WO2001065409A1

WO2001065409A1 - Method of personalizing data presentation

Info

Publication number: WO2001065409A1
Application number: PCT/US2001/040194
Authority: WO
Inventors: Leslie M. Ottolenghi; Glenn D. Martin; Michael N. Milde
Original assignee: Agentware, Inc.
Priority date: 2000-03-03
Filing date: 2001-02-28
Publication date: 2001-09-07
Also published as: AU2001251704A1; CA2401835A1

Abstract

The inventive method enables a customer to perform comparison shopping and view information that is related but not compared on the Internet. The information being compared and viewed is retrieved from databases (16) maintained by their owners. Inventive displays may be used to execute commercial transactions (14). When such transactions are performed the amount spent may be saved and used to provide discounts in the future. Inventive displays may be used as advertising banners. In another embodiment of the inventive method, customers may be enabled to customize an entertainment schedule of video and audio content (12) transmitted by broadcasting systems (10). The schedule customization may make program selections fit customer's schedule, enhance content programs broadcast (38) at a fixed time slot with prequels and sequels not being broadcast (38) at the present time, and receive transmissions of local programming from different geographical and time zones.

Description

METHOD OF PERSONALIZING DATA PRESENTATION

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The following patent is a Continuation-in-Part application of a co-pending U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 09/378,891, entitled "Personalized Metabrowser, " which was filed on August 23, 1999 and is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the presentation of static and dynamic data accessible by or transmitted to customers, and more specifically to building a template for presenting single instances and sequential streams of various data segments of multiple data sources on a display screen.

Description of the Background of the Invention

The onset of digital technology, especially the storage devices including memory, magnetic disks, tapes, diskettes, compact discs (CD) , and digital video disks (DVD) , has made it possible to store immeasurable amounts of information. By interconnecting such devices through networks, especially the Internet, this vast and ever-increasing store of information may be accessed by consumers.

This glut of information is expanding much faster than the technology to control it can be developed. This lock of tools to manage the information has created insufficiencies in the means of searching for needed elements. For example, when a search engine is executed on the Internet, e.g., AltaVista^®, Infoseek^®, Lycos^®, that search engine searches through all the available information on the Internet and then the customer must sift through thousands of possible matches. Such a state of affairs presents an overload of information problem. This problem is further complicated by the fact that the searched for information may be dynamic and therefore is constantly changing, e.g., stock exchange price quotes .

Space

Another glaring insufficiency exists in the presentation of the searched for elements to the customer. Commercially available programs designed for retrieving and displaying Internet documents are called browsers. Examples include Microsoft Internet

Explorer™ and Netscape Navigator™. Browsers download and display Internet documents one document at a time. These documents may be retrieved from Internet-connected devices, called Internet sites, which are assigned discrete Uniform Resource Locator (URL) addresses.

Where a single browser is employed, two separate documents may be viewed by requesting, retrieving, and viewing a first document, followed by a second request, retrieval, and viewing of the second document. However, the first retrieved document will be lost from view when the second is viewed, although BACK and FORWARD browser navigation commands may allow fast re-presentation of a previously retrieved (and now lost to view) document. This problem can be somewhat alleviated by using more than one copy of the browser. Where multiple copies of the browser are employed, multiple separate documents may be viewed by requesting each copy, of the browser being used, to retrieve and display a separate document. In the windowing environment of most current operating systems, e.g., WindowsNT™, multiple documents retrieved by individual browsers may be viewed simultaneously, side by side, or in whatever manner the customer chooses to arrange the viewable windows .

The bringing together of elements of the searched for diverse dynamic information and displaying them in a comprehensive presentation, has been addressed in a co-pending U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 09/378,891, the contents of which are herewith included by reference. Time

Live transmissions of analog and digital content, such as radio and television programming, are pushed/broadcast to analog TV sets and to settop boxes of High Definition Television (HDTV) .

The dissemination of these programs may take the form of a transmission by content providers such as television networks, e.g., ABC, NBC, and CBS, via air waves to TV antennas, via cable to cable boxes, via satellite to satellite dish antennas, and via the Internet or other telecommunications networks.

When content providers disseminate such content, it may only be listened to or viewed live, i.e., in real-time, during the scheduled transmission times. However, in different geographical markets in the same time zone, different content may be shown in the same time slot. The same content may also be scheduled to be shown in the same time slot of different time zones.

As an illustration please consider the following. There are 23 time zones in the world each separated from the next by one hour, making for a total of 24 hours as the earth fully revolves around its pole. The United States encompass five of these zones, the Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, Alaska, and Hawaii time zones. The same show, slotted for 6 a.m., may be repeated 6 times in the United States, once in each time zone. Therefore, if the consumer misses the scheduled time of the content presentation at 6 a.m., the same content may still be available for up to six hours .

Presently, a need exists for making requested dynamic content available at a customer defined time and according to the customer defined format. The content may be captured from broadcast transmissions in different time zones, markets, time slots, and from other sources. One such source may be the Internet. Where content requested by the customer is not being transmitted at the requested time, then if that content exists on the Internet it can be displayed, i.e. streamed from its Internet location.

Another source for capturing content may be the HDTV settop box. More than one program may be sent to the settop box over the same communications channel. The settop box, depending on its capacity, can decode and show one program and discard the rest, or store one or more captured programs for later showing.

Therefore, what is needed is a method for accepting customer's request for information, which may include scheduling.

Searching for sources of such information, which may include databases, libraries, cable sources, satellite sources, etc. Selecting the best source, i.e., an audio transmission over the cable is preferred to the transmission of the same audio over the Internet because of the quality and possible delays in delivery.

