WO2008051510A2

WO2008051510A2 - System and method for analyzing and delivering information

Info

Publication number: WO2008051510A2
Application number: PCT/US2007/022411
Authority: WO
Inventors: Victor Coleman; Howard R. Davis Iii
Original assignee: Vubotics, Inc.
Priority date: 2006-10-20
Filing date: 2007-10-22
Publication date: 2008-05-02
Also published as: WO2008051510A3

Abstract

A system and method for analyzing and displaying information on an information display device. The device receives information to be displayed thereon and performs timing determinations of the received information by an automated sequential delivery application. The device creates a tagged file including received information to be displayed and parameters for delivering the information to a display of the device and delivers the tagged file to the display as a function of the timing determinations.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ANALYZING AND DELIVERING INFORMATION

Cross-Reference to Related Applications

[0001] The instant application hereby incorporates by reference in its entirety and claims priority benefit from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial Number 60/852,995 filed on October 20, 2006.

Background

[0002] The present subject matter relates to analyzing and delivering information presented to a user from an information delivery device. Non-limiting examples of an information delivery device include personal data assistants ("PDAs"), personal information managers ("PIMs") and other devices, such as a Blackberry device illustrated in Figure 1 , an Apple iPod device, Palm Treo, etc. or other such information delivery device, which are preferably portable and/or handheld devices.

[0003] It is well known that the purpose of reading is to make an impact on the mind of the reader. This is true whether the text being read comprises a novel, an electronic document, or a heads-up aircraft display. Material presented in a non-textual medium conveys information well suited to human absorption beyond the corresponding, one dimensional text. Still pictures present object attributes such as colors, relative sizes, relative locations, patterns, groupings, and hierarchies. Beginning sentences and paragraphs add contextual information by their location alone. Moving pictures and/or "flashing" text have movement and temporal change as added attributes. Much information comes into the brain visually and through pattern recognition. Other information comes as audio information, conveying information through tone, changing inflection, and changing volume level. [0004] Prior art computer presentation of text for delivery to a user has failed to utilize much of the human brain. As a result, only a part of the possible bandwidth is utilized, and computer text presentation is often thought of as unfriendly, constant, mechanical, and generally lacking in some manner. When given the choice, most people prefer to read a book, document or other textual information in print rather than a book, document, or email on a computer screen. Text is presented by prior art methods and systems, at worst, as one dimensional "beads on a string," at best, similar to the two dimensional text presented by books. Indeed, in the prior art whether text is presented in print or on an electronic display matters little because the text presentation is essentially identical.

[0005] Examples of prior art content presentation of text are numerous. For example, topic sentences are presented the same as other sentences in a paragraph. Technical words are presented no differently than non-technical words. Adjectives appear the same as nouns. Educationally difficult terms are presented the same as simple terms. The last paragraph in a chapter is presented the same as the first paragraph. Text is presented in left justified, broken lines of constant width requiring saccadic eye movement, i.e., jerking eye movement from far right to far left at regular intervals. Text is broken in mid-sentence, mid-phrase and mid-thought, applying ancient typesetting rules. Such text forces the eye to travel back and forth over large distances, mimicking a typewriter carriage. Text is advanced manually, broken into chunks determined by how many lines can fit on the screen. It is thus clear that the possibility of modifying text presentation to enhance a reader's ability to read text by harnessing the power of digital manipulation appears to have been overlooked by those of skill in the art.

[0006] Further, with the growing use of handheld electronic display and information delivery devices, the need for improved visual, audio, and/or audio-visual recognition of presented information has grown. In one embodiment of the present subject matter, to facilitate the demand for more discernable text, for example, a method of content presentation sometimes referred to as "sequential delivery" may be employed. When only one word or short groups of words at a time are delivered to a display, and with that one word or short groups of words being replaced with the next in the place of the previous, the total quantity of characters that are displayed or delivered to a user may be decreased. This in turn promotes the rendering of these characters to much larger sizes. Enlarging character size or font may also significantly improve visibility.

[0007] Another factor which affects readability is navigation through a list containing, for example, titles of songs, chapter headings, or other lists of information. For a conventional page of text to be displayed on the typically small screen of a handheld device, there is a constant adjustment to a desired location within the list of information to expose the next grouping of words or images. On handheld digital devices the need for simplicity is even more important in that these small appliances are usually held with only one hand and consequently are most preferable when they are able to be controlled with only one hand.

