HK1039840B - Method and apparatus for supplying virtual agent - Google Patents

Description

Method and apparatus for providing virtual agent

This application is a divisional application with application number 97126095.5.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing a virtual agent method mail and an automatic transmission program providing medium for exchanging an electronic mail between computing terminals such as personal computers on a communication network.

Background

Electronic mail (E-mail) has gained widespread use by taking advantage of the structure of the internet and the ability to provide global communication of information exchange between spatially separated computers.

In an internet email system, mail servers are provided in a distributed manner in various areas. The client sends an email to the mail server of the area to which he or she belongs, or vice versa.

That is, a sender states what he or she wants to send, and sends an email to a receiver according to an address and name provided by a client agent (software that sends/receives an email) of an email called a mailer.

A mail server of a region to which a sender belongs sends a mail to be transmitted to a representative mail server of an organization. The representative mail server sends the address of the server/node to be reached next to the network, and then proceeds to transmit the mail to the mail server to which the communication partner (receiver) belongs, based on the address.

The receiver knows that an e-mail has arrived in his or her mailbox by means such as displaying a flag that a mail has arrived when the mail is opened so that he or she can read the sent mail.

For delivering e-mail, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), which is an upper layer protocol of transmission control/interconnection protocol (TCP/IP), is used as a communication protocol. Typically, the format is automatically formulated by the mailer. According To SMTP, a header consisting of lines for the expression Date [ Date: ], the name of the sender of the mail [ From: ], the address [ To: ], the title [ Subject: ], or the copybook (blind copybook) [ Bcc: ] is added To the leading end of the main text of the mail.

Although the electronic mail system of the internet is based on text (alphabetical information: character codes), an extended format formed for processing other languages or multimedia such as pictures or voices than english is also defined as Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME). That is, still picture information, moving picture information, or voice information is compressed and converted into character codes, which are collected in a text and transmitted in this form in the MIME system. The receiver side automatically interprets the MIME system to examine information that has been assembled into a textual form to enable a viewing/playback tool to display/reproduce the information.

From japanese laid-open patent application No. JP- ｃA-5-274233, which is filed by the present assignee, an electronic mail system is known in which screen information is attached to an electronic mail to transmit/receive the electronic mail in which coexisting screens and letters coexist. When using such an e-mail system, a terminal keyboard or mouse is operated to draw or write, and a drawn or composed main text is displayed on a letter paper on a CRT, and then the keyboard or mouse is operated to issue a command for sending an e-mail. It is then determined whether the name of the recipient is to be represented in the top row of text. If it is determined that the name of the recipient is to be entered, the recipient name, the sender name and the current data are formed on the mail header. Then, whether a picture is drawn on the letter paper is checked. If the screen is found to be drawn, screen information data including page information indicating a letter page having the screen, position information specifying the position of the screen, and the screen title is formed on the email title. The main text is then appended and sent as an email.

Although the above-described email system is very convenient for a person who gets used to it, it may be unfriendly for a person who uses a personal computer for the first time to send or receive email because it is completely different from a general letter delivery system used in daily life. That is, the user can utilize the email system only after learning and completely understanding the operation method of the mailer exchange software as email with the help of the guide.

Recently, a set-top box called an internet terminal has appeared on the market, which has a function of accessing the internet, so that a user without a personal computer can utilize internet services simply by connecting the internet terminal to a television receiver in his or her home. However, even such internet end users cannot intuitively understand the method of operation of the mailer.

As a Graphical User Interface (GUI) in view of user-friendliness, a desktop metaphor screen is known which emulates a desktop implemented by an operating system named Magic Cap developed by General Magic corporation of usa. Fig. 1 shows a typical style of GUI screen of Magic Cap. This GUI screen reflects daily tools or daily living environment using the desktop screen 300 simulating learning. On this desktop screen 300, a clock 301 having the current time, an output box 303 of an e-mail number to be transmitted, and a file cabinet 304 for saving files are displayed. Also shown are a telephone 305, an address book 306, a postcard 307 for specifying a message to be sent by an e-mail, a notebook 308 and a schedule memo 309, all of which are placed on a desk equipped with a drawer so that they can be manipulated by touch of a pen.

However, although the Magic Cap displays an image simulating an actual postcard in the GUI screen, a process of receiving and delivering the postcard 307 and a process of arrival of a postcard from another user are not displayed, so that the user cannot intuitively understand the delivery process. Thus, the user cannot presume the course of the e-mail or the exchange method or the operation method from the general mail delivery system.

Meanwhile, in Japanese laid-open patent application No. JP-A-3-222033, which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 5347628, ｃA technology is disclosed regarding ｃA GUI as an interface of ｃA datｃA processing apparatus, which is capable of intuitively accessing electronic datｃA simulating ｃA desktop metaphor screen of ｃA room by moving icons such as ｃA screen.

Disclosure of Invention

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to disclose a method for providing a virtual agent, comprising the following steps: detecting one or more events corresponding to one or more agent parameters of a plurality of agents of a virtual agent, the agent parameters configured to determine behavior of the virtual agent; and updating the plurality of agent parameters with each detected event to continuously modify the behavior of the virtual agent with each detected event.

Another objective of the present invention is to disclose an apparatus for controlling a virtual agent, comprising: a detector to detect one or more events corresponding to one or more agent parameters of a plurality of agents of a virtual agent, the agent parameters configured to determine behavior of the virtual agent; and a controller to update the plurality of agent parameters with each detected event to continuously modify the behavior of the virtual agent with each detected event.

Another objective of the present invention is to disclose a method for controlling a virtual agent, comprising the following steps: generating a virtual agent having a plurality of agent parameters configured to determine the virtual agent behavior; displaying the virtual agent on a display unit; interacting with the virtual agent on the display unit; and updating the plurality of agent parameters according to the interacting step so as to continuously modify the behavior of the virtual agent.

Another objective of the present invention is to disclose an apparatus for controlling a virtual agent, comprising: a generator for generating a virtual agent having a plurality of agent parameters configured to determine the behavior of the virtual agent; a display unit that displays the virtual agent on a display unit; the interaction device interacts with the virtual agent on the display unit; and the updating device is used for updating the plurality of agent parameters according to the interaction step so as to continuously correct the behavior of the virtual agent.

Another objective of the present invention is to disclose a method for providing a virtual pet, comprising the following steps: detecting one or more events corresponding to pet parameters of one or more of a plurality of pets in a virtual pet, the pet parameters configured to determine behavior of the virtual pet; and updating the plurality of pet parameters with each detected event to continuously modify the behavior of the virtual pet with each detected event.

It is still another object of the present invention to disclose a device for controlling a virtual pet, comprising: a detector to detect one or more events corresponding to pet parameters of one or more of a plurality of pets in a virtual pet, the pet parameters configured to determine behavior of the virtual pet; and a controller that updates the plurality of pet parameters with each detected event so as to continuously modify the behavior of the virtual pet with each detected event.

Another objective of the present invention is to disclose a method for controlling a virtual pet, comprising the following steps: generating a virtual pet having a plurality of pet parameters configured to determine the virtual pet behavior; displaying the virtual pet on a display unit; interacting with the virtual pet on the display unit; and updating the plurality of pet parameters according to the interaction step so as to continuously modify the behavior of the virtual pet.

It is still another object of the present invention to disclose a device for controlling a virtual pet, comprising: a generator for generating a virtual pet having a plurality of pet parameters configured to determine behavior of the virtual pet; a display unit that displays the virtual pet on a display unit; the interaction device interacts with the virtual pet on the display unit; and the updating device is used for updating the pet parameters according to the interaction step so as to continuously correct the behavior of the virtual pet.

According to the present invention, with a real-world-oriented GUI, a user can not only entrust his or her mail to a pet as an agent of his or her interests in order to send/receive e-mails through understandable intuitive operations, but also the user or customer can use the agent with a friendly feeling.

