Apparatus and method to navigate interactive television using unique inputs with a remote control
A method and system to facilitate navigation of a widearea network. A navigation matrix is displayed on a client node. The matrix pairs each navigation option with an input such that, for example, pressing a single key activates that navigation option. The key press event is forwarded to an information and services hub across the network. The hub then returns a next appropriate matrix layer which may be navigated in the same manner.
Latest Marlo Longstreet 2003 Irrevocable Trust Patents:
This is a divisional of Ser. No. 09/440,214, filed on Nov. 15, 1999, entitled AN APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SIMPLE WIDE-AREA NETWORK NAVIGATION.
BACKGROUND1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to electronic information services and electronic commerce services. More specifically, the invention relates to providing easy navigation to facilitate access to such services.
2. Background
The advent of the Internet has made a vast amount of information available to a significant segment of the population. Even so, over 150 million people in the U.S. do not use the Internet, including 80% of people over 45 and 89% of people over 55. There are currently over 800 million pages of information spread over 3 million information servers on the Internet. The vast majority of this information is commercial in nature, making up 83% of the content. Of the remaining 17%, the majority is scientific or educational. This would tend to indicate that if one does not have access to these growing resources, then one is at a definite disadvantage.
While user interfaces are vastly more user-friendly now than in the days of character-based terminals, such as DOS, the current Internet navigation systems are still too cumbersome and require too much specialized knowledge for many people to use effectively. There are too many protocols, too many standards, and too many methods for performing seemingly simple tasks. Just the act of setting up a computer with a minimal configuration is challenging and complex, so much so that many people will not gain access to the vast array of services available over the Internet. Technology generally evokes fear particularly among the older generation and the poor, who have had little or no exposure to it. The net effect of this fear combined with cost factors has been to deny access to this large and growing segment of the population.
At this stage, electronic information services and electronic commerce services have reached the point of mass momentum. Unfortunately, those that cannot access these products and services are being disenfranchised due to technical capabilities, age, and/or socio-economic status.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA method and system to facilitate navigation of a wide-area network is disclosed. A navigation matrix is displayed on a client node. The matrix pairs each navigation option with an input such that, for example, pressing a single key activates that navigation option. The key press event is forwarded to an information and services hub across the network. The hub then returns a next appropriate matrix layer which may be navigated in the same manner.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A simplified system for navigation of the Internet or other content source allows a broader user base access to the content and services available thereon. In one embodiment, the hardware is designed to be low cost and immediately usable out of the box. This is expected to further expand access to the electronic world.
Application server 36 is coupled to the content server 32 and the extensible markup language (XML) database 46. The application server 36 provides applications to the content sinks via the content server 32. The applications server 36 can provide services from within the ISH 18 or those provided from, for instance, content partner 14. As one example, the application server may provide access to a locally hosted Java-based word processor. Alternatively, it may provide access to a mapping application provided by some third party, such as Vicinity, of Palo Alto, Calif., or MapQuest, of Denver, Colo.
The XML transcoder 30 receives incoming data from the various possible content sources. XML transcoder 30 parses incoming data and insures the data is placed in the correct database and in an appropriate format. For content partners, an ISH document-type definition (DTD) formats their data for inclusion in the ISH 18. Thus, when the XML transcoder 30 receives a document formatted in the standard DTD 60, it may be a mere conduit to one of the various databases within the ISH 18. Content partners are expected to provide other services, including electronic data interchange (EDI), which is a currently accepted standard for transacting purchases between wholesalers and retailers. Some embodiments of the ISH will accept EDI in various formats, including ASC X12, EDI FACT, and ANSI X.12. When an EDI transmission is received by the XML transcoder 30, it will be transcoded to XML, and the data made available to the appropriate service or repository. Some content partners may only support established proprietary file formats, which are transferred using e-mail or FTP services 64. The XML transcoder provides automated processing of files transferred in this manner. This may include parsing of data received and mapping of the data element into data fields of the ISH.
