ROOM-BASED COMPUTING ENVIRONMENTS
BACKGROUND
[0001] Entities sometimes perform various activities using computing devices such
as performing web searching, accessing web-based or other types of applications,
accessing files or other resources, accessing or updating social networking information,
and the like. In some instances, these activities are related to one another and/or to a
particular topic, and/or may be repeated often. Furthermore, users may wish to share
information or resources identified during these activities. While these activities may be
related and may be repeated often, there may be no easy way to repeat these activities, let
alone to share the information or resources identified during these activities with others.
[0002] Furthermore, while users may wish to share the identified information or
resources with other entities, these users simultaneously may wish to restrict access to the
shared information or resources by unauthorized entities. In some instances, users may
wish to share some information with particular entities, but may wish to restrict access to
other information to the same entities. Also, users may wish to share some information
with all entities, but restrict some information with respect to all or select entities.
Because users may not be able restrict access to some or all of the information in
accordance with these and other concerns, the ability to share information or resources
may be limited for additional reasons.
[0003] Additionally, information and/or resources identified during these and other
activities may be cumbersome to navigate and/or may require complicated user interfaces,
commands, and/or hard coding to achieve the desired functionality. While some services
or web sites allow users to share particular information with other entities and to set
permissions associated with shared information, these interfaces are not conducive to
sharing large and/or varied types of data or resources with other users and/or controlling
access to the shared data or resources, and may be difficult to navigate, particularly when
users restrict access to some of the information.
[0004] It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure made
herein is presented.
SUMMARY
[0005] Concepts and technologies are described herein for room-based computing
environments. In accordance with the concepts and technologies disclosed herein,
applications, web sites, services, web pages, and/or other content ("resources") are
categorized and/or bundled into categories or bundles of resources. These categories or
bundles of resources are referred to as "rooms," which can be represented as information
relating to logical groupings of resources and/or by graphical representations of
information and/or links to information forms representative of physical rooms. The word
"room" therefore is used herein to refer to collections and other hierarchical collections
and/or bundles of resources that are related to, or may be considered pertinent to, a
particular topic. The concepts and technologies herein also relate to graphical navigation
of the room-based computing environment, wherein the rooms correspond to graphical
representations for accessing the collections or bundles of resources. The concepts and
technologies disclosed herein also relate to additional or alternative groupings of resources
including, but not limited to, buildings containing one or more rooms, one or more items
within the rooms, and/or individual resources.
[0006] According to one aspect, a client in communication with a room engine
generates a room based computing environment by creating a buildings, rooms, items, and
the like, and populating the buildings, rooms, items and the like with particular resources.
Generation of the contents of the room-based computing environment can be based, at
least in part, upon search data received form search engines, social networking data
received from social networking services, input received from one or more users, and
other data. The input received from the users can include, but is not limited to, permissions
information relating to the buildings, rooms, items, and the like. The other data can
include, but is not limited to, location data, device data, and the like, which can be
associated with the buildings, the rooms, the items, and/or particular resources.
[0007] According to another aspect, the room-based computing environment is
accessed by and entity, and the room engine determines the contents of the room-based
computing environment. In some implementations, the entity is authenticated to determine
if the entity has permission to access the room-based computing environment, and if so, to
additionally determine what to display as the contents of the room-based computing
environment. The determined contents also can include advertising and/or other
information, which can be presented to the entity in the room-based computing
environment.
[0008] According to another aspect, user interfaces for navigating the room-based
computing environments are disclosed. The user interfaces can be used to view the
resources in various levels of detail and/or granularity, with the contents of the various
views being varied based, at least partially, upon access controls and/or other
considerations. Advertising and other content can be displayed with the room-based
computing environment, if desired.
[0009] According to another aspect, the notion of keys are used to logically and
graphically represent permissioning and access control in the room-based computing
environment. Keys corresponding to tokens, passwords, access codes, and/or other
information can be granted to users and used by the users to access buildings, rooms,
items, and/or resources. Various keys may be required to access various aspects of the
room-based computing environments, as determined by one or more users associated with
the room-based computing environments.
[0010] According to various embodiments, the client is configured to execute a
traditional operating system, and in other embodiments, the client is configured to execute
a web-based operating system. Thus, the client may execute an operating system or other
base program that is configured to access web-based or other remotely-executed
applications and services to provide specific functionality at the client device. The client
therefore may provide various applications and services via a simple operating system or
an application comparable to a standard web browser.
[0011] It should be appreciated that the above-described subject matter may be
implemented as a computer-controlled apparatus, a computer process, a computing
system, or as an article of manufacture such as a computer-readable storage medium.
These and various other features will be apparent from a reading of the following Detailed
Description and a review of the associated drawings.
[0012] This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a
simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This
Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed
subject matter, nor is it intended that this Summary be used to limit the scope of the
claimed subject matter. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to
implementations that solve any or all disadvantages noted in any part of this disclosure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] FIGURE 1 is a system diagram illustrating an exemplary operating
environment for the various embodiments disclosed herein.
[0014] FIGURE 2 is a flow diagram showing aspects of a method for generating
rooms for a room-based computing environment, according to an exemplary embodiment.
[0015] FIGURE 3 is a flow diagram showing aspects of a method for providing
access to a room-based computing environment, according to an exemplary embodiment.
[0016] FIGURES 4A-4C are user interface diagrams showing aspects of
exemplary user interfaces for providing access to room-based computing environments,
according to various embodiments.
[0017] FIGURE 5 is a computer architecture diagram illustrating an exemplary
computer hardware and software architecture for a computing system capable of
implementing aspects of the embodiments presented herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0018] The following detailed description is directed to concepts and technologies
for creating and accessing room-based computing environments. According to the
concepts and technologies described herein, resources are categorized and/or bundled into
categories or bundles of resources. These categories or bundles of resources can be
divided into various levels of categorization. In some embodiments, these various levels
are conceptually and graphically represented by one or more buildings, one or more rooms
associated with the one or more buildings, one or more items associated with the one or
more rooms, and/or one or more resources associated with any of the buildings, rooms,
and/or items.
[0019] According to various implementations, resources are associated with the
room-based computing environment and data relating to the resources is stored. The data
can include information identifying how the resource can be accessed such as, for
example, a network link or other information. The data also can include geographic
location information associated with the resource, social networking information
associated with the resource, search information associated with the resource, advertising
information associated with the resource, and/or other information. Permissions can be set
for accessing the resources, and the data can be stored as room data.
[0020] In response to detecting access of the room-based computing environment,
a room engine can authenticate an entity associated with the access and determine what
contents of the room-based computing environment are to be presented based upon the
permissions information and/or other considerations. The environment is generated and
presented to the entity via one or more user interfaces ("Uls"). The room-based
computing environment can be navigated via the Uls from through varying levels of
granularity, if desired, and the resources associated with the room-based computing
environment can be accessed and/or executed.
[0021] The word "room" and variants thereof, is used herein to refer to a category
or other grouping of resources. According to various embodiments, rooms are represented
by logical groupings of resources and/or by graphical representations of information
and/or links to information forms representative of physical rooms. As such, rooms refer
herein to groupings, categories, and other collections and/or bundles of resources that are
related to, or may be considered pertinent to, one or more topics or groups of topics, as
well as graphical representations for accessing the collections or bundles of resources.
The word "resources," as used herein, is used to refer to data associated with or generated
by applications, services, web pages, web sites, files, application data, social networking
data, search data, and/or other information that may be consumed or used by a client.
[0022] The word "application," and variants thereof, is used herein to refer to
computer-executable files for providing functionality to a user. According to various
embodiments, the applications can be executed by a device, for example a computer,
smartphone, or the like. Additionally, the computer, smartphone, or other device can
execute a web browser or operating system that is configured to access remotely-executed
applications and/or services such as web-based and/or other remotely-executed
applications, web pages, social networking services, and the like. In some embodiments,
the applications, web pages, and/or social networking services are provided by a
combination of remote and local execution, for example, by execution of JavaScript,
DHTML, AJAX, .ASP, and the like. According to other embodiments, the applications
include runtime applications built to access remote or local data. These runtime
applications can be built using the SILVERLIGHT family of products from Microsoft
Corporation in Redmond, Washington, the AIR and FLASH families of products from
Adobe Systems Incorporated of San Jose, California, and/or other products and
technologies.
[0023] For purposes of the specification and claims, the phrase "web application,"
and variants thereof, is used to refer to applications that are configured to execute entirely
or in-part on web servers and clients. Web applications can include multitier applications
that include, but are not limited to, a data tier for storing and/or serving data used by the
multitier applications, a logic tier for executing instructions to provide the functionality of
the application, and a presentation tier for rendering and displaying the application output
and/or interfaces for interacting with the applications. It should be understood that the
names of the tiers provided herein are exemplary, and should not be construed as being
limiting in any way.
[0024] While the subject matter described herein is presented in the general
context of program modules that execute in conjunction with the execution of an operating
system and application programs on a computer system, those skilled in the art will
recognize that other implementations may be performed in combination with other types
of program modules. Generally, program modules include routines, programs,
components, data structures, and other types of structures that perform particular tasks or
implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate
that the subject matter described herein may be practiced with other computer system
configurations, including hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessorbased
or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and
the like.
[0025] In the following detailed description, references are made to the
accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of
illustration specific embodiments or examples. Referring now to the drawings, in which
like numerals represent like elements throughout the several figures, aspects of a
computing system, computer-readable storage medium, and computer-implemented
methodology for room-based computing environments will be presented.
[0026] Referring now to FIGURE 1, aspects of one operating environment 100 for
the various embodiments presented herein will be described. The operating environment
100 shown in FIGURE 1 includes a server computer 102 operating on or in
communication with a network 104. According to various embodiments, the functionality
of the server computer 102 is provided by a web server operating on or in communication
with the Internet, though this is not necessarily the case.
