WO2015024043A1

WO2015024043A1 - On-line interactive environment

Info

Publication number: WO2015024043A1
Application number: PCT/AU2014/000763
Authority: WO
Inventors: Simon Bun Sim CHHOEU
Original assignee: 4Coflife Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2013-08-19
Filing date: 2014-07-28
Publication date: 2015-02-26

Abstract

Embodiments relate generally to a computer implemented method for providing an on- line interactive environment. The method is operable in a server arranged to communicate with a plurality of client devices across a network. The method comprises creating a project item for managing a project associated with a member of the on-line interactive environment, associating at least one contact of the member within the on-line interactive environment with the project item as a project participant, creating at least one sub-project item, the at least one sub-project item defining an aspect of the project and associating at least one project participant with the at least one sub-project as a sub-project participant. The method further comprises determining a milestone for the at least one sub-project, determining a rating for the at least one sub- project based on a valuation score obtained from at least the sub-project participants and the project creator and determining whether the milestone was achieved based on at least the rating.

Description

ON-LINE INTERACTIVE ENVIRONMENT TECHNICAL FIELD

Described embodiments relate generally to on-line interactive systems and methods. In particular, embodiments relate to a server-hosted on-line interactive environment for enabling users to collaborate with contacts to engage in projects.

BACKGROUND

The rise of social networks, such as Facebook™ and My Space™, has changed the manner in which the world and its citizens interact with one another.

Both Facebook™ and MySpace™ provide an on-line social network that enables its members to create a personalised profile page and to connect with other users to share audio and video. However, it is considered that such social networks are being underutilised and the full potential of social networking is being overlooked. It is therefore desired to provide an improved on-line interactive environment that harnesses the true potential of these types of social networks, or at least provides alternative on-line interactive environment than is known in the prior art.

Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in the present specification is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present disclosure as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this application.

SUMMARY

Some embodiments relate to a computer implemented method for providing an on-line interactive environment, the method operable in a server arranged to communicate with a plurality of client devices across a network, the method comprising: creating a project item for managing a project associated with a member of the on-line interactive environment;

associating at least one contact of the member within the on-line interactive environment with the project item as a project participant;

creating at least one sub-project item, the at least one sub-project item defining an aspect of the project;

associating at least one project participant with the at least one sub-project as a sub-project participant;

determining a milestone for the at least one sub-project;

determining a rating for the at least one sub-project based on a valuation score obtained from at least the sub-project participants and the project creator;

determining whether the milestone was achieved based on at least the rating.

In one embodiment, the method may comprise engaging a sponsor for the project item and affiliating the sponsor with the milestones of the sub-projects.

In one embodiment, the method may comprise engaging a sponsor for the sub-project and affiliating the sponsor with the milestone of the sub-project. In one embodiment, the step of engaging the sponsor may comprise matching a strategy profile of the sponsor with at least one of:

a) information associated with the project creator;

b) information associated with the project participants

c) information associated with the sub-project participants

d)content relating to the project;

e) content relating to the sub-project; and

f) content relating to the milestone.

In one embodiment, the method may comprise associating a reward with the milestone to act as an incentive for the participants to strive to achieve the milestone. In one embodiment, the method may comprise awarding the reward to at least one of the participants if the milestone is determined to have been achieved.

In one embodiment, the method may comprise issuing a modified milestone if the milestone is determined to have been achieved.

In one embodiment, the method may comprise determining the modified milestone based on feedback received from the participants. In one embodiment, the valuation score may be based on a conscious energy points assessment model.

In one embodiment, the conscious energy points assessment model may comprise at least one of a conscious element, a consequence element, a commitment to action element and a closure element.

In one embodiment, the method may comprise calculating the rating as a function of the validation scores received. In one embodiment, the method may comprise receiving a participation score from at least one sub-participant for each of the participants associated with the sub-group, wherein the participation score is based on a assessed level of participation within the sub-group. In one embodiment, the method may comprise determining a participation status for at least one sub-participant based on the participation scores.

In one embodiment, the method may comprise creating a privacy setting for at least one of the project or sub-project to allow only select users to have access to or be aware of the project or sub-project. In one embodiment, the method may comprise receiving an identifier for content and retrieving from a content store, a piece of content associated with the identifier.

In one embodiment, the method may comprise analysing the piece of content to determine a suitability measure of its associated identifier.

In one embodiment, the method may comprise receiving feedback from members of the on-line interactive environment regarding a suitability measure of an identifier associated with a piece of content including an additional or modified identifier, and associating the piece of content with the additional or modified identifier.

In one embodiment, the method may comprise receiving a search request including search parameters from a member, and returning search results which conform to both the search parameters and the data from the member's profile.

In one embodiment, the method may comprise providing content to a member in response to a content request, matching the requested content with a sponsor profile, and serving an advertisement associated with the content to the member. In one embodiment, the project may be a self-improvement or personal project and the sub-project may be a personal situation to be resolved or addressed.

Some embodiments relate to an on-line interactive system comprising:

at least one server arranged to communicate with a plurality of client devices across a network, the at least one server executing program code to host an on-line interactive environment in which users of the client devices can interact with one another; and

wherein the at least one server executes program code to carry out the steps of the method described above.