[0008] Control mechanisms sometimes referred to as jog wheels, thumb rollers, click-and-scroll wheels, roller wheels, spin wheels, shuttle wheels, or track wheels are presently used, for example, to move forward and backward within media during edit and play sessions. Additionally, other mechanisms such as joy sticks, multi-function buttons, touch screens, or slides, etc., can also be used. Typically, all of these mechanisms have multistate operability, i.e., there generally is more than one way to actuate the mechanism to effectuate an input. For example, a joy stick may be moved in the vertical direction to change a mode of operation of the device the joy stick is controlling, and the joy stick may be moved in a horizontal direction to change the rate of flow of information when in one or more of the modes of operation. Similarly, click-and-scroll wheels may be "clicked" by depressing the wheel to effectuate one type of operation and may be "rolled" to effectuate another type of operation. Additionally, these mechanisms may be used, for example, to alter a position of a cursor within linear content such as music and video, or scroll left-right and up-down through an alphanumeric document.

[0009] An improvement to this type of human interface is needed to minimize the number of key strokes and actions performed and provide for faster and more accurate positioning. One such improvement was the combination of a rotary wheel with a depression switch, as mentioned above. This combination of electromechanical switches allows for positioning and with the depression of the same wheel a selection may be triggered. This combination is also exemplified on some computer mice. This type of dual function switching-adjustment element may be referred to herein as a scroll wheel. Depressing the wheel as a triggering mechanism may sometimes be referred to herein as an actuator, with the action of depressing the wheel referred to as a "click".

[0010] Typical information delivery devices require multiple mechanisms for controlling the speed at which information flows from a device as well as providing a means of pausing the delivery of information and navigating to a particular location in a list or stream of information. The operation of these multiple mechanisms is cumbersome, confusing and prone to operator error.

[0011] While current hand-held devices deliver information to a user in a utilitarian method, there are many methods in which the delivery and viewing of information can be enhanced to reduce the need for saccadic eye movements during reading and make the experience more efficient, effective, useful, and entertaining.

Summary

[0012] When employing an automated sequential method of delivery, for example, information such as data, words, small groups of words, sounds, and/or images may be "flashed", i.e., the new information may replace old information within the same physical space or delivered via the same mode of delivery (e.g., screen, speaker, etc.). Hereinafter, the term "word" may be used but those of skill in the art will understand that the term "word" may refer to any of the above-identified forms of information where appropriate and the term "word" is not necessarily to be construed as limited to text information only.

[0013] In an embodiment of the present subject matter, a mechanism may have an ability to control the speed at which information flows from a device as well as providing a means of pausing the delivery of information and navigating to a particular location in a list or stream of information. Typically, for example, the navigating function requires greater scrutiny within the body of information and/or sequentially-delivered information. In an embodiment of the present subject matter methods and apparatuses are disclosed for combining the above-mentioned functions into a single control mechanism which is may be operable by using one hand or just one thumb or finger.

[0014] In another embodiment of the present subject matter, a software-driven application may be launched on a hand-held device to initiate an application for the automated sequential delivery of information discussed above and/or to facilitate the use of the hand-held device by the user. For example, a menu item may be added to the operating application of the hand-held device that allows the user the option of launching and/or running the automated sequential delivery application. As another non-limiting example, the automated sequential delivery application may operate so as to partition the display screen or viewing area into functional sections, where one or more of the sections may display information related to the automated sequential delivery of information. [00151 In y^et another embodiment of the present subject matter, data that is to be displayed on the hand-held device may be processed prior to viewing by the user so as to enable efficient and effective viewing. For example, the rhythm with which the information is displayed (i.e., the length of time that each word or group of words is displayed on the display screen, or "flashed") or delivered can be determined as a function of one or more of the following parameters: the number of characters in a word or group of words, the "commonness" of the word or group of words, punctuation prior to or subsequent to a word or group of words, the location of the word within a phrase, sentence, or paragraph, and the difference in the number of characters between adjacent words or groups of words, to name a few.

[0016] In a further embodiment of the present subject matter, management of the viewing space where the words are displayed is effectuated so as to present the words to the user in a form that increases the readability of the words being displayed. For example, management of the viewing space may take into account one or more of the following parameters: the size of the display screen, the number of characters that can be displayed on the display screen, the size of the word or group of words, the size of the font of the display, the location of the word or group of words on the display screen, the position of the word or group of words on the display screen, the difference between a position of one word or group of words on the display screen (e.g., the location of the first character of the word) to the position of the next word or group of words on the display screen (e.g., the location of the first character of the next word), to name a few.