[0027] The server computer 102 is configured to execute or store an application
106, web pages, and/or other content. In some embodiments, the application 106 is a
server application executable by the server computer 102 to provide functionality
associated with the server computer 102. In other embodiments, the server computer 102
stores the application 106 and allows other devices and/or network nodes to access,
download, and/or modify the application 106. In some embodiments, the application 106
provides the server computer 102 with request-response functionality to provide, for
example, web pages or other content in response to access of a public directory, to receive,
respond to, and/or execute queries, and the like. It therefore should be understood that the
server computer 102 can include, but is not limited to, an application server and/or a data
server, and can be in communication with and/or include databases, memories, and/or
other data storage devices.
[0028] In one exemplary embodiment, the server computer 102 hosts an
application 106 that is executable to provide financial applications. For example, the
application 106 can be used to access financial data to determine and/or provide users with
account balances, to transfer funds between one or more accounts, to open and/or close
accounts or lines of credit, to access account records such as account statements, to access
images of cleared checks, and the like. The application 106 also can provide multimedia
functionality such as, for example, video and audio playback, audio and video streaming,
games, image sharing, viewing, and editing, and the like. The application 106 also can
provide tools such as photo, video, and audio editing and creation applications, word
processing functionality, data backup and storage functionality, calendaring applications,
messaging applications such as email, text messaging, instant messaging, and real time
messaging applications, search applications, and the like. The application 106 also can
provide shopping applications such as web stores and the like. The above list is not
exhaustive, as the application 106 can provide any functionality. Thus, the above
examples are exemplary and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.
[0029] According to various embodiments, data is generated by execution of the
application 106, or the server computer 102 hosts and/or serves data corresponding to
content. The content can include, but is not limited to, web pages, images, files, and the
like to devices connecting to the server computer 102 via execution of the application 106.
In these and other embodiments, data generated, hosted, and/or served by the server
computer 102 can be made available, transmitted, and/or received by one or more devices
connecting to the server computer 102. The devices can be configured to display or render
the data to display the content and/or output associated with the application 106, to view
files such as audio or video files, to view images, to render web pages or other content,
and the like.
[0030] It should be understood that in the case of data associated with the
application 106, the application 106 can be executed at the server computer 102, and
output associated with the application 106 can be rendered and displayed at a device
remote from the server computer 102. In other embodiments, the application 106 is
executed in part by the server computer 102 and in part by devices remote from the server
computer 102 such as computers, servers, and the like to provide functionality associated
with the application 106. Thus, while the application 106 is illustrated as being hosted by
the server computer 102, it should be understood that application components can be
simultaneously executed by one or more devices, for example, to provide multitier
applications.
[0031] In the illustrated embodiment, the operating environment 100 also includes
a social networking server 108 ("SN server") operating on or in communication with the
network 104. The SN server 108 is configured to execute a social networking application
110 ("SN application") to provide social networking services to one or more users.
Exemplary social networking services include, but are not limited to, the TWITTER real
time messaging service, the FACEBOOK social networking service, the LINKEDIN
professional networking service, the YAMMER office colleague networking service, and
the like. The social networking application 110 also can include review services such as
the URBANSPOON restaurant reviewing service, the KUDZU reviewing service, the
YELP reviewing service, other reviewing services, and the like.
[0032] In other embodiments, social networking functionality is provided by other
services, sites, and/or providers that are not explicitly known as social networking
providers. For example, some web sites allow users to interact with one another via email,
chat services, games, comments, threads, blogs, and/or other means, without explicitly
supporting "social networking services." Examples of such services include, but are not
limited to, the WINDOWS LIVE service from Microsoft Corporation in Redmond,
Washington, among others. Therefore, it should be appreciated that the above list of
social networking services is not exhaustive, as only exemplary social networking services
are mentioned herein for the sake of brevity.
[0033] In some embodiments, execution of the SN application 110 by the SN
server 108 causes the SN server 108 to generate social networking data 112 ("SN data")
associated with the social networking service and/or associated with one or more users of
the SN application 110. In other embodiments, the SN server 108 stores or hosts the SN
data 112. The SN data 112 can describe, for example, social networking graphs associated
with one or more users, communities and/or networks, social networking user content such
as status updates, photographs, reviews, links, videos, and the like, contact and
biographical information associated with one or more social networking users, and the
like.
[0034] In some embodiments, the SN data 112 includes, for example, information
describing rooms or other aspects of room-based computing environments created or
accessed by users of the social networking services, applications 106 and/or other
resources accessed by users of the social networking service, shopping and searching
histories and preferences associated with users of the social networking service, articles
recommended by users of the social networking services, advertisements, web sites, links,
photos, video, audio, combinations thereof, and the like. The SN data 112 also can
include other information such as likes and dislikes associated with one or more users of
the social networking service, comments associated with or generated by one or more
users of the social networking service, connection requests associated by or generated by
one or more users of the social networking service, and the like. It should be appreciated
that the SN data 112 can include any type of social networking information, and that the
examples listed above are illustrative.
[0035] According to various embodiments, the operating environment 100
includes a search engine 114 operating on or in communication with the network 104.
The functionality of the search engine 114 can be provided by one or more applications,
which can be executed by one or more devices and/or combinations of devices. In some
embodiments, the functionality of the search engine 114 is provided by one or more server
computers configured to execute various applications, though this is not necessarily the
case.
[0036] In the illustrated embodiment, the functionality of the search engine 114 is
provided by a web server configured to execute a search application and/or other
applications (not illustrated). According to various implementations, the search engine
114 is configured to discover applications 106, SN servers 108, web sites, services, and/or
other resources accessible via the network 104, to index the resources, to search the
indexed resources, and/or to provide search results that meet or are deemed relevant to
search queries and/or other requests for resources. For example, the search engine 114 can
be provided to receive, parse, interpret, and execute search queries or other requests, and
to provide search results that satisfy and/or are relevant to the queries. As such, it should
be understood that the search engine 114 can be configured to apply natural language
processing and/or other logic to identify search terms in and/or otherwise interpret search
queries.
[0037] According to various implementations, search results can be passed to
searchers or other entities via search result pages, which can include, for example, links to
identified documents, files, applications 106, SN applications 108, and/or other resources,
and the like. The search engine 114 also can be configured to track search histories and/or
other usage associated with the search engine 114, if desired, for various analytics and/or
metrics tracking and reporting, and/or for use in providing services via other nodes or
devices in communication with the search engine 114. If the search engine 114 is
configured to provide analytics and/or metrics tracking functionality, users can be
provided with opportunities to opt-in and/or opt-out of the functionality to address
perceived privacy and/or security concerns. Similarly, all usage information can be
anonymized before storing or using the information to address security and/or privacy
concerns.
[0038] According to various embodiments, search data 116 including search
results, search histories, browsing and/or other information can be generated or stored by
the search engine 114. The search data 116 can be made available to, transmitted to,
and/or retrieved by one or more devices in communication with the search engine 114
such as, for example, a room engine 118. Some exemplary uses of the search data 116 are
described in more detail herein.
[0039] The room engine 118 is configured to provide the functionality described
herein for creating room-based computing environments, generating and storing data
describing the room-based computing environments, determining and presenting
advertising associated with the room-based computing environments, generating and
providing user interfaces for interacting with the data describing the room-based
computing environments, and the like, as is described herein in detail. In some
embodiments, the room engine 118 is configured to execute a room application 120 and an
advertising application 122.
[0040] The room application 120 is configured to generate collections or bundles
of resources and organize the resources into one or more room-based computing
environments. The room-based computing environments can include, but are not limited
to, one or more rooms. In some embodiments, the rooms represent a particular category or
type of resources that are divided in a manner corresponding to rooms of a building. For
example, resources can be bundled and/or organized into a number of rooms such as an
office, a study, a recreation room, other rooms, and the like, all of which can be generally
related to one another.
[0041] More particularly, as will be described herein in more detail, the rooms can
be categorized into broader or more general categories corresponding to buildings. For
example, in one embodiment the rooms are arranged into categories corresponding to
buildings, wherein the buildings themselves may contain one or more rooms. The
buildings can be used to bundle together related or similar rooms, based upon broader or
more general categories of the rooms. For example, rooms devoted to personal use can be
arranged into a "home" category of rooms, or other buildings. The related rooms can be
accessed via a graphical representation of a home or by other means of accessing the
category of resources corresponding to the home. Similarly, rooms devoted to business
use can be arranged into an "office" building corresponding to a category of rooms related
to business use, and the office building can be accessed via a graphical representation of
an office or by other means of accessing the category of resources corresponding to the
office.
[0042] Additionally, or alternatively, the resources bundled together and/or
categorized as or in the rooms can be further categorized or organized into narrower or
more particular categories or bundles of resources. In one embodiment the resources of
the rooms are arranged into categories corresponding to walls, fixtures, furniture, or other
components ("items") of a room. For example, resources used for personal finance may
be arranged into an office room of a home building, and a more particular category of
resources, for example checking account balance resolution applications or resources, may
be organized into a desk item. The desk item may correspond to a heightened privacy
level of the categorized personal financial resources, or to other categories of resources. It
should be understood that the office may contain additional and/or alternative items
corresponding to other categories of resources.
[0043] As will be explained in more detail below with reference to FIGURES 4A-
4C, permissions can be set for each individual resource, each bundle of resources, each
category of bundles of resources, each category of rooms, and the like. As such, the
concepts and technologies disclosed herein can be used enable rich permissioning and/or
access control functionality for the buildings, rooms, items, and/or other levels of
resources. These and other types of buildings, rooms, items, and resources are illustrated
and described in more detail below with reference to FIGURES 4A-4C.
[0044] In some embodiments, buildings, rooms, or items are accessed via one or
more keys that can be shared with users. As used herein, a "key" corresponds to
information used by an entity to access one or more aspects of the room-based computing
environment such as, for example, a building, a room, an item, a particular resource, and
the like. It should be understood that the "key" can be provided by functionality such as
tokens, passwords, and the like, and does not necessarily relate to any physical item.