Some embodiments relate to a computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with computer executable instructions, which when executed in a computer system, is effective to cause the computer system: to carry out the steps of the niethods set out above.

Optional features described of any aspect of method, computer readable medium or computer system, where appropriate, similarly apply to the other aspects also described here.

Further benefits and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a considetrioan of the following detailed description given with reference to the s^companymg drawings, which specify and show preferred emhodioieats of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Embodiments are described in. further detail below, by way of example and with, reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure. 1 is a block diagram of a communications network including a server system, and a plurality of client devices;

Figure 2 is a block diagram of one of the client devices and tne server system of Figure i . showing functional modules of she client device and server system in further detail:

Figure 3 is a block diagram, showing functional components of the server-hosted on- line interae ti ve environment: of Figure 2 in {lather detai h

Figure 4 is an example display of a member's profile page in an on-line interactive environmetU;

Figure 5 is a flowchart of an exemplary method for facilitating an on-line collaboration between a plurality of users; Figure 6 is an example display of a member's projects page in an on-line interactive environment;

Figure 7 is an example display of a member's project item page in an on-line interactive environment;

Figure 8 is an example display of a member's sub-project page in an on-line interactive environment; and Figure 9 is a flowchart of an exemplary method for facilitating an on-line collaboration between a plurality of users and sponsors.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Throughout this specification the word "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps. Described embodiments relate generally to online interactive systems and methods. Some embodiments relate to server-hosted on-line interactive environments to allow collaboration among multiple users. In particular, some embodiments relate to server- hosted on-line interactive environments for enabling users to collaborate with contacts to engage in personal projects, which may include self-improvement. Such on-line interactive environments are intended to allow and facilitate collaboration of users of a social network to engage in projects with the aim of promoting self-improvement, as distinct from public social networks such as those provided by MySpace™ and Facebook™, which are unstructured and unaligned with any organisational purpose. In particular, some of the embodiments described allow members of the on-line interactive environment to create projects and invite contacts to collaborate or engage in the project as collaborators. In some embodiments, participants of a project may comprise at least some of a project creator, collaborators, sponsors, advertisers, non- members and other third parties. In some embodiments, projects may be characterised or defined as sub-projects or tasks, with at least one of the collaborators being assigned or allocated to each sub project or task. At least one of the sub-projects may be associated with a milestone or deadline date for completion of the sub-project. In some embodiments, a feedback mechanism may be provided to allow contacts, including contributors and/or a project initiator or creator, and/or any user or member of the online interactive environment to submit a validation score indicative of the handling of the sub-project, and/or provide comments on a discussion thread associated with the sub-project. In another aspect, projects or sub-projects may be sponsored by a sponsor, for example, an advertiser, such that an award may be provided by the sponsor to at least one of the participants of a sub-project when a milestone is achieved or deadline met. In one embodiment, a content matching engine may be utilised to determine a project of interest to a particular sponsor and vice versa, based on a comparison of sponsor profile information with data relating to a project, such as a project description, category, demographic information relating to the participants or contributors of the project, a time associated with the project, such as a creation date or expected completion date of the project, or any combination thereof. For example, a sponsor profile may indicate the desire of the sponsor to provide sponsorship for a weight loss project beginning on January 1 in order to coincide with a new year's resolution weight loss campaign for weight loss products.

The purpose of such features and functions is to harness the potential skills and support of contacts within an on-line interactive environment, and in particular, an on-line social interactive environment, to engage in the addressing of a particular problem or project, with a view to determining a solution or resolution to a personal issue. Contacts of a user of an on-line social interactive environment are well placed to assist with the user's self- improvement goals, and/or any personal issues, given that such contacts are socially connected to the user. Third parties, such as advertisers may avail of the facility to sponsor projects, to thereby integrate and ingratiate themselves with project initiators, and project participants, while at the same time, increase overall awareness of the third party, and any products and services they may offer.

Referring generally to Figure 1, a system 100 for facilitating an on-line interactive environment is described in further detail. Aspects of system 100 are also shown and described by way of example with reference to Figures 2, and 3. System 100 comprises a server system 1 10 and multiple client computing devices 120, 125 in communication with each other over a network 1 15, such as a local area network, a wireless data network, an intranet or the Internet or a combination of a number of such networks. System 100 further comprises a database 130 accessible to server system 110 for storing data pertinent to operation of server system 110 and provision of service to client computing devices 120, 125.

Client computing devices 120, 125 may comprise a desktop 120 or a mobile or handheld computing device 125 having at least one processor 250, one or more forms of memory 260, an operating system 264 and a user interface including a browser application 262 operable by a user. The memory may comprise volatile (e.g. RAM) and non-volatile (e.g. hard disk drive, solid state drive, flash memory and/or optical disc) storage. The user interface may comprise a display 270 and at least one input device, such as a touch-screen, a keyboard, mouse, stylus or other peripheral device that can be used for providing user input to client computing devices 120, 125.

A number of software applications or applets may be executing or executable by the at least one processor 250 to perform various device-related functions. Such applications may be stored in the non- volatile memory 260 of computing device 120, 125. At least one such software application includes the browser application 262 for enabling a user to navigate to sites accessible over the network 115 to receive content therefrom. Other client software applications may execute on client devices 120, 125 using operating system 232.