According to the present invention, the action of the agent can be suspended when the user loses interest in the content of the e-mail freely delivered by the agent, and this effect can be notified to the user or his or her other party by an e-mail sent to the user or his or her other party.

In the method and apparatus provided according to the present invention, when a send command for a text-to-transfer email is answered, an agent parameter for controlling an agent to pass the email is added to a main mail text having a mail header to be sent to a user side of the email. The proxy parameters are modified as the experience changes, which reflect the lag in proxy operation. The agent sends an e-mail of a preset illustrative sentence to the user according to the agent parameters. Therefore, the user (customer) can send an email by an agent of his or her interests by an understandable simple intuitive operation using a real-world-oriented GUI, while the user (customer) can use an agent having a friendly feeling.

In the method and apparatus provided according to the present invention, when a transmission command for transmitting an electronic mail is answered, an agent parameter for controlling an agent to deliver the electronic mail is added to a main mail text having a mail header to be transmitted to a user side of the electronic mail. The proxy parameters are modified as the experience changes, which reflect the lag in proxy operation. And the agent sends the E-mail of the preset description sentence to the E-mail counterpart of the user according to the agent parameter. Therefore, the user (customer) can send an e-mail by an agent in his or her interest by an understandable simple intuitive operation using a real-world-oriented GUI, and the user's e-mail counterpart can answer the e-mail with the friendly feeling of the agent, thus ensuring the friendly feeling of mail exchange.

In the method and apparatus provided according to the present invention, when a transmission command for transmitting an electronic mail is answered, an agent parameter for controlling an agent to deliver the electronic mail is added to a main mail text having a mail header to be transmitted to a user side of the electronic mail. The correction agent transmits an e-mail of a preset explanatory sentence to the user or the user's e-mail counterpart according to the agent parameter as reflecting the change of the contents of the agent operation hysteresis. Therefore, both the sender and the receiver of the electronic mail can have the electronic pet which is aware of the holding at the same time, thereby ensuring a friendly feeling of mail exchange.

According to the present invention, the exchange e-mail is handled as if it were distributed and transmitted as letters in daily life, and therefore, its action or operation process can be easily presumed, so that even a beginner can learn and use e-mail. The sending end sends the agent data updated in response to the experience of the electronic pet as a page attached to the electronic mail, and only the pet data is automatically returned at the receiving end, and the sending or receiving electronic mail can be displayed in an animation form as if the pet goes in and out of a GUI picture imitating the inside of the sender's room or the receiver's room. In addition, the animated electronic pet can be virtually maintained. That is, proxy data that determines the characteristics or behaviors of pets is updated in response to a mouse action of a user, such as a touch or a wait action, and the behaviors of various pets are responded to a maintained environment, thereby virtually maintaining an animated electronic pet. In addition, the cyber pet may select one sentence among preset explanatory sentences in which the agent data is stored, and transmit the selected sentence as an electronic mail to the user or his or her counterpart of the electronic mail.

By exchanging mails in a virtual manner by an electronic pet that exists on a real-world-oriented GUI screen simulating the inside of a sender's room and a receiver's room, both the sender and the receiver can recognize the existing pet, thereby ensuring that mails are exchanged with a sense of familiarity.

Further, by storing proxy screen data in the user computer and the receiver computer, and by actually transmitting the proxy data that controls the behavior of the proxy, the result is the same as if the screen data of the proxy were being transmitted. By sending proxy parameters instead of picture data, the user connection time can be reduced, thus saving the connection fee and telephone fee of the internet for the user who dials through. On the other hand, since the amount of data exchanged can be reduced, resources of the internet can be comprehensively saved.

Drawings

FIG. 1 shows an example of a GUI screen of a Magic Cap.

Fig. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an email system in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 3 shows a GUI screen of 'PostPet (room)' displayed when a mailer installed on a personal computer with e-mail is started.

Fig. 4 shows the types of postal pets prepared in the mailer.

Fig. 5 shows a GUI screen 'compose mail' represented on the mailer.

Fig. 6 shows a GUI screen 'receive directory' represented on the mailer.

Fig. 7 shows the structure of an e-mail sent by a postal pet.

FIG. 8 illustrates the types of agent parameters attached to the main text of an e-mail sent by a postal pet.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a proxy parameter attached to the main text of an e-mail sent by a postal pet.

Fig. 10 is a flowchart showing the entire processing function of the mailer.

Fig. 11 is a flowchart showing the mailer transmission processing contents.

Fig. 12 is a flowchart showing a mailer reception process content.

Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing the contents of the process of updating the agent parameter by the mailer.

Fig. 14 shows a state of instructing a carrier in a GUI screen 'compose mail' represented by a mailer to send a mail.

Fig. 15 shows a state of the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)' in a case where the mailer commands the transmission of the mail.

Fig. 16 also shows the state of the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)' in the case where the mailer commands the transmission of the mail.

Fig. 17 also shows the state of the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)' in the case where the mailer commands the transmission of the mail.

Fig. 18 also shows the state of the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)' in the case where the mailer commands the transmission of the mail.

Fig. 19 also shows the state of the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)' in the case where the mailer commands the transmission of the mail.

Fig. 20 shows a state of commanding the mailer within the GUI screen 'compose mail' represented by the mailer to send a mail.

Fig. 21 shows a state of the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)' when the mailer commands the transmission of the mail.

Fig. 22 also shows the state of the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)' when the mailer commands the transmission of the mail.

Fig. 23 also shows the state of the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)' when the mailer commands the transmission of the mail.

Fig. 24 also shows the state of the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)' when the mailer commands the transmission of the mail.

Fig. 25 shows a state of the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)' when the postal pet receives the e-mail.

Fig. 26 also shows the state of the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)' when the postal pet receives the e-mail.

Fig. 27 also shows the state of the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)' when the postal pet receives the e-mail.

Fig. 28 also shows the state of the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)' when the postal pet receives the e-mail.

Fig. 29 shows a state of the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)' when the postal pet has sent a mail and returns.

Fig. 30 also shows the state of the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)' when the postal pet has sent a mail and returns.

Fig. 31 also shows the state of the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)' when the postal pet has sent a mail and returns.

Fig. 32 shows a state in which clicking one icon commands to take care of a postal pet on the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)'.

Fig. 33 shows a state in which clicking an icon commands to take care of a postal pet on the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)', thereby opening a pull-down menu.

Fig. 34 shows a state in which the item 'snack' in the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)' pull-down menu is selected, thereby opening a window.

Fig. 35 shows a state of a button 'service' on a window opened when 'snacks' in a pull-down menu of a GUI screen 'postal pet (room)'.

Fig. 36 shows a state in which the item 'wash' in the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)' pull-down menu has been selected.

Fig. 37 shows a state in which the postal pet on the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)' pull-down menu is soiled.

Fig. 38 shows a state in which the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)' item 'reordering' in the pull-down menu has been selected.

Fig. 39 shows a GUI screen 'postal pet (room)' when reordering has been performed.

Fig. 40 shows the state of the item 'pet state' in the drop-down menu of the selected GUI screen 'postal pet (room)'.

Fig. 41 shows a display state of an indication cursor located outside one room on the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)'.

Fig. 42 shows a display state of an indication cursor located inside one room on the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)'.

Fig. 43 shows a state of stroking the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)' to post pet.

Fig. 44 also shows a state in which the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)' is stroked.

Fig. 45 also shows a state in which the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)' is stroked.

Fig. 46 also shows a state of flapping the GUI screen 'postal pet (room)' to go to the postal pet.

Fig. 47 is a timing chart showing a sequence of email exchange in a state where two personal computers each having a mailer installed are simultaneously connected to a communication network.

Fig. 48 is a timing chart showing a sequence of email exchange in the case where two personal computers each having a mailer installed are connected to a communication network with time shifts.

FIG. 49 is a flow chart showing event processing in a sensory unit governing postal pet behavior.

FIG. 50 illustrates a technique for determining postal pet behavior through surrogate parameters.

Fig. 51 shows a basic structure of a sense unit.