Thus, it should be understood that the term "key" can refer not only to functionality, but
also to graphical representations of functionality for display and/or interaction with in a
room-based computing environment.
[0045] In some embodiments, a key to a building can be shared as a password that
allows access to a group of rooms corresponding to the building. Thus, a user can share
his home category of rooms with other users by sharing a password to enable access to the
building. In some embodiments, multiple keys may be needed to access one or more
rooms of a particular building and/or items in a particular room. For example, while a
particular shared key may enable access to the building, some rooms in the building may
not be accessible using the shared key. Users can place additional access control
mechanisms in place to prevent access to particular rooms. These access control
mechanisms can be graphically represented as doors or locks, and users can be granted
keys, passwords, and/or other mechanisms to enable access to rooms or items that are
protected by these additional access control mechanisms.
[0046] To further illustrate the notion of access control in an exemplary
embodiment, consider a home building, or a collection of rooms dedicated to personal use.
A user may share his home category of rooms with other users to allow them to access his
collection of resources such as web sites, links, pages, and the like. In order to control
access to the home category of rooms, the user may require a key to access the home. The
other users may access the home via the key, and/or some rooms of the home may be
made available via open access to any user accessing the home category of rooms. Upon
accessing the home, which can be graphically represented on a UI by walking into a home
or otherwise accessing the rooms associated with the home, some rooms may be "locked"
or otherwise protected from "entry" or access, and some rooms may be open to any user
possessing the key to the front door or other access into the home. To access the protected
or locked rooms, a user may need to present another key such as a password or other
authentication mechanism to pass the locked door. In other embodiments, users can
request entry to the room via email, chat services, telephone, and the like, which can be
represented as "knocking" on the locked door, graphically or otherwise. This "knocking"
can be used or interpreted to prompt a message or other notification to a user associated
with the shared room regarding the requested access.
[0047] Similarly, once access is gained to a particular room, some items in the
room may be further protected or subject to access control mechanisms. In the case of the
home office, it will be appreciated that sensitive financial or personal resources may be
categorized into a locking drawer of a desk or other item in the office, while other
resources may be categorized into a desktop of the desk that is visible to any users granted
access to the office. All of these concepts can be graphically represented and presented to
users to allow users to graphically navigate resources, bundles of resources, bundles of
bundles of resources, and the like. These and other features of the room-based computing
environment described herein are illustrated and described in more detail with reference to
FIGURES 4A-4C.
[0048] According to various embodiments, the room data 124 includes individual
resource information such as one or more links for accessing resources, descriptions of the
resources, and the like, data describing the bundled resources that have been defined by
users as corresponding to a room, a building, items in rooms, and the like. The room data
124 also can include authentication/permissions lists, passwords, and/or other data
associated with individual resources, bundles of resources, categories of resources, and the
like. As mentioned above, the resources can include, but are not limited to, applications,
web pages, links, services, audio files, video files, web stores, and the like. Thus, it should
be understood that resource access via one or more buildings, rooms, items, and the like
associated with a user can be restricted by the user, if desired, even if the resources are
publicly available via other access means.
[0049] The room data 124 also can include computer executable instructions for
generating one or more UIs associated with the buildings, rooms, items, resources, and the
like. Additionally, the room data 124 can include location data associated with the roombased
computing environments. For example, in some embodiments, buildings, rooms,
and/or items are associated with real-world location or geolocation data to enable locationbased
functionality associated with the room-based computing environment. For example,
a user may access a room-based computing environment and may by default be placed in a
building or room associated with a current geographic location of the user. Thus, a user
accessing the room-based computing environment from his home may by default be
presented with a graphical UI illustrating his home and/or a room of his home
corresponding to his current location. This example is illustrative, and should not be
construed as being limiting in any way.
[0050] The advertising application 122 is configured to generate advertising 126 to
present with, or embed in, the room data 124. In some embodiments, the advertising
application 122 generates the advertising 126 in accordance with one or more advertising
or marketing plans and/or manages the positioning, placement, and presentation of the
advertising 126 in association with and/or independent of the advertising and/or marketing
plans. In some embodiments, the advertising application 122 manages subscriptions
and/or advertising campaigns for advertisers such as social networking service
administrators, application developers, web resource authors or service providers, and the
like. According to some implementations, advertisers pay a fee or otherwise participate in
advertising services designed to select and present advertising 126 and/or to enhance or
improve the presentation of advertising 126 in accordance with marketing and/or
advertising plans. Additionally, or alternatively, users can share buildings, rooms, items,
and individual resources, and may sell advertising space in the shared buildings, rooms,
items, and the like, to advertisers, search engines, or other entities. Exemplary
presentation of advertising 126 in buildings, rooms, items, and the like are described in
more detail herein.
[0051] The operating environment 100 also includes a client 128 operating on or in
communication with the network 104. According to various embodiments, the client 128
includes a personal computer ("PC") such as a desktop, tablet, laptop or netbook computer
system. The client 128 also includes, in various implementations, other types of
computing systems including, but not limited to, server computers, handheld computers,
embedded computer systems, personal digital assistants, mobile telephones, smart phones,
set top boxes ("STBs"), gaming devices, and/or other computing devices. Although not
illustrated in FIGURE 1, it should be understood that the client 128 can communicate with
the room engine 118 via the network 104.
[0052] The client 128 is configured to execute an operating system 130.
According to various embodiments, the operating system 130 executed by the client 128 is
a native operating system such as the WINDOWS family of operating systems from
Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Washington and/or a web-based operating system.
Thus, it will be understood that according to various embodiments, the client 128 is
configured or equipped to execute traditional native applications and/or programs at the
client-side and/or to access applications such as the applications 106, which can include
remotely-executed applications such as web applications and/or other remote applications.
[0053] Additionally, the client 128 can be configured to receive and render data
generated by the applications 106, the SN application 110, the room engine 118, and/or
other entities. For example, the client 128 can receive content such as web pages, data
generated by applications 106, SN data 112, room data 124, advertising 126, and/or other
content, which can be rendered by the operating system 130 or an application program 132
executed by the client 128. In some implementations, the client 128 is configured to
access remotely-executed applications and/or to execute local code such as scripts, local
searches, and the like. As such, the client 128 can be configured to access or utilize cloudbased,
web-based, and/or other remotely executed applications, and to render the data
generated by applications 106, SN applications 110, and/or associated with web pages or
other resources.
[0054] It therefore should be understood that the application programs 132 can
include one or more programs for accessing and rendering the room data 124 to provide a
graphical representation of the room-based computing environment, as will be explained
in more detail herein. It also should be understood that the application programs 132 can
include applications for accessing and/or rendering content such as web pages and the like,
programs for accessing, executing, and/or rendering data associated with various native
and/or web-based applications, and/or programs for accessing, executing, and/or rendering
data associated with various services. In other embodiments, the application programs
132 include stand-alone or runtime applications that are configured to access web-based or
remote resources and/or applications via public or private application programming
interfaces ("APIs") and/or public or private network connections. Therefore, the
application programs 132 can include native and/or web-based applications for providing
or rendering data associated with locally-executed and/or remotely-executed applications.
[0055] According to various embodiments, a resource such as a web page, an
application 106, a document, a multimedia file, and/or other files, a social networking
service, and/or another resource is accessed or specified by a user, a device, a node, or the
like, and designated for addition to a room or other category or bundle of resources.
Notwithstanding conventional usage of words such as organizing, categorizing, bundling,
and the like, it should be understood that resources are not necessarily being contiguously
located or organized in any particular location. Rather, organizing, categorizing, bundling,
and the like, can include identifying groups, bundles, categories, or the like, with which a
particular resource is associated. The resource may be categorized or organized into a
category or bundle of resources and associated with a new or existing room or other
category or bundle of resources. In some embodiments, related rooms can be bundled into
a building corresponding to a type of resources. Similarly, rooms can include items that
correspond to more narrowly defined categories of resources, relative to the rooms. Data
describing the resource, identifying one or more links or locations associated with the
resource, and/or other information can be stored as the room data 124 and associated with
the particular building, room, item, or other resource bundle or specified resource
category.
[0056] During creation of a room, access of a room, review of a room, and/or
during addition of a resource to a room, various data can be retrieved and associated with
the resource, if desired. For example, location data, search history information, social
networking information, browsing histories, and the like, can be retrieved by the room
engine 118. The data can be used by the room engine 118 to further define the resources
and/or tailor functionality associated with the resources. For example, the room engine
118 can associate location data with the resource, as explained above.
[0057] The room engine 118 also can access the search data 116 to identify search
trends and/or other information associated with the resource, if desired. The search data
116 can identify, for example, popularity and/or ranking information associated with the
resource, searching trends associated with the resource, and the like. These and other
aspects of the search data 116 can be used to generate advertising 126 for display in a
room-based computing environment and can be stored with the room data 124.
[0058] A room-based computing environment can be generated. The room-based
computing environment can include one or more buildings, one or more rooms in the one
or more buildings, one or more items in the one or more rooms, and/or one or more
resources associated with the one or more items. Data describing the room-based
computing environment, as well as data for generating one or more UIs for navigating the
room-based computing environment can be stored with or as the room data 124.
Permissions associated with each of the buildings, rooms, items, and/or resources can be
specified, if desired, and can be stored as or with the room data 124, if desired.
[0059] If an entity accesses the room-based computing environment, the room
engine 118 can be configured to recognize the access. The room engine 118 also is
configured to authenticate the entity to determine access rights to the contents of the roombased
computing environment, to generate the contents of the room-based computing
environment, including advertising 126 and/or other information associated with the roombased
computing environment, and to present the environment to the entity, if appropriate.
Exemplary methodology for generating and presenting the room-based computing
environment, as well as exemplary UIs for presenting the room-based computing
environments, are illustrated and described in more detail with reference to FIGURES 2-
4C.