The XML transcoder 30 also brokers transactions with banking and remittance processing services (RPS) 24. In some of the embodiments, an ISH DTD 60 is provided to the bank site to facilitate transaction processing using XML. The XML transcoder 30 is also designed to repurpose content from non-content partners, such as any site 26 to a format suitable for navigation, using the simplified navigation system described further below. For example, at a minimum, an arbitrary server provides some HTML code which can be transcoded to XML by the transcoder 30. Some specialty graphics, like Shockwave from Macromedia, Inc., can be explicitly handled by the transcoder or dropped as part of the transcoding.
The I/O bus bridge 110 is coupled to the local bus 102 and bridges to the I/O bus 112. A number of units may reside on the I/O bus, including a graphics module 114 that couples to a display (not shown), a universal serial bus (USB) controller that may couple the system to any number of additional USB devices. Common USB devices include keyboards, mice, cameras, scanners, printers, and other peripheral components and input/output devices. Also coupled to the I/O bus may be power management module 118, which may be coupled to the power switch and may include conventional power conservation protocols, ensuring the processor 100 is permitted to orderly conclude its current operation before changing power states.
An infrared data association (IrDA) interface 120 permits the terminal to be coupled to hand-held devices, if desired. In some embodiments, a keyboard may be coupled by an Ir link. Storage unit 122, which may, for example, be a flash memory unit, is used for long-term storage of data or files. A transceiver 124 is used to permit the processor to communicate with the hub, whether it be a point-to-point link or across a wide-area network. The transceiver 124 may be, but is not limited to, an ethernet transceiver, a modem, digital subscriber line (DSL) or cable modem. It is expected that the processor 100 will communicate through the transceiver 124 to the ISH using transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP) or point-to-point protocol (PPP). Encryption and compression within the terminal may be handled by conventional hardware or software solutions.
Audio I/O interface 126 may include an internal microphone and speaker which permits audio input and output. This is particularly useful in the context of voice e-mail or voice over IP communications. Additionally, some embodiments of the invention will include speech to text (STT) capability 130 and speech recognition (SR) capability 136. Various embodiments may implement these capabilities as hardware or software or a combination of both. In embodiments having SR capability, for simplicity of use, it is desirable to use one of the multiple user SR packages available today and expected to improve in the future, as these packages avoid the necessity of “training” the system. This permits recognition of content of speech and conversion to text.
For purposes of reduced cost, it may be desirable to use a particularly simple speech recognition package, recognizing only, for example, numbers and letters. A suitable speech recognition package will permit a user to navigate the WAN as subsequently described using voice commands and composed e-mails in a hands-free manner. Such an embodiment has the additional advantage that it enables Internet access to the physically challenged. In some embodiments, SR 136 is present, but STT 130 is not. This may permit the processor to respond to voice commands but would not permit composition of e-mail, for example.
In one embodiment of the invention, the terminal has a notebook form factor with an integrated LCD display. In an alternative embodiment, the form factor is a set-top box, which relies on an external display, such as a television or external monitor. While in either case, a standard QWERTY keyboard could be used, it is believed that a custom keypad will facilitate ease of navigation.
If a keypress is received and not found to correspond to a composition cell at decision block 607, a determination is made at decision block 608 whether the matrix layer corresponding to the keypress exists within the cache. In this connection, it is determined whether a representation of that matrix layer, even if in the cache, is stale and therefore needs to be freshly downloaded. If the data is stale or not present in the cache at all, the keypress event is sent to the ISH. In one embodiment, the entire navigation path, including the keypress event, is sent with each keypress. When the navigation path is sent with each keypress event, the ISH is able to identify the requested matrix layer rapidly on the fly.
Subsequently, at functional block 612, the client node receives the updated matrix layer corresponding to the keypress event. That matrix layer is loaded to the memory at functional block 614 and the cache is time-stamped at functional block 616. At functional block 618, new ads may be received from the ISH. Notably, the receipt of the ads is asynchronous with the matrix layer receipt and may occur at any time without being prompted by a keypress event. At functional block 620, the incoming matrix layer is rendered to a temporary buffer by using a double-buffering technique. The actual rendering is transparent to the user. At functional block 622, the status bar for the load is updated to indicate the percent complete of the matrix layer rendering. At functional block 624, a determination is made if the rendering is complete. If it is not, the buffer continues to render and the status bar continues to update. By regularly updating the status bar, the user is not left wondering if the device is working. This is expected to limit the frustration experienced by many new users during the wait while matrix layers are rendered. If the rendering is complete, the temporary buffer is swapped with the frame buffer and the new matrix layer is displayed at functional block 626. Then at functional block 628, the history of the navigation path is updated to reflect the new matrix layer. The system then returns to await a next keypress to indicate further navigation. By iteratively pressing appropriate keys, a user may navigate to any desired depth up to a maximum depth along any navigation path and obtain content relevant to the path navigated. If instead, the matrix layer was validly in the cache at decision block 608, the matrix layer is rendered from the cache at functional block 630 and the system awaits the next keypress.