The element of interest is then selected from the source and is presented according to the customer-requested preferences. These preferences may include specific display format in a physical space of a display screen and the preferred scheduling time for timed transmissions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The inventive method may be implemented on a system comprising a network, connecting the following components: a computing device, such as a settop box, for receiving and performing a play back of requested data;

at least one intermediary computing device, for maintaining formats and tables for equating of various databases and for forming templates of coordinates of data segments requested by the customer;

a plurality of network-connected devices or sites and a plurality of network-connected databases comprising a variety of data which may by requested and communicated to the customer's computer system;

a cable, a satellite, and an airwave broadcasting systems for transmitting a variety of content data which may by requested by the customer; and

an information library comprising banks of content for transmitting a variety of content data which may by requested by the customer, and a telephone system for alternative delivery of data.

Comparison mode

This embodiment enables the customer to perform comparison shopping on the Internet. This process requires at least two data sources, so that data from one data source can be compared with data from at least one other data source. Databases may be formed to follow identical formats. In the alternative, format conformity is not necessary for the present invention if the formats are known.

The databases are maintained, i.e. timely update of prices and any other varying information, by owners. If the customer re- execute the same template after such database updates took place, the resulting presentation will provide the customer with the latest, updated information.

Information mode

In another embodiment of the present invention, the customer is enabled to assemble and view information that is related but not being compared. For example, the customer may request to see a list of various vacationing locations. Such information may come from one or a multiplicity of databases. A template may be prepared to organize and display such information of interest.

When information changes, for example prices increase, those who are responsible for the content information upkeep, i.e., owners, will update databases with the changed information. Therefore, the next time the customer executes the same template, all prices, pictures, music, the weather, and textual descriptions may be different.

Uses

In the comparison and the information mode embodiments, purchases may be made by interacting with data segments presented on the display screen of the use's computing device. Such data segments may be presented when a template comprising coordinates of these data segments is executed. For easy coordination and customer identification, for credit purposes, the customer identification and credit information may be transferred to the merchant, as parameters, during the customer interaction with data segments when purchases are being made. Furthermore, after the transaction has been completed the relevant information of such transaction can be saved at the intermediary computing device or at the customer computing device.

The saved transaction information can be used to discount further purchases from the same or other merchants. This can be accomplished by converting the amount expanded in the purchasing transaction to a generally recognized currency or points. Discounts can be calculated according to any generally acceptable formula, based on the amount of points collected by the customer.

Another application for the comparison and information mode embodiments is the display of advertising banners. Presentations created according to the method of the present invention may be created to fit any defined display space. The display space may be as large as the whole screen or as small as banners currently used for Internet advertising.

Subscription mode

In the subscription mode embodiment, the customer is enabled to customize an entertainment schedule of video and audio content transmitted by broadcasting systems. The schedule customization may achieve the following objectives: a) Make program selections fit customer's schedule. b) Enhance content programs broadcast at a fixed time slot with prequels and sequels not being broadcast at the present time . c) Broaden viewing/listening choices by enabling the customer to receive transmissions of local programming from different geographical and time zones. The subscription process may allow the subscribing customer to request that a template be created comprising specifically identified content programs, from a list of all possible available programming choices.

Templates

To accommodate requests of customers interested in viewing or listening to dynamic information content, a template may be created. To create the template, a request must first be formulated. The request may take following forms: a) "I want to buy eggs;" b) "I want to go on a vacation to Greek Isles; and c) Specifying shows of interest, for example by name.

Once the requests have been formulated by the customer, templates may be created by ether the customer or by the intermediary computing device. An example of the template creation, for storing the coordinates of requested data segments is discussed in the co-pending U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 09/378,891. The formulated request may be forwarded or submitted to the intermediate computing device immediately or stored for later delivery.

The customer or the intermediate computing device may create template files that may include the following parameters:

a) Addresses/locations/names of content databases, websites, channels or frequencies of content being broadcast by transmission systems, and names and locations of content units in the information library.

b) Address/location of the requested content of interest for each element of databases or websites specified in (a) ; or Time/frequency of the requested content of interest for each element of transmission systems.

c) The organization of presentation of the requested content of (b) , i.e., physical arrangement of content on the display screen of the customer's computing device or temporal sequence of content to be displayed on the display screen of the computing device.

Complete templates are then delivered back to the customer's computing device, where the requested content is presented to the customer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The foregoing objects and advantages of the present invention may be more readily understood by one skilled in the art with reference being had to the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein like elements are designated by identical reference numerals throughout the several views, and in which:

Figure 1 is a pictorial representation of the environment, in which the inventive method finds and selects dynamic or static content and creates templates for presentation of such content according to customer demands.

Figure 2 is a diagram of a computer system used for executing the inventive method.

Figures 3a, b are comparative views of two records from separate databases using identical data formats.

Figure 3c is a comparative view of a record from a database using data formats which differ from these shown in Figures 3a, b.

Figure 3d is a table for associating dissimilar formats or conventions.

Figure 4 is a comparative display of information from databases containing comparative information. Figures 5a, b are a display of organized information from databases or websites.

Figures 5b, c are website pages containing information used in constructing displays of Figures 5a, b.

Figure 6 is a website page that will be displayed if a banner shown in Figure 5c is clicked.

Figure 7 is a diagram showing the use of the customer identification and credit data and allocation of discount points during a commercial transaction.

