AUTOMATED PRESENTATION OF INFORMATION USING INFOGRAPHICS

• US 20130187926A1
• Filed: 02/19/2013
• Published: 07/25/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/08/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yahoo Assets LLC
• Original Assignee: SteamFunk Labs Inc. (Altaba Inc. (f/k/a Yahoo! Inc.))
• Inventors: Silverstein, Todd, Cutler-Stamm, Jeff, Tucker, Dusten, Stein, Lyle P., Sklar, David, Blackheart, Jason, Massad, Ryan
• Granted Patent: US 9,176,966 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/440
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/116 Details of conversion of file system types or formats
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/285 Clustering or classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/80 of semi-structured data, e.g. markup language structured data such as SGML, XML or HTML content-based retrieval of web data G06F16/95
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/972 Access to data in other repository systems, e.g. legacy data or dynamic Web page generation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/105 Human resources
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/206 Drawing of charts or graphs

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method for creating one or more infographics, comprising: receiving and storing data associated with an individual or an entity, in a format according to a schema that includes at least two properties associated with the individual or entity; reading at least a portion of the data; determining which of the at least two properties in the schema do not have corresponding read data associated with the individual or entity; based on that determination, selecting an infographic definition from among a plurality of infographic definitions defining the appearance of at least a portion of an infographic; generating one or more infographics based on (i) the at least a portion of the data and (ii) the selected infographic definition; and providing the one or more generated infographics to an output device.

Claims

1. A processor-implemented method for creating one or more infographics, the method comprising:

(a) the processor receiving data associated with an individual or an entity;

(b) the processor storing the data, on one or more storage devices, in a format according to a schema, wherein the schema includes at least two properties associated with the individual or entity;

(c) the processor reading at least a portion of the data from one or more storage devices;

(d) the processor determining which of the at least two properties in the schema do not have corresponding data read in step (c) associated with the individual or entity;

(e) based on the determination in step (d), the processor selecting an infographic definition from among a plurality of infographic definitions defining the appearance of at least a portion of an infographic;

(f) the processor generating one or more infographics based on (i) the at least a portion of the data and (ii) the selected infographic definition; and

(g) the processor providing the one or more generated infographics to an output device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the processor adding, to the schema, one or more new properties for which no data associated with the individual or entity has previously been received.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

the processor receiving new data corresponding to at least one of the new properties in the schema;

the processor populating the at least one of the new properties with the received new data;

the processor storing received new data, on one or more storage devices; and

the processor generating one or more infographics based, at least in part, on the stored new data.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

step (d) comprises the processor determining that at least one property in the schema has no corresponding data read in step (c) associated with the individual or entity; and

step (e) comprises the processor selecting an infographic definition defining the appearance of the at least a portion of an infographic based on the at least one property in the schema having no corresponding data read in step (c) associated with the individual or entity.

5. A processor-implemented method for creating one or more infographics, the method comprising:

(a) the processor prompting an infographic author to enter source data in connection with generating one or more infographics;

(b) the processor receiving the source data from the infographic author, wherein the source data includes at least one of;

(i) data associated with an individual or an entity,

(ii) data identifying the location of a connected source from which data associated with an individual or an entity is to be obtained, and

(iii) data identifying one or more agents designated by the infographic author to provide data associated with an individual or an entity;

(c) if the source data includes data associated with an individual or an entity, then the processor storing the data associated with the individual or the entity, on one or more storage devices, in a format according to a schema;

(d) if the source data includes data identifying the location of a connected source for obtaining data associated with an individual or an entity, then;

(d1) the processor connecting to the identified connected source location;

(d2) the processor retrieving, from the identified connected source location, the data associated with the individual or the entity; and

(d3) the processor storing the data associated with the individual or the entity, on one or more storage devices, in a format according to a schema;

(e) if the source data includes data identifying one or more agents designated by the infographic author to provide data associated with an individual or an entity, then;

(e1) the processor prompting at least one of the one or more agents to enter data associated with the individual or the entity;

(e2) the processor receiving, from the at least one of the one or more agents, the data associated with the individual or the entity; and

(e3) the processor storing the data associated with the individual or the entity, on one or more storage devices, in a format according to a schema;

(f) the processor reading at least a portion of the stored data from one or more storage devices;

(g) the processor reading an infographic definition from one or more storage devices;

(h) the processor generating one or more infographics based on (i) the at least a portion of the stored data and (ii) the infographic definition; and

(i) the processor providing the one or more generated infographics to an output device.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising, if the source data includes data identifying one or more agents designated by the infographic author to provide data associated with an individual or an entity, then:

(e4) the processor enabling the infographic author to review and/or modify the data associated with the individual or the entity received from the at least one of the one or more agents.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising, if the source data includes data identifying the location of a connected source for obtaining data associated with an individual or an entity, then:

the processor periodically receiving, from the connected source, updated data associated with the individual or the entity; and

after receiving the updated data, the processor generating one or more new infographics based, at least in part, on the updated data.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising receiving input from a user during the viewing of the one or more generated infographics provided to the output device so as to permit the user to interact with and/or modify the one or more generated infographics.