“Maximum depth” as used herein applies on a cell by cell basis for primary navigation options. A maximum depth is reached for a cell in a navigation path when pressing a corresponding key will not take a user to a deeper matrix layer in the matrix. While content, as distinguished from the matrix layer and their cell headings, will be displayed once a maximum depth is reached, it is within the scope and contemplation of the invention to display some content in cells of an intermediate matrix layer, i.e. one that is not at the maximum depth.
“Primary navigation options” as used herein are those navigation options that necessarily change between successive matrix layers, changing from general to more specific with increases in depth in the matrix.
Selecting 1 on the keypad when the matrix layer of 10b is displayed yields the Audio matrix layer of
In one embodiment of the invention, the products are ordered based on, some ranking system, such as Consumer Reports. Thus, for example, in
By selecting a 1 on the keypad when matrix layer 10e is displayed, a user reaches the matrix layer of
Other navigation options are provided in additional matrix cells surrounding cell 1 and its content. The additional cells represent navigation paths that have not reached their maximum depth. For example, by pressing a 3, one would get to a features of the Technics product content layer. Such screen would display features of the Technics system. The various navigation paths typically have a maximum depth at which content is displayed. However, reaching the maximum depth of a particular navigation path does not indicate that another navigation path may not have yet a deeper matrix layer. For example, while the maximum depth of the navigation path corresponded to cell 1 has been reach in
In some cases, the advertising cells are merged as a single cell showing a single advertisement and permitting navigation to only a single matrix layer therefrom. In one embodiment, the background can be an advertisement. This is also shown in
In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes can be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. Therefore, the scope of the invention should be limited only by the appended claims.
Claims
1. A method comprising:
- ranking a plurality of items;
- displaying, in a client node, the plurality of ranked items presented in a prearranged format on a user interface; and
- displaying one or more selectable navigation options associated with one or more of the ranked items.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the items are ranked according to a user's interests.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the ranked items are presented in an order in the prearranged format according to a user's interests.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of items refer to a set of products.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of items refer to a set of sellers.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of items are one of company names, keywords, and company logos.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of items are a plurality of advertisements.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of items are a plurality of titles for audio, video, and audio video programs.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the ranked items are displayed on one or more layers of a simplified navigation interface.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the screens of the simplified navigation interface have a plurality of cells each associated with a unique input.
11. The method of claim 9, wherein the simplified navigation interface has one or more layers that are hierarchically related for navigation.
12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
- receiving a user selection of one of the navigation options corresponding to the ranked item;
- retrieving an advertisement as reformatted web content from the Internet.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the reformatted web content consists of one of a video signal, audio video signal, audio signal, graphics, and text.
14. The method of claim 12, further comprising:
- reformatting web content to obtain the reformatted web content by transcoding a hyper text markup language (HTML) page into an extensible markup language (XML) page.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein the ranked items are keywords, further comprising:
- receiving a user selection of the keyword;
- retrieving reformatted web content from the Internet based on the user selection.
16. The method of claim 1, wherein the display of the ranked items is through one of television, set top box and television, personal computer, web appliance, computer system and wireless device.
17. The method of claim 9, wherein the simplified navigation interface displays the ranked items in one or more cells.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the cells contain the ranked items and are formatted in one of a matrix format, one or more rows, and a grid.
19. The method of claim 1, wherein the items are ranked according to consumer ratings.
20. The method of claim 1, wherein the items are ranked according to one or more previous user selections.
21. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
- receiving a user selection to one of the navigation options.
22. The method of claim 21, wherein the user selection is made through one of a mouse, remote control, a device for scrolling, pointer device, and keyboard.
