VIRTUAL WORLD SYSTEM SUPPORTING A CONSUMER EXPERIENCE

摘要

A system and method for creating a virtual world for supporting a consumer experience is disclosed. The apparatus in an example embodiment includes providing access to a database of item listing categories, each item listing category in the database having an associated link to a source for physical items corresponding to the item listing category; generating an image of a virtual store in a three-dimensional (3D) virtual environment; populating the virtual store with at least one first object representing an item listing category; receiving a signal indicative of user interaction with the at least one first object; and using the associated link to re-direct the user to the source for physical items corresponding to the item listing category represented by the at least one first object with which the user interacted.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
providing access to a database of item listing categories, each item listing category in the database having an associated link to a real-world source for physical items corresponding to the item listing category; generating an image of a three dimensional (3D) virtual store viewable by a first user in a 3D virtual environment; populating the virtual store with at least one object representing a specific physical product or service in an item listing category in the database; providing a user interface to a second user, the user interface designed to allow a second user to select an image associated with a first object in the virtual store and enter one or more keywords associated with the image; receiving the one or more keywords associated with the image from the second user; assigning the one or more keywords as a tag corresponding to the first object; receiving a search query from the first user; identifying one or more objects satisfying the search query by searching tags associated with a plurality of objects in the virtual store, including the tag corresponding to the first object; displaying the one or more objects satisfying the search query to the first user in the 3D virtual environment; receiving a signal indicative of the first user interaction with the at least one object that populates the virtual store and represents a specific physical product or service in an item listing category in the database; and responsive to receiving the signal, using the associated link to re-direct the first user to a website corresponding to the real-world source for physical items corresponding to the item listing category in the database represented by the at least one object with which the first user interacted.