Fig. 52 schematically shows a postal pet sending mail a from user a to another user B.

Fig. 53 schematically shows that the user B acquires the mail a.

FIG. 54 schematically shows user B automatically mailing back the proxy parameters.

Fig. 55 schematically shows the receipt of an agent parameter automatically returned from user B.

Fig. 56 shows a GUI screen for a postal pet as a result of selection.

Fig. 57 shows a GUI screen 'postal pet (room)' in which Hatena-kun first entered.

Detailed Description

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The present invention is applied to an electronic mail (E-mail) system in which electronic mails are exchanged between a plurality of personal computers 21, 22 connected to the internet 10 via public telephone networks 1, 2 and via service providers 11, 12, respectively.

The internet service provider 11 is constituted by a router 11A, a communication server 11C, and a mail server 11D interconnected by a Local Area Network (LAN) 11B. The mail server 11D is provided with a hard disk drive constituting a mail roll 11E for temporarily storing mail. The communication server 11C includes a modem 11F for connecting to the personal computer 21 through the public telephone network 1. This internet service provider 11 delivers the electronic mail sent from the personal computer 21 of the user who dials through the IP over the public telephone network to the mail server 11D, and the mail server 11D then delivers the delivered electronic mail to a mail server (not shown) of the internet service provider 12 of the area to which the recipient (communication partner) belongs, through the internet 10. When an electronic mail written with a customer address is delivered to the internet service provider 11 via the internet 10, the latter stores the mail in the mail roll 11E, and delivers the mail to a customer whenever an authorized customer makes a delivery request. Meanwhile, other internet service providers 12 and the like also have electronic mail storing and delivering functions substantially similar to those of the internet service provider 11.

The personal computer 21 of the customer of the internet service provider 11 includes a main body portion 21A, CRT, a display device 21B, a keyboard 21C, and a mouse 21D. The main body portion 21A is provided with a Central Processing Unit (CPU)21A, a Read Only Memory (ROM)21b, a Random Access Memory (RAM)21c, a hard disk drive 21d, a Flexible Disk Drive (FDD)21e, a CD-ROM drive 21F, a Cathode Ray Tube Controller (CRTC)21g serving as a display controller, a modem 21h, an interface (I/F) unit 21I, and a video RAM21 j. The CRT display device 21B is connected to a display controller 21g, and the keyboard 21C and the mouse 21D are connected to an interface unit 21 i.

The personal computer 21 has a main body portion 21A connected to the public telephone network 1.

The personal computer 21 reads out the e-mail transmission/reception program stored in the CD-ROM drive 21f and stores the e-mail transmission/reception program in the CD-ROM drive 21f, thereby functioning as a mailer. At the same time, the e-mail sending/receiving program of http:// www.sonet.or.p./postpst/index. html from a World Wide Web (WWW) server on the internet 10 managed by, for example, the SONY communication network, can also be uninstalled or installed through the internet service provider 11 and the public telephone network 1.

Therefore, the program supply medium of the present invention is not only meant to be a go-around medium such as the CD-ROM 21f but also, in a broad sense, a medium including the internet or digital satellite data broadcasting.

In the present embodiment, by installing the same electronic mail transmission/reception program as that of the above personal computer 21 in the other personal computer 22, these other personal computers 22 can also function as mailers.

If the above-described e-mail transmission/reception program is installed in the personal computer 21, the CPU21a will generate bitmap data corresponding to a Graphic User Interface (GUI) screen simulating one room upon starting the mailer to write the bitmap data on the video RAM21j of the display controller 21g, thereby causing the display controller 21g to display the GUI screen 100 of fig. 3 on the screen of the display device 21B.

To display the pointing cursor 101 in an overlapping manner on the GUI screen 100, the CPU21a writes bitmap data indicating the cursor 101 on a predetermined position of the video RAM21 j. This causes the pointing cursor 101 at the prescribed position of the mouse 21D to be displayed on the GUI screen 100 displayed on the screen of the display device 21B.

At the top of the GUI screen 100, a screen title 102 is displayed. A 'postal pet (room)' is displayed as a title 102 on the GUI screen 100 shown in fig. 2. Meanwhile, postal pets and postal pets are trademarks of mailers, which are internet e-mail sending/receiving programs in the broad sense of the SONY graphic network KK.

In order to display the postal pet 103 (simulated teddy bear) and the postman 104 (simulated toy robot) as agents for executing e-mail transmission/reception in an overlapping manner on the GUI screen 100, the CPU21e writes bitmap data of the postal pet 103 and the postman 104 at a predetermined position on the RAM21j onto the bitmap data corresponding to the GUI screen 100 in an overlapping manner. This shows the postal pet 103 and the carrier 104 on the GUI screen 100.

As characters of the postal pet 103, teddy bear (Momo)103A, tortoise (Sumiko)103B, hybrid cat (Furo)103C, mini rabbit (Mippi)103D, and Hatena-kun103E, which simulate bears, as exemplified in fig. 4, are provided. In addition to Hatena-kun103E, one of these postal pets may be deposited and treated as a postal pet 103, i.e., a representative. The postal pet 103 has a behavior determined by the agent parameter changed by the learning function described below.

On the front part of the GUI screen 100 'postal pet (room)' shown in fig. 3, a mail writing icon 105A shown in fig. 5, a receiving list icon 105B shown in fig. 6, a sending list icon 105C (not shown) instructing to display a GUI screen for sending a list, and a mail checking icon 105D (also not shown) instructing to connect are displayed.

The user operates the mouse 21D to move the pointing cursor 101 on the mail composition icon 105A on the GUI screen of the above-mentioned 'postal pet (room)' to click the mail composition icon 105A. This causes the CPU21a to compose bitmap data corresponding to the GUI screen 100 'postal pet (room)' and superimpose the 'compose mail' GUI screen 110 thereon at a predetermined position on the video RAM21j, so that the GUI screen 100 'postal pet (room)' and 'compose mail' GUI screen 110 can be displayed through a plurality of windows represented on the screen of the display device 21B.

At the top of the GUI screen 110, 'compose mail' is displayed as a title 112.

The upper and lower halves of the 'compose mail' GUI screen 110 respectively represent a first display area 113 for displaying mail title contents and a second display area 114 for displaying mail contents. In the first display area 113, title information such as an address [ To: ], a mail sender name [ From ], a title [ Subject ], a copybook [ Color conversion: ], or a copy [ Attachment ] input by the user by driving the keyboard 21C is displayed. In the first display area 113, an icon 115A instructing transfer of mail assigned by the postal pet 103 to the pet and an icon 115B instructing transfer of mail assigned by the carrier 104 to the carrier 104 are displayed.

In the second display area 114, main text of mail input by the user by driving the keyboard is displayed.

If the user drives the mouse 21D to move the pointing cursor 101 to the icon 115A of the GUI screen 110 'compose mail' to be handed over to the pet and clicks the mouse button, the CPU21a executes the transmission sub-program processing of steps SP20 to SP27 to transmit the pet mail, which will be described below with reference to fig. 1.

Specifically, the CPU21a creates data of an electronic mail composed of the main text 202 to which the mail header 201 and the agent parameter 203 for specifying the next of the postal pet 103 are attached, and transmits the data to the receiver as a pet mail. The agent parameter 203 is constituted by data transmission information 203A indicating the mail transmission date, mail life information 203B indicating whether the receiver wants to modify the mail and return it to the sender, serial number information 203C indicating the mail number which the postal pet has handled so far, and postal pet parameter information 203D such as environmental information, incentive or desire information of the postal pet, which are all 4-byte data.