[0017] In a still further embodiment of the present subject matter, a system and methodology for analyzing and displaying/delivering information on a hand-held device is disclosed.

[0018] In an embodiment of the present subject matter, a method of analyzing information for display by an information display device is provided. The method comprises receiving information to be displayed by the information display device and performing timing determinations of the received information by an automated sequential information delivery application. The method further comprises creating a tagged file including received information to be displayed and parameters for delivering the information to a display of the information display device and delivering the tagged file to a display of the information display device as a function of the timing determinations.

[0019] In another embodiment of the present subject matter, a method for operating a software application on an information display device is provided. The method comprises applying power to an information display device and loading a software application on the information display device, the software application being an automated sequential delivery application. The method further comprises adding an item to a menu bar of the information display device and operating the automated sequential delivery application through a selection of the item. An additional embodiment may set parameters for operating the automated sequential information delivery application.

[0020] In a further embodiment of the present subject matter an information display device is provided having a display, a processor, at least one control mechanism, and a means to receive information. A novel method for accessing received information on the information display device comprises applying power to the device and loading a software application on the device. The method further comprises operating the software application to partition a viewing area of the display into plural sections where at least one of the sections displays information related to a sequential delivery of information.

[0021] In yet another embodiment of the present subject matter an apparatus for facilitating delivery of information to a user of a portable information display device is provided. The apparatus comprises a portable information display device including a display, a processor, at least one control mechanism, and a means to receive information. The apparatus further comprises a processor implemented application to allow operation of an automated sequential delivery application wherein the automated sequential delivery application delivers information as a function of a selected parameter and partitions the display into plural sections where one of the plural sections displays information related to automated sequential delivery of information.

[0022] These embodiments and many other objects and advantages thereof will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains from a perusal of the claims, the appended drawings, and the following detailed description of the embodiments.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0023] Figure 1 is an illustration of an exemplary handheld electronic device on which embodiments of the present subject matter may be implemented.

[0024] Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic flow of control functions for automated flow and navigation for an embodiment of the present subject matter.

[0025] Figures 3 A - 3C illustrate exemplary screen displays of a sequential delivery program menu.

[0026] Figure 4 is a flow chart for launching and running an automated sequential delivery application on an information display device according to an embodiment of the present subject matter.

[0027] Figure 5 is an exemplary sketch of a display screen according to an embodiment of the present subject matter.

[0028] Figure 6 is an exemplary sketch of two views of a display screen showing a preferred orientation of words being sequentially displayed according to an embodiment of the present subject matter.

[0029] Figure 7 is a flow chart for analyzing information for display on an information display device according to an embodiment of the present subject matter. [0030] Figure 8 is a flow chart indicating a more detailed analysis of the information to be displayed on an information display device according to an embodiment of the present subject matter.

Detailed Description of the Drawings

[0031] With reference to the figures where like elements have been given like numerical designations to facilitate an understanding of the present subject matter, the various embodiments of a system and method for analyzing and delivering information are described herein.

[0032] The following description of the present subject matter is provided as an enabling teaching of the present subject matter and its best, currently-known embodiment. Those skilled in the art will recognize that many changes can be made to the embodiments described herein while still obtaining the beneficial results of the present subject matter. It will also be apparent that some of the desired benefits of the present subject matter can be obtained by selecting some of the features of the present subject matter without utilizing other features. Accordingly, those who work in the art will recognize that many modifications and adaptations of the present subject matter are possible and may even be desirable in certain circumstances and are part of the present subject matter. Thus, the following description is provided as illustrative of the principles of the present subject matter and not in limitation thereof. While the following exemplary discussion of embodiments of the present subject matter may be directed towards textual and visual displays, it is to be understood that the discussion is not intended to limit the scope of the present subject matter in any way and that the principles presented are equally applicable to other types of information capable of being delivered by an information delivery device, such as visual information, audio information, and audio-visual information to name a few. [0033] Embodiments of the present subject matter include a software-driven application which may be launched on an information display device to initiate an application for the automated sequential delivery of information and/or to facilitate the use, readability, and effectiveness of the information display device by the user. Embodiments of the present subject matter may control the flow of information and navigation through that information on a small handheld information delivery device such as, for example, a mobile device such as a Blackberry handheld device available from Research In Motion, Limited, and illustrated in Figure 6. While the following discussion may be directed towards a Blackberry handheld device for ease of understanding, those of skill in the art will readily recognize that the present subject matter is by no means limited to a Blackberry device.