[0060] FIGURE 1 illustrates one server computer 102, one network 104, one SN
server 108, one search engine 114, one room engine 118, and one client 128. It should be
understood, however, that some implementations of the operating environment 100
include multiple server computers 102, multiple networks 104, multiple SN servers 108,
multiple search engines 114, multiple room engines 118, and/or multiple clients 128.
Thus, the illustrated embodiments should be understood as being exemplary, and should
not be construed as being limiting in any way.
[0061] Turning now to FIGURE 2, aspects of a method 200 for generating rooms
for a room-based computing environment will be described in detail. It should be
understood that the operations of the methods disclosed herein are not necessarily
presented in any particular order and that performance of some or all of the operations in
an alternative order(s) is possible and is contemplated. The operations have been
presented in the demonstrated order for ease of description and illustration, and not for
purposes of limiting the disclosure in any way. Operations may be added, omitted, and/or
performed simultaneously, without departing from the scope of the appended claims.
[0062] It also should be understood that the illustrated methods can be ended at
any time and need not be performed in their respective entireties. Some or all operations
of the methods, and/or substantially equivalent operations, can be performed by execution
of computer-readable instructions included on a computer-storage media, as defined
herein. The term "computer-readable instructions," and variants thereof, as used in the
description and claims, is used expansively herein to include routines, applications,
application modules, program modules, programs, components, data structures,
algorithms, and the like. Computer-readable instructions can be implemented on various
system configurations, including single-processor or multiprocessor systems,
minicomputers, mainframe computers, personal computers, hand-held computing devices,
microprocessor-based, programmable consumer electronics, combinations thereof, and the
like.
[0063] Thus, it should be appreciated that the logical operations described herein
are implemented (1) as a sequence of computer implemented acts or program modules
running on a computing system and/or (2) as interconnected machine logic circuits or
circuit modules within the computing system. The implementation is a matter of choice
dependent on the performance and other requirements of the computing system.
Accordingly, the logical operations described herein are referred to variously as states,
operations, structural devices, acts, or modules. These states, operations, structural
devices, acts, and modules may be implemented in software, in firmware, in special
purpose digital logic, and any combination thereof.
[0064] For purposes of illustrating and describing the concepts of the present
disclosure, the method 200 is described as being performed by the room engine 118 via
execution of one or more applications such as, for example, the room application 120
and/or the advertising application 122. It should be understood that this embodiment is
exemplary and should not be viewed as being limiting in any way. In particular, one or
more additional or alternative devices can execute these and/or other applications without
departing from the scope of the disclosure.
[0065] The method 200 begins at operation 202, wherein the room engine 118
creates a room. As explained above, a room can include a category of resources.
Although not described and/or illustrated in FIGURE 2, it should be understood from the
disclosure herein that buildings, items, and/or other divisions, sub-divisions, categories,
sub-categories, and the like, of resources also can be created in accordance with the
concepts and technologies disclosed herein. As such, the illustrated embodiments,
wherein the creation of rooms is illustrated and described, should be understood as being
exemplary of the disclosure, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.
[0066] According to some embodiments, the room engine 118 can receive input
specifying creation of the room. The input can be received from a user, a device, or
another entity. The input can be received via one or more user interfaces or API's
provided by the room engine 118. For example, the room engine 118 can execute the
room application 120 to provide an interface via which input corresponding to creation of
rooms is received. A user may access the room engine 118, for example, and create a new
"office" room. As explained above, the office room can be created as part of a building of
rooms corresponding to a category of rooms and/or independent of categories or other
divisions.
[0067] From operation 202, the method 200 proceeds to operation 204, wherein
one or more resources are associated with the room created in operation 202. As
mentioned above, "resources" can include applications, services, and files, as well as data
associated with or generated by applications, services, web pages, web sites, files,
application data, search data, and/or other information that may be consumed or used by
the client 128 and/or other entities. It also should be understood from the disclosure
herein that associating the resources with the room can include identifying, generating,
and/or storing information specifying how the resources can be accessed.
[0068] According to various embodiments, the information includes one or more
network links to web pages, files, applications, and/or other resources. Other information
for accessing the resources can include names of the resources, hardware and/or software
components associated with the resources, and the like. Thus, the information can include,
for example, network links such as URLs for accessing the resource and/or data specifying
a hardware component that hosts the resource. The above examples of information
specifying how the resources are accessed is exemplary, and should not be construed as
being limiting in any way.
[0069] From operation 204, the method 200 proceeds to operation 206, wherein
the room engine 118 retrieves data associated with the resource. The retrieved data can
include, but is not limited to, the search data 116, contextual data associated with the
resource, location data associated with the resource or the client 128 at a particular time
such as when the resource is added to the room-based computing environment, advertising
information associated with the resource, ranking information associated with the
resource, usage information associated with the resource, and/or other data. For example,
the search data 116 can include search histories associated with the resource, wherein the
search histories reveal search terms that commonly resulted in display of the resource,
numbers of times the resource has been explicitly searched for my name, links to the
resource, and the like. These and other types of search data 116 can be used to determine
relevance of the resource to particular queries or other activity, as well as to determine
popularity of the resource in specific search or activity scenarios.
[0070] As mentioned above, location information associated with the resource also
can be stored. In some embodiments, the location of the client 128 and/or another device
when the resource is added to a room-based computing environment can be associated
with the resource. Thus, for example, a resource that is added to a room-based computing
environment when searching from a real-world home office may be categorized in a
"home-office" category and graphically displayed in a home-office room, as will be more
clearly understood with reference to FIGURES 4A-4C. Other uses for location
information are possible and are contemplated.
[0071] The advertising and/or ranking information can include advertising 126
associated with the resource and/or ranking or placement information associated with the
advertising 126 and/or the resource. Thus, for example, the advertising and/or ranking
information can indicate how the resource is ranked and/or any advertising programs
associated with the resource, if any. This information can be used when presenting the
room-based computing environment, as is disclosed in more detail herein.
[0072] From operation 206, the method 200 proceeds to operation 208, wherein
the room engine 118 determines if additional resources are to be associated with the room.
If the room engine 118 determines that additional resources are to be associated with the
room, the method 200 returns to operation 204, wherein the resources are associated with
the room, and continues back to operation 206, wherein the data associated with the
resource is retrieved. The method 200 again proceeds to operation 208, wherein the room
engine 118 again determines if more resources are to be added to the room. If the room
engine 118 determines in any iteration of operation 208 that additional resources are not to
be associated with the room, the method 200 proceeds to operation 210.
[0073] At operation 210, the room engine sets permissions associated with the
room. In particular, a user or other entity can specify access controls for the room. As
explained herein, the access controls can include, for example, passwords or other
authentication mechanisms, keys, tokens, cookies, combinations thereof, and the like. The
access control information can be generated automatically and/or based upon user input.
The creation and use of access control mechanisms is described in more detail herein,
particularly with reference to FIGURES 4A-4C.
[0074] From operation 210, the method 200 proceeds to operation 212, wherein
the room engine 118 updates the room data 124. The room engine 118 can add or modify
the room data 124 to reflect the room created and/or modified in the operations 202-210,
as well as the resources associated with the room. Furthermore, the room data 124 can be
updated to reflect the permissions and/or access control information determined in
operation 210, if any.
[0075] From operation 210, the method 200 proceeds to operation 214, wherein
the room engine 118 determines if another room is to be created. If the room engine 118
determines that another room is to be created, the method 200 returns to operation 202,
wherein another room is created. The operations 202-212 can be repeated for the new
room in a manner substantially similar to that described above. If the room engine 118
determines that another room is not to be created, the method 200 proceeds to operation
216. The method 200 ends at operation 216.
[0076] As mentioned above, the method 200 can include additional steps for
creating buildings. According to one contemplated embodiment, the method 200 can
include an operation 201 (not illustrated), which can be provided before the operation 202.
In the exemplary operation 201, the room engine 118 receives a command to create a
building, and proceeds to operations 202-214 wherein the building is filled with rooms and
resources associated therewith. In the exemplary embodiment, the method 200 also
includes an operation 215 (not illustrated), which can be provided after the operation 214.
At the exemplary operation 215, the room engine 118 determines if another building is to
be created, and the method 200 returns to the exemplary operation 201 if the room engine
118 so determines. In another embodiment, the room engine 118 is configured to create
buildings at any time, including via separate and/or distinct methodology for creating
buildings. The room engine 118 can be used to populate the created buildings with
existing or newly created rooms. These embodiments therefore should be recognized as
being exemplary and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.
[0077] Similarly, as mentioned above and as is described in more detail herein
with reference to FIGURES 4A-4C, the rooms can be populated with items represented by
fixtures, furniture, or the like, which can correspond to categories, subcategories,
divisions, subdivisions, and the like, of resources. Thus, the method 200 can include
additional steps for creating items and/or the room engine 118 can execute other
methodology to provide functionality for creating room items and/or for associating items
with particular rooms. In one contemplated embodiment, the method 200 includes an
operation 203 (not illustrated) that can be provided after the operation 202. In the
exemplary operation 203, the room engine 118 receives a command to create an item
associated the room, and proceeds to operations 204-208, wherein resources are associated
with or added to the item created in operation 203. In the exemplary embodiment, the
method 200 also includes an operation 209, wherein the room engine 118 determines if
another item is to be created. If another item is to be created, the method 200 returns to
operation 203 and the new item is created. If not, the method 200 proceeds to operation
210, as described above.
[0078] Although not illustrated or described with reference to FIGURE 2, it should
be understood that the permissions setting functionality associated with the operation 210
can be provided collectively and/or individually for buildings, items, and/or other
categories, subcategories, divisions, and/or subdivisions of resources created by the room
engine 118. Thus, as will be described in more detail below, users or other entities can
specify multiple identical, similar, and/or varied layers of security and/or access controls
for accessing particular buildings, rooms, items, individual resources, and the like. It
should be understood that various rooms can be grouped together and subject to similar or
identical access control policies, if desired. Furthermore, parties attempting to access a
particular building, room, item, individual resource, or the like, may be required to satisfy
several layers of security and/or access control functionality.