The postal pet parameter information 203 is composed of internal information and external information shown in fig. 8. For example, the internal information is constituted by mail count, age, sex, intelligence, energy, friendship (with a provider), hunger, happiness, cleanness, biological clock (bio-rhythm) (uncertain element), noise (uncertain element), friendship (with the other party), positive/negative (+/-), fast/depression (+/-), gentle/cold (+/-), concentration/dispersion (+/-), fashion/naive, fashion, charm, or taste, and the like. For example, the external parameters include a position, comfort of a room, an action number of a user's tap frequency, a requested guest action, friendship shown by the guest action, adversaries shown by the guest action, an item given by the guest action, and a guest action demand item. The number of attentions is input to the following sense unit to activate the action unit to determine the action of the postal pet 103.

The proxy parameters 203 are converted into the base 64 format using letters a through Z, a through z and 0 through 9 according to Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) of internet mail. Fig. 8 shows an example of a proxy parameter 203 attached to the mail main text 202. MIME provides two encoding methods. In the base 64 described in request for comments (RFC)1512, 3 bytes are divided into four equal parts to narrow the code width to accommodate the values specified in the 64 bytes in numbers 0 to 63 that conform to the alphabetic codes a to Z, a to z and 0 to 9. Meanwhile, details on RFC are described in "Internet working with ICP/IP" by D.Comer, 1988, Prentice-Hall ISBNP-13-470154-2, 025.

If the user activates the mouse 21D, moves the pointing cursor 101 to the GUI screen 110 'compose mail' to be handed over to the icon 115B of the postman, and clicks the mouse button, the CPU21a executes the sending subroutine processes SP29 to SP33, which will be described below with reference to fig. 10, in order to send a normal mail.

That is, the CPU21a simply formulates data of an electronic mail composed of the main text 202 and the mail header 201 reduced to the mail, and transmits the data to the other party as a normal electronic mail.

The operation of the personal computer 21 in which the above-described email transmission/reception program is installed will be described below with reference to fig. 9 to 12.

First, the functions of steps SP1 through SP13 are described on the basis of a general flowchart showing the entire operation of fig. 9 in its entirety.

In step SP1 of fig. 10, it is determined whether or not the operation by the user is an operation for a pet owned by the user. That is, if the user activates the mouse 21D so as to perform an operation of superimposing the pointing cursor 101 shown in fig. 3 on the postal pet 103 (teddy bear 103A in the case of fig. 3), moving the mouse 21D to the left or right or clicking a mouse button, or if the operation of caring for the postal pet 103 is performed by selecting 'washing' or 'feeding' from the caring pull-down menu shown in fig. 34, it is determined that these operations of the user are operations for his or her own pet (pet owned by the user). In this case, the process goes to step SP2, otherwise, the process goes to step SP 4.

At step SP2, the agent parameter of the user's own pet read out and stored in the RAM21c at the time of starting the e-mail transmission/reception program from the HDD21d is updated. The process of updating the proxy parameter will be described in detail later with reference to fig. 13.

At the next step SP3, before the process returns to step SP1, a process of expressing the behavior of the user's own pet in animation is performed in conjunction with the updated agent parameter.

If it is determined that the operation of step SP1 is not an operation for the user's own pet, the process proceeds to step SP4, where it is determined whether the mail writing icon 105A has been clicked or not at step SP 4. If the determination result is in the affirmative, the processing goes to step SP5, otherwise, goes to SP 7.

At step SP5, a subroutine of inputting the title of the electronic mail or main text to be sent is executed. First, a GUI screen 110 'shown in fig. 5 is displayed to compose a mail', and thereafter, before the process goes to step SP, a title or a main text of the electronic mail is formulated in accordance with a text input command of the user.

At step SP6, the transmission subroutine described later with reference to fig. 11 is executed before the process returns to step SP 1.

In step SP7, it is determined whether the reception list icon 105B has been clicked. If the determination result is in the affirmative, the processing goes to step SP8, otherwise goes to step SP 9. In step SP8, a received directory display subroutine of displaying the received directory 'of the GUI screen 120' shown in fig. 6 is executed before the process returns to step SP 1.

In step SP9, it is determined whether the transmission directory 105C has been single-clicked. If the determination result is in the affirmative, the processing goes to step SP10, otherwise goes to step SP 11. In step SP10, a received directory display subroutine of displaying a 'sent directory' GUI screen (not shown) is executed before the process returns to step SP 1.

In step SP11, it is judged whether or not the mail check icon 105D has been clicked. If the determination result is in the affirmative, the processing goes to step SP12, otherwise goes to step SP 13. At step SP12, the reception subroutine to be described later with reference to fig. 12 is executed before the process returns to step SP 1. In step SP13, other processing operations are performed before the processing returns to step SP 1.

Next, steps SP20 through SP33 shown in the flowchart of the transmission subroutine process in fig. 11 will be explained.

If the user activates the mouse 21D to move the pointing cursor 101 to the icon 115A for handing over to the pet on the GUI screen 110 'compose mail' shown in fig. 20 and clicks the mouse button, it is judged whether or not the icon 115A for handing over to the pet has been operated, so that the process proceeds from step SP20 to step SP21 to judge whether or not the home flag of the pet stored in the RAM21c is '1'. If the user's pet is at home, i.e., the pet at home flag is ' 1 ', the following sub-steps SP22 through SP27 are performed to transmit the pet mail.

That is, email data composed of a mail main text 202 (attached with a mail header 201) and an agent parameter 203 (for specifying the behavior of the postal pet 103) attached as an attachment page is prepared, and the data is transmitted as a pet mail to the partner of communication.

In this case, the pet mail can be transmitted only when the at-home flag of the pet is '1', that is, the pet of the user is at home.

First, if connection is made with the mail server 11D of the service provider 11 at step SP22, thereby requesting transmission of a mail in accordance with the transport protocol of the Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP), it is judged at next step SP23 whether connection has been made, and the processing proceeds to step SP 24. At step SP24, the user's own pet (teddy bear 103A shown in fig. 3) views the electronic mail of the donor as a letter, and animates the pet to open the door 107 to retrieve the letter mailed to the mailbox 106, thereby delivering the letter to the recipient. At next step SP25, the agent parameters of the user's pet stored in the RAM21C are encoded by the encoding method described in the base 64 of MIME. At next step SP26, the encoded proxy parameters are appended as an extra page to the main text 202. This pet mail is sent to the mail server 11D.

At step SP27, before the process goes to step SP28, the pet at home flag stored in the RAM21c is set to '0', i.e., not at home, to interrupt the connection with the mail server 11D, thereby completing a series of transmission subroutine processes. Then, the process returns to step SP1 of fig. 10.

On the other hand, if the user operates the mouse 21D to move the pointing cursor 101 to the icon 115B on the GUI screen 110 'compose mail' to be handed over to the carrier and clicks the mouse button, it is determined that the icon 115B to be handed over to the carrier has been activated. Then, the process proceeds from step SP20 to step SP29 to step SP30, whereby the processes of steps SP30 to SP33 are performed to transmit the ordinary electronic mail.

That is, email data simply composed of a mail main text 202 (attached with a mail header 201) is prepared and transmitted to the counterpart as a normal email.

First, at step SP30, a connection is made with the mail server 11D of the service provider 11 to request the transmission of mail according to the SMTP transfer protocol. If, at the next step SP31, it is determined that the connection has been completed, the process goes to step SP32 to display an animation in which, as shown in FIGS. 15 to 19, the carrier 104 treats the donor's e-mail as a letter, retrieves the letter mailed into the mail box 106 and goes out for delivery. At next step SP33, the ordinary electronic mail is sent to the mail server 11D, and thereafter the processing goes to step SP28 to cancel the connection with the mail server 11D, thereby completing a series of sending subroutine operations, returning to step SP1 of fig. 10.

If, at steps SP20 and SP29, either the icon 115A handed over to the pet or the icon 115B handed over to the postman is not operated but only the close box at the upper right of the GUI screen 110 'compose mail' is clicked, it is judged at step SP34 that the mail composition window is closed, and the process returns to step SP1 of fig. 10 without executing the illustrated transmission subroutine.

The following explains steps SP40 to SP59 of the reception subroutine of fig. 12.

