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US 8,713,450 B2Granted
Detecting patterns of abuse in a virtual environment
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsZachary Adam Garbow, Linda Irene Larson, Candace Trielle Pederson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Embodiments of the invention provide techniques for detecting patterns of abuse in users of a virtual world. The patterns of abuse may be detected by examining records of inappropriate interactions between users. Subsequently, preventative actions may be taken to prevent further abuse. The preventative actions may include blocking access to all or part of the virtual world, blocking interactions with other users, warning other users, or notifying authorities of the behavior of the other user.
Claims21
A computer-implemented method, comprising:
- providing, on a computer readable storage medium, a plurality of definitions of inappropriate interactions between users of a virtual environment, the inappropriate interactions being defined on a basis of leading to potential harm to users of the virtual environment;
- receiving one or more indications of an interaction between a first user and a second user of the virtual environment, and
- upon determining that the one or more indications correspond to at least one of the plurality of definitions of inappropriate interactions:
- adding, to a plurality of records of previous inappropriate interactions, a record of the inappropriate interaction;
- identifying from the plurality of records a pattern of inappropriate interactions for the second user, wherein at least one of the inappropriate interactions in the identified pattern is one of the plurality of previous inappropriate interactions;
- identifying one or more potential victims of the second user from among the users of the virtual environment using a victim profile developed from the identified pattern of inappropriate interactions, the victim profile describing common characteristics of potential victims of abuse from the second user;
- and
- performing one or more actions to prevent abuse by the second user to the one or more potential victims that match the victim profile in the virtual environment.
5 more elements
A computer-readable non-transitory storage medium containing a program, which when executed on a processor performs an operation, comprising:
- providing, on a computer readable storage medium, a plurality of definitions of inappropriate interactions between users of a virtual environment, the inappropriate interactions being defined on a basis of leading to potential harm to users of the virtual environment;
- receiving one or more indications of an interaction between a first user and a second user of the virtual environment, and
- upon determining that the one or more indications correspond to at least one of the plurality of definitions of inappropriate interactions:
- adding, to a plurality of records of previous inappropriate interactions, a record of the inappropriate interaction;
- identifying from the plurality of records a pattern of inappropriate interactions for the second user, wherein at least one of the inappropriate interactions in the identified pattern is one of the plurality of previous inappropriate interactions;
- identifying one or more potential victims of the second user from among the users of the virtual environment using a victim profile developed from the identified pattern of inappropriate interactions, the victim profile describing common characteristics of potential victims of abuse from the second user;
- and
- performing one or more actions to prevent abuse by the second user to the one or more potential victims that match the victim profile in the virtual environment.
5 more elements
A system, comprising:
- a processor;
- and
- a memory containing a program, which when executed by the processor is configured to perform the steps of:
- providing, on a computer readable storage medium, a plurality of definitions of inappropriate interactions between users of a virtual environment, the inappropriate interactions being defined on a basis of leading to potential harm to users of the virtual environment;
- receiving one or more indications of an interaction between a first user and a second user of the virtual environment, and
- upon determining that the one or more indications correspond to at least one of the plurality of definitions of inappropriate interactions:
- adding, to a plurality of records of previous inappropriate interactions, a record of the inappropriate interaction;
- identifying from the plurality of records a pattern of inappropriate interactions for the second user, wherein at least one of the inappropriate interactions in the identified pattern is one of the plurality of previous inappropriate interactions;
- identifying one or more potential victims of the second user from among the users of the virtual environment using a victim profile developed from the identified pattern of inappropriate interactions, the victim profile describing common characteristics of potential victims of abuse from the second user;
- and
- performing one or more actions to prevent abuse by the second user to the one or more potential victims that match the victim profile in the virtual environment.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.