In the example of system 100 illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, client browser application 262 can be used to communicate with server system 1 10 to request content therefrom, in the form of one or more web pages provided as program code executable by the browser application 262. According to some embodiments, server system 110 is configured to serve code to providean on-line interactive environment for a user viewing a display generated by browser application 262 and viewable on display 270. Thus, server system 110 can be considered to act as an on-line interactive system or to act as a host for such a system. Figures 4 and 6 to 8 are described in further detail below and illustrate example displays of pages displayable by browser application 262 according to code received from server system 110.

In some embodiments, the browser application 262 may be supplemented by a special- purpose add-on or may be substituted by special -purpose client software (i.e. an "app" for a smart-phone or tablet device) in order to perform the functions described herein or to facilitate such functions. For example, for mobile client computing devices 125, a special purpose application 263 may be downloaded from the server 110 or a separate dedicated download server (not shown) and installed on the mobile client computing devices 125. When such a special purpose application 263 is executing on the mobile client computing devices 125, it may facilitate appropriate formatting, interaction, display and input to enable the user interface functionality described herein. In this way, the special-purpose application 263 cooperates with the server system 110 to provide access to and participation in the on-line collaboration environment 222 (Figure 2) in a manner akin to the MySpace™ or Facebook™ "apps" currently available for tablet computing devices and smart phones.

For simplicity of illustration, the server system 110 is generally described herein as serving code or one or more applets to the client computing devices 120 and 125 to perform some of the described user interface functions. However, it should be understood that this includes the server system 1 10 transmitting code and/or data to (and receiving code and/or data from) a special purpose application 263 executing on a client computing device 125 to enable that special purpose application 263 to provide the necessary or appropriate displays and interactive features (e.g. display of input fields, voting buttons, messaging and notifications, selectable options, etc.) described herein.

Server system 110 comprises at least one processing device 210, and may comprise multiple processing devices or multiple virtual or physical servers operating in cooperation and/or parallel to operate web server functions 228 (e.g. using a hypertext transfer protocol daemon (HTTP)), data processing functions and data storage and retrieval functions (e.g. using structured query language (SQL) support, such as object- relational database functions 230) in conjunction with database 130. Server system 1 10 may also comprise scripting language support 226, such as Microsoft™ ASP, ASP.NET, Java/J2EE or PHP or Ruby on Rails. Server system 1 10 may comprise or have access to suitable non- volatile data storage separate to database 130 for storing executable program code to enable server system 110 to perform its functions, including those functions described herein. Such program code comprises an operating system 232 and on-line interactive environment 222 supported by a suitable application platform or framework 224, such as PHP.

Database 130 may comprise a localised or distributed database storing data records for the various user profiles, user accounts, files, permissions, etc. Database 130 and/or object-relational database 230 may alsostoreall or almost all project related data, including project discussions and files, information regarding project participants such as managers, contributors, and sponsors, calendar information including time lines anddeadlines, financial information, and mail including participation feedback.In one embodiment, database 130 is a plurality of distinct databases, including a user profile database, a project database, which includes associated discussions and files, a main database for one-to-one communications, a calendar database for tracking goals or milestones, and a financial database for monitoring and awarding incentives.

Referring in particular to Figure 3, a server-side application architecture of the on-line interactive environment 222 is now described in further detail. The on-line interactive environment 222 generally comprises executable code modules that, when aggregated and executed by the one or more processors 210, perform programmed functions as described herein. Such functions include provision of an administration web application 310, a user access control function 312, an email notification function315 and front end web application functions 320, for example.

The front web application functions 320 include functions divided into a public area 322, such as user login, registration and password updating, and a secure area 324, where the on-line interaction occurs. The secure area 324 includes functions related to a control panel or Dash-board 330, user profile management 331, contact management 332, notifications 333, searching 334, and project management 350. The project management functions 350 are concerned with a home page 352, project participants 354, including managers, contributors, and sponsors, tasks or sub-projects 356, activity monitor 358, content matching engine 360, time line monitor 362, ratings calculator 364 and discussions thread 366. The operation of these functions is further described and/or evident from the flowcharts in Figures 4 and 5, and example displays shown in Figures 6 to 9, in conjunction with the accompanying description of those Figures.

When supported by and combined with the application framework 224, and the other server-side functions described previously, the on-line interactive environment 222 acts as an on-line interactive environment system 240. In some embodiments, this on-line interactive environment system 240 may encompass activities that can be viewed as being performed or executed at the client computing devices 120, 125. However, it is to be emphasised that the activities performed or executed at the client computing devices are reliant on program code (including applets, where appropriate) served by server system 1 10 to the client computing devices 120, 125 and executed by the browser application 262 or the special purpose application 263. The functionality of the system 100 is therefore driven by code executed and served by the server system 110.