First, at step SP40, it connects to the mail server 11D of the service provider 11 according to the communication protocol of the postal protocol version 3(POP3), which is the upper layer protocol of TCP/IP. If it is judged at the next step SP41 that the connection has been completed, the processing goes to step SP42 to inquire whether or not there is a mail to be transmitted to the user within the mail drop point (mail drop) of the mail server 11D. The personal mail directory is the area where mail for personal use arrives, commonly referred to as the mail drop-in point, and has a similar role as the post office's private mailbox.

If it is judged at step SP42 that there is an incoming mail, the processing proceeds to step SP 43. If it is judged that no mail has arrived, the processing proceeds to step SP50, the connection of the mail server 11D is canceled, and the reception subroutine operation is ended before the processing returns to step SP1 of FIG. 10.

If it is judged at step SP42 that a mail has arrived in the mail drop point, an electronic mail sent to the user is received from the mail server 11D at step SP 43. At next step SP44, it is judged whether or not the electronic mail sent to the user is a pet mail based on the data of the mail header 201 of the electronic mail. If it is judged at step SP44 that the received electronic mail is a pet mail, the processing proceeds to step SP45 to judge whether the received electronic mail is a return mail to the pet mail delivered by the user.

If the pet mail sent by the user is automatically received and processed by the receiver, the mail text 202 is deleted, and a sending pet mail composed of a mail header 201 and an agent parameter attached thereto as an attached page is returned as a return mail.

If it is judged at step SP45 that the received pet mail is a return mail to the pet mail delivered by the user, the process goes to step SP46, and the in-home pet flag stored in RAM21c is set to 1, i.e., "in-home", before the process goes to step SP47 to decode the attached page encoded by the encoding method described by the MIME base address.

At next step SP48, the user pet agent parameter stored in the RAM21c is updated based on the decoded agent parameter. At next step SP49, an animation picture is displayed and the user's pet opens the door to return to home in a behavior corresponding to the updated agent parameter.

The process then proceeds to step SP50, the connection to mail server 11D is canceled, and the reception subroutine operation is completed before the process returns to step SP1 of fig. 10.

In contrast, if it is judged at step SP45 that the received pet mail is not a return mail to the user's pet mail, the processing proceeds to step SP51, where processing for adding the content of the newly-added mail to the Table of contents file (TOC) is executed.

The TOC file is a reception table file stored on the client's local disk (HDD21d) and is composed of a part taken out from the mail title 201. Specifically, the TOC file is composed of TO, FROM, CC, Subject, priority, an additional flag indicating the presence or absence of an attached page, a classification flag indicating whether the mail is pet mail, and a local disk address of the mail main text 202 corresponding TO the mail header 201, and the like.

When the reception table is opened for the first time, the received mail table is displayed. The table is made from the TOC file. If the table specifies a mail, the main text 202 of the corresponding address (aggregate file of the main texts of the mail 202) is cut out from the mail file.

For example, if the TOC file is read from aaaaaaipd.sony.co.jp, topic (Subject:): patent for Pos, Pet, … … addresses (from 1100 to 1120), and with the main text of mail 202 to be displayed, the main file text corresponding to addresses 1100 to 1120 is cut out.

Next, at step SP52, an update process of adding a newly arrived mail to the mail file is performed. After updating the main file of the main text 202 already stored therein, the process goes to step SP53 to decode the extra page encoded by the encoding method described by the MIME base 64.

At next step SP54, an animation picture is displayed, and the pet of the other party of communication (teddy bear in fig. 25 to 28) opens the door 107, makes a call, and stays for a predetermined time, and then opens the door to return to home. If the pet of the opponent stays in the door during this period, the user operates the mouse 21D with the pointer 101 overlaid on the opponent pet, moves the mouse 21D to the left and right, or clicks the mouse button, and updates the agent parameter of the opponent pet in accordance with the user's action at step SP 55. Next, in step SP56, the proxy parameter of the other party is encoded by the encoding method described by the MIME base 64. At next step SP57, the encoded proxy parameter is attached to the mail title 201 as an attached page. The pet mail thus created is automatically returned to the mail server 11D.

Then, the process goes to step SP50, the connection to the mail server 11D is eliminated, and the reception subroutine operation is completed before the process returns to step SP1 of fig. 10.

If it is judged at step SP44 that the received electronic mail is not a pet mail but a normal electronic mail based on the date of the received mail header 201 sent to the user, the processing proceeds to step SP58 to update the TOC file. Then, the process goes to step SP50, the connection to the host server 11D is eliminated, and the reception subroutine is completed before the process returns to step SP1 of fig. 10.

Steps SP60-SP67 of the proxy parameter update process shown in FIG. 13 are explained below.

Referring to fig. 13, in step SP60, the CPU21a monitors whether the pointer 101 displayed on the screen of the display device 21B is moved into the window area of the 'postal pet (room)'. If the pointer cursor 101 is outside the window area of the 'postal pet (room)', a pull-down menu process or the like is performed at step SP 61. If the pointer 101 is entered into the window area of the 'postal pet (room)', i.e., into the room, the pointer 101 is changed to the open hand shape in step SP 62. Therefore, if the pointer cursor 101 is located outdoors on the GUI picture 100 of 'postal pet (room)' as shown in fig. 40, the pointer cursor 101 is represented as an arrow, and if it enters the room, it is displayed in an open hand shape as shown in fig. 42.

In step SP63, the CPU21a determines whether or not the pointer 101 has traversed the display area of the postal pet image by the reciprocating movement of the mouse 21D in the left-right direction. If the result of the judgment is 'yes', that is, the pointer 101 crosses the display area of the postal pet image, the CPU21a regards the postal pet as being petioned, and executes the update processing procedures of the agents a1 to a18 for various requirements at step SP64, the details of which will be explained later. Therefore, as shown in fig. 42 to 44, on the GUI graphic (or screen) 100 of the 'postal pet (room)', the pointer cursor 101 represented by the opened hand shape moves back and forth in the left-right direction on the postal pet 103, stroking the postal pet 103.

In step SP65, the CPU21a determines whether or not the pointer 101 has moved into the display area of the postal pet image and the mouse button of the mouse 21D has been pressed. If the result of the judgment is affirmative, i.e., if the mouse 21D has been clicked when the pointer cursor 101 is processing within the postal pet image display area, the CPU21a changes the pointer cursor 101 to a fist-making shape at step SP66, and executes the update processing procedures for the agents a1 to a18 for various requests assuming that the postal pet has been hit at step SP 67. Therefore, as shown in fig. 45, on the GUI screen 100 of the 'postal pet (room)', the postal pet 103 can be hit on the pointer cursor 101 represented in a fist-shaped shape.

When the mail sent by the carrier 104 is executed, the CPU21a then changes the bitmap data of the carrier 104 on the video RAM21j so that the display controller 21g displays an animation picture on the display device 21B, and the carrier 104 moves onto the GUI picture 100 of 'postal pet (room)', restores the mail delivered to the mail box 106, and gets the restored mail.

Specifically, if the icon 115B transferred to the carrier 104 is clicked to indicate that the carrier delivers the Mail on the GUI screen 100 of 'written Mail (Writing a Mail)' as shown in fig. 14, an animation screen is displayed, such that the carrier 104 is made to ascend from the left side of the GUI screen 100 of 'postal pet (room)' as shown in fig. 15 and moved to the position of the mailbox 106 as shown in fig. 16, and then the Mail delivered from the mailbox 106 is restored as shown in fig. 17, and the delivery of the Mail delivered from the mailbox 106 is started as shown in fig. 18 and 19.

When the mail sent by the postal pet 103 is executed, the CPU21a converts the bitmap data of the postal pet 103 on the video RAM21j, and causes the display controller 21g to display an animation screen on the display device 21B, that is, as shown in fig. 4, the postal pet 103 carrying the mail moves on the GUI screen 100 of the "postal pet (room)", moves to the side of the door 107, and opens the door to exit.