Figure 8 is a flow diagram of steps for creating the template.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawings and in particular to Figure 1, there is shown a communications system 10, which comprises a network 11 for interconnecting the following components:

a) a computing device 12, such as a settop box, for receiving and performing a play back of data content requested by the customer;

b) at least one intermediary computing device 13 for maintaining tables and dictionaries of formats for equating various databases 16 and websites 14 and for forming templates of coordinates of data segments requested by the customer, these tables and dictionaries being maintained in a database 15; and

c) a plurality of network-connected data sources, such as websites 14 and a plurality of network-connected databases 16 comprising a variety of data segments which may by requested and communicated to the customer's computing device 12. In one illustrative embodiment, the present invention may be implemented over a network 11, such as the Internet or an intranet. Furthermore, the computing device 12 may be connected to the following communication systems 18, 28, 36, and 46:

d) A cable transmitting system 18 comprising a programming data source 26 for transmitting programming content that may by requested by the customer, to a cable head-end 24, which is connected to the computing device 12 via a downlink cable 20 and an up-link cable 22. The programming data source 26 and the cable head-end 24 are each connected to the network 11.

e) A satellite transmitting system 28 comprising a programming data source 30 for transmitting programming content that may by requested by the customer, to a satellite 32, which relays the programming content to a receiving dish antenna 34 connected to the computing device 12. The programming data source 30 is connected to the network 11.

f) An airwave broadcasting system 36 comprising the programming data source 38 for transmitting programming content that may by requested by the customer, to the television antenna 40 connected to the computing device 12. The programming data source 38 is connected to the network 11.

g) An information library 42 comprising banks of content for transmitting a variety of content data that may be requested by the customer, connected to the network 11. The content or data segments from the information library 42 may be transmitted over the network 11 and communication systems 18, 28, 36, and 46.

h) A telephone system 46 for communicating with communication systems 18, 28, 36 and 42 without the use of the network 11 and for alternate delivery of data content. Referring now to Figure 2, the details of the customer computing device 12 are shown. In one illustrative embodiment of this invention, the computing device 12 comprises a bus 51, which is connected directly to each of a central processing unit (CPU) 52, a memory 53, a video interface 54, an input/output (I/O) interface 56, a communications interface 58, and a transmission signal interface 60. The common bus 51 is connected by the I/O interface 56 to a storage device 57, which may illustratively take the form of memory gates, disks, diskettes, compact disks (CD) , digital video disks (DVD) , etc. The video interface 54 couples a display 55 to the common bus 51. Moreover an audio interface (not shown) may also be connected to the common bus 51.

The communications interface 58, e.g., a plurality of modems, is coupled to an Internet connection 59, e.g., an Internet Service Provider (ISP) and to other services, which in turn is connected to the network 11, whereby a data path is provided between the network 11 and the computing device 12 and, in particular, its common bus 51. The communications interface 58 is also connected to the telephone system 46 via a cable 48. The transmission signal interface 60 may be connected to cables 20, 22, and to the airwave antenna 40 and the satellite antenna 34 via cables 47 and 49 respectively.

Content format

All data sources, referred to above, are organized into units of addressable data segments. For example, a data record may be a data segment for databases 16; a textual or graphical unit enclosed within the start and end tags of the hyper text markup language (HTML) may be the data segment of websites 14; a video tape or a DVD queued to play a video or an audio selection may be the data segment of the data library 42; and the program of scheduled content transmission, for example name - "News at 11" duration - 30 minutes, frequency - channel 7, may be the data segment of systems 18, 28 and 36. Information about the format, location or scheduling coordinates for these data segments may be provided to the computing device 12 and to the intermediary computing device 13 and saved in the database 15. Alternatively, the device 12 or the intermediary computing device 13 may provide default or customer defined rules for forming or transmitting such content.

Databases 16 and websites 14 may be pre-existing data sources where data segments are arranged to follow analogous or identical formats. For example, if general stores A and B are offering products for sale, each store may compile a data source or the database 16 comprising data segments of information about particular products and associated product prices. The organization of product and price data for store A data source 16a is shown in Figure 3a, while data for the store B data source 16b is shown in Figure 3b. Each data source 16 a and b includes a plurality of sections 70, each section 70 may have a plurality of data segments 80. Each data segment 80 in turn is subdivided into a plurality of data items 84. For example, sections 7θ_!_₄, as shown in Figures 3a, b, are dedicated respectively to apples, oranges, cereal and eggs. Thus, each of data segments 80_ι_₄ may relate to a particular product sold. In turn, each data segment 80 may be further subdivided into a plurality of data items 84ι_₄, which may include, as shown in Figures 3a and b, the grade of the egg in segment 84al or 84bl, the price in segment 84a2 or 84b2, a picture in segment 84a3 or b3, and the expiration date of these eggs in segment 84a4 or b4.

Each section 70a or b has a fixed reference point 68a or b, whereby the location of any data segment 80a or b and any data item 84a or b may be determined as the distance or a number of bits from the starting point 68 of the data source 16 and the starting point 82 of the data segment 80. Alternatively, if the size in bits of each data segment 80 and each data item 84 is known, the location of the next data segment 80 and each data item 84 may be calculated by adding the size of all preceding data segments 80 and data items 84 to the starting point 78 of the section.

Moreover, individual data segments 80a, b and specific information items 84a, b within these data segments 80a, b may be located in matching relative locations from the beginning of the section 78a, b as well as from the beginning 68a, b of the entire data source 16a, b. The format or the arrangement of data segments 80a, b in to sections 70a, b and the location of data segments 80a, b within the data sources 16a, b may be stored in the format tables and dictionaries stored on the database 15.

In an alternative, analogous format, as shown in Figure 3c, conformity of the arrangement of data segments 80 within data sources 16 is not necessary as long as formats of the arrangement of data segments 80 in the data sources 16 is known. Figure 3c shows the data source 16c compiled for an egg wholesaler store C.