In one embodiment, a user may register for the on-line interactive environment using the registration facility provided in the public area 322. For example, a user may provide their email address, and on verification of the email address, such as receipt of a response to a prompt emailed to the provided email address, the user may be associated with login details, such as a username and password, may be registered as a member and may be permitted to access the on-line interactive environment. In some embodiments, a system administrator may be associated with and have access to the on-line interactive environment, via the login facility provided in the public area 322 or via a separate specialised interface. The system administrator may be configured as a super user, with special permissions, allowing the system administrator to access and modify information stored by the on-line interactive environment, for example, member profile information. The system administrator may also be involved in screening requests for membership of the on-line interactive environment.

In some embodiments, a member profile is created for each user and may be maintained for at least the duration of the user's membership. The member profile may include demographic information such as a username, date of birth, address, email address, phone number, occupation, interests, etc., and project information, including an identifier of projects the member was affiliated with, a role associated with each project, for example, a project initiator, and/or contributor, and/or sponsor, participation levels for each project, etc. It will be appreciated that the project information may be considered dynamic information as it may be updated and revised depending on the member's activities in the on-line interactive environment. Although some of the demographic information may be considered static information, such as the user's location, the user may amend this data if desired. In one embodiment, the member profile may comprise a user's preference profile, which may be populated with responses to questions provided to the member, through surveys, testing or quizzes, for example, and/or information derived from the member's activity within the on-line interactive environment.

A member may be represented within the on-line interactive environment 222 by a member entity, comprising the user name of the member, and optionally, an avatar or photo. The member entity may also indicate an activity status associated with the member, such as "inactive", "dormant", or "active". For example, if it has been determined that a member has been inactive in that they have not logged onto the online interactive environment or have not participated in a project for a given period of time, their activity status may indicate that the user is "inactive". It is envisaged that providing an indication of the activity status of members will encourage or motivate the members to maintain an active profile.

In some embodiments, members may invite contacts to use the system via email, Facebook™, Linkedln™ or any other suitable communication means. If an invited contact registers with the on-line interactive environment 222, a notification may be provided to the member who invited the contact and the member and contact may be connected within the on-line interactive environment 222, with the contact optionally being displayed as a connection in the member's profile, and vice versa. In one embodiment, the on-line interactive environment 22 is arranged to suggest members with which a particular member might wish to connect. The suggested members may be determined based on a comparison of demographic information of the members or based on connections the members have in common, i.e., based on a 1^st degree of separation. For example, if two members are not connected, but are both connected to a common member, the online-interactive environment 222 may suggest to one or both of those members that they may wish to connect with one another. In one embodiment, the on-line interactive environment 222 may provide a facility to allow connection to be characterised by type, for example, family, or colleague, and optionally, sub-type, sister, or superior. An exemplary display of a webpage depicting a member' s profile is shown in Figure 4. The member's profile display 400 may include a profile snapshot 402, including a profile picture 404, basic personal information, 405, and a participation score 406. Alongside the profile snapshot 402, additional personal information 408 may be provided about the member. The member's profile display 400 may include a "Recent Projects" window 410, detailing recent projects the member is/was involved in, a "Recent Status" window 412, summarising the member's general status, broadcast to all connections (depending on privacy settings), a "Testimonials" window 414, detailing testimonials from the member's connections within the on-line interactive environment 222, a "Activity" window 416, depicting an overall activity level associated with the member's involvement in their own projects, in others projects and in other contributions., a status indicator 418 indicating the status or level or seniority associated with the member within the on-line interactive environment, and a "Connections window 420 displaying at least a sub-set of the contacts or other users connected to the member. The webpage depicting the member's profile may provide user selectable options 422 to allow the member to edit the profile, send a message, or add a connection. The member's profile display 400 may also include an advertising window 424, for example, displayed in a side bar of the display 400.

A third party, or a potential sponsor, such as an advertiser, may also register for the online interactive environment using the registration facility provided in the public area 322.lt is envisaged that sponsors will join the on-line interactive environment 222 in order to promote their products and/or services in a new and more effective manner by availing of information associated with projects and project types to tailor their advertising and by building relationships with contacts by supporting and sponsoring their projects.

The sponsors may be considered members of the on-line interactive environment, and may be associated with a member profile. In one embodiment, the member profile of a sponsor may be stored in a database distinct from the user profile database. The sponsor's member profile or sponsor profile may include a sponsor's name, or company name, or contact person, contact details and optionally branding parameters for defining a message the sponsor wishes to convey to a target audience. In one embodiment, the sponsor profile may comprise a brand profile and/or a positioning strategy for at least one brand, product or product range, or service, and/or a target demographic and/or a target geographical area. A sponsor may be provided with rights or permissions differing from those provided to or permitted by some or all of the non-sponsor members. For example, a sponsor may be permitted to sponsor a particular project or sub-project, create goals or milestones for a particular project or sub-project and facilitate the provision of an incentive scheme, as will be explained in more detail below.

In one embodiment, the database 130 may comprise a content store or a separate content database for storing a plurality of pieces of content, each piece having at least one identifier or tag associated therewith. For example, a piece of content may be tagged according to type, such as audio, video, image, books, snippet, documents, links or any such media content. Each piece of content may comprise multiple tags, and each tag may be associated with an importance level. For example, a piece of content may have five top level importance tags and ten to one lhousand less relevant or important tags. Optionally, each piece of content may also include ownership information, identifying an owner of the content.