9. The method of claim 5, further comprising the processor using one or more randomization techniques for producing random variations in the one or more infographics during the generation of the one or more infographics in step (h).

10. The method of claim 5, wherein the one or more infographics generated in step (h) are aggregate infographics generated by aggregating stored data corresponding to more than one individual or entity.

11. The method of claim 5, further comprising generating a unique uniform-resource identifier for referencing one or more generated infographics.

12. The method of claim 5, further comprising enabling an infographic author to send private invitations to one or more other infographic authors to enable group sharing of generated infographics.

13. Apparatus for creating one or more infographics, the apparatus comprising:

a processor adapted to;

(a) receive data associated with an individual or an entity;

(b) store the data, on one or more storage devices, in a format according to a schema, wherein the schema includes at least two properties associated with the individual or entity;

(c) read at least a portion of the data from one or more storage devices;

(d) determine which of the at least two properties in the schema do not have corresponding data read in step (c) associated with the individual or entity;

(e) based on the determination in step (d), select an infographic definition from among a plurality of infographic definitions defining the appearance of at least a portion of an infographic;

(f) generate one or more infographics based on (i) the at least a portion of the data and (ii) the selected infographic definition; and

(g) provide the one or more generated infographics to an output device.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processor is further adapted to:

add, to the schema, one or more new properties for which no data associated with the individual or entity has previously been received.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the processor is further adapted to:

receive new data corresponding to at least one of the new properties in the schema;

store the received new data, on one or more storage devices; and

generate one or more infographics based, at least in part, on the stored new data.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein:

step (d) comprises determining that at least one property in the schema has no corresponding data read in step (c) associated with the individual or entity; and

step (e) comprises selecting an infographic definition defining the appearance of the at least a portion of an infographic based on the at least one property in the schema having no corresponding data read in step (c) associated with the individual or entity.

17. Apparatus for creating one or more infographics, the apparatus comprising:

a processor adapted to;

(a) prompt an infographic author to enter source data in connection with generating one or more infographics;

(b) receive the source data from the infographic author, wherein the source data includes at least one of;

(i) data associated with an individual or an entity,

(ii) data identifying the location of a connected source from which data associated with an individual or an entity is to be obtained, and

(iii) data identifying one or more agents designated by the infographic author to provide data associated with an individual or an entity;

(c) if the source data includes data associated with an individual or an entity, then store the data associated with the individual or the entity, on one or more storage devices, in a format according to a schema;

(d) if the source data includes data identifying the location of a connected source for obtaining data associated with an individual or an entity, then;

(d1) connect to the identified connected source location;

(d2) retrieve, from the identified connected source location, the data associated with the individual or the entity; and

(d3) store the data associated with the individual or the entity, on one or more storage devices, in a format according to a schema;

(e) if the source data includes data identifying one or more agents designated by the infographic author to provide data associated with an individual or an entity, then;

(e1) prompt at least one of the one or more agents to enter data associated with the individual or the entity;

(e2) receive, from the at least one of the one or more agents, the data associated with the individual or the entity; and

(e3) store the data associated with the individual or the entity, on one or more storage devices, in a format according to a schema;

(f) read at least a portion of the stored data from one or more storage devices;

(g) read an infographic definition from one or more storage devices;

(h) generate one or more infographics based on (i) the at least a portion of the stored data and (ii) the infographic definition; and

(i) provide the one or more generated infographics to an output device.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the processor is further adapted, if the source data includes data identifying one or more agents designated by the infographic author to provide data associated with an individual or an entity, to:

(e4) enable the infographic author to review and/or modify the data associated with the individual or the entity received from the at least one of the one or more agents.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the processor is further adapted to receive input from a user during the viewing of the one or more generated infographics provided to the output device so as to permit the user to interact with and/or modify the one or more generated infographics.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the processor is further adapted to use one or more randomization techniques for producing random variations in the one or more infographics during the generation of the one or more infographics in step (h).