Here, an egg distributor may follow a very different format in arranging data segments 89 and items 86 within these data segments 89. Please note that there is no need for data segments 89 to be grouped into sections, as was done with data sources 16 a and b

(Figures 3 a, b) where data segments 80a, b (Figures 3 a, b) were grouped into sections 70 a, b (Figures 3 a, b) . This is because the data source 16c only comprises one type of product, namely eggs .

To compensate for the data format differences, the present invention may keep tables and dictionaries of such differences. Figure 3d shows Table 91 used in correlating name designations of naming convention discrepancies. Here, the customer seeks the offered by stores A and B (Figures 3a and b) and also the same or similar product offered at the store C. For example, where stores A and B (Figures 3 a, b) may use industry standard "A" designation, stored in location 90 of the table 91 for certain size of eggs, store C may use a custom designation "14" stored in location 90 of the table 92 for the same size eggs.

When the template creating process encounters the discrepancy, as will be described below in connection with Figure 7, the table 91 of equivalent names is retrieved. The name used in the customer's request, in the present example grade "A" eggs is found in the location 90 of the table 91, the corresponding entry "14" in the location 92 of the table 91 is retrieved. After designation "14" is retrieved from the location 92 of the table 91 it may be used to locate the data segment 89c3 of the data source 16c .

Returning now to Figure 3c, such tables and dictionaries, stored in the databases 15 (Figure 1) , may further include starting positions 78a, b (Figures 3a, b) and 87 of data segment 80al-4, bl-4 (Figures 3a, b) and 89cl-3 within varying data sources 16a, b (Figures 3a, b) and data source 16c. Moreover, the location of data items 86cl-4 may be paralleled with the location of data items 84al-4, bl-4 (Figures 3a, b) . For example, the price data item 86c4 is in the fourth position from the starting position 87 of the third data segment 89c3 of the data source 16c, while, referring to Figures 3a, b, price items 84a2, b2 are in the second position from the starting position 82a, b of the fourth data segment 80a4, b4 from the starting position 78a, b of the fourth section 70a4, b4 from the starting position 68a, b of the data source 16a, b.

Referring back to Figure 1, for the purposes of the present invention, the data library 42 may be considered to be the data source. The individual audio, video or information reel tapes or DVDs of the data library 42 may be considered to be data segments. These tapes or DVDs may be arranged in banks and indexed in a manner similar to a Juke Box. Therefore, each data segment of the data library 42 may be addressed in the similar, indexed Juke Box manner, i.e., press J4 to play an Elvis song. Each such data segment may be further subdivided into data items according to the length of the song on the album, or by time.

When the customer makes a selection of the data segment from the data library 42 the selected data segment may be queued to play a video or an audio selection on the customer's computing device 12. The delivery of the data segment may be achieved over the network 11, the telephone system 46 and telecommunication systems 18, 28, and 38.

Transmitting systems 18, 28 and 36 may also be considered data sources. These data sources are subdivided into data segments that are content programs of predetermined duration, e.g., 30 minutes of "News at 11". These data segments are grouped in to sections, analogous to sections 70a, b (Figures 3a, b) . The sections of transmitting systems 18, 28 and 36 are the frequencies at which the programs or the data segments are transmitted. In other words TV's channel 7, or the radio's 820 AM are sections for grouping data segments within the data sources. The data segments in turn are the actual programs and are distinguished, as mentioned above, by time. For example, the first data segment of the channel 7 section is 7:00 am to 8:00 am, the second data segment of that section is 8:00 am to 9:00 am. Furthermore, these data segments may be subdivided into data items, also according to time, e.g., 10 minutes after the starting point of the programs.

The coordinates for identifying data segments of the transmitting systems 18, 28 and 36 data sources, are then the channel frequency and the start time of the audio or video program. This information, i.e., schedules of programs or guides, may be provided to the computing device 12 and to the intermediary computing device 13 and saved in the database 15.

As can be seen from the discussion above, this invention contemplates the use of a variety of data sources, such as databases 16, websites 14, transmitting systems 18, 28 and 36, and data libraries 42 are addressable units. Each of these data sources are configured and addressed in equivalent fashions. For example, each of these data sources may be accessed with the reference to a unique address. An address of some of these data sources, e.g., the websites 14, may be their URL network addresses, since they all are connected to the network 11. The address may also be the telephone number at which these data sources may be accessed via the telephone network 46. The address of the data source may actually be the street address of some depository of products, such as a grocery store, where the present invention is made to be used with regular mail. The transmitting stations are also data sources and their addresses may be the equivalent form of a TV channel number or the frequency of a radio station for example.

Each data source, i.e., databases 16, websites 14, transmitting systems 18, 28 and 36, and data libraries 42, are subdivided into different forms of data segments, for example data segments 80 (Figures 3a, b) of the data source 16 (Figures 3a, b) . Each data segment has a unique coordinate within its data source, for example, there is only one grade "A" eggs data segment 80₄ (Figures 3a, b) in the data source 16 (Figures 3a, b) , and therefore this segment is uniquely located a specified distance from the starting point 68 (Figures 3a, b) of the data source 16 (Figures 3a, b) . If the present invention is used with regular mail the coordinate of the data segment is it's name, bar code, squ number, etc. Furthermore, for the ease of reference, data segments within the data source may be grouped into section, for example sections 70 (Figures 3a, b) where data segments are grouped according to the type of product. The benefit of such grouping is an additional reference, e.g., 78 (Figures 3a, b) for easier location of the data segment within the data source. In the context of a TV or a radio data source, such as transmitting systems 18, 28 and 36, time may equivalently be used as a coordinate, in that time indicates in the time domain when a particular video or audio data segment commences. The customer's request may also include an indication of the length of the requested TV or the radio program.