In one embodiment, the pieces of content may be tagged when initially uploaded or otherwise provided to the server 110. The server may initiate an analysis process to determine whether a particular piece of content has been appropriately tagged, and/or whether a particular piece of content is already in the database 130.

The on-line interactive environment 222 may accept feedback from users who have been provided with a particular piece of content and may use the feedback to provide the piece of content with an additional tag and/or to modify at least one of the tags associated with the piece of content. Furthermore, the on-line interactive environment 222 may be arranged to query a user regarding their opinion of the tag(s) associated with a particular piece of content and/or regarding feedback they have provided in relation to a particular piece of content. In one embodiment, searches and search results provided by the searching function 334 of the on-line interactive environment 222 may be monitored and utilised to improve accuracy of the content tagging. Alternatively or in addition, information determined from monitoring reviews, comments, and links, associated with a user may be used to update and/or modify tags, to accommodate for changing popularity of particular content and/or preferences of a user.

The searching function 334 of the on-line interactive environment 222 may allow the users to search for and retrieve content from the database 130 based on the tags. In one embodiment, the searching function 334 enables users to avail of a universal search option for all public elements such as users, projects and other unrestricted content. In one embodiment, searches may be performed in view of a user's member profile and may return only results which match both search parameters used and user profile data.

In one embodiment, the content matching engine 360 is employed to match parameters of the sponsor profile, with at least one or more pieces of content, for example, based on the tags associated with the content, In one embodiment, the matched content may be an advertisement for the sponsor and may be displayed in the advertising window 424, for example, of the display 400, or any other advertising window provided in the on-line interactive environment 222. In one embodiment, the content matching engine 360 may be arranged to determine the suitability of placing a particular advertisement in an advertising window associated with a particular member. In one embodiment, the content matching engine 360 may employ a behavioural based campaign to determine the suitable placing of an advertisement. In one embodiment, such determination may depend on information derived from the member's profile, geographical information, a calendar date, the member's tastes, the member's current and/or past discussions, the member's on-line interactive history, projects and/or sub-projects associated with the member, and so on.

In some embodiments, the content matching engine 360 is employed to provide content on request to members and may match the member requested content to a sponsor profile, and serve an advertisement associated with the content to the member, for example, to be displayed in an advertisement window of the on-line interactive environment 222. Referring now to Figure 5, there is illustrated a flow diagram depicting an exemplary method 500 of facilitating an on-line collaboration between a plurality of users. Method 500 is facilitated by server system 110 based on code served by the server system 1 10 to one or more client devices, 120, 125. Therefore the acts described in relation to method 500 are performed by execution in browser application 262, of browser- executable code served to the client device 120, 125 by server system 110.

Method 500 begins at act 510, when a member, or project creator, creates a project item for a project using a selectable option, for example, such as clicking on a button, labelled "Add Project" on a webpage associated with the member, such as a member's home page, or projects page. This may create a project item which is displayed on an associated project item webpage and/or within a window provided on the member's projects page. In one embodiment, the selectable option may include at least one information field for population by the project creator, to thereby allow the project creator to provide additional details regarding the project item. For example, the fields may include a project name, project category, a project sub-category, a privacy setting, a budget, a description, and an option for adding or associating contacts with the project. In the case that such information is provided by the project creator when creating the project item, the project item webpage is populated with the information as appropriate. It will be appreciated however that such information may be provided or modified by the member once the project item has been created. In one embodiment, the privacy setting allows a project creator to set a particular privacy setting for a particular project or sub-project to allow only select members, or third parties to have access to or be aware of the project or sub-project. For example, a project creator may associate a particular project with family members only by setting the privacy settings accordingly and in such a case, member who are not identified in their member profiles as being related to the project creator may not access any information associated with the project or sub-project. At 520, the project creator associates at least one contact within the on-line interactive environment 222 with the project item. This may be accomplished by utilising an option to add or associate contacts with the project provided within the user option displayed on the project creator's webpage when creating the project item webpage, and/or by selecting a user selectable option to add or associate contacts with the project provided on the project item page. In one embodiment, associating a contact with the project may involve issuing a request to the contact's member profile webpage and assigning the contact to the group on receipt of an acceptance response from the contact.

At 530, the project creator creates a plurality of sub-projects or tasks, each defining a building step of the project, using a selectable option, for example, such as clicking on a button, labelled "Add Sub-Project" on the project item webpage. This creates a sub- project item which is displayed on an associated sub-project item webpage and/or within a window provided on the project item page. In one embodiment, the selectable option includes at least one information field for population by the project creator, to thereby allow the project creator to provide additional details regarding the project item. For example, the sub-project fields may include a sub-project name, allocated budget, description, and an option for adding or associating contacts with the project. In the case that such information is provided by the project creator when creating the sub- project item, the sub-project item webpage is populated with the information as appropriate. It will be appreciated however that such information may be provided or modified by the member once the sub-project item has been created.