[0079] Turning now to FIGURE 3, a method 300 for providing access to a roombased
computing environment is described in detail, according to an exemplary
embodiment. For purposes of illustration, and not limitation, the method 300 is described
as being performed by the room engine 118. It should be understood that this embodiment
is exemplary, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. Other devices
and/or applications can be used to generate the room-based computing environment
without departing from the scope of the claims.
[0080] The method 300 begins at operation 302, wherein the room-based
computing environment is accessed. In some embodiments, the room-based computing
environment may be accessed via access of one or more rooms of the room-based
computing environment. According to some embodiments, the room-based computing
environment is accessed via the room engine 118. As such, the room engine 118 can be
configured to detect when the room-based computing environment is accessed, though this
is not necessarily the case. In other embodiments, the room-based computing environment
generated based upon room data 124 stored at or accessed by the room engine 118 and
access therefore can be determined based upon access of the room data 124. It should be
understood that these methods for recognizing access of the room-based computing
environment are exemplary, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.
[0081] From operation 302, the method 300 proceeds to operation 304, wherein
the room engine 118 determines if the room-based computing environment accessed in
operation 302 is subject to access control restrictions. As mentioned above, users or other
entities can specify one or more access control mechanisms for various components of the
room-based computing environment such as buildings, rooms, items, and the like.
Similarly, the one or more access control mechanisms can include, for example,
passwords, tokens, keys, certificates, and/or other authentication mechanisms. Thus, the
operation 304 can include a determination by the room engine 118 if any access controls
are associated with the room-based computing environment. If the room engine 118
determines that access control mechanisms are associated with the room-based computing
environment, the method 300 proceeds to operation 306.
[0082] At operation 306, the room engine 118 authenticates the entity accessing
the room-based computing environment. According to various embodiments, the room
engine 118 is configured to interact with the entity in various manners to provide the
authentication functionality of the room engine 118. For example, in some embodiments,
the room engine 118 generates a UI for presenting a login window or form to the entity.
The UI can prompt the entity for a user ID, password, and/or other information to gain
access to the room-based computing environment.
[0083] In other embodiments, the room engine 118 prompts the entity for a "key"
to the room-based computing environment, and/or a component thereof such as a building,
a room, an item, and the like. The functionality of the "key" can be provided by way of an
access code, a token, and/or other authentication means. In yet other embodiments, the
room engine 118 determines if the entity is entitled to access the room-based computing
environment based, at least partially, upon one or more device identifiers associated with
the entity, one or more access lists associated with the room, and/or other information. It
should be understood that the above authentication methods are exemplary, and that
additional, alternative, and/or combinations of these and other authentication methods are
possible and are contemplated.
[0084] From operation 306, or from operation 304 if the room engine 118
determines that access to the room-based computing environment is not restricted, the
method 300 proceeds to operation 308, wherein the room engine determines the contents
of the room-based computing environment. According to various embodiments, the room
engine 118 accesses the room data 124 and determines what elements of the room-based
computing environment should be presented to the entity. If any components of the roombased
computing environment are subject to access controls, the room engine 118 can
apply an access control policy to the room data 124 to restrict the presented room data 124
to only that data to which the entity accessing the room-based computing environment has
authority to view.
[0085] Thus, if two users access the same room data 124, but userl is entitled to
access, for example, a home office of a home building whereas user2 is not entitled to
view the home office of a home building, the room engine 118 can omit the room data 124
corresponding to the home office before presenting the room-based computing
environment to user2, but may include the room data 124 corresponding to the home
office when presenting the room-based computing environment to userl. This example is
illustrative of how the content of the room-based computing environment can be altered
based upon access control rights, and should not be construed as being limiting in any
way.
[0086] Furthermore, it should be understood that users who fail to properly
authenticate with the room engine 118 may or may not be made aware of such failure,
depending upon security policies associated with the room-based computing environment.
In some embodiments, the users who fail to properly authenticate are still presented with
the room-based computing environment, but those components of the room-based
computing environment to which access is restricted by one or more polices are omitted
from the room-based computing environment presented to the entity. As such, the entity
may not know that authentication has failed and therefore may not make further attempts
at accessing the restricted information. In some embodiments, this approach improves the
overall security of the room-based computing environment and therefore is adopted, while
in other embodiments the entities are presented with the ability to authenticate more than
once and/or are otherwise notified that authentication has failed.
[0087] Determining the environment contents of the room-based computing
environment further can include generating advertising for display with or in the roombased
computing environment. For example, some entities may pay a fee to have
advertising 126 displayed in room-based computing environments associated with
particular users. Additionally, or alternatively, users may sell advertising space in roombased
computing environments to advertising entities in an attempt to generate revenue
based upon the shared room-based computing environments. As explained herein,
advertising content, the placement thereof, and the ranking and generation thereof, can be
determined based upon the search data 116, the SN data 112, contextual information
associated with the client 128, and/or other information.
[0088] In some embodiments, access of a particular building, room, and/or item in
a room-based computing environment can prompt generation or display of advertising
126. For example, if an entity accesses a kitchen room of a room-based computing
environment, advertising 126 relating to kitchen accessories or appliances, foods,
groceries, and/or ingredients, cook books, and the like, can be displayed in an attempt sell
goods or services to the entity. This example is illustrative and should not be construed as
being limiting in any way. It will thus be understood that accessing particular buildings,
rooms, and/or items can trigger the display of various advertising 126 believed to be
relevant to the buildings, rooms, and/or items.
[0089] From operation 308, the method 300 proceeds to operation 310, wherein
the room engine 118 generates the room-based computing environment based upon the
contents determined in operation 310. Although not specifically illustrated or described in
detail in FIGURE 3, it should be understood from the disclosure herein that generating the
room-based computing environment can include generating one or buildings, one or more
rooms, one or more items, and/or other categories, subcategories, divisions, subdivisions,
and the like, of resources. It also should be understood that generating the room-based
computing environment can include generating one or more user interfaces for interacting
with the room data 124, as will be described in more detail below with reference to
FIGURES 4A-4C.
[0090] From operation 310, the method 300 proceeds to operation 312, wherein
the room engine 118 presents the room-based computing environment. As will be
appreciated in light of the description above of operation 308, presenting the room-based
computing environment can include presenting the advertising 126 to the entity.
Furthermore, presenting the room-based computing environment also can include
prompting an entity for additional login or other access control information, as is
explained in more detail herein. The method 300 ends at operation 314.
[0091] Turning now to FIGURE 4A, a user interface diagram showing aspects of a
user interface (UI) for displaying a room-based computing environment in one
embodiment will be described. In particular, FIGURE 4A shows a screen display 400A
generated by one or more of the OS 130 and/or the application programs 132 executed by
the client 128 according to one particular implementation presented herein. It should be
appreciated that the UI diagrams illustrated in FIGURES 4A-4C are exemplary.
Furthermore, it should be understood that data corresponding to the UI diagrams
illustrated in FIGURES 4A-4C can be generated by the room engine 118 and rendered by
the client 128, though this is not necessarily the case.
[0092] The data corresponding to the UI diagrams illustrated in FIGURES 4A-4C
also can be generated via execution of a web-based application that is executed by the
client 128, executed by a system remote from the client 128, and/or executed by a
combination of the client 128 and a system remote from the client 128. Similarly, as
explained above, the UI can be executed by a system remote from the client 128, and data
corresponding to the executed UI can be transmitted to or made available to the client 128
for rendering and display at the client 128. As such, the UI diagrams can be displayed at a
client 128 executing a web-based operating system and/or other operating systems.
[0093] The screen display 400A shown in FIGURE 4A includes various tool bar
and menu items. It should be understood that the illustrated tool bar and menu items are
merely illustrative, and that additional and/or alternative tool bar and/or menu items are
possible and are contemplated. In the illustrated embodiment, the screen display 400A
includes a navigational display 402A. The navigational display 402A can be a visual
representation generated based upon the room data 124 and the advertising 126 as
described herein. In the illustrated embodiment, the navigational display 402A displays
UI controls 404A-H (collectively referred to herein as one or more "UI controls 404") for
accessing buildings as described above. According to exemplary embodiments, selection
of one or more of the UI controls 404 causes the client 128 to display additional details
associated with the building, for example, by displaying one or more rooms associated
with the building.
[0094] In the illustrated embodiment, the navigational display 402A includes a UI
control 404A for accessing a library building, which can contain one or more rooms
relating to research, study, reading, and/or other activities sometimes associated with
physical libraries. The navigational display 402A also includes a UI control 404B for
accessing a movie theater building, which can contain one or more rooms relating to video
or movies such as streaming video applications, movie research sites, movie theatre web
sites, and the like, as well as other resources for accessing functionality sometimes
associated with physical movie theatres. The navigational display 402A also includes a UI
control 404C for accessing an office building, which can contain one or more rooms
relating to a user's business such as a business web site, business tools and/or applications,
business banking information, intranet sites, and the like, as well as other resources for
accessing functionality sometimes associated with businesses.
[0095] The navigational display 402A also includes a UI control 404D for
accessing a home building, which can contain one or more rooms relating to a user's
personal use such as shopping sites, personal finance sites, news sites, personal banking
applications, communication applications and sites, electronic mail service portals, social
networking access sites or applications, and/or other resources or applications associated
with a user's or other entity's personal use. The navigational display 402A also includes a
UI control 404E for accessing a recreation building, which can contain one or more rooms
relating to a user's recreational use such as web sites related to hobbies or interests,
applications such as games and the like, sports sites and/or streaming video, and/or other
resources or applications associated with recreational use.
