Software platform having a real world interface with animated characters

Claim 2

In a data processing system having a video display, a storage for storing computer programs, a processor for running the computer programs including application programs and a software development platform, the software development platform being a hybrid between a software suite and an operating system having a service for displaying on the video display at least one animated character created by the service for use by application programs, wherein the software development platform displays a system user interface, said system user interface including mechanisms for invoking the application programs, a method comprising the steps of: as part of running the software development platform that displays the system user interface on the processor, displaying the animated character on the video display via the service; outputting information to assist a user via the animated character; as part of running a selected one of the application programs on the processor, displaying the animated character on the video display via the service; and outputting information to assist the user via the animated character.

Claim 3

The method of claim 1 wherein the step of outputting information to assist the user via the animated character when running the software development platform that displays a system user interface comprises the step of displaying an animation of the animated character on the video display.

Claim 4

The method of claim 1 wherein the step of outputting information to assist the user via the animated character when running the software development platform that displays a system user interface comprises the step of displaying textual help information on the video display.

Claim 5

The method of claim 1 wherein the data processing system includes an audio output device and the step of outputting information to assist the user via the animated character when running the software development platform that displays a system user interface comprises the step of outputting audio information to assist the user over the audio output device.

Claim 6

The method of claim 1 wherein the step of outputting information to assist the user via the animated character when running the software development platform that displays a system user interface comprises the step of presenting the user with controls on the video display for performing tasks.

Claim 7

The method of claim 1 wherein the step of outputting information to assist the user via the animated character when running the selected one of the application programs comprises the step of displaying an animation of the animated character on the video display.

Claim 8

The method of claim 1 wherein the step of outputting information to assist the user via the animated character when running the selected one of the application programs comprises the step of displaying textual help information on the video display.

Claim 9

The method of claim 1 wherein the data processing system includes an audio output device and wherein the step of outputting information to assist the user via the animated character when running the selected one of the application programs comprises the step of outputting audio information to assist the user over the audio output device.

Claim 10

The method of claim 1 wherein the step of outputting information to assist the user via the animated character when running the selected one of the application programs comprises the step of presenting the user with controls on the video display for performing tasks.

Claim 11

In a data processing system having a storage, and a video display, a method comprising the steps of: providing a software development platform, which is a hybrid between a software suite and an operating system that provides services callable by a software development platform component, that displays a system user interface on the video display, the system user interface including mechanisms for invoking a plurality of application programs; displaying a personal character on the video display for a user to provide assistance to the user in using said system user interface and at least one of said application programs; and storing at least one animation of the personal character in the storage.

Claim 12

In a data processing system having a storage, and a video display, a method comprising the steps of: providing a software development platform, which is a hybrid between a software suite and an operating system that provides services callable by a software development platform component, that displays a system user interface on the video display, the system user interface including mechanisms for invoking a plurality of application programs; displaying a personal character on the video display for a user to provide assistance to the user in using said system user interface and at least one of said application programs; and storing at least one animation of the personal character in the storage.

Claim 13

The method of claim 10 further comprising the steps of: retrieving the animation of the personal character from the storage; and displaying the animation on the video display.

Claim 14

The method of claim 10 wherein the step of storing at least one animation comprises the step of storing audio data in the storage as part of the animation.

Claim 15

The method of claim 10 wherein the step of storing at least one animation of the personal character in the storage comprises the step of storing multiple animations of the personal character in the storage.

Claim 16

In a data processing system having a video display, a method comprising the steps of: providing a software development platform, which is a hybrid between a software suite and an operating system that provides services callable by a software development platform component, that displays a system user interface on the video display, the system user interface including mechanisms for invoking a plurality of application programs; providing a personal character for a user that is displayed on the video display to assist the user in using the system user interface and at least one of said application programs; providing an animation for the personal character that may be played on the video display, said animation including multiple frames having a first branch of frames and a second branch of frames; receiving a request to play the animation; determining a state of a condition to ensure that one animation is not played repeatedly; based upon the determination of the state of the condition, determining which of the first branch and the second branch to play on the video display; and playing the determined branch.