[0034] Embodiments of the present subject matter may utilize a scroll wheel on the information delivery device to control the rate of the display of text. The major subsystem elements and logic circuitry of a typical handheld electronic device are described in various patents, including U.S. Patent No. 6,919,879 (the '"978 Patent"), which teaches the use of a thumb- wheel with a push-button single pole, single throw switch with quadrature signal outputs. The external design of an exemplary handheld information delivery device is shown in U.S. Design Patent No. D490,l 19 (the "' 119 Patent"). Both the '978 Patent and the ' 119 Patent are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

[0035] In embodiments of the present subject matter, the flow of information may be stopped by clicking the scroll wheel once. This action may pause the information delivery on the current word, group of words, or image(s) being displayed. Additionally, this action may also convert the functionality of the scroll wheel to a navigation mode in which the user can scroll forward or backwards in a word-by-word or image-by-image manner, for example, at a pre-designated speed. The user may return from the navigation mode to a display mode by, for example, clicking the scroll wheel twice. This double- clicking action may start the automated display at the presently-displayed word, group of words or image(s), for example. Additionally, the speed at which the words and/or images are displayed when returning to the automated display mode may be the same as when the user was last in the display mode. It is also contemplated that the speed of information delivery when returning to the automated display mode defaults to a preset initial speed. Furthermore, the user may access a program menu with, for example, a single click of the scroll wheel. An exemplary code for the above-described functionality is disclosed in co-pending U.S. Application No. 11/515,950 entitled, "Method for controlling the rate of automated flow and navigation through information presented on a digitally controlled electronic device," the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

[0036] The above-referenced method for using a depressible rotating wheel (click- and-scroll wheel) control mechanism on an information delivery device for controlling the speed of automatic sequential display and navigation through text or images can also be used, for example, for scanning through a list of titles, names, series of pictures, sound clips, or video. According to an embodiment of the present subject matter, such a list may be selected through standard means and then displayed sequentially at a rate previously selected by the user. In the same manner described above for the control of the rate of speed of sequentially-displayed text, the scroll wheel can be used to increase or decrease the rate of display of a collection of images.

[0037] In one embodiment of the present subject matter, if a user is desirous of examining material at a particular location within a stream of information being presented, the user can perform a "single-click" operation of the scroll wheel control mechanism. This action may pause the delivery of information at the currently-presented word, group of words, image(s), etc. The user can then navigate in a slower or more controlled manner by, for example, rotating the scroll wheel control mechanism counterclockwise or clockwise to change the order of delivery of the information being presented (i.e., go "backwards" or "forwards" through the information). In one embodiment, the information being presented may be displayed in a separate partitioned area of the display area (or screen) to enhance the ability of the user to precisely locate the information of interest, and the user may select any one or plural partitioned areas for such exemplary enhancement.

[0038] Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic flow of control functions for automated flow and navigation for an embodiment of the present subject matter. With reference to Figure 2, a primary device menu 10 is shown for an information delivery device, which may be a digitally-controlled device. The information delivery device 10 may be controlled by a control mechanism which may be a rotating selector and actuator 12 (e.g., a click-and-scroll wheel). The user may enter a software program implementing the method described above by scrolling through the primary device menu 10, which may contain a list of available programs, and selecting the sequential delivery program 16 by clicking 14 the control mechanism. Doing so may present on the screen the sequential delivery program menu 20.