Specifically, if the icon 115A delivered to the pet is clicked as shown in fig. 20 to indicate that the postal pet 103 delivers the mail on the GUI picture of 'written mail', an animation screen is displayed to move the postal pet 103 on the GUI picture 100 of 'postal pet (room)' until the mail box 106 shown in fig. 21 is reached, the postal pet 103 restores the mail delivered in the mail box 106 as shown in fig. 22, and then the postal pet 103 carrying the mail is sent to the door 107 and opens the door to exit as shown in fig. 23 and 24. At this time, "Momo (name of pet) out-of-the-way delivery mail" is displayed below the GUI picture 100 of the "postal pet (room)" as a message instructing the postal pet 103 to deliver mail.

It should be noted that mail transmission of the postal pet 103 is such that one postal pet 103 transmits only one e-mail, that is, one agent transmits one e-mail, whereas if the postal pet 103 is not on the GUI drawing 100 of the postal pet (room)', that is, the postal pet 103 goes out, mail transmission cannot be performed.

Rather, mail transfer by carrier 104 is such that one carrier 104 may transfer one or more emails, i.e., an agent may transfer one or more emails, which may be made at any time. That is, if the postal pet 103 is not on the GUI screen 100 of the 'postal pet (room)', i.e., if the postal pet 103 goes out, mail transmission can be made by the carrier 104.

The above-described behavior of the postal pet is determined by the agency parameter attached to the mail, so that if there is an agency parameter on the mail reception of the postal pet, the CPU21a will cause the display controller 21g to display an animation screen on the screen of the display device 21B, instructing, for example, the postal pet 103D on the GUI screen 100 of the "postal pet (room)" to open the door 107 into the room, place the mail on the desk 108, and then walk around the room in the manner of the behavior of the postal pet defined by the above-described agency parameter.

Specifically, if there is an agent parameter on mail reception of a postal pet, an animation screen is displayed, first, as shown in fig. 25, a door 107 is opened on a GUI screen 100 of 'postal pet (room)', then a postal pet 103A enters the room as shown in fig. 26, the mail is placed on a table 108 as shown in fig. 27, and then walks around the room as shown in fig. 28, and goes out and closes the door 107. At this time, a message "Momo of mr. Baba comes" is displayed below the GUI screen 100 of the 'postal pet (room)'.

If the user operates the mouse 21D, clicks the postal pet 103A on the GUI screen 100 of the postal pet (room)' with the pointer 101, or operates with the keyboard 21C, the CPU21a performs predetermined changes according to the contents of the operation, processes the agent parameter, and determines the behavior of the postal pet 103A. Specifically, the CPU processes the agent parameter in response to an operation of stroking or hitting the postal pet by the mouse 21D.

The CPU21a automatically returns the processed proxy parameters to the sender.

Upon receiving the agent parameter for automatic return, the CPU21a causes the display controller 21g to display an animation screen on the screen of the display device 21B, first opens the door 107 on the GUI screen 100 of the postal pet (room)' as shown in fig. 29, enters the room by the postal pet 103 as shown in fig. 30, and closes the door 107 as shown in fig. 31. At this time, a message is displayed below the GUI screen 100 of the 'postal pet (room)': "Momo (name of pet) has come back".

If the icon 115E for caring for the postal pet 103 left in the house is clicked on the GUI screen 100 of the 'postal pet (room)' as shown in fig. 33, the pull-down menu 125 is opened, specifying an item such as 'pet description (state of the pet)', 'wash (wash)' or 'refreshments)' and the like, displaying the content of interest as shown in fig. 34. If a sum 'snack' entry is selected, then as shown in fig. 35, a window 130 is opened showing a list of names of breaks, as well as the balance and quality of the snack.

In the window 130 displaying the snack name table, there are a 'discard' button instructing to discard the selected snack and a 'service' button instructing to provide the selected snack to the postal pet 103. As shown in fig. 35, if any of the ordered snacks is selected and the 'service' button 122 is clicked, the selected snack, e.g., candy 109, is placed in the table. Thus, the candy 109 is provided to the postal pet 103 left in the house. Although various kinds of snacks are provided as defaults, the latest snack table can be obtained, for example, by downloading from a WWW server on the internet and transferring to a 'snack' folder appearing in the same directory by adding a new 'snack' file, which is an execution file or an electronic file transfer program, as a postpet.

If the item 'Wash' displayed on the drop-down menu shown in FIG. 33 is selected, the postal pet 103 is bathed in the bucket 123 on the GUI picture 100 of the 'postal Pet (Room)' as shown in FIG. 36. At this time, a message is displayed below the GUI picture 100 of the 'postal pet (room)': bathing.

The postal pet 103 may become dirty due to outgoing mail or rest. The small dots of the postal pet 103 shown in fig. 37 show the dirty status. These dots will be removed and the pet given a wash when the item 'Wash' shown in the concerns drop down menu 125 is selected.

If the item 'rescheduling (Re-ordering)' displayed on the care pull-down menu 125 is selected, a 'rescheduling' window 135 as shown in fig. 38 is opened. If a desired room such as a hybrid cat shown in fig. 38 is selected and the change button is pressed, a room rescheduling is performed as shown in fig. 39. Although the variety of room reformulations is provided as a default, the latest snack list can be obtained, for example, by downloading from a WWW server of the internet (e.g., http:// WWW, so-te. or. jp/postpet/index. html) and transferring to an 'insert' folder present in the same directory by adding to a new 'room reformulation' file, which is an execution file or an electronic file transfer program.

If the item 'Pet account' displayed on the care pull-down menu 125 is selected, a window 138 as shown in FIG. 40 is opened to display the status of the pet. Based on the status of the pet displayed in the window 138, the user can recognize the category, name, gender, age, pleasure, intelligence, status, hunger, slim, change, and comments. The level of pleasure or intelligence is variably represented by the pet parameter value.

In a personal computer 22 having a mail function similar to the personal computer 21 having the mail function required as described above, electronic mails are exchanged with the postal pet 103. If the personal computer 21 performs e-mail transmission to transmit an e-mail to the personal computer 22 by the postal pet 103A, the latter performs a reception subroutine shown in FIG. 12 to check the e-mail reception time of the postal pet 103 shown in the time chart shown in FIG. 47. If the time is within the life of the mail, the postal pet 103A is displayed on the screen of the display device 21B, automatically returning the processed agency parameter.

If the sender's personal computer 21 performs e-mail transmission of the postal pet 103A, the postal pet disappears on the GUI screen of the ' postal pet (room) ', i.e., goes out, and cannot reappear on the GUI screen until the agent parameter of the postal pet 103A is returned from the receiver, so that the postal pet 103 cannot perform e-mail transmission during this period. However, a postal pet 103A may be used to repeatedly send e-mails one by one as long as the agent parameter is automatically returned within the mail life.

In the sending personal computer 21, the postal pet 103 performs an operation of automatic return agent parameter determination. If the postal pet 103A is registered as an agent on the receiving-side personal computer 22, the agent parameter of the postal pet 103A is changed by the postal pet 103A acting to perform an operation as determined by the agent parameter attached to the electronic mail, upon receiving the electronic mail sent from the postal pet 103A of the personal computer 21.

If the personal computer 22 does not execute the reception subroutine shown in fig. 11 when the personal computer 21 executes the e-mail transmission in which the postal pet 103A transmits the e-mail to the personal computer 22, i.e., if the personal computer 22 is not connected to the communication network, the e-mail is stored on the mail server of the internet service provider 12 so as to be received when the personal computer 22 is connected to the communication network. In this case, the postal pet 103A remains on the mail server until the electronic mail is received. Therefore, with the personal computer 21 at the sending end, the mail sending of the postal pet 103A is not performed, and the postal pet 103A disappears on the GUI screen of the "postal pet (room)", that is, goes out. Therefore, the e-mail sent by the postal pet 103A is designed to have a predetermined life span, so that if the receiving end does not return the agency parameter of the postal pet 103A within the life span of the mail, the agency parameter of the postal pet 103A is automatically generated after the life span of the mail has passed, so that the postal pet 103A appears on the GUI screen of the postal pet (room)'.