Claim 17

In a data processing system having a video display, a method comprising the steps of: providing a software development platform, which is a hybrid between a software suite and an operating system that provides services callable by a software development platform component, that displays a system user interface on the video display, the system user interface including mechanisms for invoking a plurality of application programs; providing a personal character for a user that is displayed on the video display to assist the user in using the system user interface and at least one of said application programs; providing an animation for the personal character that may be played on the video display, said animation including multiple frames having a first branch of frames and a second branch of frames; receiving a request to play the animation; determining a state of a condition to ensure that one animation is not played repeatedly; based upon the determination of the state of the condition, determining which of the first branch and the second branch to play on the video display; and playing the determined branch.

Claim 18

The method of claim 14 wherein the step of determining the state of the condition comprises the step of determining a random value.

Claim 19

The method of claim 14 wherein the step of determining the state of the condition comprises the step of determining a current measure of time.

Claim 20

In a data processing system having a video display, a method comprising the steps of: providing a software development platform that displays a system user interface on the video display, the system user interface including mechanisms for invoking a plurality of application programs; providing an animated personal character for a user that is displayed on the video display to assist the user in using the system user interface and at least one of said application programs; invoking a specialized task; and replacing the personal character with an animated specialized character that is displayed on the video display and that provides assistance to the user as to the specialized task, wherein the specialized character has a personality associated with the specialized task.

Claim 21

In a data processing system having a video display, a method comprising the steps of: providing a software development platform that displays a system user interface on the video display, the system user interface including mechanisms for invoking a plurality of application programs; providing an animated personal character for a user that is displayed on the video display to assist the user in using the system user interface and at least one of said application programs; invoking a specialized task; and replacing the personal character with an animated specialized character that is displayed on the video display and that provides assistance to the user as to the specialized task, wherein the specialized character has a personality associated with the specialized task.

Claim 22

In a computer system having a processor, a storage, and a video display, a method comprising the steps of: providing a software development platform that displays a system user interface on the video display, the system user interface including mechanisms for invoking a plurality of application programs; providing an animated character facility for execution on the processor for providing an animated character to assist a user in using the system user interface and at least one of said application programs; providing an application program for execution on the processor; maintaining context information that describes a current context in the storage, said context information including information about a current user; executing the application program on the processor; and based on the current context, determining an appearance for the animated character on the video display and displaying the animated character on the video display with the determined appearance.

Claim 23

In a computer system having a processor, a storage, and a video display, a method comprising the steps of: providing a software development platform that displays a system user interface on the video display, the system user interface including mechanisms for invoking a plurality of application programs; providing an animated character facility for execution on the processor for providing an animated character to assist a user in using the system user interface and at least one of said application programs; providing an application program for execution on the processor; maintaining context information that describes a current context in the storage, said context information including information about a current user; executing the application program on the processor; and based on the current context, determining an appearance for the animated character on the video display and displaying the animated character on the video display with the determined appearance.

Claim 24

The method of claim 18 wherein the context information includes a current time and the step of determining the appearance of the animated character is based on the current time.

Claim 25

The method of claim 18 wherein the context information includes a current date and the step of determining the appearance of the animated character is based on the current date.

Claim 26

The method of claim 18 wherein the determined appearance of the animated character comprises an animation of the animated character.

Claim 27

The method of claim 18 wherein the determined appearance of the animated character comprises a speech balloon for the animated character.

Claim 28

In a computer system having a storage and a video display, a method comprising the steps of: providing a software development platform that displays a system user interface, said software development platform including an animation character facility for displaying animations of animated characters on the video display for assisting a user in operating the system user interface and a plurality of applications, the system user interface including mechanisms for invoking the plurality of application programs; encapsulating code and data for each character into a separate object, a selected one of said objects for a selected character including code for tracking user actions; executing the code for tracking user actions in the selected object to track actions by the user; and based on the actions by the user that have been tracked by the code for tracking user actions in the selected object, determining what animation of the selected animated character to display on the video display with the animated character facility.

Claim 29

In a computer system having a storage and a video display, a method comprising the steps of: providing a software development platform that displays a system user interface, said software development platform including an animation character facility for displaying animations of animated characters on the video display for assisting a user in operating the system user interface and a plurality of applications, the system user interface including mechanisms for invoking the plurality of application programs; encapsulating code and data for each character into a separate object, a selected one of said objects for a selected character including code for tracking user actions; executing the code for tracking user actions in the selected object to track actions by the user; and based on the actions by the user that have been tracked by the code for tracking user actions in the selected object, determining what animation of the selected animated character to display on the video display with the animated character facility.