SELECTIVE SYNCHRONOUS PRESENTATION

• US 20140223272A1
• Filed: 02/04/2013
• Published: 08/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Audible Incorporated (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Audible Incorporated (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Arora, Ajay, Story, Guy Ashley Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 9,280,906 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/203
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/06 with both visual and audible presentation of the material to be studied

Abstract

A selective synchronization service may facilitate the synchronous presentation of corresponding audio content and textual content. Corresponding words in companion items of audio and textual content may be selected for synchronous presentation. A corresponding word may be selected for synchronous audible and textual presentation according to any of a number of criteria. Further, a corresponding word may be selected for a modified synchronous presentation, in which the audible and/or textual presentation of the corresponding word is modified. Alternately, a corresponding word may be selected for an audible presentation without a textual presentation, or a textual presentation without an audible presentation.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

an electronic data store configured to store;

an audiobook; and

an electronic book that is a companion to the audiobook; and

a computing device in communication with the electronic data store, the computing device configured to;

identify a plurality of words that correspond between the audiobook and the electronic book, wherein each of said plurality of words occurs in both the audiobook and the electronic book at a corresponding presentation position;

select one or more words from the identified plurality of corresponding words; and

cause one of;

an audible presentation of the selected one or more words without a textual presentation of the selected one or more words; and

a textual presentation of the selected one or more words without an audible presentation of the selected one or more words.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing device is further configured to cause a synchronous audible and textual presentation of one or more corresponding words that were not selected from the identified plurality of corresponding words.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the computing device is configured to cause the synchronous audible and textual presentation of the identified one or more corresponding words that were not selected by:

causing an audible presentation of the identified one or more corresponding words that were not selected; and

at least substantially while causing the audible presentation of the identified one or more corresponding words that were not selected, causing a highlighted textual presentation of the identified one or more corresponding words that were not selected.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more words are selected from the identified plurality of words based at least in part on user input.

5. A computer-implemented method comprising:

under control of one or more computing devices configured with specific computer-executable instructions,

identifying a first corresponding word, wherein the first corresponding word occurs in both an item of textual content and in an item of audio content at a first corresponding presentation position;

identifying a second corresponding word, wherein the second corresponding word occurs in both the item of textual content and in the item of audio content at a second corresponding presentation position;

causing a synchronous audible and textual presentation of the first corresponding word; and

causing a textual presentation of the second corresponding word without synchronously audibly presenting the second corresponding word.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 further comprising:

prompting a user to speak the second corresponding word; and

obtaining speech from the user.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the first corresponding word and the second corresponding word are separated by a predetermined number of corresponding words.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 further comprising:

identifying a third corresponding word, wherein the third corresponding word occurs in both the item of textual content and in the item of audio content at a third corresponding presentation position;

determining that the speech comprises the second corresponding word; and

responsive to determining that the speech comprises the second corresponding word, causing a synchronous audible and textual presentation of the third corresponding word;

wherein the third corresponding presentation position in both the item of textual content and in the item of audio content occurs after both the first corresponding presentation position and the second corresponding presentation position.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 further comprising:

determining that the speech does not comprise the second corresponding word; and

providing a hint to the user.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the second corresponding word comprises at least a first phoneme and a second phoneme, the computer-implemented method further comprising:

causing an audible presentation of the first phoneme;

prompting a user to speak the first phoneme;

responsive to the user speaking the first phoneme, causing an audible presentation of the second phoneme;

prompting the user to speak the second phoneme; and

responsive to the user speaking the second phoneme, causing an audible presentation of the second corresponding word.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 further comprising:

before causing the textual presentation of the second corresponding word, prompting a user to input a word; and

determining that the input word is substantially identical to the second corresponding word or that the input word is a synonym for the second corresponding word;

wherein the textual presentation of the second corresponding word is only caused if the input word is substantially identical to the second corresponding word or the input word is a synonym for the second corresponding word.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 further comprising obtaining content synchronization information pertaining to the item of textual content and the item of audio content, and wherein the first corresponding word is identified based at least in part on the content synchronization information.

13. A system comprising:

an electronic data store configured to store content synchronization information, wherein the content synchronization information indicates a corresponding word that occurs at a corresponding presentation position in both an item of textual content and in an item of audio content; and

a computing device in communication with the electronic data store, the computing device configured to;

cause a textual presentation of the corresponding word in the item of textual content;

determine a modification to an audible presentation of the corresponding word in the item of audio content; and

substantially while causing the textual presentation of the corresponding word in the item of textual content, cause a modified audible presentation of the corresponding word in the item of audio content.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the computing device is configured to cause the modified audible presentation of the corresponding word in the item of audio content by muting the corresponding word in the audio content.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the computing device is further configured to:

prompt a user to speak the corresponding word; and

obtain speech from the user.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the computing device is further configured to:

determine that the speech comprises the corresponding word;

determine that the corresponding word was spoken with an incorrect pronunciation; and

provide a pronunciation hint to the user.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein:

the item of audio content is presented at a first presentation rate; and

the computing device is configured to cause the modified audible presentation of the corresponding word in the item of audio content at a second presentation rate.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the second presentation rate is slower than the first presentation rate.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein the computing device is configured to cause the modified audible presentation of the corresponding word in the item of audio content by presenting the corresponding word in the audio content with an incorrect pronunciation.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon a computer-executable module configured to execute in one or more processors of a computing device, the computer-executable module being further configured to:

identify a corresponding word, wherein the corresponding word occurs at a corresponding presentation position in both an item of textual content and in an item of audio content;

cause an audible presentation of the corresponding word in the item of audio content;

selecting a modification for the corresponding word in the item of textual content; and

substantially while causing the audible presentation of the corresponding word in the item of audio content, cause a presentation of the modification for the corresponding word in the item of textual content.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the modification comprises at least one of a blank, a homophone of the corresponding word, a misspelling of the corresponding word, and an incorrect grammatical case of the corresponding word.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the computer-executable component is further configured to prompt the user to spell the corresponding word.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the computer-executable component is further configured to cause a textual presentation of the corresponding word.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23, wherein the modification comprises highlighting the corresponding word caused to be textually presented.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23, wherein the corresponding word is caused to be textually presented at a presentation position other than the corresponding presentation position.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the corresponding word is identified based at least in part on content synchronization information pertaining to the item of textual content and the item of audio content.

27. A system comprising:

an electronic data store configured to store;

an item of audio content; and

an item of textual content that is a companion to the item of audio content; and

a computing device in communication with the electronic data store, the computing device configured to;

identify one or more corresponding words in the item of audio content and the item of textual content, wherein each corresponding word occurs at a corresponding presentation position in both the item of audio content and the item of textual content;

select a corresponding word; and

generate content synchronization information, wherein the content synchronization information facilitates a synchronous audible and textual presentation of the selected corresponding word in the item of audio content and the item of textual content.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein:

the electronic data store is further configured to store a vocabulary list comprising one or more words; and

the selected corresponding word is included in the vocabulary list.

29. The system of claim 27, wherein:

the item of audio content and the item of textual content are associated with a first language; and

the selected corresponding word is a loanword associated with a second language.