Preparing and presenting content

• US 20030229616A1
• Filed: 04/30/2003
• Published: 12/11/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Wee Ling Wong
• Original Assignee: University of Southern California
• Inventors: Wong, Wee Ling
• Granted Patent: US 8,250,073 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/40 of multimedia data, e.g. slideshows comprising image and additional audio data retrieval of still image data G06F16/50; retrieval of audio data G06F16/60; retrieval of video data G06F16/70
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/48 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually

Abstract

Systems and techniques to prepare and present content. In general, in one implementation, a technique includes receiving information identifying a first streaming content element describing a first scope of material, receiving information identifying a second streaming content element describing a second scope of material, and describing a presentation including the first streaming content element and the second streaming content element in a parent/child relationship. The second scope of material can be more detailed than the first scope and included in the first scope.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving information identifying a first streaming content element regarding a first scope of material;

receiving information identifying a second streaming content element regarding a second scope of material, the second scope of material being more detailed and included in the first scope; and

describing a presentation including the first streaming content element and the second streaming content element in a parent/child relationship.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving information identifying a third streaming content element to be included in the description of the presentation, the third streaming content element regarding a third scope of material not included in the first scope.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

adding the third streaming content element to the description of the presentation in sequence with the first streaming content element.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

adding the third streaming content element to the description of the presentation with the third streaming content element and the second streaming content element in a second parent/child relationship.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

ending the parent/child relationship between the first streaming content element and the second streaming content element.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

relaying the description of the presentation to a data processing device independently of the first streaming content element and the second streaming content element.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein describing the presentation comprises establishing the parent/child relationship based on the receipt of the information identifying the first and the second streaming content elements before receipt of information identifying a third streaming content element.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving information identifying the first streaming content element comprises receiving a user input new designation of the first streaming content element.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving information identifying the first streaming content element comprises receiving information identifying a transcript to supplement the first streaming content element.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving information identifying the first streaming content element comprises receiving information identifying an educational streaming content element.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving information identifying the first streaming content element comprises:

displaying a collection of content elements to a user; and

receiving user input indicating the first streaming content element in the collection of content elements.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein describing the presentation comprises establishing a data file including the information identifying the first streaming content element in association with the information identifying the second streaming content element.

13. An article comprising a machine-readable medium storing instructions operable to cause one or more machines to perform operations comprising:

receiving a presentation description identifying two separate streaming content elements and a presentation sequence of the two elements;

receiving the two separate streaming content elements from one or more remote locations; and

rendering the two separate streaming content elements in the presentation sequence without prompting from a user.

15. The article of claim 13, wherein receiving the presentation description comprises receiving the presentation description identifying a third streaming content element, the third streaming content element being a child of the first of the two streaming content elements.

18. The article of claim 13, wherein receiving the presentation description comprises receiving a file identifying the two separate streaming content elements by name and identifying the presentation sequence of the two elements by the sequence of the names in the file.

14. The article of claim 14, wherein rendering the two separate streaming content elements in the presentation sequence comprises rendering the second of the two streaming content elements immediately after conclusion of the first of the two streaming content elements.

16. The article of claim 14, wherein rendering the two separate streaming content elements in the presentation sequence comprises rendering the two separate streaming content elements in the presentation sequence without rendering the third streaming content element.

17. The article of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving a user selection of the third content element while rendering the first of the two streaming content elements; and

rendering the third content element prior to rendering the second of the two streaming content elements.

19. The article of claim 14, wherein rendering the two streaming content elements comprises rendering a text supplement of the two streaming content elements.

20. The article of claim 19, wherein rendering the text supplement comprises rendering a transcript of one of the two streaming content elements.

21. An article comprising a machine-readable medium storing instructions operable to cause one or more machines to perform operations comprising:

receiving a description of a hierarchical presentation describing a collection of streaming content elements potentially to be displayed during a rendition of the presentation;

determining whether or not to render a first streaming content element in the collection; and

receiving and rendering the first streaming content element only when it is determined that a rendition of the first streaming content element is desirable.

22. The article of claim 21, wherein the operations further comprise:

providing a user-readable translation of the description of the presentation to a user; and

determining whether or not to render the first streaming content element based on user interaction with the user-readable translation.

23. The article of claim 21, wherein receiving the description of the presentation comprises receiving information identifying a remote streaming content element.

24. The article of claim 21, wherein receiving the description of the presentation comprises:

receiving the description of the presentation from a first remote data processing machine; and

receiving information identifying the remote streaming content element at a second remote data processing machine.

25. The article of claim 21, wherein determining whether or not to render a first streaming content element comprises receiving user input selecting the first streaming content element.

26. The article of claim 21, wherein determining whether or not to render a first streaming content element comprises receiving user input bypassing the first streaming content element.

27. The article of claim 21, wherein determining whether or not to render the first streaming content element comprises identifying the first streaming content element as a parent content element or as a child content element in the hierarchical presentation.

28. The article of claim 27, wherein determining whether or not to render the first streaming content element comprises rendering a parent streaming content element after a rendition of a prior content element.

29. The article of claim 21, wherein:

determining whether or not to render the first streaming content element comprises receiving user input indicating a child first streaming content element; and

receiving and rendering the first streaming content element comprises receiving and rendering the child first streaming content element only upon receipt of the user input indicating the child first streaming content element.

30. The article of claim 21, wherein receiving the description of the presentation comprises receiving a description of a transcript supplementing one streaming content element from the collection.

31. The article of claim 21, wherein receiving the description of the presentation comprises receiving a description of an educational lesson.

32. The article of claim 21, wherein receiving the description of the presentation comprises receiving a description of a sales pitch.