[0039] Figures 3 A - 3C illustrate exemplary screen displays of a sequential delivery program menu. Figure 3 A is an illustration of an exemplary screen display of the sequential delivery program menu referred to as "VuIT". By rotating 22 the rotating selector and actuator 12 a user may, for example, change options, select a file to be presented, or exit the program 38, among other actions. Clicking 24 the rotating selector and actuator 12 while a particular file is listed on the sequential delivery program menu 20 and is selected or "highlighted" may change the mode of operation to automatic sequential presentation mode 26, which begins the automated delivery of information contained in the selected file. The automated delivery of information may occur at an initial preset or default rate. The information in the file may be text displayed as single words, groups of words, titles, pictures, video clips, audio tracks, etc., or combinations thereof. [0040] Figure 3B illustrates a further exemplary display. While in the automated sequential presentation mode, the rate of delivery of the information in the selected file may be changed by rotating 28 the rotating selector and actuator 12. For example, rotation in the counterclockwise direction may increase the rate of delivery of the information while rotation in the clockwise direction may decrease the rate of delivery of the information. The automated sequential presentation mode may be stopped by clicking 30 the rotating selector and actuator 12, which switches the mode of operation to the manual control presentation mode 32. Figure 3C illustrates an exemplary screen display in the manual control presentation mode. While in the manual control presentation mode, the user may rotate 34 the rotating selector and actuator 12 to control the order of delivery of the information, i.e., the user can move backward or forward through the information, which may be at a preset or default rate. The user may resume the automated sequential presentation mode 26 by double-clicking the rotating selector and actuator 12. The first click 36 returns the program to the Sequential Delivery Program Menu 20 and the second click 24 changes the mode of operation to automatic sequential presentation mode 26, which begins the automated delivery of information contained in the selected file, as described above. In one embodiment of the present subject matter, upon resuming the automated sequential presentation mode the user would be at the point in the file that was last selected prior to leaving the automated sequential presentation mode. The user may also single click 36 to return to the sequential delivery program menu 20 and rotate 22 the rotating selector and actuator 12 to locate another file to be presented, to change options, or to exit the program 38, as described above.

[0041] Figure 4 is a flow chart for launching and running an automated sequential delivery application on an information display device according to an embodiment of the present subject matter. With reference to Figure 4, an exemplary information display device is powered on in the normal fashion at step 41. A software application for the automated sequential delivery of information may then be loaded or launched on the information display device as represented by block 42. This loading or launching may occur in any way such as, for example, automatically during the start-up routine of the information display device (e.g., a default routine run at start-up of the information display device), upon receiving a command from the user (e.g., pushing a button, clicking a track wheel, scrolling down a menu and activating a menu entry, etc.), upon receipt of information to be displayed, after a set period of time following the start-up of the information display device, etc.

[0042] At step 43, a menu item may be added to a menu bar of the information display device during or after the loading of the automated sequential delivery application. The menu item may be added to the operating application of the information display device and may allow a user the option of launching and/or running the automated sequential delivery application. The menu item may also be accessed in the normal fashion as other menu items in the menu bar of the information display device as previously discussed above. At step 44, the automated sequential delivery application may be operated in any number of modes as previously described. By way of further non limiting examples, the automated sequential delivery application may also operate automatically every time information (e.g., an e-mail or a stored file, etc.) is received and/or is to be displayed on the information display device, upon receipt of an e-mail from a particular source or having a particular subject line, upon display of a stored information file, upon a user's command, etc. The parameters for running the automated sequential delivery application may be preset by the user and/or may have default values (changeable or not changeable) that are pre-loaded. As a further non-limiting example, the automated sequential delivery application may operate so as to partition the display screen or viewing area into functional sections, where one or more of the sections may display information related to the sequential delivery of information.

[0043] Figure 5 is an exemplary sketch of a display screen according to an embodiment of the present subject matter. With reference to Figure 5, the display screen 50 may be partitioned into various functional sections 51-56. One functional section may operate as a status section 51 detailing the operational status of the automated sequential delivery application such as "Play", "Pause", "Stand By", "Rewind", "Fast Forward", "Searching", "Scanning", etc. Another functional section 52 may display the words-per- minute ("WPM") rate at which the automated sequential delivery application is currently operating. Yet another functional section 53 may display the number of words that have been displayed by the automated sequential delivery application. Additional embodiments of the present subject matter may also display the number of words that have been displayed for the current data file being displayed, the number of user- specified or selected words that have been displayed, any totals for all data files displayed over a set period of time, the total for all data files displayed since the device was last turned on, and other word, phrase, group of words, image(s) counts. Of course, these parameters may be selected by the user, pre-loaded and/or preset. Another functional section 54, may preferably be the largest of the functional sections and display the current word or group of words according to the operation of the automated sequential delivery application. In one embodiment of the present subject matter, multiple functional sections may be selected for different operational aspects of the automated sequential delivery application, and information contained in these respective sections may be manipulated as described herein. Further, the size of the word, group of words, or image(s) in a section may change as a function of one or more parameters, such as the size of the word/group of words, the size of the font in which the words are to be displayed, the position on the screen of the word/group of words, etc. Some parameters may have a default value thus not requiring user entry or manipulation. However, in embodiments of the present subject matter, entry of user preferred parameters is allowed, values accepted, and the parameter values stored in the associated information display device.