[0096] The navigational display 402A also includes a UI control 404F for
accessing a mall building, which can contain one or more rooms relating to shopping
and/or sales such as retailer web sites, product reviews, Internet shopping sites, and/or
other resources or applications sometimes associated with shopping or retailers. The
navigational display 402A also includes a UI control 404G for accessing other buildings.
It should be understood that the illustrated navigational display 402A and the illustrated UI
controls 404 are illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.
[0097] The navigational display 402A also includes advertising space 406, which
can be used to display advertisements such as, for example, the advertising 126 described
herein. It should be understood that the size, orientation, and positioning of the
advertising space 406 is illustrative, and that advertisements can be displayed on the UI
controls 404, in other spaces on the navigational display, in new, popup, and/or popunder
windows, and/or elsewhere on the screen display 400A.
[0098] The navigational display 402A also includes another content area 408,
which can be used to display any desired content associated with or related to the roombased
computing environment, as well as content unassociated with and/or unrelated to the
room-based computing environment. For example, the other content area 408 can display
search results generated by the search engine 112, wherein the search results are generated
based upon the content of the buildings or rooms, the author of the buildings or rooms,
social networking information associated with one or more users associated with the
room-based computing environment, and/or other content. In some embodiments, users
who author the room-based computing environment configure the other content area 408
to display desired content or information such as sports scores, news, user information,
and the like. It should be understood that these examples of content are illustrative, and
should not be construed as being limiting in any way. Furthermore, it should be
understood that the size, orientation, and positioning of the other content area 408 is
illustrative, and that other configurations are possible.
[0099] Turning now to FIGURE 4B, a user interface diagram showing additional
aspects of a user interface (UI) for displaying a room-based computing environment in one
embodiment will be described. In particular, FIGURE 4B shows a screen display 400B
generated by the OS 130 and/or the application programs 132 executed by the client 128
according to one particular implementation presented herein. In the illustrated
embodiment, the screen display 400B is displaying a navigational display 402B that is
displaying rooms corresponding to a home building. It should be understood that the
navigational display 402B may be displayed in response to selection of the UI control
404D described above with reference to FIGURE 4A, though this is not necessarily the
case. This embodiment is illustrative, as the navigational display 402B can be displayed
in response to other actions and/or by default, based upon location data, settings, login
information, keys, and the like.
[00100] The navigational display 402B includes UI controls 410A-G (hereinafter
collectively referred to as "UI controls 410"). Selection of the UI controls 410 can cause
the client 128 to display information associated with one or more rooms. In the illustrated
embodiment, selection of the UI controls 410 causes the client 128 to display information
associated with one or more rooms corresponding to the home building described above
with reference to FIGURE 4A. This embodiment is illustrative, and should not be
construed as being limiting in any way.
[00101] The navigational display 402B includes a UI control 410A for accessing a
front porch room. The front porch room can include any information that a user
associated with the front porch room wishes to share about himself or herself, as well as
resources that the user wishes to make available to anyone accessing the home building.
In some embodiments, the front porch room includes social networking profiles, contact
information, biographical information, and the like, associated with the home building.
According to various embodiments, the front porch room is accessible by any user and/or
by users given access to the room-based computing environment. According to other
embodiments, authentication is required before users can view the contents of the front
porch room. In some embodiments, one or more entities associated with the front porch
room sells advertising space 406, which can be displayed anywhere on the screen display
400B including, but not limited to, the front porch room, or elsewhere on the navigational
display 402B as shown in FIGURE 4B.
[00102] The navigational display 402B also includes a UI control 410B for
accessing an office room. The office room can include any resources or information the
user associates with the office room. For example, the office room can include
applications for managing finances, paying bills, managing assets, and the like, as well as
links to banking or financial institutions, business supply sites, private documents and/or
files, and the like. The navigational display 402B also includes a UI control 410C for
accessing a recreation room. The recreation room can include any resources or
information the user associates with the recreation room such as, for example, links to
sports or news sites, applications or links to streaming audio, video, or other multimedia,
video rental sites, hobby sites or information, and the like.
[00103] The navigational display 402B also includes a UI control 410D for
accessing a master bedroom. The master bedroom can include any resources or
information the user associates with the master bedroom. For example, the master
bedroom may include personal information and/or applications for accessing personal
information, image viewing or editing sites or applications, private documents and/or files,
and the like. The navigational display 402B also includes a UI control 410E for accessing
a pantry room. The pantry room can include any resources or information the user
associates with the pantry room such as, for example, links to grocery purchasing sites,
links to food or grocery reviews and information, shopping and ordering sites, applications
or sites for obtaining nutritional information, and the like.
[00104] The navigational display 402B also includes a UI control 410F for
accessing a kitchen room. The kitchen room can include any resources or information the
user associates with the kitchen room such as, for example, links or applications for
recipes or recipe sites, links to streaming video related to cooking, kitchen supply stores or
web sites, kitchen product reviews, and the like. The navigational display 402B also
includes a UI control 410G for accessing a kids' room. The kids' room can include any
resources or information the user associates with the kids' room such as, for example,
links to children's games, education applications, reading sites, and the like. The above
examples are illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. Other
rooms and/or categories of resources are contemplated, but are not illustrated and/or
described herein in detail for the sake of brevity.
[00105] As illustrated in FIGURE 4B, the rooms can be joined to one another by a
hallway, which also can correspond to a room. For example, selection of a UI control 412
corresponding to the hallway may cause the client 128 to display resources or information
that the user makes available for anyone who gains access to the hallway. More
particularly, access to the hallway room can be limited by access controls, schematically
illustrated in FIGURE 4B as UI control 414A corresponding to a front door 414A.
Selection of the UI control 414A can cause the client 128 to display a form for prompting
for and receiving a password or other authentication information. As explained above, the
user associated with the home building can share a key with other users for accessing the
hallway and/or other components of the room-based computing environment.
[00106] The illustrated home building includes other UI controls 414B-C
representing other doors or access controls associated with other rooms illustrated in
FIGURE 4B. As explained above, keys shared with users may allow the users to access
some, all, or none of the rooms associated with a particular building. As such, multiple
keys or other access control information may be shared with a user to enable the user to
access one or more rooms of a particular building.
[00107] The navigational display also includes a UI control 416 for accessing a
motion detector ("MD") in the hallway. In some embodiments, the UI control 416 merely
indicates that motion detector functionality is associated with the hallway. More
particularly, any access to the hallway, for example, any user successfully authenticating
at the front door and thereby accessing the hallway and/or open-access rooms accessible
via the hallway, may be reported to a user associated with the rooms and/or the building.
The reporting may be by way of instant message, text message, email, news ticker, or the
like. Selection of the UI control 416 by authorized entities may present the authorized
entities with options relating to the motion detector such as turning the motion detector on
or off, setting what types of users trigger the motion detector, what room the motion
detector is located in, and the like. In some embodiments, the motion detector
functionality is used to provide "hit-counter" functionality for the hallway and/or other
rooms in which a motion detector is located. Thus, the motion detector can be used to
track traffic in the hallway, if desired.
[00108] The navigational display also includes a UI control 418 for accessing a
camera ("CAM") associated with a particular room or building. In some embodiments,
the UI control 418 merely indicates that camera functionality is associated with a
particular room. More particularly, the camera may provide information to authorized
entities, the information indicating who is currently accessing a room that includes the
camera functionality and the like. Selection of the UI control 418 by authorized entities
may present the authorized entities with options relating to the camera such as turning the
camera on or off, setting what users or types of users are reported by the camera
functionality, what room the camera functionality applies to, and the like. It should be
understood that the functionality of the camera and the motion detector can be combined
into a unitary module, if desired.
[00109] As explained above with reference to FIGURE 4A, advertising space 406
can be provided in one or more of the rooms illustrated in FIGURE 4B and/or elsewhere
on the screen display 400B, and can be configured in any desired manner. Furthermore, it
should be understood that users associated with the rooms can be paid for allowing display
of advertisements in association with the rooms, for each click and/or other access of
resources associated with the advertisements, and the like. It should be understood that all
of the above-described rooms, doors, hallways, and functionality associated with the
motion detector and the camera are exemplary, and that these embodiments are illustrative
of some of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein. Furthermore, it should be
understood, as explained above with reference to FIGURE 3, that some, all, or none of the
illustrated resources, doors, rooms, and the like may be displayed to users based upon
various access controls. For example, if a user does not have authority to access the office
room, the office room may be omitted from the display 400B. Alternatively, the door
associated with the office may be displayed and may be interacted with to indicate to an
authorized entity that the user wishes to obtain authorization to access the office, an
indication that may be passed to an authorized party for action.
[00110] Turning now to FIGURE 4C, a user interface diagram showing additional
aspects of a user interface (UI) for displaying a room-based computing environment in one
embodiment will be described. In particular, FIGURE 4C shows a screen display 400C
generated by the OS 130 and/or the application programs 132 executed by the client 128
according to one particular implementation presented herein. In the illustrated
embodiment, the screen display 400C is displaying a navigational display 402C
corresponding to the office room of the home building, according to an exemplary
embodiments.
[00111] It should be understood that the navigational display 402C may be
displayed in response to selection of the UI 410B corresponding to the home building in
FIGURE 4B. This embodiment is illustrative, as the navigational display 402C can be
displayed in response to other actions and/or by default. For example, in some
embodiments, the navigational display 402C is displayed in response to determining that a
user is accessing the room-based computing environment from a home office with which
the office room is associated. The location can be determined based upon proximity
sensors, geolocation information, global position system (GPS) receivers or other location
determination devices, and the like. Similarly, the location can be approximated or
determined by one or more IP addresses, MAC addresses, or other device identifiers, and
the like, as explained above. Other embodiments are possible and are contemplated.
[00112] The navigational display 402C includes various UI controls corresponding
to one or more resources, as explained above with reference to FIGURES 1-4B. For
example, the navigation display 402C includes a UI control 420 for accessing a bookshelf
item. In an exemplary embodiment, the bookshelf item is used by a user to provide
additional categorization/subcategorization of various resources associated with the
buildings and/or rooms described herein. For example, selection of the UI control 420 can
cause the client 128 to display articles, books, reference materials, and the like, any or all
of which may be associated with an office bookshelf.
