Degrading avatar appearances in a virtual universe

A computer system for degrading avatar appearances in a virtual universe, comprising:

• at least one processing unit;
• memory operably associated with the at least one processing unit;
• and
• a degradation tool storable in memory and executable by the at least one processing unit, the degradation tool comprising:
• a visual obstruction component configured to:
• monitor a set of teleportation invitations issued to avatars in the virtual universe, the teleportation invitations comprising invitations to teleport to a region within the virtual universe;
• identify an object in the virtual universe as an object of interest based on a match between a metadata term of the object and a preselected keyword;
• identify a set of avatars that have each accepted at least one of the set of teleportation invitations;
• make a determination as to whether the set of avatars within the virtual universe is likely to cause a visual obstruction of the object of interest to an avatar other than the set of avatars, the determination comprising a calculation of whether a number of avatars of the set of avatars that shall be rendered, as a result of having accepted at least one of the set of teleportation invitations, within a predetermined proximity to the object of interest exceeds a predefined threshold;
• enhance an appearance of the object of interest to increase a visual contrast between the object of interest and the set of avatars in response to a reduction of at least one geometric dimension of at least one of a plurality of avatars of the set of avatars;
• and
• a modification component configured to:
• make the reduction of the at least one geometric dimension of the at least one of the plurality of avatars of the set of avatars, in response to teleportation of the plurality of avatars being complete, to a plurality of levels of degradation within the virtual universe if the set of avatars within the virtual universe is likely to cause a visual obstruction of the object of interest to the avatar other than the set of avatars,
• a transaction component configured to:
• charge a rendering fee for facilitating the reduction of the at least one geometric dimension of the at least one of the plurality of avatars.

A computer-readable storage device storing computer instructions, which when executed, enables a computer system to degrade avatar appearances in a virtual universe, the computer instructions comprising:

• monitoring a set of teleportation invitations issued to avatars in the virtual universe, the teleportation invitations comprising invitations to teleport to a region within the virtual universe;
• identifying an object in the virtual universe as an object of interest, the identifying being based on at least one of:
• a social tag, and a match between a metadata term of the object and a preselected keyword;
• identifying a set of avatars that have each accepted at least one of the set of teleportation invitations;
• determining whether the set of avatars within the virtual universe is likely to cause a visual obstruction of the object of interest to an avatar other than the set of avatars, the determining comprising calculating whether a number of avatars of the set of avatars that shall be rendered, as a result of having accepted at least one of the set of teleportation invitations, within a predetermined proximity to the object of interest exceeds a predefined threshold;
• degrading an appearance of at least one of the set of avatars within the virtual universe if the set of avatars within the virtual universe is likely to cause a visual obstruction of the object of interest to the avatar other than the set of avatars;
• and
• enhancing an appearance of the object of interest to increase a visual contrast between the object of interest and the set of avatars in response to the degrading;
• charging a rendering fee for facilitating the degradation of avatar appearances in the virtual universe;
• wherein the degrading comprises reducing at least one geometric dimension of the at least one of the set of avatars.

A method for deploying a degradation tool for use in a computer system that degrades avatar appearances in a virtual universe, comprising:

• providing a computer infrastructure operable to:
• monitor a set of teleportation invitations issued to avatars in the virtual universe, the teleportation invitations comprising invitations to teleport to a region within the virtual universe;
• identify an object in the virtual universe as an object of interest based on at least one of a social tag, and a match between a metadata term of the object and a preselected keyword;
• identify a set of avatars that have each accepted at least one of the set of teleportation invitations;
• make a determination as to whether a set of avatars within the virtual universe is likely to cause a visual obstruction of the object of interest to an avatar other than the set of avatars, the determination comprising a calculation of whether a number of avatars of the set of avatars that shall be rendered, as a result of having accepted at least one of the set of teleportation invitations, within a predetermined proximity to the object of interest exceeds a predefined threshold;
• and
• degrade an appearance of at least one of a plurality of avatars of the set of avatars, in response to teleportation of the plurality of avatars being complete, to a plurality of levels of degradation within the virtual universe if the set of avatars within the virtual universe is likely to cause a visual obstruction of the object of interest to the avatar other than the set of avatars;
• enhance an appearance of the object of interest to increase a visual contrast between the object of interest and the set of avatars in response to the degradation;
• and
• charge a rendering fee for facilitating the degradation of avatar appearances in the virtual universe;
• wherein the degrade step comprises reducing at least one geometric dimension of the at least one of the set of avatars.