Comparison

The comparison embodiment of the present invention enables the customer to perform comparison shopping over mediums such as the Internet. This process requires at least two data sources, e.g., databases 16 or websites 14, so that data segment presentation on the display 55 (Figure 2) from one data source may be compared with data segment presentation from at least one other data source on the same display 55 (Figure 2) by employing tools such as the etabrowser. Metabrowser was fully described in the co-pending U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 09/378,891. According to the specification of that patent application, data sources are parsed to enable the selection of data segments and inclusion of coordinates of these data sources and data segments in the template. Alternatively, where database formats are known, no parsing of data sources is required for the reason that the location data segment is known and may be easily retrieved from the database 15. Following are examples of some industries where comparison presentations are created in the comparison mode embodiment of the present invention by templates formed from coordinates of data segments arranged in their respective data sources according to formats described above.

a) Franchise operations, where supplier prices are presented for comparison to individual franchisees; restaurant guides, where prices and menus are compared according to various categories; store, supermarket shopper lists similar to the example discussed above; inventory suppliers to distributors, where the suppliers may check and replenish stock of participating outlets based on stock quantities and demand figures listed in distributor databases.

b) Industries where submission of plans, offerings, proposals from multiple subcontractors may be compared. For example construction, the customer using the template may access databases of various contractors who, instead of submitting new paperwork every time a change in plans is requested, may modify individual databases allowing for immediate comparison.

c) Health care, where doctors may get the latest patient information by doing lookups of the database of patient information, such patient information being maintained and updated by nurses and other doctors working with the patient.

d) Internet auctions, displaying critical information including bids and item descriptions from various, ongoing auctions on the Internet where similar items are being sold.

The present invention allows customers using the computing device 12 to request and play back data segments, such as 80al-4, bl-4 and 89c4 (Figures 3a-c) , from multiple databases 16, websites 14, information libraries 42 and communication systems 18, 28, and 36. The customer may use the computing device 12 to build templates used in such presentation of data segments.

Alternatively, the customer may request that the intermediary computing device 13, having the same components as described above with reference to Figure 2, build such templates. The intermediary computing device 13 may first receive customer requests from the computing device 12, formulate search strategies and using these strategies locate the appropriate data sources, i.e., databases 16 , websites 14, information libraries 42, and transmitting systems 18, 28, and 36 containing customer requested content. Then the intermediary computing device 13 may create templates comprising coordinates of found data sources and of requested data segments within these data sources. Pre-made templates corresponding to customer requests may already exist and be stored on the intermediary computing device 13.

To accommodate requests of customers interested in viewing or listening to dynamic information content or data segments collected in data sources, such as content databases 16 and websites on the network 11, broadcast by transmission systems 18, 28 and 36, or collected in libraries 42, a template may be created. As shown in Figure 8, to create the template, a request must first be formulated and made at step 300. The request may simply state "I want to buy eggs." To limit possible search choices such request may be augmented by specifying the grade of eggs, the intended quantity, the date of perspective purchase, and the geographical location where the purchase will take place. Additionally, the request may include a preference that the data sources list products of merchant who are participating in the points discount system described below.

Once the requests have been formulated by the customer, templates may be created ether by the customer on the computing device 12 (Figure 1) or by the intermediary computing device 13 (Figure 1) . At step 302, the formulated request is immediately communicated to the intermediate computing device 13 (Figure 1) , such request may also be stored for later delivery. This communicating of the request may be performed via the Internet, e.g., by e-mail, or filling a form on the intermediate computing device 13 (Figure 1) web page, via telecommunications networks 46 (Figure 1), using a dial-up connections and telephone modems, directly via the telephone, e.g., by selecting from an audio menu of choices using the telephone key pad, or other interactive means including hard copy mail.

On the intermediate computing device 13 , after the request is received, a determination is made at step 304 to determine whether there are existing templates corresponding to the customer request. If such pre-made templates do not exist, at step 306 a search request is formulated and the communications system 10 (Figure 1) is searched for data sources. Alternatively, lists maintained in the database 15 (Figure 1) of data sources available on the communications system 10 are searched to find data sources comprising data segments requested by the customer in step 300.

At step 308, the found data sources are parsed to identify the data segments to be included in the template. In one embodiment of the present invention, the template may be created, for example, as described in the co-pending U.S. Patent

Application Serial No. 09/378,891, by gathering document sources, parsing them, and listing all selectable data segments on the display 55 (Figure 2) . The customer then peruses and selects wanted data segments for inclusion in the template.

If it is determined in step 309 that formats of necessary data source require equalization, in step 316 such equalization is achieved using tables and dictionaries stored in database 15 (Figure 1) . To complete the formation of the template, at step 310, the following data for all selected data segments may be stored in the template: a) Addresses/locations/names of data sources, e.g., the URL of databases 16 (Figure 1) and websites 14 (Figure 1) , channels or frequencies of content being broadcast by transmission systems 18, 28 and 36 (Figure 1), and names and locations of content units in the information library 42 (Figure 1) .

b) Address/location of each requested data segment within its parent data source of databases 16 (Figure 1) or websites 14 (Figure 1) specified in (a) ; or Time/frequency of the data segment transmission systems 18, 28 and 36 (Figure 1) .

c) The organization of presentation of the requested data segment of (b) , i.e., physical arrangement of content on the display (Figure 2) of the computing device 12 or temporal sequence of data segments to be displayed on the display (Figure 2) of computing device 12 (Figure 1) .