[00113] The navigational display 402C also includes a UI control 422 for accessing
a desk item. As mentioned above with regard to FIGURE 1, resources may be associated
not only with a building, room, and/or an item, but also with components of the item. In
an exemplary embodiment, the desk item can be used by a user to provide additional
categorization/subcategorization of various resources associated with the buildings and/or
rooms described herein, and in particular with the desk item. For example, selection of the
UI control 422 can cause the client 128 to display all resources associated with the desk
such as financial information, personal records, documents, and the like. In other
embodiments, selection of the UI control 422 may cause the client 128 to display all sub
items associated with the item. In the illustrated embodiment, the sub items are displayed
by default upon accessing the desk office room. It should be understood that this
embodiment is exemplary.
[00114] In the illustrated embodiment, the desk item includes UI controls 424A-D
for accessing various subcategories of resources associated with the desk category. The
navigational display 402C includes a UI control 424A for accessing a desktop associated
with the desk item. Selection of the UI control 424A can cause the client 128 to display
information shared with all users who are authorized to access the office room. For
example, home business information, personal and/or home business contact information,
and the like, can be shared with all users who obtain authorized access to the office room.
[00115] The desk item also includes a UI control 424B for accessing a filing
cabinet subcategory of resources. Selection of the UI control 424B can cause the client
128 to display resources categorized in the filing cabinet subcategory. In an exemplary
embodiment, tax records, personal records, business records, applications for accessing
personal or business information, and the like, are subcategorized in the filing cabinet
subcategory and accessible via selection of the UI control 424B. It should be understood
that access to the filing cabinet subcategory can be limited to users who successfully
authenticate after selection of the UI control 424B and/or who possess a key that allows
unlimited access to the buildings, rooms, or items of the room-based computing
environment. In FIGURE 4C, this is illustrated by a key icon 426 illustrated on the filing
cabinet item. It should be understood that other indications are possible and are
contemplated. Similarly, the desk item includes UI controls 424C-D for accessing desk
drawers, which can include various resources and/or information categorized in the desk
drawer or locking desk drawer categories. Similarly, access of the desk drawer
subcategories of resources may require authentication, as explained above.
[00116] The desk item also includes a UI control 428 for accessing a stereo
subcategory of resources. Selection of the UI control 428 can cause the client 128 to
display resources categorized in the stereo subcategory. In an exemplary embodiment,
streaming audio, streaming video, video or audio files, dictated files, and the like, are
subcategorized in the stereo subcategory and accessible via selection of the UI control
428. A user may specify certain music that should play when the UI control 426 is
selected, if desired. It should be understood that other embodiments are possible and are
contemplated.
[00117] As explained above with reference to FIGURES 4A-4B, advertising space
406 can be provided in association with one or more of the items illustrated in FIGURE
4C, and can be configured in any desired manner. Furthermore, it should be understood
that users associated with the rooms or items can be paid for allowing display of
advertisements in association with the rooms or items, for each click or access of resources
associated with the advertisements, and the like. It should be understood that all of the
above-described items and sub items are exemplary, and that these embodiments are
illustrative of some of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein. Furthermore, as
mentioned above, some, all, or none of the illustrated items and/or sub items, and the like
may be displayed to users based upon various access controls. For example, if a user does
not have authority to access the filing cabinet category of resources, the filing cabinet
resource may be omitted from the display 400C.
[00118] In some embodiments, the room-based computing environment is presented
in three-dimensional user interfaces. These interfaces can be, but are not necessarily,
provided by extremely realistic and/or immersive graphics. Furthermore, the interfaces
can be provided on two-dimensional displays and/or make use of three-dimensional
display and viewing technologies. In one contemplated embodiment, a user embarks on a
virtual walkthrough in a city or town and arrives at various buildings. The user can
approach the doors to enter the buildings and/or present his or her credentials such as a
key or authentication information, to gain access to the building. The rooms and items in
the rooms also can be rendered to provide realistic and/or immersive interactions with the
rooms and the items in the rooms. It therefore will be appreciated that the user experience
can be provided in two dimensions and three dimensions.
[00119] Providing the room-based computing environment in three dimensions also
creates new advertising placement opportunities. For example, in one embodiment,
advertisers can buy walls of a room, posters on the walls of a room, and the like, for
advertising space. A user navigating through a building or room may see a poster
advertising a particular service, company, store, resource, and the like. The advertising
126 may be interacted with in the environment and interactions with the advertising 126
may prompt additional actions such as opening a new room, going to a store associated
with the advertiser, and the like. In some embodiments, advertisers offer keys to restricted
rooms and the like, if the advertisements are clicked on in room. Similarly, in some
embodiments advertisers provide free keys to rooms that are normally fee-based rooms,
thereby encouraging users to entertain a trial of the rooms. In some embodiments, free
keys persist during a session but are cleared at the end of the session if not accepted or
used by the user.
[00120] In another embodiment, the room engine 118 is configured to provide room
prototypes and/or to provide default objects in particular rooms and/or types of rooms.
For example, a room for beer making may be provided by a prototype beer making room.
The prototype beer making room may include resources that are selected by the room
engine 118 based upon various criteria and/or based upon an anticipated relevance to the
subject matter of the room. In one embodiment, the room engine 118 receives the search
data 116 and/or access the search engine 114 to determine the most popular resources for
beer making. The most popular resources may include, for example, reference books or
sites, calculators for calculating various aspects of brewed beer such as utilization or
international bitterness units ("IBUs"), and the like. The default resources also can be
selected on the basis of paid advertising and/or ranking programs, wherein application
developers or web site authors pay to have their resources or other content included in the
default rooms. These examples are illustrative, and should not be construed as being
limiting in any way.
[00121] As explained above, the room engine 118 is configured to use location data
to alter the presentation of the room data 124 and/or the contents of the rooms. In some
embodiments, the room engine 118 uses the location data to alter the UI presented to a
user for interacting with rooms. For example, the room engine 118 can determine that a
user is accessing the room-based computing environment with a cell phone or other
portable computing device. In response to making this determination, the room engine
118 can generate a UI overlay and make the UI overlay available to the portable device.
Thus, the room engine 118 can allow portable devices to view the room-based computing
environment in modified forms tailored for display on the portable devices.
[00122] In another embodiment, the UI overlay is configured to be overlaid on a
real time image captured with a camera of a portable device. Thus, for example, a user
may be prompted to approach a poster on a wall in a store. In some embodiments, the
poster may include a smart tag, a 2D barcode, and/or other information that can be
scanned or input into the portable device and used to access a UI overlay such as that
described above. Once the UI overlay is received at the portable device, it may be
overlaid on the camera image and thereby used to provide, for example, a map for
navigating the store, information regarding sales or coupons, applications or tools for
improving the shopping experience, tools for paging associates of the store, and the like.
Because the location of the user is known at the time the tag or other information from the
display in the store is input or scanned, a location-based UI overlay can be provided that
includes visual cues for navigating the store. These examples are illustrative, and should
not be construed as being limiting in any way.
[00123] In some embodiments, the buildings, rooms, and/or items can be versioned
and/or provided in multiple versions. Thus, users can access present or past versions of
buildings, rooms, items, and the like. Usage of present and/or past versions can be tracked
and used to affect ranks associated with the respective versions and/or the rooms across
the various versions. In some embodiments, new versions of rooms may be offered for a
fee and/or associated with premium advertising space, while older versions may be offered
for free or reduced prices and/or associated with less than premium advertising space.
[00124] As explained above, the determination as to what resources to include in
rooms, and/or how to rank rooms may be determined, in full or in part, based upon page
ranking of the rooms and/or resources associated with the rooms. In one implementation,
page ranking is also used to compile super-rooms from available resources and/or rooms.
The room engine 118 is configured to identify the top-ranked resources and/or rooms, and
to compile the most popular rooms and/or resources into a super-room that is expected to
be extremely relevant to users searching for rooms and/or search results directed to topics
associated with the super-rooms. Advertising space in super-rooms may be offered at a
premium price due to the expected traffic and/or usage of the resources included in the
super-room, though this is not necessarily the case. It should be understood that other uses
for super-rooms, and other ranking and advertising schemes for and in super-rooms are
possible and are contemplated.
[00125] While the above description has described buildings, rooms, and items, it
should be understood that other divisions of resource categories are possible and are
contemplated. In one contemplated embodiment, the categories relate to portions of an
automobile such as a passenger compartment, the engine, the glove compartment, and the
trunk. A key can be provided to a user for accessing the vehicle, including any locked
compartments of the vehicle, if desired. Similarly, a "valet-key" can be provided to an
entity for accessing only the doors of the vehicle. Thus, access to some parts of the
vehicle can be granted, while access to other parts of the vehicle can be restricted.
[00126] Similarly, the engine can correspond to logic for running a business such as
database querying resources, employee and/or customer data, and the like, while the
passenger compartment can correspond to resources accessible by all users such as
ordering pages, company information pages, and the like. Thus, the engine compartment,
the passenger compartment, the glove compartment, and the trunk can correspond to
rooms, and particular aspects of each of those rooms can be categorized as items or stored
as resources. This example is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in
any way.
[00127] Although not described herein in detail, it also should be understood that a
room-based computing environment can be used to display peripheral information that is
not necessarily directly relevant to a particular room, building, item, or the like being
explored or displayed. Thus, for example, the room-based computing environment can be
extended to display information in a perspective view, or otherwise to display
supplemental information. In some embodiments, for example, weather information is
visible through windows of a room-based computing environment. Similarly, social
network status, email and/or messaging information, news, stock quotes, and the like can
be displayed in the room-based computing environment. As used in the claims, the term
"peripheral information" is used to refer to information that is not necessarily directly
relevant to a particular building, room, or item, but is of interest to a user of the roombased
computing environment. In one contemplated embodiment, peripheral information
is displayed on a wall of a room, on a desktop of a desk item in a room, on a wall of a
building, or elsewhere in a room-based computing environment. It should be understood
that the above-provided examples are illustrative and should not be construed as being
limiting in any way.
