virtual Environments”, DOI: 10.1145/989863.989868, Jan. 2004, 1-8. [cited by applicant]
Hutchinson, Andrew , “Meta Adds New ‘Mature’ Content Classifications for Horizon Worlds”, Social Media Today, www.socialmediatoday.com/news/meta-adds-new-mature-content-classifications-for-horizon-worlds/627961/, retrie… [cited by applicant]
Kose, Ahmet , et al., “Dynamic Predictive Modeling Approach of User Behavior in Virtual Reality Based Application”, 27th Mediterranean Conference on Control and Automation (MED), Akko, Israel, Jul. 1-4, 2019, 6. [cited by applicant]
McMillin, David , “Social Distancing Solution: Wristbands Do the Talking for Attendees”, https://www.pcma.org/social-distancing-solution-wristbands-attendees/, retrieved on Aug. 24, 2022, Jun. 25, 2020. [cited by applicant]
Molina, Brett , “A ‘personal boundary’ in the metaverse: Talking Tech podcast”, USA Today, https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2022/02/05/personal-boundary-metaverse-talking-tech-podcast/6674577001/, retrieved on Aug. 2… [cited by applicant]
Nguyen, Nhung , et al., “Modeling Peripersonal Action Space for Virtual Humans by Learning a Tactile Body Schema”, KI (2009), 1-9. [cited by applicant]
Paliokas, Ioannis , et al., “Study of Users' Behaviour in Virtual Reality Environments”, The International Journal of Technology Knowledge and Society 4(1):121-132, Jan. 2008. [cited by applicant]
Sharma, Vivek , “Introducing a Personal Boundary for Horizon Worlds and Venues”, https://www.oculus.com/blog/introducing-a-personal-boundary-for-horizon-worlds-and-venues/, retrieved on Aug. 24, 2022, Mar. 14, 2022. [cited by applicant]