After completion, of the template at step 310, or selection of the existing template at step 312, at step 314 the templates are delivered back to the computing device 12 (Figure 1) . The template may then be executed on the computing device 12 (Figure 1) to re-display data segments selected from these data sources according to the saved addresses, and presenting these data segments in an organized fashion to the customer on display 55 (Figure 2) .

At the customer's request or on a scheduled basis, the template may allow for retrieval of specified data segments from data sources, i.e., databases 16 (Figure 1), websites 14 (Figure 1) , libraries 46 (Figure 1) , and transmission systems 18, 28, 36 (Figure 1) , by translating addresses of the exact data segments of these data sources, and displaying them on display 55 (Figure 2) as specified. The user pre-configured templates provided in steps 310 and 312 allow for real-time retrieval and selection of multiple dynamic or static data segments. The template may be executed on the computing device 12 ( Figure 1) by any off-the- shelf browser, as described in the background of the invention section.

Please consider the following example. A customer desiring to purchase "grade A eggs" may submit a request expressing such desire, in step 300. The request is communicated in step 302 to an intermediary computing device 13 (Figure 1) . The intermediary computing device 13 (Figure 1) may then search for the appropriate data sources in step 306 and parse these data sources in step 308.

If the format of the data source is known, i.e., the format is stored in the database 15 (Figure 1) no parsing of the data source may be necessary, and known coordinates of the data sources 68a, b and 88 (Figures 3a-c) and data segments 82a, b and 87 (Figures 3a- c) may be stored in step 310. If, however, in step 309 it is determined that data sources 16a, b (Figures 3a, b) and 16c (Figure 3c) have differing formats, tables and dictionaries of the database 15 will be utilized in step 316 to equalize formats of data sources 16a, b (Figures 3a, b) and 16c (Figure 3c) before the creation of the template in step 310. Alternatively a pre-created template may be selected in step 312. The template may include any number of data sources or stores 16a-c (Figures 3a-c) in any number of geographic locations as requested by the customer or as specified in a default request which may also be stored in the database 15 (Figure 1) . Then, in step 314, the template will be sent to the customer at the computing device 12 (Figure 1) .

When the customer executes the template, by utilizing any off-the-shelf browsers, as described in the background of the invention section, to retrieve multiple dynamic or static data segments previously selected and whose addresses are stored in the template, a presentation of grade A eggs information will be displayed. As shown in Figure 4, the presentation 94 of information from various data sources 16a-c (Figures 3a-c) may comprise store names 96a-c corresponding to the data sources 16a-c (Figures 3a-c) , product prices 98a-c corresponding to items 84a2, b2 and 86c4 (Figure 3a-c) , pictures of the product lOOa-c corresponding to items 84a3, b3 and 86c3 (Figures 3a-c) , and product expiration 102a-c corresponding to items 84a4, b4 and 86c2 (Figures 3 a-c) .

Databases 16 (Figure 1) are maintained by their owners. It is in the interest of these owners to timely update prices and any other varying information. If the customer re-executes the same template after such updates took place, the resulting presentation 94 will provide the customer with the latest, updated information. Although multiple products may be compared and presented on presentation 94, for reasons of brevity only the product described in the example at hand is shown. Furthermore, templates may be created by the intermediary computing device 13 as well as by the customer on the computing device 12. Information mode

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the customer is enabled to assemble and view information that is related and is presented for informational purposes. For example, the customer may request to see a list of various vacationing locations. Such information may come from one or a plurality of data sources including databases 16, websites 14, and telecommunication systems 18, 28, 36, and 46. A template may be prepared to organize and display such information of interest.

In step 300 (Figure 8) the customer may request: "I want to go on a vacation to Greek Isles; I want to know the best season to go; I need to compare transportation fares, and hotel choices and prices." Figure 5a shows a travel presentation of a destination of interest. Such a presentation may include data segments 200, sounds data segments not shown, and scrollable textual description 202 of the target vacation destination from various documents. When presented in formats such as a book (shown) or with tabs, when a page or the tab is turned, which may be accomplished for example by, clicking on the presentation with a pointing device, a musical accompaniment appropriate for the target vacation destination may be played.

Furthermore, as shown in Figure 5b, prices 204 such as air, train, or bus fares to the destination, hotel rates, car rental rates, and local restaurant prices are presented individually or in package formats. Other information of interest, such as seasonal weather, local points of interests, etc., can be supplied. Trip maps 206 and the itinerary 208 may also be presented.

When information changes, for example prices increase, those most responsible for the information upkeep will update databases 16 and sites 14 (Figure 1) with the changed information. Therefore, the next time the customer executes the same template, all prices 210 (Figure 5c) , pictures 212 (Figure 5c) , music, the weather 214 (Figure 5d) , and textual descriptions 216 (Figure 5d) , displayed in Figures 5a, b may be different.

Following are examples of some industries where informational presentations are created in the informational mode embodiment of the present invention by templates formed from coordinates of data segments arranged in their respective data sources according to formats described above.

a) In situations where multiple forms must be filled out, i.e., insurance forms in the health care industry, or any forms, the present invention provides a method of an instant form filling where the same information, previously provided about different individuals or objects, must be filled in the same location on the form. One example would be insurance reimbursement forms instantly updated with new price information from a dynamic price file and procedures performed on the patient from a medical database.

b) Publishing, putting together periodicals of specific (customer) interest from various data sources.

c) Internet and customer service providers, where information pulled from various data sources may be organized and presented to customers based on their requests. Since maintenance of such databases may be provided by third parties, the service providers will have minimal involvement in content compilation and management.