23. The method of claim 21, wherein the user selection is made through a voice interface device and speaker recognition device.
24. The method of claim 21, further comprising:
- upon user selection, displaying a matrix layer comprising reformatted web content in a plurality of cells.
25. The method of claim 24, wherein the content is in a format, prior to reformatting, selected from a group of formats consisting of standard DTD, EDI, HTML and XML.
26. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
- displaying a layer of a simple navigation interface having a plurality of cells each associated with a unique input;
- receiving a key event at a processor displaying the simple navigation interface having a first plurality of primary navigation options, the first key press corresponding to a cell in the interface.
27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:
- displaying a next deeper navigation layer showing the ranked items.
28. The method of claim 27, wherein the ranked items are displayed in the plurality of cells.
29. The method of claim 26, wherein the simple navigation interface is a matrix interface.
30. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
- displaying one or more advertisements on the user interface;
- receiving a user selection of one of the advertisements;
- wherein the ranked items are products or services related to the selected advertisement.
31. A machine readable medium that provides instructions, which when executed by a machine cause the machine to perform operations comprising:
- ranking a plurality of items;
- displaying, in a client node, the plurality of ranked items presented in a prearranged format on a user interface; and
- displaying one or more selectable navigation options associated with one or more of the ranked items.
32. The machine readable medium of claim 31, wherein the items are ranked according to a user's interests.
33. The machine readable medium of claim 31, wherein the ranked items are presented in an order in the prearranged format according to a user's interests.
34. The machine readable medium of claim 31, wherein the plurality of items refer to a set of products.
35. The machine readable medium of claim 31, wherein the plurality of items refer to a set of sellers.
36. The machine readable medium of claim 31, wherein the plurality of items wherein the plurality of items are one of company names, keywords, and company logos.
37. The machine readable medium of claim 31, wherein the plurality of items are a plurality of advertisements.
38. The machine readable medium of claim 31, wherein the plurality of items are a plurality of titles for one of audio, video, and audio video programs.
39. The machine readable medium of claim 31, wherein the ranked items are displayed on one or more screens of a simplified navigation interface.
40. The machine readable medium of claim 39, wherein the screens of the simplified navigation interface have a plurality of cells each associated with a unique input.
41. The machine readable medium of claim 39, wherein the simplified navigation interface has one or more screens that are hierarchically related for navigation.
42. The machine readable medium of claim 39, which provides further instructions which when executed cause the machine to perform operations further comprising:
- receiving a user selection of one of the navigation options corresponding to the ranked item;
- retrieving an advertisement as reformatted web content from the Internet.
43. The machine readable medium of claim 42, wherein the reformatted web content consists of one of a video signal, audio video signal, audio signal, graphics, and text.
44. The machine readable medium of claim 42, which provides further instructions which when executed cause the machine to perform operations further comprising:
- obtaining the reformatted we content by transcoding a hyper text markup language (HTML) page into an extensible markup language (XML) page.
45. The machine readable medium of claim 31, which provides further instructions which when executed cause the machine to perform operations further comprising:
- displaying one or more search keywords representing the ranked items;
- receiving a user selection of the keyword;
- retrieving information from the Internet based on the selection of the keyword.
46. The machine readable medium of claim 31, wherein the display of the ranked items is through one of television, personal computer, web appliance, computer system and wireless device.
47. The machine readable medium of claim 42, wherein the simplified navigation interface displays the reformatted web content in one or more cells.
48. The machine readable medium of claim 47, wherein the cells contain the reformatted web content and are formatted in one of a matrix format, one or more rows, and a grid.
49. The machine readable medium claim 31, wherein the items are ranked according to consumer ratings.
50. The machine readable medium of claim 31, wherein the items are ranked according to one or more previous user selections.
51. The machine readable medium of claim 31, which provides further instructions which when executed cause the machine to perform operations further comprising:
- receiving a user selection to one of the navigation options.
52. The machine readable medium of claim 51, wherein the user selection is made through one of a mouse, remote control, pointer device, and keyboard.
53. The machine readable medium of claim 51, wherein the user selection is made through a voice interface device and speaker recognition device.