Upon connection to the communication network, the receiving-side personal computer 22 checks the time of reception of the e-mail by the postal pet 103A based on the transmitted data attached to the e-mail and the time information of the agent parameter and the life cycle information, and determines whether the time is within the life cycle of the mail. If the time is within the life cycle of the mail, the processed parameters are automatically returned after waiting for the receiving subroutine. On the other hand, if the time for the postal pet 103A to receive the electronic mail exceeds the life cycle of the mail, the postal pet 103A is not displayed and the agent parameter is not returned even if the reception subroutine is executed.

The pet arrival confirmation mail function, which is an additional function of the automatic mail return processing of step SP57 of fig. 12, is explained next.

In order to display an animation screen on the GUI screen 100 at the e-mail sending end, instructing the postal pet 103 to return to the home state, the main text 202 of the pet mail received at the receiving end is deleted at step SP 57. In addition, the agent parameter 203 is processed in accordance with the user's action, so only the processed agent parameter 203 is attached to the mail header 201 to automatically return to the mail delivery. This may cause the e-mailer to display an animation screen on the GUI screen 100 to display that the postal pet 103 is returned to home by the processing of step SP49 described above as shown in fig. 28 to 30.

In addition to the auto-return mail agent parameter 203, the function of automatically returning a mail to the sender as a text message of an electronic mail in order to notify him of the arrival of a postal pet is also a pet arrival confirmation function.

Referring to fig. 52 to 55, these figures show the flow of processing for automatically returning an 'automatic return mail a' from the recipient personal computer 22 of the user B to the personal computer 21 of the sender user a through the mail server 11D as shown in fig. 54 and 55. In addition to the 'automatic return mail a', a 'pet arrival confirmation mail' is also automatically returned from the receiving-side personal computer 22 of the user B to the personal computer 21 of the sending-side user a through the mail server 11D.

The 'pet arrival confirmation mail' is automatically generated by the e-mail transmission/reception program of the receiving-side personal computer 22 of the user B.

Assume that, in the setting GUI screen 140 shown in fig. 56, the user a sets 'Momo' as the name of his or her pet, and the user B sets the name of his or her pet as 'Mippi'.

The following mail is set as 'pet arrival confirmation mail'.

I.e. automatically setting the 'secret diary' to title (subject), automatically setting the main text to e.g.:

"today, I go (user B).

I play with Mippi.

I are hit a little.

I are hit many times.

Momo。”

In addition to the 'automatic return mail a', the 'pet arrival confirmation mail' is automatically returned from the receiving-side personal computer 22 of the user B to the personal computer 21 of the sending-side user a through the mail server 11D.

This adds a 'pet arrival confirmation mail' entitled 'secret diary' to the reception table of user a as a useful e-mail.

The 'pet arrival confirmation mail' automatically generated by the e-mail transmission/reception program of the personal computer 22 of the user B has a main text corresponding to the action of the user B on the postal pet delivering the mail, such as the action of stroking or beating. This provides not only the actual effect of confirming that the e-mail is delivered to the recipient, but also the mental effect that the holder can actually feel that the postal pet is serving him or her.

It should be noted that the behavior of the postal pet is determined by the agent parameters 203 as follows:

specifically, the relative strength required is determined by the environment of the postal pet and the user's actions. Each required agent has a score and sensitivity, and each behavior unit increases the score of each required agent as input. The behavioral unit with the largest score is represented.

The scores for the behavior units and the required agents are calculated by:

new score (original score + (input x sensitivity)

Sensitivity is the relative depth between each required agent and the behavior unit and input unit. The sensitivity itself also varies with the input.

That is, the sensory unit for determining the presence of the postal pet captures a variation value of an environmental parameter of the postal pet at step A, determines an action according to the varied environmental parameter at step B, performs a judgment action at step C, and corrects an internal parameter value by performing an event process at step D.

Specifically, at the time of input, the various required agents a1 through a18 receive environmental information items E1 through E7 indicating the environment of the input postal pet, such as age, intelligence, vigor, intimacy, dirtiness, or hunger, and action information indicating the agents (such as hits, kicks, or transmits emails, etc.) of the user's postal pet, so as to check the environmental information items E1 through E7 through an age checker C5, an intelligence checker C2, a strength checker C3, a vitality checker C4, a taste checker C5, a look checker C6, and a hunger detector C7, while directly checking the action information, so as to calculate respective scores. Each action unit U1 through U25 has the score of the agent requested thus calculated at the time of input, and starts the action unit having the highest score. That is, as shown in fig. 51, the sensory unit is composed of a basic action a, a detector C, and a behavior unit U, which shows a basic unit of reaction.

The above claimed agents may be exemplified by mouse searcher a1 searching for a mouse, food searcher a2 searching for food, toy searcher A3 searching for toys, stool or urine simulator A4 making stool or urine, sleeping simulator A5 going to sleep, talking-free voice simulator A6, sampling simulator a7, writing writer a8, appetite-promoting food warmer a9, recall past recall a10, predicting future predictor a11, anger simulator a12, liking calm simulator a13, noisy frame simulator a15, searching searcher a16, reflex simulator, and evaluating simulator a18 making an evaluation.

The behavioral units may be exemplified by a walking unit U1 animating a walking motion, a running unit U2 animating a running motion, a sitting unit U3 animating a sitting motion, a sitting and lifting one-hand unit U4 animating a sitting and lifting one-hand motion, a sitting and lifting two-hand unit U5 animating a sitting and lifting two hands, a standing and lifting one-hand unit U6 animating a standing and lifting one-hand motion, a standing and lifting two-hand unit U7 animating a standing and lifting two-hand motion, a calling unit U8 animating a calling motion, a carrying and walking unit U9 animating a carrying and walking motion, a clapping unit U10 animating a clapping motion, a wild unit U11 animating a standing and wild motion, a lower lying wild unit U12 animating and wild motion, an animating and writing unit U13 animating a eating and writing motion, a dressing unit U14 for animation of a defecation or urination motion, a striking unit U15 for animation of a striking motion, a defense unit U16 for animation of a defense motion, a sleep unit U17 for animation of a sleep motion, a falling unit U18 for animation of a falling motion, a nodding unit U19 for animation of a nodding motion, a dancing unit U20 for animation of a dancing motion, a swinging unit U21 for animation of a swinging motion, an inverting unit U22 for animation of an inverting motion, a finishing unit U23 for animation of a finishing or placing motion, a stunt unit U24 for animation of a stunt, and a carrying unit U25 for animation of a carrying motion.

In this embodiment, about 50 illustrative sentences are provided for the postal pet 103. These sentences are arranged according to the "intelligence" of the postal pet 103. If the eating and writing unit U13 is activated, a legend belonging to this category of 'minds' at that point in time is randomly selected. The intelligence of the postal pet 103 is changed according to the set age E1 of the postal pet 103 with the lapse of time registered in the user's computer or the serial number information 203 indicating the number of mails processed by the postal pet 103.

The selected sentence is sent as an electronic mail on a randomly selected counterpart (including the user) to which the user has sent the electronic mail so far.

Among the explanatory sentences freely sent by the postal pets, there are sentences such as "ah-" or "i say-" which the pets just installed and sent out when in a low intellectual state, and "i know the mail structure-which is quite simple" which the pets sent out when in a medium intellectual state; "everything is simple to me" issued when pets deal with advanced mental states; the thesaurus mail "my time seems to be what i can't want anymore-i want you to say-i happy-bye". These sentence units are provided to different pet types at the same time.