[0044] For example, in an embodiment of the present subject matter a user is allowed to pull down menus containing dialog boxes, view default parameters, and modify them using standard user interfaces including numerical entry, text entry, slide bars, buttons, or other control mechanisms. Additional display and/or user parameters may include viewing field or section dimensions, color palette for background and text, minimum/maximum phrase length, phrase weighting, justification preferences, advancement rate, tagging definitions, etc.

[0045] For example, viewing field or section dimensions may specify the size of the section or window for viewing text in the X and Y dimensions and/or a third dimension, time. This field can include the entire screen or a smaller portion of the screen. The time dimension can include the time over which time dependent animations such as flashing occur. Color palette for background and text allows specification of preferred background and text color that varies with the text or with selected text. Additional embodiments of the present subject matter may provide a user specified minimum/maximum text segment length. A text segment is a piece of text comprising plural words that is presented on one line on a display. Lengths can be measured in number of characters, words, syllables, educational level, or any combination of these. Phrase weight is an attribute of the material in a phrase or word. Phrase weight may be a function of the number of words in a phrase or group of words, phrase complexity such as the number of technical words or number of words exceeding a certain grade level, the number of spelling similarities between words in a phrase, number of ambiguous words, and total weight of reader weight-specified words. Justification preferences may specify the justification of a word, group of words, image(s) relative to the preceding word, group of words, etc. Advancement rates specify display duration times and the time intervals between the presentation of a word, group of words, image(s), etc. For example, the advancement rate may be a function of a word or group of words, appropriately weighted number of words, educational level, number of phrases, number of syllables, or phrase weight. Tagging definitions may include designating whether a word or group of words will be tagged with a definition or a drawing related to the word. For example, a tagged word, when selected, may display a pop-up window or image containing the definition or a drawing. This window or drawing may then be selected by a control mechanism and additional content explored or accessed by the user.

[0046] By way of further example, the size of the word displayed in the functional section 54 may be derived from a combination of the size of the fonts being used to display the word/group of words and the position of the word/group of words on the display screen. The font may itself be a function of the number of words and/or characters to be displayed at one time on the display screen. For example, if there are less than 10 characters to be displayed at one time, then font A may be used; if there are between 10-15 characters to be displayed at one time, then font B may be used where font B is preferably smaller than font A. A factor to be taken into consideration may be the location of the beginning of a word being displayed and the beginning of the next word to be displayed on the display screen. To enhance the readability of the "flashing" words and the efficiency of the user to read the "flashing" words, the beginning of the word/group of words being displayed may be in approximately the same location as the preceding and succeeding word/group of words being displayed. This may result in the words being displayed to be other than centered on the display screen, as is shown in Figure 6.

[0047] Figure 6 is an exemplary sketch of two views of a display screen showing a preferred orientation of words being sequentially displayed according to an embodiment of the present subject matter. With reference to Figures 5 and 6, the functional section 54 of the display screen 50 is illustrated. A dashed line 61 indicates that the word "The" and the word "homerun" are aligned such that each word starts in approximately the same position within the functional section 54 of the display screen 50. A second dashed line 62 indicates the vertical centerline of each of the functional screen sections 54 shown in Figure 5. The functional section 55 may display a longer phrase or a full sentence which contains the word or group of words currently being displayed in the functional section 54. The functional section 56, which may or may not be displayed concurrently with one or more of the other functional sections described above, may contain information regarding the data, audio, and/or text file being displayed, such as, for example, header information on an e-mail header. This information may be displayed separately and may be displayed in a static format, i.e., in a non sequentially-delivered format.

[0048] Figure 7 is a flow chart for analyzing information for display on an information display device according to an embodiment of the present subject matter. With reference to Figure 7, information, such as an e-mail, a data file, an audio file, a text file (which may contain any combination of text, graphics, video, audio, etc.), or other information to be displayed is received by the information display device in any conventional manner in step 71. The receipt of information may be via a cable, e.g., USB cable, etc., or may be wireless.