54. The machine readable medium of claim 51, which provides further instructions which when executed cause the machine to perform operations further comprising:
- upon user selection, displaying a matrix layer comprising reformatted web content in a plurality of cells.
55. The machine readable medium of claim 54, wherein the content is in a format, prior to reformatting, selected from a group of formats consisting of standard DTD, EDI, HTML and XML.
56. The machine readable medium of claim 31, which provides further instructions which when executed cause the machine to perform operations further comprising:
- displaying a layer of a simple navigation interface having a plurality of cells each associated with a unique input;
- receiving a key event at a processor displaying the simple navigation interface having a first plurality of primary navigation options, the first key press corresponding to a cell in the interface.
57. The machine readable medium of claim 56, which provides further instructions which when executed cause the machine to perform operations further comprising:
- displaying a next deeper navigation layer showing the ranked items.
58. The machine readable medium of claim 57, wherein the ranked items are displayed in the plurality of cells.
59. The machine readable medium of claim 56, wherein the simple navigation interface is a matrix interface.
60. The machine readable medium of claim 31, which provides further instructions which when executed cause the machine to perform operations further comprising:
- displaying one or more advertisements on the user interface;
- receive a user selection of one of the advertisements;
- wherein the ranked items are products or services related to the selected advertisement.
61. A method comprising:
- displaying a layer of a simple navigation interface having a plurality of cells;
- displaying in each of the cells navigation options;
- receiving a user selection at a processor displaying the navigation interface having a first layer having a plurality of first navigation options, the user selection corresponding to one of the first navigation options;
- ranking a plurality of items, the items selected at least based in part in response to the user selection; and
- displaying, in a client node, the plurality of ranked items presented in a prearranged format on the user interface.
62. An apparatus comprising:
- a memory, the memory storing code that defines at least a portion of a user interface comprising one or more navigation layers;
- a processor, operably in communications with the memory, to receive a user input to a navigation option of a current layer of the user interface having a plurality of primary navigation options;
- a network interface, that upon instructions from the processor, retrieves across the network a next layer of the user interface containing a plurality of ranked items; and
- a display for displaying the ranked items.
63. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the ranked items are one of advertisements and keywords.
64. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the ranked items are products or services.
65. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the ranked items are merchants of products or services.
66. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the ranked items are displayed as navigations options in a matrix format.
67. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the plurality of navigations options comprise a plurality of products or services.
68. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the plurality of navigations options comprise a plurality of advertisements.
69. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the plurality of navigation options comprise a plurality of merchants.
70. The apparatus of claim 62, further comprising:
- an audio input interface for receiving user selections; and
- a speech recognition interface.
71. The apparatus of claim 70, further comprising:
- a speech to text unit.
73. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the network is a WAN.
74. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the network is the Internet.
75. The apparatus of claim 62, further comprising:
- a user input device for permitting user selections.
76. The apparatus of claim 75, wherein the user input device is one of the group consisting of a remote control that communicates with the processor wirelessly, a keyboard, a mouse, and a pointer device.
77. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the apparatus is one of the group consisting of television, set top box and television, personal computer, web appliance, personal computer and wireless device.
78. An apparatus comprising:
- a means for storing, coupled to the processing means, the storing means storing code that defines at least a portion of a user interface comprising one or more navigation layers;
- a means for processing, operably in communications with the storing means, to receive a user input to a navigation option of a current layer of the user interface having a plurality of primary navigation options,
- a means, in communications with the processing means, and upon instructions from the processing means, for retrieving across the network a next layer of the user interface containing a plurality of ranked items; and
- a means for displaying the ranked items.
79. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of ranked items are presented as reformatted web content in the prearranged format on the user interface.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 24, 2006
Publication Date: Sep 14, 2006
Applicant: Marlo Longstreet 2003 Irrevocable Trust (Los Angeles, CA)
Inventors: Elliot Gottfurcht (Pacific Palisades, CA), Grant Gottfurcht (Pacific Palisades, CA), J. McKnight (Los Angeles, CA), Manuel Beltran (Westminster, CA), Stephen Woesner (Santa Ana, CA)
Application Number: 11/387,723
International Classification: G06F 3/00 (20060101); G06F 17/00 (20060101); G06F 9/00 (20060101);