Controlling and using virtual universe wish lists

A computer program product for purchasing an instance of a virtual world object associated with a wish list in a virtual world, the computer program product comprising:

• a machine readable medium including a mechanism for storing information readable by a computer comprising a processor;
• first program instructions to detect a first selection, by a first avatar in response to a first user input, of the virtual world object presented in the virtual world, wherein the first avatar is a representation of a first user account associated with a virtual world computer network, wherein the virtual world is a three-dimensional computer simulated environment where avatars interact as inhabitants of the virtual world, said three-dimensional computer simulated environment controlled by one or more processors in the virtual world computer network, and wherein the first selection indicates a desire by the first avatar for the instance of the virtual world object;
• second program instructions to associate with a wish list a representation of the instance of the virtual world object that is available for purchase responsive to said detecting the first selection of the virtual world object by the first avatar, wherein the wish list includes a listing of desired objects by the first avatar from the virtual world, wherein the listing of desired objects are stored in a data store unit associated with the first user account on the virtual world computer network;
• third program instructions to determine that a second avatar is authorized by the first avatar to access the wish list, wherein the second avatar is a representation of a second user account associated with the virtual world computer network,
• fourth program instructions to present the wish list to the second avatar via the virtual world computer network;
• fifth program instructions to detect a second selection by the second avatar, via a second user input, of the representation of the instance of the virtual world object, wherein the second user input is associated with user control of the second avatar via the virtual world computer network;
• sixth program instructions to transact a purchase of the instance of the virtual world object using virtual world funds belonging to the second avatar responsive to said detecting the second selection by the second avatar of the representation of the instance of the virtual world object;
• seventh program instructions to generate a clone of the virtual world object using identification data from the virtual world object, wherein the clone of the virtual world object is a data object with characteristics of the virtual world object, said data object configured for storage in one or more of the first user account and the second user account via the virtual world computer network;
• and
• eighth program instructions to transfer the clone of the virtual world object to an inventory for the first avatar;
• and wherein
• the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth program instructions are stored on the machine readable medium.

A system comprising:

• a processor unit;
• a bus coupled with the processor;
• a network interface coupled with the bus;
• and
• a virtual universe control module configured to
• detect a first selection, by a first avatar in response to a first user input, of a virtual world object presented in a virtual world, wherein the first avatar is a representation of a first user account associated with a virtual world computer network, wherein the virtual world is a three-dimensional computer simulated environment where avatars interact with one another as inhabitants of the virtual world, said three-dimensional computer simulated environment controlled by one or more processors in the virtual world computer network and wherein the first selection indicates a desire by the first avatar for an instance of the virtual world object,
• present to a second avatar, responsive to said detecting the first selection by the first avatar of the virtual world object, a graphical representation of the instance of the virtual world object on a wish list, wherein the wish list includes a graphical listing of desired objects by the first avatar from the virtual world, wherein the graphical listing of desired objects is stored in a data store unit associated with the first user account on the virtual world computer network, and wherein the second avatar is a representation of a second user account associated with the virtual world computer network,
• detect a second selection from the wish list, by the second avatar, via a second user input, of the graphical representation of the instance of the virtual world object,
• detect that a clone of the virtual world object exists in a virtual world inventory, wherein the clone of the virtual world object is a data object with characteristics of the virtual world object, said data object configured for storage in one or more of the first user account and the second user account via the virtual world computer network;
• transact a purchase of the clone of the virtual world object from the virtual world inventory using financial information associated with the second avatar, wherein said purchase of the clone of the virtual world object is responsive to the second selection from the wish list, by the second avatar, of the graphical representation of the instance of the virtual world object, and
• transfer the clone of the virtual world object to the first avatar.

A method comprising:

• detecting a first selection of a first virtual world object in a virtual world by a first avatar in response to a first user input, wherein the first avatar is a representation of a first user account associated with a virtual world computer network, wherein the virtual world is a three-dimensional computer simulated environment where avatars interact with one another as inhabitants of the virtual world, said three-dimensional computer simulated environment controlled by one or more processors in the virtual world computer network, wherein the first selection indicates a desire by the first avatar for the virtual world object, and wherein the first avatar can interact with the first virtual world object within the virtual world;
• presenting to the first avatar a listing of sub-objects associated with the first virtual world object responsive to said detecting the selection of the first virtual world object in the virtual world by the first avatar;
• detecting a second selection, by the first avatar in response to a second user input associated with the first avatar, of a second virtual world object from the listing of sub-objects;
• associate with a wish list a representation of the second virtual world object that is available for purchase responsive to said detecting the second selection of the second virtual world object by the first avatar, wherein the wish list includes a listing of desired objects by the first avatar from the virtual world, wherein the listing of desired objects are stored in a data store unit associated with the first user account on the virtual world computer network;
• presenting to a second avatar a representation of the second virtual world object that is available for purchase, wherein the second avatar is a representation of a second user account associated with the virtual world computer network;
• detecting a third selection by the second avatar, in response to a third user input, of the representation of the second virtual world object, wherein the third user input is associated with user control of the second avatar via the virtual world computer network;
• generating a clone of the second virtual world object using identification data from the virtual world object, wherein the clone of the second virtual world object is a data object with characteristics of the second virtual world object, said data object configured for storage in one or more of the first user account and the second user account via the virtual world computer network;
• purchasing the clone of the second virtual world object using virtual world funds from the second avatar, wherein said purchasing the clone of the second virtual world object is responsive to said detecting the selection by the second avatar of the representation of the second virtual world object;
• and
• transferring the clone of the second virtual world object to an inventory for the first avatar responsive to said purchasing the clone of the second virtual world object using the virtual world funds from the second avatar.