[00128] FIGURE 5 illustrates an exemplary computer architecture 500 for a device
capable of executing the software components described herein for providing room-based
computing environments. Thus, the computer architecture 500 illustrated in FIGURE 5
illustrates an architecture for a server computer, mobile phone, a PDA, a smart phone, a
server computer, a desktop computer, a netbook computer, a tablet computer, and/or a
laptop computer, for example the room engine 118. The computer architecture 500 may
be utilized to execute any aspects of the software components presented herein.
[00129] The computer architecture 500 illustrated in FIGURE 5 includes a central
processing unit 502 ("CPU"), a system memory 504, including a random access
memory 506 ("RAM") and a read-only memory ("ROM") 508, and a system bus 510 that
couples the memory 504 to the CPU 502. A basic input/output system containing the
basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within the computer
architecture 500, such as during startup, is stored in the ROM 508. The computer
architecture 500 further includes a mass storage device 512 for storing an operating system
514, the room application 120, the advertising application 122, and/or other applications
(not illustrated). The mass storage device 512 also can store room data 124 and/or other
data (not illustrated).
[00130] The mass storage device 512 is connected to the CPU 502 through a mass
storage controller (not shown) connected to the bus 510. The mass storage device 512 and
its associated computer-readable media provide non-volatile storage for the computer
architecture 500. Although the description of computer-readable media contained herein
refers to a mass storage device, such as a hard disk or CD-ROM drive, it should be
appreciated by those skilled in the art that computer-readable media can be any available
computer storage media that can be accessed by the computer architecture 500.
[00131] By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable storage media
may include volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented
in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable
instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. For example, computerreadable
media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash
memory or other solid state memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks
("DVD"), HD-DVD, BLU-RAY, or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic
tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which
can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by the computer
architecture 500. For purposes of this specification and the claims, the phrase "computerreadable
storage medium" and variations thereof, does not include communication media.
[00132] According to various embodiments, the computer architecture 500 may
operate in a networked environment using logical connections to remote computers
through a network such as the network 104. The computer architecture 500 may connect
to the network 104 through a network interface unit 516 connected to the bus 510. It
should be appreciated that the network interface unit 516 also may be utilized to connect
to other types of networks and remote computer systems, for example, the client 128. The
computer architecture 500 also may include an input/output controller 518 for receiving
and processing input from a number of other devices, including a keyboard, mouse, or
electronic stylus (not shown in FIGURE 5). Similarly, the input/output controller 518 may
provide output to a display screen, a printer, or other type of output device (also not shown
in FIGURE 5).
[00133] It should be appreciated that the software components described herein
may, when loaded into the CPU 502 and executed, transform the CPU 502 and the overall
computer architecture 500 from a general-purpose computing system into a specialpurpose
computing system customized to facilitate the functionality presented herein. The
CPU 502 may be constructed from any number of transistors or other discrete circuit
elements, which may individually or collectively assume any number of states. More
specifically, the CPU 502 may operate as a finite-state machine, in response to executable
instructions contained within the software modules disclosed herein. These computerexecutable
instructions may transform the CPU 502 by specifying how the CPU 502
transitions between states, thereby transforming the transistors or other discrete hardware
elements constituting the CPU 502.
[00134] Encoding the software modules presented herein also may transform the
physical structure of the computer-readable media presented herein. The specific
transformation of physical structure may depend on various factors, in different
implementations of this description. Examples of such factors may include, but are not
limited to, the technology used to implement the computer-readable media, whether the
computer-readable media is characterized as primary or secondary storage, and the
like. For example, if the computer-readable media is implemented as semiconductorbased
memory, the software disclosed herein may be encoded on the computer-readable
media by transforming the physical state of the semiconductor memory. For example, the
software may transform the state of transistors, capacitors, or other discrete circuit
elements constituting the semiconductor memory. The software also may transform the
physical state of such components in order to store data thereupon.
[00135] As another example, the computer-readable media disclosed herein may be
implemented using magnetic or optical technology. In such implementations, the software
presented herein may transform the physical state of magnetic or optical media, when the
software is encoded therein. These transformations may include altering the magnetic
characteristics of particular locations within given magnetic media. These transformations
also may include altering the physical features or characteristics of particular locations
within given optical media, to change the optical characteristics of those locations. Other
transformations of physical media are possible without departing from the scope and spirit
of the present description, with the foregoing examples provided only to facilitate this
discussion.
[00136] In light of the above, it should be appreciated that many types of physical
transformations take place in the computer architecture 500 in order to store and execute
the software components presented herein. It also should be appreciated that the computer
architecture 500 may include other types of computing devices, including hand-held
computers, embedded computer systems, personal digital assistants, and other types of
computing devices known to those skilled in the art. It is also contemplated that the
computer architecture 500 may not include all of the components shown in FIGURE 5,
may include other components that are not explicitly shown in FIGURE 5, or may utilize
an architecture completely different than that shown in FIGURE 5.
[00137] Based on the foregoing, it should be appreciated that technologies for
providing and using room-based computing environments have been disclosed herein.
Although the subject matter presented herein has been described in language specific to
computer structural features, methodological and transformative acts, specific computing
machinery, and computer readable media, it is to be understood that the invention defined
in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features, acts, or media
described herein. Rather, the specific features, acts and mediums are disclosed as example
forms of implementing the claims.
[00138] The subject matter described above is provided by way of illustration only
and should not be construed as limiting. Various modifications and changes may be made
to the subject matter described herein without following the example embodiments and
applications illustrated and described, and without departing from the true spirit and scope
of the present invention, which is set forth in the following claims.
CLAIMS
We claim:
1. A computer-implemented method for providing a room-based computing
environment, the computer-implemented method comprising performing computerimplemented
operations for:
submitting room creation data to a room engine, the room comprising a category of
resources, wherein submitting the room creation data causes the room engine to create the
room;
adding a resource to the room, wherein adding the resource to the room causes the
room engine to retrieve data associated with the resource; and
submitting permissions data to the room engine, the permissions data
corresponding to permissions associated with the room, wherein the room engine is further
configured to generate room data comprising data identifying the resources and data
identifying the permissions corresponding to the room in response to receiving the
permissions data.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein setting the permissions comprises
identifying an access control mechanism required to access the room.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising submitting building creation
data to the room engine, wherein in response to receiving the building creation data, the
room engine is configured to
create one or more buildings, each of the buildings comprising a category of
rooms, and
associate the room with one or more of the buildings based, at least partially, upon
determining a category associated with the room and associating the room with a building
corresponding to the determined category.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising submitting location data to the
room engine, the location data comprising information identifying a geographic location
associated with a client when the room creation data is submitted.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the room engine is configured to:
detect access of the room-based computing environment by an entity;
determine if access to the room-based computing environment is restricted;
in response to determining that access to the room-based computing environment is
restricted, authenticating the entity;
determine the contents of the room-based computing environment by accessing the
room data, wherein the contents of the room-based computing environment are altered
based, at least partially, upon whether the entity successfully authenticates, and wherein
determining the contents of the room-based computing environment comprises generating
advertising for display with the room data; and
presenting the room-based computing environment, wherein presenting the roombased
computing environment comprises generating a user interface for navigating the
room-based computing environment via a computer executing a web-based operating
system, the user interface comprising
one or more user interface controls for accessing one or more of the
resources, and
advertising space for displaying the generated advertising.
6. A computer-readable storage medium having computer readable
instructions stored thereupon that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:
create one or more rooms, the one or more rooms comprising a category of
resources;
create one or more buildings, the one or more buildings comprising a category of
rooms;
add a room to the one or more buildings;
add a resource to the one or more rooms;
retrieve data associated with the resource, the data comprising social networking
data and search data;
set permissions corresponding to the one or more buildings, wherein setting the
permissions comprises identifying an access control mechanism required to access the one
or more buildings;
set permissions corresponding to the one or more rooms, wherein setting the
permissions comprises identifying an access control mechanism required to access the one
or more rooms;
generate room data comprising data identifying the resources, data identifying the
permissions corresponding to the one or more rooms, and data identifying the permissions
corresponding to the one or more buildings;
generate advertising relating to the one or more rooms, the content of the
advertising being based, at least partially, upon the social networking data and the search
data; and
store data relating to the advertising with the room data corresponding to the one or
more buildings and the one or more rooms.
7. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 6, further comprising
instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to:
detect access of the room-based computing environment by an entity;
determine if access to the room-based computing environment is restricted;
in response to determining that access to the room-based computing environment is
restricted, authenticate the entity;
determine contents of the room-based computing environment by accessing the
room data, wherein the contents of the room-based computing environment are altered
based, at least partially, upon whether the entity successfully authenticates; and
present the room-based computing environment, wherein presenting the roombased
computing environment comprises generating a user interface for navigating the
room-based computing environment via a computer executing a web-based operating
system, the user interface comprising
one or more user interface controls for accessing the one or more buildings,
wherein selection of the one or more user interface controls causes the computer to
display one or more room user interface controls for accessing the one or more
rooms, and
advertising space for displaying the advertising.
8. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, further comprising
computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the computer to present
peripheral information with the room-based computing environment.
9. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, further comprising
computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the
computer to present one or more room user interface controls for accessing the rooms, in
response to receiving a selection of the one or more user interface controls, at least one of
the room user interface controls comprising a door user interface control for submitting
authentication information to access the resources associated with the at least one of the
room user interface controls.
10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, further comprising
computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the
computer to display a presence user interface control for accessing functionality relating to
at least one of a motion detector or a camera associated with the one or more room user
interface controls.