At 540, the project creator associates at least one contact within the on-line interactive environment with the sub-project item. This may be accomplished by utilising an option to add or associate contacts with the sub-project provided within the user option displayed on the project item webpage when creating the sub-project webpage, and/or by selecting a user selectable option to add or associate contacts with the sub-project provided on the sub-project page. In one embodiment, associating a contact with the sub-project may involve issuing a request to the contact's member profile webpage and assigning the contact to the sub-group on receipt of an acceptance response from the contact. At 550, the project creator associates a milestone or goal with at least one sub-project. This creates a project milestone item which may be displayed on the sub-project item webpage. The project milestone item may include a description of the milestone, including a deadline date, particulars such as rules and regulations which should be abided by, and an incentive, such as a financial reward, to motivate participants to strive to achieve the milestone or meet the goal. In one embodiment, the project milestone item and its associated sub-project title may be displayed, for example, as a window, on the project item webpage.

At 560, a valuation score is received from the participants of the sub-project. In one embodiment, the valuation score is based on a four conscious energy points assessment model, (FourCEP). The FourCEP model may include four assessment elements, including a conscious element, a consequence element, a commitment to action element and a closure element. The conscious element may be a measure of a level of awareness the project creator has of the sub-project and may include an assessment of that awareness by the participants of the group or sub-group.

The consequence element may be a measure of a level of awareness each participant has of positive and/or negative implications of the sub-project or task affecting the project creator. For example, some participants may be aware of more negative than positive implications or vice- versa and so each may be rating separately.

The commitment to action element may be a measure of a level of commitment the project creator sets to achieve the task, or overcome the situation or problem. In one embodiment, the commitment to action element may be assessed using a SMART target methodology, wherein SMART is an acronym for "specific", "measurable", "attainable", "relevant" and "time bound". For example, the project creator may be expected to address criteria for each SMART target, such as displaying a specific commitment to action, measuring the commitment in terms of a key performance indicator, (KPI), attaining the commitment with the resources available, relating the commitment to the sub-project, problem or situation, and achieving the commitment within a specified time. In one embodiment, the project creator and the participants may rate each of the SMART targets and may provide comments using a discussion thread associated with the sub-project.

Tn one embodiment, once the conscious element, consequence element and commitment to action elements have been addressed, the project creator may be deemed equipped to handle the sub-project, task or situation and the closure element may be considered. The closure element may be split into three sub-steps, for example, "Love", "Appreciation" and "Equilibrium". In one embodiment, the "Love" sub-step may involve the project creator indicating or providing an expression of love for what they have learnt by undertaking the sub-project, which may be expressed through an affirmation and/or an act of service. An example of affirmation of an obesity project is "I am a healthy human being that is consciously consuming a balanced diet". My act of service would be "to offer my new found knowledge to friends and families and anyone who ask so that I can share the importance of a balanced diet to overcome obesity". In one embodiment, the "Appreciation" sub-step may involve the project creator indicating how a feeling of closure compares to lack of consciousness and the "Equilibrium sub-step may involve the project creator indicating any fear which may have been overcome by handling the sub-project or situation.

At 570, a ratings score is determined based at least the valuation scores received from the participants. In one embodiment, the ratings score is based on a combination of a weighted value of the valuation score received from the project creator, a weighted value of the valuation scores received from the contributors and a weighted unknown variable, such as information associated with or validations scores received from other members of the online-interactive environment 222, who may not be involved in the project, and/or participants or contributors who are involved with the project but are not participants or contributors associated with the sub-project. In one embodiment, the ratings score is calculated using the following formula:

Ratings score = (Xx0.5) + (Yx0.35) + (ZxO.15),

where X is the project creator's valuation score, Y is an average of the total of the contributor's scores, and Z is an unknown variable, affected by external influences, but which may have a default value based on an average of the project creator's validation score plus and average of the sum total of the contributors' validation scores.

At 580, a determination as to whether or not the milestone has been achieved is carried out. In one embodiment, the determination may be based solely on the ratings score. In one embodiment, the determination may be based on the ratings score and on additional factors such as whether the sub-project was completed within a given time frame, and/or involved a sufficient number of participants.

At 590, if the milestone is considered to have been achieved, the project creator and/or the contributors to the project and/or sub-project, and/or the participants to the project and/or sub-project, may be provided with an award and/or recognised as having been involved in achieving the milestone. For example, in one embodiment, a reward, such as a financial reward, may be provided to any of the participants. In one embodiment, at least one participant may receive a status promotion and may be elevated to a higher ranking status level, such as from a team leader to a mentor. At 595, if the milestone is not considered to have been achieved, an action may be taken to determine any stumbling block, or reasons why the milestone wasn't achieved. In one embodiment, the participants may provide feedback via the discussion thread for the sub-project. In one embodiment, a new milestone may be created for the sub- project, for example, wherein the milestone is determined based on feedback received from the participants. In one embodiment, each participant associated with a group or a sub-group may provide a participation score 406 for each of the other participants associated with the group or sub-group. For example, the score may be based on levels of participation of the participants being assessed. In one embodiment, the scores for a given member received from other participants in a project or sub-project may be utilised to determine a status of the member. For example, if a member obtains a score above a target percentage level, that member may be elevated from to a higher status level, such as from a team leader to a mentor, as indicated by the status indicator 418. In one embodiment, participation levels associated with members are used to determine whether or not the member should receive a reward, accolade or a status promotion.