[0049] If operational, the automated sequential delivery application may perform timing determinations at step 72 to establish the rhythm or timing (sometimes referred to herein as "flashing") for the display of words or groups of words on the information display device. The automated sequential delivery application may then create a tagged file which may include the information to be displayed as well as parameters for displaying/delivering the information on the information display device as represented by block 73. At step 74, the automated sequential delivery application may prepare and deliver the tagged file for delivery of the information as a function of the timing determinations.

[0050] Figure 8 is a flow chart indicating a more detailed analysis of the information to be displayed on an information display device according to an embodiment of the present subject matter. With reference to Figure 8, the timing determinations performed at step 72 may include any one of or combination of the determinations shown in steps 81-85. For example, the timing determinations may include, at step 81, a determination of a base waiting time for a word or a group of words to be displayed on the information display device, at step 82, a determination of the inter- word size difference (i.e., the difference in size between one word or group of words to be displayed/delivered and the following word or group of words to be displayed/delivered, and at step 83, a determination of a time adjustment for punctuation preceding or succeeding a word or group of words being displayed. Further, the timing determinations may include, at step 84, a determination of a time adjustment as a function of the number of characters in the word or group of words being displayed, and, at step 85, a determination of the "commonness" of the word or group of words being displayed/delivered, i.e., the recognizability of the word or group of words being displayed such that more common/recognizable words may be displayed for a shorter period of time than words that are less common/recognizable. As will be obvious to those of skill in the art, the above-listed determinations for rhythm/timing of the display of words or groups of words are exemplary only and other determinations are contemplated by the present subject matter.

[0051] The present subject matter can be applied to a variety of information delivery devices having a control mechanism, e.g., music players such as the Apple iPod, PDAs such as the Palm Treo, etc. Additionally, as would be obvious to those of skill in the art, the present subject matter is applicable to audio, video, and audio-visual information which may be sequentially delivered to a device, such as a handheld device, that has a control mechanism such as, for example, a click-and-scroll wheel, a touch sensitive click wheel as used with the Apple iPod, or even a touch sensitive screen. Furthermore, when audio or video is sequentially presented by an information delivery device that has a click-and-scroll wheel, or similar input mechanism as described herein, the scroll wheel may be used not only to quickly scroll through a list of titles that may be selected by clicking the wheel when the desired title is found, but also used to control the volume of the playback by clicking the wheel to pause the sequential delivery. After the volume is changed using the wheel, clicking again will resume the audio or video delivery and presentation to the user. [0052] A system and method for analyzing and delivering information on an electronic device as described herein may be implemented using a computer process and/or by use of a microprocessor. However, as known to those of skill in the art, the use of a computer process and/or a microprocessor is not necessarily required. Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the mechanism and operation thereof described herein is capable of being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that the present subject matter applies regardless of the particular type of information-signal bearing media utilized to carry out the distribution of the information. Non-limiting examples include recordable-type media such as diskettes or CD-ROMs, and transmission-type media such as analog or digital communications, wireline and/or wireless links.

[0053] The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of any and all means-plus-function elements in any claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or acts for performing the function in combination with other claim elements as specifically claimed.

[0054] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many modifications to the exemplary embodiments described herein are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present subject matter. Thus, the above description is not intended and should not be construed to be limited to the examples given but should be granted the full breadth of protection afforded by the appended claims and equivalents thereto. In addition, it is possible to use some of the features of the present subject matter without the corresponding use of the other features. Accordingly, the foregoing description of exemplary or illustrative embodiments is provided for the purpose of illustrating the principles of the present subject matter and not in limitation thereof and may include modification thereto and permutations thereof.

Claims

We Claim:

1. A method of analyzing information for display by an information display device comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving information to be displayed by the information display device;

(b) performing timing determinations of the received information by an automated sequential delivery application;

(c) creating a tagged file including received information to be displayed and parameters for delivering the information to a display of the information display device; and

(d) delivering the tagged file to a display of the information display device as a function of the timing determinations.

2. The method of Claim 1 wherein the step of performing timing determinations further comprises determining a base waiting time for the received information to be displayed by the information display device.

3. The method of Claim 1 wherein the step of performing timing determinations further comprises determining a difference in size between adjacent received information to be to be displayed by the information display device.

4. The method of Claim 3 wherein the adjacent received information is selected from the group consisting of sequential words, one word and a following group of words, sequential groups of words, a group of words and a following word.

