Embedding Hot Spots in Electronic Documents

• US 20070047002A1
• Filed: 07/31/2006
• Published: 03/01/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Graham, Jamey, Erol, Berna, Hull, Jonathan, Van Olst, Daniel
• Granted Patent: US 8,838,591 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/3.280
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/434 using image data, e.g. images, photos, pictures taken by a user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/103 Formatting, i.e. changing of presentation of documents automatic justification G06F40/189; automatic line break hyphenation G06F40/191

Abstract

A Mixed Media Reality (MMR) system and associated techniques are disclosed. The MMR system provides mechanisms for forming a mixed media document that includes media of at least two types (e.g., printed paper as a first medium and digital content and/or web link as a second medium). In one particular embodiment, the MMR system includes a method, system, and computer readable medium for embedding a hot spot in an electronic document. Marks corresponding to a designation for a hot spot in an electronic document are embedded, allowing for later capture of coordinates corresponding to a printed representation of the electronic document and the hot spot.

Claims

1. A method of embedding a hot spot in a document, comprising:

embedding marks corresponding to a designation for a hot spot in an electronic document;

in response to a print command, capturing coordinates corresponding to a printed representation of the electronic document and the hot spot; and

rendering a page layout comprising the printed representation including the hot spot.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein embedding marks further comprises:

receiving an electronic document for display in a browser, the electronic document comprising the designation for the hot spot in the electronic document;

modifying the electronic document by embedding marks in the electronic document according to the designation for the hot spot, the marks indicating a beginning point for the hot spot and an ending point for the hotspot; and

displaying the modified electronic document in the browser.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the browser is a Windows application.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the marks are individually distinguishable and surround the hotspot.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the marks are transparent to an end user of the electronic document.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the marks comprise a special font that prints as blank space for designated characters.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the hotspot designation is a uniform resource locator.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein capturing coordinates further comprises parsing the printed representation for a subset of the coordinates corresponding to the designation for the hot spot.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein parsing further comprises tapping print commands using a forwarding dynamically linked library.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising associating one or more clips with the hotspot.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the page layout.

12. A method of embedding a hot spot in a document, comprising:

receiving an electronic document for display in a browser, the electronic document comprising a designation for a hot spot in the electronic document;

modifying the electronic document by embedding marks in the electronic document according to the designation for the hot spot, the marks indicating a beginning point for the hot spot and an ending point for the hotspot; and

displaying the modified electronic document in the browser.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the marks are transparent to an end user of the electronic document.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the marks comprise a special font that prints as blank space for designated characters.

15. A computer program product for embedding a hot spot in a document, the computer program product comprising:

a computer-readable medium; and

computer program code, coded on the medium, for;

embedding marks corresponding to a designation for a hot spot in an electronic document;

in response to a print command, capturing coordinates corresponding to a printed representation of the electronic document and the hot spot; and

rendering a page layout comprising the printed representation including the hot spot.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the computer program code coded on the medium for embedding marks is further coded for:

receiving an electronic document for display in a browser, the electronic document comprising the designation for the hot spot in the electronic document;

modifying the electronic document by embedding marks in the electronic document according to the designation for the hot spot, the marks indicating a beginning point for the hot spot and an ending point for the hotspot; and

displaying the modified electronic document in the browser.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the browser is a Windows application.

18. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the marks are individually distinguishable and surround the hotspot.

19. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the marks are transparent to an end user of the electronic document.

20. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the marks comprise a special font that prints as blank space for designated characters.

21. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the hotspot designation is a uniform resource locator.

22. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein capturing coordinates further comprises parsing the printed representation for a subset of the coordinates corresponding to the designation for the hot spot.

23. The computer program product of claim 22, wherein parsing further comprises tapping print commands using a forwarding dynamically linked library.

24. The computer program product of claim 15, further comprising computer program code coded on the medium for associating one or more clips with the hotspot.

25. The computer program product of claim 15, further comprising computer program code coded on the medium for storing the page layout.

26. A computer program product for embedding a hot spot in a document, the computer program product comprising:

a computer-readable medium; and

computer program code, coded on the medium, for;

receiving an electronic document for display in a browser, the electronic document comprising a designation for a hot spot in the electronic document;

modifying the electronic document by embedding marks in the electronic document according to the designation for the hot spot, the marks indicating a beginning point for the hot spot and an ending point for the hotspot; and

displaying the modified electronic document in the browser.

27. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the marks are transparent to an end user of the electronic document.

28. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the marks comprise a special font that prints as blank space for designated characters.

29. A system for embedding a hot spot in a document, comprising:

a embed module for embedding marks corresponding to a designation for a hot spot in an electronic document; and

a feature extraction module for, in response to a print command, capturing coordinates corresponding to a printed representation of the electronic document and the hot spot; and

a render module for rendering a page layout comprising the printed representation including the hot spot.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the embed module is further configured for:

receiving an electronic document for display in a browser, the electronic document comprising the designation for the hot spot in the electronic document; and

modifying the electronic document by embedding marks in the electronic document according to the designation for the hot spot, the marks indicating a beginning point for the hot spot and an ending point for the hotspot; and

further comprising a display module displaying the modified electronic document in the browser.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the browser is a Windows application.

32. The system of claim 29, wherein the marks are individually distinguishable and surround the hotspot.

33. The system of claim 29, wherein the marks are transparent to an end user of the electronic document.

34. The system of claim 29, wherein the marks comprise a special font that prints as blank space for designated characters.

35. The system of claim 29, wherein the hotspot designation is a uniform resource locator.

36. The system of claim 29, wherein the feature extraction module is further configured for parsing the printed representation for a subset of the coordinates corresponding to the designation for the hot spot.

37. The system of claim 36, wherein the feature extraction module is further configured for tapping print commands using a forwarding dynamically linked library.

38. The system of claim 29, further comprising a hotspot module for associating one or more clips with the hotspot.

39. The system of claim 29, further comprising a storage module for storing the page layout.