An exemplary display of a webpage depicting a member's projects is shown in Figure

6. The member's projects display 600 depicts an "Add Project" window 602 to allow the member to create a project. "Add Project" window 602 includes a field for inserting a project name 604, a drop-down project category menu option 606, a drop-down project sub category menu option 608, a budget field 610, user-selectable connections option 612 to allow the member to add contacts to the project, a drop-down privacy setting menu option 614, a description field 616, and a user-selectable button 618 to submit the request to create a project.. The member's projects display 600 also provides an "Active Projects" window 620 for displaying summaries relating to active projects in which the member is a contributor, an "Owned Projects" window 622 for displaying summaries relating to projects in which the member is the project creator, and an "Associated Projects" window 624 for displaying summaries relating to projects associated with the member, such as a friend's quit smoking project that the member is invited to participate in.

7. The member's project item display 700 includes a header 702 identifying the project title, the project creator and a progress score, and providing information about the project, such as a summary of the aim or purpose of the project. The member's project item display 700 displays a "Budget" window 704 fields for a proposed budget value and an actual budget value, and a "Project Milestones" window 706 to identify a situation or sub-project, a deadline associated with the sub-project and a an amount of a financial reward provided as an incentive to achieve the milestone. The member's project item display 700 provides an "Add Situation" window 708 to allow the member to create a sub-project or task associated with the project. The "Add Situation" window 708 includes a field for inserting a situation or sub-project name 710, a budget allocation field 712, a user- selectable connections option 714 to allow the member to add contacts or allocate participants to the situation or sub-project, a description field 716, and a user-selectable button 718 to submit the request to create a sub-project. The member's project item display 700 provides an "Active Situations" window 720 for displaying summaries relating to active sub-projects in which the member is a contributor, an "All Situations" window 722 for displaying summaries relating to all sub-projects associated with the project, and a "Project Group" window 724 for displaying icons representing the contacts or participants associated with the project.

An exemplary display of a webpage depicting a member's sub-project is shown in Figure 8. The member's sub-project item display 800 includes a header 802 identifying a title of the situation or sub-project and information about the situation, such as the aim or purpose and a progress score value. The member's sub-project item display 800 may depict a "Milestone" window 804, identifying a title of the milestone or task, and information about the milestone, such as rule and regulations to follow in order to achieve the milestone, and including for example, a deadline date for achieving the milestone and a monetary value representing a financial reward. The member's sub- project item display 800 may also show assessment element windows 806, such as a conscious element window, a consequence element window, a commitment to action element window, and a closure element window. Each assessment element window 806 may include details as to the validation score for each of the participants and/or an option to retrieve further information about the progress of the project creator, the contributors or other participants and/or members of the online-interactive environment 222, or other external influences. Referring now to Figure 9, there is illustrated a flow diagram depicting an exemplary method 900 of facilitating an on-line collaboration between a plurality of users. Method 900 is facilitated by server system 110 based on code served by the server system 1 10 to one or more client devices, 120, 125. Therefore the acts described in relation to method 900 are performed by execution in browser application 262, of browser- executable code served to the client device 120, 125 by server system 110.

Method steps 910 to 940 correspond with method steps 510 to 540, as described above with reference to Figure 5. Therefore, each of methods steps 510 to 540 are carried out as steps 910 to 940 of method 900, and are incorporated herein to method 900.

Method 900 continues at 945, where at least one sponsor may be engaged to sponsor the project and/or a particular sub-project and/or a particular milestone associated with a sub-project. In one embodiment, the content matching engine 360 may be arranged to notify a sponsor when a project and/or sub-project is created which includes information such as content and/or participant demographics that match a strategy profile of the sponsor profile. The sponsor may then register their interest in sponsoring the project and/or a particular sub-project and/or a particular milestone associated with a sub-project, and in one embodiment, may be advertised as the sponsor for the project and/or sub-project and/or milestone, subject to the project creator's approval. In one embodiment, the sponsor profile may include permissions associated with certain advertising strategies, and if the content matching engine 360 matches a project and/or sub-project and/or milestone with the strategy profile of the sponsor profile, the sponsor register is registered with the project creator automatically, i.e., without having to notify and seek approval from the sponsor. In one embodiment, alternative to or in addition to thecontent matching engine 360 attempting to engage a sponsor, the project creator may notify a sponsor and request sponsorship for project and/or sub-project and/or milestone

At 950, a milestone or goal is associated with at least one sub-project. In one embodiment, the milestone may be determined by the project creator, the project creator and the sponsor, or the sponsor. The creation of a milestone may generate a project milestone item which may be displayed on the sub-project item webpage. The project milestone item may include a description of the milestone, including a deadline date, particulars such as rules and regulations which should be abided by, and an incentive, such as a financial reward, to motivate participants to strive to achieve the milestone or meet the goal. In one embodiment, the project milestone item and its associated sub-project title may be displayed, for example, as a window, on the project item webpage. The sponsor may also be identified with the milestone to affiliate the sponsor with the award.

At 960, a valuation score is received from the participants of the sub-project. Tn one embodiment, the valuation score is based on a four conscious energy points assessment model, (FourCEP), as discussed in relation Lo step 560 of method 500. In one embodiment, the sponsor(s) may also provide valuation scores for consideration.