5. The method of Claim 1 wherein the step of performing timing determinations further comprises determining a time adjustment for punctuation associated with the received information to be displayed by the information display device.

6. The method of Claim 1 wherein the step of performing timing determinations further comprises determining a time adjustment as a function of the number of characters in received information to be displayed by the information display device.

7. The method of Claim 1 wherein the step of performing timing determinations further comprises determining the recognizability of the received information to be displayed by the information display device.

8. The method of Claim 1 wherein the received information is selected from the group consisting of an e-mail, a data file, an audio file, a text file.

9. The method of Claim 1 wherein the step of receiving information is wireless.

10. A method for operating a software application on an information display device comprising the steps of:

(a) applying power to an information display device;

(b) loading a software application on the information display device, the software application being an automated sequential delivery application;

(c) adding an item to a menu bar of the information display device;

(d) operating the automated sequential delivery application through a selection of the item.

11. The method of Claim 10 wherein the step of loading a software application further comprises automatically loading the software application during a start-up routine of the information display device.

12. The method of Claim 10 wherein the step of loading a software application further comprises receiving a command from a user of the information display device.

13. The method of Claim 12 wherein the command is selected from the group consisting of pushing a button, clicking a track wheel, scrolling down a menu, activating a menu entry.

14. The method of Claim 10 wherein the step of operating the automated sequential delivery application further comprises automatically operating the automated sequential delivery application when information is to be displayed on the information display device.

15. The method of Claim 10 wherein the step of operating the automated sequential delivery application further comprises operating the automated sequential delivery application only upon receipt of information from a specific source.

16. The method of Claim 10 wherein the received information is contained in an email.

17. The method of Claim 10 wherein the step of operating the automated sequential delivery application further comprises operating the automated sequential delivery application upon display of a stored information file.

18. The method of Claim 10 further comprising the step of setting parameters for operating the automated sequential delivery application.

19. The method of Claim 18 wherein said parameters are preset by a user of the information display device.

20. The method of Claim 18 wherein said parameters are pre-loaded.

21. In an information display device having a display, a processor, at least one control mechanism, and a means to receive information, a method for accessing received information comprising the steps of applying power to the device and loading a software application on the device, the improvement comprising the steps of operating the software application to partition a viewing area of the display into plural sections where at least one of the sections displays information related to a sequential delivery of information.

22. The method of Claim 21 wherein the software application is an automated sequential delivery application.

23. The method of Claim 21 wherein one of the sections is a status section detailing an operational status of the software application.

24. The method of Claim 21 wherein one of the sections displays a words-per-minute rate at which the software application is operating.

25. The method of Claim 21 wherein one of the sections displays the cumulative count of information displayed by the software application.

26. The method of Claim 25 wherein the count of information is selected from the group consisting of the count of information for a current data file being displayed, the count of information for all data files displayed over a specific period of time, the count of information for all data files displayed since power was applied to the device.

27. The method of Claim 21 wherein one of the sections displays the current information as a function of the operation of the software application.

28. The method of Claim 21 wherein the size of the displayed information changes as a function of at least one parameter selected from the group consisting of size of a word, size of a group of words, size of the font in which a word is to be displayed, size of the font in which a group of words is to be displayed, position on the display of a word, position on the display of a group of words.

29. The method of Claim 21 wherein one of the sections displays information regarding a data file being displayed.

30. An apparatus for facilitating delivery of information to a user comprising:

a portable information display device including a display, a processor, at least one control mechanism, and a means to receive information; and

a processor implemented application to allow operation of an automated sequential delivery application,

wherein said automated sequential delivery application delivers information as a function of a selected parameter and partitions the display into plural sections, and

wherein at least one of the plural sections displays information related to automated sequential delivery of information.

31. The apparatus of Claim 30 wherein one plural section is a status section detailing an operational status of the automated sequential delivery application.

32. The apparatus of Claim 30 wherein one plural section displays a words-per-minute rate at which the automated sequential delivery application is operating.

33. The apparatus of Claim 30 wherein one plural section displays a cumulative count of information displayed by the information delivery device.

34. The apparatus of Claim 30 wherein one plural section displays the current information as a function of the operation of the automated sequential delivery application.

5. The apparatus of Claim 30 wherein said parameter is selected from the group consisting of size of a word, size of a group of words, size of the font in which a word is to be displayed, size of the font in which a group of words is to be displayed, position on the display of a word, position on the display of a group of words.