Subscription mode In another embodiment, as will be now described with reference to Figure 1, the customer may be enabled to customize an entertainment schedule of video and audio content transmitted by broadcasting systems, such as systems 18, 28 and or via the network 11 by a subscription process. The schedule customization maybe achieved by requesting that the intermediary computing device 13 create and provide the template to the customer computing system 12, according to the customer's wishes. For example: Specifying shows of interest by name or/and description, e.g., "I want to see I Love Lucy where Lucy announces that she is pregnant, " or making selections from a list of possible choices presented on the video display 55 (Figure 2) connected to the computing device 12. Another, possibility is to enter codes associated with programs or date-channel-time combinations listed in printed copy TV guide. Such selections may be made with the help of a remote control, a mouse, a keyboard, or voice commands.

When such templates are executed on the customer's computing device 12 the following objectives may be accomplished:

a) Program selections are made to fit customer's schedule. For example, the customer arrives home at 6:00 p.m.; while the customer's favorite show is being broadcast by a TV network at 5:00 p.m. Using the method of the present invention, the customer is able to define a preferred time slot for watching that show, and watch the show at such time.

b) Content programs broadcast at a fixed time slot are enhanced with prequels and sequels not being broadcast at the present time. For example, a second episode of a trilogy is being broadcast by a TV network at 6:00 p.m. The customer may schedule the first episode to be shown before that time and the third episode to be shown after the end of the scheduled broadcast.

c) Viewing/listening choices are broadened by enabling the customer to receive transmissions of local programming from different geographical and time zones.

The subscription process may allow the subscribing customer to request that the intermediary computing device 13 create and provide the template created comprising specifically identified content programs' coordinates. Such coordinates may be selected from lists of all possible available programming choices. These programming choices may be selected from various services, e.g., transmission systems 18, 28, and 36, including all geographical markets and time zones, or from network 11 based live transmissions. Further, on-request programming choices may be selected from information libraries 42 to be transmitted via such media as the network 11 and the telephone system 46.

The created templates are received and executed on the customer's computing device 12. The template for the subscription mode stores the address or the frequency over which the desired program will be transmitted, and the time during which such program will be transmitted and its duration. This is similar to the coordinates stored in the template for the displays described in conjunction with the comparison and the information display mode.

Purchase execution

In one alternative embodiment, the present invention may be adapted to display advertising banners. Today, banners are used in the Internet advertising, i.e., become a club member banner 220 (Figure 5d) . By clicking on the banner, the website page currently viewed by the customer will disappear and a different website page, shown in Figure 6, will be presented.

Presentations 201 (Figure 5a) created according to the method of the present invention may be created to fit any defined display space. The display space may be as large as the whole screen or as small as banners currently used for Internet advertising.

Inventive presentations displayed as banners, i.e., in a nominal size without obscuring the host page, may be able to present customers with more information than currently available banners. They may also take form similar to presentations shown in Figures 4, 5a, and 5b. Banners created according to the method of the present invention may be perused or leafed through to get additional information without the loss of the host website page currently being viewed by the customer.

In all embodiments of the present invention, purchases may be made through interaction with information presented by the template. Such interaction maybe as simple as clicking of a hyper link of an Internet webpage data segment. For example, if the customer decided to purchase the cheapest eggs, which are offered by store C at the price of $1.10 (Figure 4), by pressing on the store C entry 96c (Figure 4) and entering the quantity of eggs in response, for example to a follow up inquiry, eggs may be purchased. In another example, a vacation trip package may be purchased by selecting a particular package of interest from the list or package pricing 204 (Figure 5b) . In the subscription mode, while watching a at least one shopping channel, a message may be sent from the settop box to the advertising merchant that the customer wishes to make a purchase.

Additionally, for easy coordination and customer identification for credit purposes when the comparison and information mode embodiments are used to perform commercial transactions, a method described below with reference to Figure 7 may be used. The intermediary computing device 13 may comprise a database 250 for maintaining customer identification and credit information. The database 250 may alternatively reside on the customer computing device 12. For security purposes, access to the database 250 may be controlled through the use of a login name/password combination when access is requested to the computing devices 12, 13.

During the performance of a commercial transactions, for example the purchasing of the grade A eggs. A presentation 252 may be viewed, and a highlighted location 254, indicating existence of an HTML hyper link, displaying "store C" on the display 55 (Figure 2) is clicked on. When that hyper link 254 is pressed a linked program may be executed communicating the customer identification 256 and credit information 258 from the database 250 to the transaction record 262 and then to a merchant computing device 17. The customer identification 256 and credit information 258 may be used as parameters of the transaction execution.

Furthermore, the intermediary computing device 13 may further comprise a database 260 where a packet 262 containing relevant transaction information, including the amount spent by the customer, can be saved after the completion of the transaction in the database 260. Such packet 264, containing transaction information, may be sent by the merchant computing device 15 to the intermediary computing device 13 or the customer computing device 12, which will in turn store the relevant information in the database 260.

The saved transaction information may be used to discount further purchases from the same or other merchants. This can be accomplished by converting the amount spent by the customer in the commercial transaction to generally recognized currency or points. For example, such conversion may convert every $100.00 spent to $5.00 or 5% in new discounts. Discounts can be calculated according to any acceptable formula, including customer loyalty, i.e., repeat purchases from the same location, and amount spent, i.e., encouraging more purchases by giving higher points for more money spent.