The postal pet 103A of the present embodiment can freely send a sentence with the explanation to the user or to his or her other party: an email of "my name called Momo-please remember me". The score of the eating unit U13 varies depending on the age E1, intellectual E2, physical strength E3 or vitality E4 of the postal pet 103, and automatically recovers when the postal pet freely sends an E-mail. The physical strength E3 or vitality E4 of the postal pet 103 varies depending on the action or the contents of the experience the user or his or her E-mail counterpart has. For example, the physical strength of the postal pet 103 decreases or increases when sending an email or eating or sleeping, respectively. On the other hand, the vitality E4 of the postal pet 103 decreases or increases when the user or his or her opponent is forced or stroked, respectively. This enables the postal pet 103 to freely send a lot of e-mails to the user or his or her other party.

In order to prevent the user from dislikeing the postal pet 103 due to an increase in the age E1 or intellectual ability E2 of the postal pet 103 and repetition of the same sentence caused by an increase in the number of E-mails delivered to the user or his or her other party, a 'life' may be set for the postal pet 103.

The 'life' set for a postal pet 103 is typically 2 years, varying with physical strength E3 or vitality E4.

The postal pet 103, which is about to end of life, sends the user or his or her other party the final e-mail, such as: "Momo is now about to go to an unknown place … thanks you to your … goodbye to my interest," ending the function as a proxy.

With the above-described electronic mail system, as shown in FIG. 52, the "postal pet" of the personal computer 21 of user A encodes the agent parameter into a mail in MIME format together with the mail main text carried by pet A, and sends the encoded mail A to the destination, i.e., user B. This removes pet A from user A's personal computer 21.

If the destination user B's "postal pet" is followed for mail inspection, the "postal pet" of user B's personal computer 22 captures mail A as shown in FIG. 53.

Then, as shown in FIG. 54, user B's "postal Pet" records the change in the status of Pet A caused by various events occurring in user B's pet room, and returns Pet A to user A as an "automatic return mail A".

If the user A checks the mail with the 'postal pet' of the personal computer 21, the 'automatic return mail A' is captured as shown in FIG. 55. So the ' postal pet ' of user a's personal computer 21 uses the new proxy parameters that reflect the event that occurred at user B.

That is, an agent parameter that controls the agent behavior is actually transmitted with agent screen data on the user and the personal computer of the user's e-mail counterpart, and the result is obtained by transmitting the screen data of the agent. By transmitting the proxy parameter instead of the screen data, the user connection time can be shortened, and therefore, for a dial-up user, the internet connection fee and the telephone fee can be reduced. Moreover, because the data volume of the exchange is relatively reduced, the resources of the internet can be saved.

Meanwhile, if the postal pet is first started, the GUI screen 140 for selecting the pet is displayed as shown in fig. 56, so that one of the Teddy bear 103A, the turtle 103B, the hybrid cat 103C, and the white vest 103D can be selected. The "status", "mood", "intelligence" and "slim" parameters are varied at all times, set by the time the pet is selected (clicked). It should be noted that the parameters set for the time of selecting (clicking) the pet are initial values, and thereafter, these parameter values may be changed according to the pet that maintains the user's state. The user can freely enter the entries 'pet name' and 'your name'.

In the postal pet, the picture data of the pet is stored on the user's local disk, so that if the number of types of pets is to be increased in the future, these new pets cannot be represented. Therefore, picture data of the character 'hatena-kun' (mr. problematic) as shown in fig. 4 is used. That is, if a postal pet newly defined with characters transmits mail to a user having only picture data of a Teddy bear 103A, a turtle 103B, a hybrid cat 103C, and a white house 103D, hatena-kun103E is displayed as shown in fig. 57. Therefore, postal pets may use hatena-kun103E to accommodate the increase in pet numbers to add new pets.

Although described above in connection with the present invention applied to the Internet, the present invention can be applied to a mail communication system using a personal hand-held phone or other mobile communication terminal adaptable to an intranet or PHS Internet Address Forum Standard (PIAFS), in addition to exchanging mails on the Internet.

Claims (26)

1. A method of providing a virtual agent, comprising the steps of:

detecting one or more events corresponding to one or more agent parameters of a plurality of agents of a virtual agent, the agent parameters configured to determine behavior of the virtual agent; and

updating the plurality of agent parameters with each detected event to continuously modify the behavior of the virtual agent with each detected event.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual agent is a virtual pet and the plurality of agent parameters include one or more of an age of the virtual agent, a mental rating of the virtual agent, a strength rating of the virtual agent, an affinity of the virtual agent, a characteristic of the virtual agent, and a status of the virtual agent.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual agent is a virtual pet and the detected event comprises one or more of a physical strength of the virtual agent, a selection of a sentence by the virtual agent, and a lifespan.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of encoding the proxy parameter.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of decoding the encoded proxy parameters.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of displaying the virtual agent.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said step of displaying said virtual agent comprises the step of activating said virtual agent.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the activated virtual agent is displayed as a moving pet.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of storing said proxy parameters.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual agent is a virtual pet and a predetermined life span is provided for the virtual agent.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of generating a message when the life span expires.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of displaying the message on a display unit.

13. An apparatus for controlling a virtual agent, comprising:

a detector to detect one or more events corresponding to one or more agent parameters of a plurality of agents of a virtual agent, the agent parameters configured to determine behavior of the virtual agent; and

a controller to update the plurality of agent parameters with each detected event to continuously modify the behavior of the virtual agent with each detected event.

14. A method of controlling a virtual agent, comprising the steps of:

generating a virtual agent having a plurality of agent parameters configured to determine the virtual agent behavior;

displaying the virtual agent on a display unit;

interacting with the virtual agent on the display unit; and

updating the plurality of agent parameters in accordance with the interacting step so as to continuously modify the behavior of the virtual agent.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein said step of interacting with said virtual agent comprises the steps of:

positioning an input unit on a virtual agent on the display unit;

detecting the input signal according to the input unit; and

modifying proxy parameters to display the virtual proxy by the displaying step in response to the input signal.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the virtual agent is a virtual pet and the input signal comprises one of pets the virtual agent and tapping the virtual agent.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the virtual agent is a virtual pet and the virtual agent has a predetermined life span within which the agent's behavior is continuously modified.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the virtual agent is capable of generating one or more messages based on agent parameters that are updated in response to the state of the virtual agent.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising the step of automatically transmitting the one or more generated messages from the virtual agent to a responding user for display on the display unit.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the one or more display messages indicate a status of the virtual agent.

21. The method of claim 14, wherein said displaying step comprises the step of activating said displayed virtual agent.

22. An apparatus for controlling a virtual agent, comprising:

a generator for generating a virtual agent having a plurality of agent parameters configured to determine the behavior of the virtual agent;

a display unit that displays the virtual agent on a display unit;

the interaction device interacts with the virtual agent on the display unit;

and the updating device is used for updating the plurality of agent parameters according to the interaction step so as to continuously correct the behavior of the virtual agent.

23. A method for providing a virtual pet, comprising the steps of:

detecting one or more events corresponding to pet parameters of one or more of a plurality of pets in a virtual pet, the pet parameters configured to determine behavior of the virtual pet; and

updating the plurality of pet parameters with each detected event to continuously modify the behavior of the virtual pet with each detected event.

24. An apparatus for controlling a virtual pet, comprising:

a detector to detect one or more events corresponding to pet parameters of one or more of a plurality of pets in a virtual pet, the pet parameters configured to determine behavior of the virtual pet; and

a controller for updating the plurality of pet parameters with each detected event so as to continuously modify the behavior of the virtual pet with each detected event.

25. A method of controlling a virtual pet, comprising the steps of:

generating a virtual pet having a plurality of pet parameters configured to determine the virtual pet behavior;

displaying the virtual pet on a display unit;

interacting with the virtual pet on the display unit; and

and updating the pet parameters according to the interaction step so as to continuously modify the behavior of the virtual pet.

26. An apparatus for controlling a virtual pet, comprising:

a generator for generating a virtual pet having a plurality of pet parameters configured to determine behavior of the virtual pet;

a display unit that displays the virtual pet on a display unit;

the interaction device interacts with the virtual pet on the display unit;

and the updating device is used for updating the pet parameters according to the interaction step so as to continuously correct the behavior of the virtual pet.