At 970, a ratings score is determined based at least the valuation scores received from the participants and as discussed in more detail in relation to step 570 of method 500.

At 980, a determination as to whether or not the milestone has been achieved is carried out. In one embodiment, the determination may be based solely on the ratings score. In one embodiment, the determination may be based on the ratings score and on additional factors such as whether the sub-project was completed within a given time frame, and/or involved a sufficient number of participants. At 990, if the milestone is considered to have been achieved, the project creator and/or the contributors to the project and/or sub-project, and/or the participants to the project and/or sub-project, may be provided with an award and/or recognised as having been involved in achieving the milestone. For example, in one embodiment, a reward, such as a financial reward, may be provided to any of the participants. In one embodiment, at least one participant may receive a status promotion and may be elevated to a higher ranking status level, such as from a team leader to a mentor. At 995, if the milestone is not considered to have been achieved, an action may be taken to determine any stumbling block, or reasons why the milestone wasn't achieved. In one embodiment, the participants may provide feedback via the discussion thread for the sub-project. In one embodiment, a new milestone may be created for the sub- project, for example, wherein the milestone is determined based on feedback received from the participants, and may include feedback from the sponsor(s).

The steps of the method may be performed in any particular order and are not limited to the order described in relation to the examples of Figures 5 and 9. For example, with regards to method 500 or 900, a sub-group may be associated with a milestone before contacts are associated with the sub-group, and for example, with regards to method 900, a sponsor may be engaged at any stage of the process, such as when the project is created or when the sub-project is created.

The techniques of the present disclosure may be implemented using a variety of technologies. For example, the methods described herein may be implemented by a series of computer executable instructions residing on a suitable computer readable medium. Suitable computer readable media may include volatile (e.g. RAM) and/or non-volatile (e.g. ROM, disk) memory, carrier waves and transmission media. Exemplary carrier waves may take the form of electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals conveying digital data steams along a local network or a publically accessible network such as the internet. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussion, throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as "estimating" or "processing" or "computing" or "calculating", "optimizing" or "determining" or "displaying" or "maximising" or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that processes and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.

Numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments, without departing from the broad general scope of the present disclosure. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A computer implemented method for providing an on-line interactive environment, the method operable in a server arranged to communicate with a plurality of client devices across a network, the method comprising:

creating a project item for managing a project associated with a member of the on-line interactive environment;

determining a milestone for the at least one sub-project;

determining whether the milestone was achieved based on at least the rating.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising engaging a sponsor for the project item and affiliating the sponsor with the milestones of the sub-projects.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising engaging a sponsor for the sub- project and affiliating the sponsor with the milestone.

4. The method of claims 2 or 3, wherein the step of engaging the sponsor comprising matching a strategy profile of the sponsor with at least one of:

a) information associated with the project creator;

b) information associated with the project participants

c) information associated with the sub-project participants

d) content relating to the project;

e) content relating to the sub-project; and

f) content relating to the milestone.

5. The method of any of claims 1 to 4, further comprising associating a reward with the milestone to act as an incentive for the participants to strive to achieve the milestone.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising awarding the reward to at least one of the participants if the milestone is determined to have been achieved.

7. The method of any preceding claim, further comprising issuing a modified milestone if the milestone is determined to have been achieved.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising determining the modified milestone based on feedback received from the participants.

9. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the valuation score is based on a conscious energy points assessment model.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the conscious energy points assessment model comprises at least one of a conscious element, a consequence element, a commitment to action element and a closure element.

11. The method of any preceding claim, further comprising calculating the rating as a function of the validation scores received.

12. The method of any preceding claim, further comprising receiving a participation score from at least one sub-participant for each of the participants associated with the sub-group, wherein the participation score is based on a assessed level of participation within the sub-group.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising determining a participation status for at least one sub-participant based on the participation scores.

14. The method of any preceding claim, further comprising creating a privacy setting for at least one of the project or sub-project to allow only select users to have access to or be aware of the project or sub-project.

15. The method of any preceding claim, further comprising receiving an identifier for content and retrieving from a content store, a piece of content associated with the identifier.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising analysing the piece of content to determine a suitability measure of its associated identifier.

17. The method of any preceding claim, further comprising receiving feedback from members of the on-line interactive environment regarding a suitability measure of an identifier associated with a piece of content including an additional or modified identifier, and associating the piece of content with the additional or modified identifier.

18. The method of any preceding claim, further comprising receiving a search request including search parameters from a member, and returning search results which conform to both the search parameters and the data from the member's profile.

19. The method of any preceding claim, further comprising providing content to a member in response to a content request, matching the requested content with a sponsor profile, and serving an advertisement associated with the content to the member.

20. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the project is a self-improvement or personal project.

21. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the sub-project is a personal situation to be resolved or addressed.

22. A non-line interactive system comprising:

wherein the at least one server executes program code to carry out the method of any of claims 1 to 21.

23. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with computer executable instructions, which when executed in a computer system, is effective to cause the computer system to carry out the steps of the methods of claims 1 to 21.