Method and system for selecting an emotional appearance and prosody for a graphical character

In a computer system having a mouse, a video display and a processor running a program that enables a user to participate in a chat session with a graphical character that represents the user in the chat session, a method comprising:

• (a) displaying a graphical element on the video display where the graphical element is logically partitioned into a plurality of sub-regions, each sub-region being divisible into at least one sub-area and being associated with an emotion, each sub-area being associated with an intensity level for an emotion and having an associated range of coordinates that are selected with a cursor positioned by the mouse and bounded by the sub-area, each coordinate in the sub-area being associated with the same emotion and the same intensity level for the emotion;
• and
• (b) in response to using the mouse to position the cursor within the range of coordinates bounded within a sub-area, performing an action, including:
• (i) determining the sub-region that the cursor lies within from the range of coordinates that is divided into the sub-area;
• and
• (ii) assigning an appearance to the graphical character that reflects the emotion associated with the determined sub-region and that reflects the intensity level for the emotion associated with the sub-area that the cursor lies within.