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US5748186A
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Multimodal information presentation system
Assignee: Hewlett Packard Development Co LP
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Filing: 1995-10-02
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Granted: 1998-05-05
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Expires: 2015-10-02
Abstract
Abstract In a computer system, a method is implemented for interactively presenting electronically encoded multi-media information. The information including marks to indicate a structure of the information. The method includes the steps of receiving the information, and converting the information to a common intermediate representation stored in a memory of a computer system in the form of a hierarchical attribute tree. The tree has a plurality of document objects, the document objects represent the information, the structure of the information, and procedures which can operate on the information. The common intermediate representation is presented using a plurality of user communication modalities according to the hierarchical attribute tree. While presenting the information, the method receives control signals from a user using the plurality of user communication modalities to enable the user to interactively and independently control the receiving of the information and the presentation of the information in a plurality of presentation modalities.
Inventors
- 👤 T. V. Raman
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-03 21:15
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F16/00; G06F16/40; G06F16/45
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 30
Claim 1
Independent Claim
135 words
A computer implemented method for interactively presenting an electronically encoded multi-media document, the document including marks to indicate a structure of the document, comprising the steps of: receiving the document via a network; converting the document to a common intermediate representation, the common intermediate representation stored in a memory of a computer system in the form of a hierarchical attribute tree having a plurality of document objects, the document objects representing the document, the structure of the document, and procedures which can operate on the document; presenting the common intermediate representation using a plurality of user communication modalities according to the hierarchical attribute tree; and receiving control signals from a user using the plurality of user communication modalities, while presenting the common intermediate representation to enable the user to control the presentation of the document.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
135 words
A computer implemented method for interactively presenting an electronically encoded multi-media document, the document including marks to indicate a structure of the document, comprising the steps of: receiving the document via a network; converting the document to a common intermediate representation, the common intermediate representation stored in a memory of a computer system in the form of a hierarchical attribute tree having a plurality of document objects, the document objects representing the document, the structure of the document, and procedures which can operate on the document; presenting the common intermediate representation using a plurality of user communication modalities according to the hierarchical attribute tree; and receiving control signals from a user using the plurality of user communication modalities, while presenting the common intermediate representation to enable the user to control the presentation of the document.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of user communication modality include audible, visible, or tactile modalities.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of user communication modalities are synchronized in the presenting step.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 1 further comprising switching among the plurality of user communication modalities while presenting.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method of claim 1 further comprising constructing a nested list, the nested list including a plurality of items, each of the plurality of items including data representing a structural element of the document.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 5 wherein each of the plurality of items is stored as a document object in the hierarchical attribute tree.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of documents objects include at least one of a link document object, the link document referencing a second document which can be received, converted, and presented.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
56 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the procedures include navigational methods, location methods, and positional methods, the navigational methods for modifying a current position in the hierarchical tree, the location methods for selecting a current document object for rendering, and the positional methods for determining which of the plurality of documents is the current document object.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 8 further including rendering methods, the rendering methods associated with the plurality of document objects to determine a rendering style for the common intermediate representation.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
85 words
The method of claim 1, wherein: the common intermediate representation is alternatively presentable using the plurality of user communication modalities and is presented using one or more user communication modalities selected from the plurality of user communication modalities; and the control signals received from the user represent a selection of the one or more user communication modalities and enable the user to interactively control the presentation of the document such that the document is presented only in the selected one or more user communication modalities.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
53 words
A method for presenting a hypertext, comprising the steps of: receiving the hypertext via a network, the hypertext including marks to indicate a visual rendering of the hypertext; converting the hypertext to a common intermediate representation stored in a memory of a computer system; presenting the common intermediate representation using an aural rendering.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
53 words
A method for presenting a hypertext, comprising the steps of: receiving the hypertext via a network, the hypertext including marks to indicate a visual rendering of the hypertext; converting the hypertext to a common intermediate representation stored in a memory of a computer system; presenting the common intermediate representation using an aural rendering.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 11 further comprising: presenting the common intermediate representation using the visual rendering, the visual rendering and the aural rendering synchronized with each other.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 11 further comprising: receiving speech input while presenting to interactively control the receiving and presenting.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
124 words