To request discounts based on such points, the collected currency or points can be forwarded to merchants as parameters 262 of the transaction 252 execution, together with the customer identification 256 and credit 258 information. After receiving customer currency or points parameters, merchants will make appropriate adjustments to merchandise prices before concluding the transaction.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with respect to illustrative and preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and other changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention that should be limited only by the scope of the appended claims .

Claims

CLAIMSHaving thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A method of presenting data segments collected from a plurality of data sources, each data source being identified by a unique address, each data segment being organized within its data source according to its data structure format, each data segment having a unique coordinate determined by the data structure format, the coordinate identifies a location of the data segment within its data source, the method comprising steps of:

requesting the presentation of specified data segments;

identifying the address of at least one data source which includes at least one of said specified data segments;

producing a template by saving the coordinate of at least one specified data segment and the address of data sources which include said specified data segments; and

executing said template on a computing device for presenting said specified data segments.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of data sources comprise computer files and databases; cable, satellite, airwave transmission systems; and Internet transmission systems, and libraries of information stored on magnetic medium.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of organizing data segments of separate data sources according to the identical data structure format, wherein related data segments in said separate data sources have identical coordinate.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of organizing data segments of separate data sources according to the differing data structure format, wherein related data segments in said separate data sources have varying coordinate.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of organizing data segments of a first data source according to a first data structure format while organizing data segments of a second data sources according to a second data structure format, wherein the coordinate of related data segments in said first data source and said second data source are equated through the use of tables and dictionaries comprising a description of the first data structure format and of the second data structure format.

6. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of distributing said produced template to said computing device.

7. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of sending a signal to said one of the plurality of data sources to which said one of said presented specified data segments belongs.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said signal indicates a request for informational update of one of said data segments.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein said signal indicates a purchase request for products which are described by said data segments .

10. The method of claim 9, wherein if the requested data segments are not found on one of the plurality of data sources which are said cable, satellite, and airwave transmission systems, then these requested data segments will be retrieved from said one of the plurality of data sources which are computer files and databases and said libraries information.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the steps of: minimizing a size of the data segments requested for the presentation a screen of said computing device as banners;

identifying a location on said screen where said banners are to be displayed; and

displaying said presented data segments as banners.

12. A method of engaging in commerce by interacting with a presentation of a plurality data segments, the data segments being retrieved from a corresponding data source, data segments being organized within the corresponding data source according to a data structure format, each data segment having a unique coordinate of its location within the corresponding data source, each data source having a unique address, said method comprising steps of:

forming a template for identifying at least one of the plurality of data segments by entering the coordinate of the at least one data segment and the address of the corresponding data source in to the template;

executing said template to display the presentation of data segments on a screen of the computing device;

interacting with the computing device to select an individual data segment;

communicating a signal to the data source of said selected data segment, at the address of the data source of said selected data segment.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said signal comprising customer identification data.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein said signal comprising a purchase request.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising a step of recording a unique code for identifying said signal and the money amount of said purchase request.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising a step of using said unique code recorded for past purchase requests to discount new purchase requests.

17. A method of facilitating a customer to initiate one of a plurality of transactions, information about each transaction carried by a corresponding data segment, each data segment being accessible from a corresponding data source, each data source including at least one data segment, the data source having a unique address, said method comprising steps of:

displaying a presentation of a plurality of the data segments;

selecting a particular data segment from the plurality of data segments;

transmitting a message to initiate that transaction which corresponds to the selected data segment.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the message is transmitted to an administrator of the data source.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising a step of adding preferences and a profile to said message before transmitting.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein said preferences indicate what type of transaction the customer wants to perform, said type of transaction comprises purchasing request and more information request.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein said profile comprises customer identification information.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising the steps of: receiving a reply from said administrator of the data source; and

saving information received in said reply to be used for later transactions.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein said reply comprises a discount amount, said discount amount is based on the amount of money spent by the customer in executing said transaction.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein said reply comprises a discount amount, said discount amount is based on the frequency of transactions of said purchasing type executed by the customer.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising a step of accumulating said discount amounts in a total.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising a step of lowering a price of said transaction by the entering said total into said profile and requesting that said total be used in calculating said price of said transaction.

27. The method of claim 17, wherein the transaction is a purchase of an item, and there is further included the step of the customer inserting into said message an order to purchase the item.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein there is a plurality of data sources, each data source storing items for sale by a different vender, and there is further included the step of inserting into the message the address of the data source of each vender from which items are sought for purchase.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein each of the plurality of data sources has a similar data structure of its segments, each of the segments of one data source having a coordinate, and there is further included the steps of inserting into the message the address of each of the targeted data sources and the coordinate of the sought segment, whereby the customer will be provided with information about a similar item as marketed by each of the venders associated with the addressed data sources.

30. The method of claim 17, wherein the transaction is a request for further information and the information of a corresponding data segment relates to a given topic, and there is further included the step of the customer inserting into said message an order to obtain certain information.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein there is at least one data source, the data source having a plurality of the data segments, each data segment relating to a different topic, and there is further included the step of inserting into the message an order for a particular data segment and its topic of information.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein there is included the step of transmitting a second message to the data source to actuate a particular data segment to link to another data source which includes other information related to that of the addressed data segment.

33. The method of claim 29, wherein a first of the plurality of data sources has a first data structure and a second of the plurality of data sources has a second data structure different from the first data structure, and there is further included the steps of the customer inserting into the message the address of each of the targeted data sources and the coordinate of a selected first segment of the first data source.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein there included the step responding to the coordinate of the first data segment of the first data source to normalize the coordinate of the first data segment of the first data base according to the second data structure to select a second data segment of the second data base bearing information analogous to the information of the data segment .