IP Library Granted Patent US 8,719,730
Granted Patent B2
US 8,719,730 · App. 13/091,497 · Granted May 6, 2014

Radial user interface and system for a virtual world game

Inventors: Joseph Benjamin Ganetakos (Toronto, CA); Frank James Caron (Mississauga, CA); Jesse Daniel Scoble (Toronto, CA); Gord Scott McLeod (Georgetown, CA); John Alexander Larsen (Toronto, CA); Felix Leung (Toronto, CA); Karl Joseph Borst (Woodbridge, CA)
Assignee: Ganz
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 8,719,730
App. No.
13/091,497
Granted
May 6, 2014
Kind
B2
Abstract

A user interface for a virtual world includes a circular area forming a display for an item in the virtual world, and controls surrounding only a portion of the display for controlling that item.

Claims (10)

1. A system comprising:

A computer, providing output information in a form to be displayed on a display screen, said output information including virtual world information indicative of a virtual world with which a user can interact, and also including a radial menu for interacting with at least one virtual character in said virtual world, said computer accepting input of an element of said virtual world, said element being a selected element of said virtual world that is selected separately from other elements of said virtual world, and said radial menu having a circular portion that shows a non-static image of said selected element in a center part of the circular portion, and where said radial menu also includes a plurality of control indications radially distributed and surrounding only a portion of an outside of said circular portion of said radial menu, said plurality of control indications representing actions that are carried out to interact with said selected element in said virtual world, wherein said selected element is a location within said virtual world, and where said non-static image is of a map of at least a portion of said virtual world and said non-static image is navigable within the radial menu using one or more of the plurality of control indications.

2. A system as in claim 1 , further comprising at least one display indication on said only a portion of said outside, said at least one display indication providing information about a status within said virtual world.

3. A system as in claim 2 , wherein said at least one display indication represents an icon indicating whether the user has mail.

4. A system as in claim 2 , wherein said display indication represent a clock for a virtual time zone within the virtual world, where said virtual time zone is the same for all players in the virtual world and where at least plural different players in the virtual world have different real time zones that are different than said virtual time zone.

5. A system as in claim 1 , wherein one of said plurality of control indications sends a trade request to the another user's character.

6. A system as in claim 1 , wherein said plurality of control indications relates to navigation on said map.

7. A system as in claim 1 , wherein said plurality of control indications includes a travel indication, an overview map, an expanded map, zoom in and zoom out.

8. A system as in claim 7 , wherein said plurality of control indications are shown with pictorial indications of their functions.

9. A system as in claim 1 , wherein said map is dynamically generated and automatically changes what is shown by the map when items in the virtual world are changed by interacting with said items.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 24, 2011
From: GANETAKOS, JOSEPH BENJAMIN; MCLEOD, GORD SCOTT; LARSEN, JOHN ALEXANDER; LEUNG, FELIX; BORST, KARL JOSEPH; CARON, FRANK JAMES; SCOBLE, JESSE DANIEL
To: GANZ
Reel/Frame 026493/0349 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 61327346 · Apr 23, 2010
Related Publication 20110265041A1 · Oct 27, 2011