An interactive system for presenting source information, comprising: a converter configured to convert electronically encoded data representing the source information to a common intermediate representation of the source information; a presenter configured to convert the common intermediate representation into a presentation of the source information to a user; an input device configured to enter user commands to select one or more of at least two modalities in which the source information is presentable; and an interactive interface configured to receive a command entered on the input device and to issue a control signal representing the received command to the presentor, responsive to which the presenter controls the presentation of the source information in the selected one or more of the at least two modalities.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
124 words
An interactive system for presenting source information, comprising: a converter configured to convert electronically encoded data representing the source information to a common intermediate representation of the source information; a presenter configured to convert the common intermediate representation into a presentation of the source information to a user; an input device configured to enter user commands to select one or more of at least two modalities in which the source information is presentable; and an interactive interface configured to receive a command entered on the input device and to issue a control signal representing the received command to the presentor, responsive to which the presenter controls the presentation of the source information in the selected one or more of the at least two modalities.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
31 words
An interactive system according to claim 14, wherein the at least two modalities include at least two of a visual presentation modality, an aural presentation modality and a tactile presentation modality.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
30 words
An interactive system according to claim 14, wherein the source information is aural and the selected one or more of the at least two modalities is a visual presentation modality.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
33 words
An interactive system according to claim 16, wherein the presenter controls the presentation of the source information such that the source information is presented by displaying a mouthing of the aural source information.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
40 words
An interactive system according to claim 14, wherein two of the at least two modalities are selected and the presenter controls the presentation of the source information such that the source information is presented concurrently in the selected two modalities.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
29 words
An interactive system according to claim 14, wherein the at least two modalities include a partial presentation modality in which only a portion of the source information is presented.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
13 words
An interactive system according to claim 14, wherein the source information is hyper-text.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
23 words
An interactive system according to claim 14, wherein the at least two modalities include an aural presentation modality in which speech is variable.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
46 words
An interactive system according to claim 14, wherein: the input device includes a speech input unit; the at least two modalities include an aural presentation modality; and with the aural presentation modality selected, interactivity between the interactive system and the user is accomplished using only speech.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
93 words
An interactive system according to claim 14, further comprising: a retriever for retrieving the source information; wherein the input device is further configured to enter user commands requesting retrieval of the source information; wherein the interactive interface is further configured to receive another command entered on the input device and to issue another control signal representing the received another command to the retriever, responsive to which the retriever retrieves the requested source information; and wherein the retrieval of the source information and the presentation of the source information are performed as separate steps.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
62 words
An interactive system according to claim 14, wherein: two of the at least two modalities are selected; and the presentor controls the presentation of the source information such that a portion of the source information is presented in one of the selected two modalities and another portion of the source information is presented in a different one of the selected two modalities.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
81 words
An interactive system according to claim 14, wherein: the common intermediate representation of the source information includes an intermediate high-level structure having a nested list in the form of a hierarchical attribute tree; wherein higher levels of the hierarchical attribute tree are collapsible into a single node and expandable from the single node; wherein a level of nesting of an item in said nested list corresponds to the level of a node associated with the item in the hierarchical attribute tree.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
165 words
An interactive system for presenting source information, comprising: a converter configured to convert electronically encoded data representing the source information to a common intermediate representation of the source information; a presentor configured to convert the common intermediate representation into a presentation of the source information to a user: an input device configured to enter user commands to select one or more of at least two modalities in which the source information is presentable; and an interactive interface configured to receive a command entered on the input device and to issue a control signal representing the received command to the presenter responsive to which the presenter controls the presentation of the source information in the selected one or more of the at least two modalities and the at least two modalities include an aural presentation modality in which speech is variable and farther wherein the speech is variable so as to indicate a relative distance between a source of the source information and the interactive system.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
165 words
An interactive system for presenting source information, comprising: a converter configured to convert electronically encoded data representing the source information to a common intermediate representation of the source information; a presentor configured to convert the common intermediate representation into a presentation of the source information to a user: an input device configured to enter user commands to select one or more of at least two modalities in which the source information is presentable; and an interactive interface configured to receive a command entered on the input device and to issue a control signal representing the received command to the presenter responsive to which the presenter controls the presentation of the source information in the selected one or more of the at least two modalities and the at least two modalities include an aural presentation modality in which speech is variable and farther wherein the speech is variable so as to indicate a relative distance between a source of the source information and the interactive system.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2001-05-04 | 2001-11-03 | 2002-05-05 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2005-05-04 | 2005-11-03 | 2006-05-05 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2009-05-04 | 2009-11-03 | 2010-05-05 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |