Method of analysis, abstraction, and delivery of electronic information

• US 7,613,731 B1
• Filed: 05/28/2004
• Issued: 11/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Vubotics, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Quantum Reader, Inc.
• Inventors: Larson, Craig
• Primary Examiner(s): Stevens; Robert
• Application Number:
  US10/857,550
• Time in Patent Office: 1,985 Days
• Field of Search: 707/6, 707/104.1, 715/526, 715/230, 434/178, 434/179, 434/184
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/34 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/106 Display of layout of documents; Previewing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/169 Annotation, e.g. comment data or footnotes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/20 Natural language analysis semantic analysis of natural language G06F40/30
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

This invention is a method of analyzing and preparing electronic text in such a way as to set values for each word in terms of recognizability, comprehensibility, and parts of speech for later emphasis and marking for printing or display on an electronic device. When used on electronic display devices it further employs methods which permit the user to limit eye movement by displaying such text one or a few words at a time. This invention also enhances the ability of small electronic devices to display textual information by providing a method of display which is more suitable for small display areas. The invention is made up of two sections. The first analyzes the text to be displayed and grades each word in such a way as to substantially anticipate the difficulty in understanding each word the reader will have when it subsequently is displayed. The first section then tags each word with several values creating a file which can then be read by the second section which then uses the tags to determine how the word is to be displayed. Emphasis and de-emphasis is provided through length of display, color, size, and opacity. Provision is also made for the inclusion of graphics, videos, and audio.

Claims

1. A computer system for presenting an electronic document to a viewer to facilitate comprehension and control display and speed of delivery, comprising:

a plurality of knowledge databases in the computer system for use in assigning an emphasis value to each word in the electronic document;

an annotation module in the computer system including a cognitive cluster parser configured to group selected word pairings as cognitive clusters to be treated as one word and an analysis engine configured to assign an emphasis value to each word and cognitive cluster, the cognitive cluster parser and analysis engine interacting to generate a first tagged file of assigned emphasis values for each word and cognitive cluster;

a first analysis module in the computer system including a compiler engine configured to derive emphasis values for recognizability and comprehensibility and an author interface configured to facilitate tag editing, the first analysis module for processing the first tagged file to generate a second tagged file of derived emphasis values;

a second analysis module in the computer system including a property editor configured to facilitate editing of properties of selected words and cognitive clusters in the electronic document, the second analysis module for processing the second tagged file to generate a deliverable file that dynamically controls the presentation of the electronic document to the viewer;

a printer or an electronic display device; and

a delivery display module operative with the property deliverable file and the printer or electronic display device to at least one of print or display the electronic document.

2. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 1 wherein the plurality of knowledge databases comprises at least one of a cognitive cluster database, a rarity database, a graphical similarity database, a parts of speech database, and a context database.

3. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 2, wherein the cognitive cluster parser interacts with the cognitive cluster database to create a cognitively parsed file.

4. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 3 wherein the analysis engine determines a number of characters in each cognitive cluster and assigns a character count value to each cognitive cluster.

5. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 2, wherein the analysis engine compares each word with the rarity database to assign a rarity value to each word.

6. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 2 wherein the analysis engine compares each word with the graphical similarity database to assign a similarity value to each word.

7. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 2 wherein the analysis engine compares each word, along with a plurality of surrounding words in the electronic document, with the parts of speech database to determine the part of speech of each word and assign a corresponding part of speech value to each word.

8. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 2 wherein the analysis engine compares each word, along with a plurality of surrounding words in the electronic document, with the context database to determine an importance value for each word based on context.

9. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 1 wherein the analysis engine determines a redundancy value for each word that is indicative of a frequency of occurrence of the word in the electronic document.

10. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 1 wherein the analysis engine determines each word in the electronic document that is capitalized and assigns a corresponding capitalization value.

11. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 1 wherein the analysis engine determines a relative position of each word in a sentence and assigns a position value to each word.

12. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 1 wherein the analysis engine determines a number of characters in each word and assigns a character count value to each word.

13. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 1 wherein the compiler engine is operative with a ratio definition function of the author interface and processes the assigned emphasis values in the first tagged file to derive a recognizability value and a comprehensibility value for each word that are included in the second tagged file.

14. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 13 wherein the author interface includes a recognizability and a comprehensibility editor function to alter a derived recognizability value and a derived comprehensibility value for each word or a portion of the electronic document.

15. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 1 wherein the compiler engine is operative with a tempo function of the author interface to generate a tempo value for each word that is used to manipulate a rate of presentation for a section of the electronic document.

16. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 1 wherein the compiler engine is operative with an image file and an audio file.

17. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 16 wherein the author interface includes an image editor function to control an addition and a placement of a pointer to the image file in the second tagged file.

18. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 16 wherein the author interface includes an audio editor function to control an addition and a placement of a pointer to the audio file in the second tagged file.

19. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 1 wherein the second analysis module further comprises a blending engine that interacts with the property editor to process the second tagged file.

20. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 19 wherein the property editor includes a text time control that is operative with the blending engine to generate a text time factor for the property deliverable file, the text time factor being used to set an amount of time that each word and cognitive cluster is displayed to the viewer.

21. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 19 wherein the property editor includes a text color control that is operative with the blending engine and a user preference file to assign a color property that is indicative of a part of speech to each word and cognitive cluster.

22. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 19 wherein the property editor includes a text opacity control that is operative with the blending engine and a recognition value and a comprehensibility value that are included in the second tagged file to assign a text opacity property to each word and cognitive cluster.

23. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 22 wherein the text opacity property to each word and cognitive cluster is indicative of an importance or a difficulty associated with each word and cognitive cluster.

24. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 19 wherein the second analysis module further comprises a reduction engine that interacts with an appearance control of the property editor to select a background color or pattern and to select a size and a typeface display of the electronic document to a viewer.

25. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 24 wherein the property editor includes an imagery control that is operative with the reduction engine to enable an author to change an opacity of images in an image file associated with the electronic document.

26. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 24 wherein the property editor includes an audio control that is operative with the reduction engine to enable an author to change a volume and an tone quality of audio in an audio file associated with the electronic document.

27. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 24 wherein the second analysis module further comprises a device accommodation editor that is operative with the reduction engine to combine a plurality of values in the second tagged file to generate a property deliverable file that controls the presentation of the electronic document on a hand held device.

28. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 27 wherein the hand held device includes at least one of a cellular phone, a pager, and a personal digital assistant.

29. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 1 wherein the delivery display module comprises a display engine that processes the property deliverable file to control printing of the electronic document.

30. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 1 wherein the delivery display module comprises a display engine that processes the property deliverable file to control display of the electronic document on the electronic display device.

31. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 30 wherein the delivery display module further comprises a user interface engine that is operative with the display engine, and a user control for customizing at least one aspect of the presentation of the electronic document.

32. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 31 wherein the user control includes at least one of a flow control function, a mark up function, an appearance control function, an audio control function, and an imagery control function.

33. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 32 wherein the flow control function enables a viewer to set at least one of an initial speed of presentation, an increase in speed over a defined period or number of words, a difference in display time between a shortest length and a longest length of display, and a minimum value for a word to be displayed.

34. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 32 wherein the mark up function enables the viewer to mark up a section of the electronic document for a subsequent viewing of the section.

35. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 32 wherein the appearance control function enables the viewer to select a color saturation and a background color for display of the electronic document.

36. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 32 wherein the audio control function enables the viewer to control a volume of an audio file associated with the electronic document.

37. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 32 wherein the imagery control function enables the viewer to control whether an image file will be displayed with the electronic document, and enables the viewer to select a size and opacity for the displayed image file.

38. The system for presenting an electronic document of claim 1 wherein the delivery display module comprises a delivery selector control to select printing of display of the electronic document.

39. A method for presenting an electronic document to a viewer to facilitate comprehension and control display and speed of delivery, comprising the steps of:

assigning an emphasis value to each word in the electronic document using a knowledge database thereby generating a first tagged file of assigned emphasis values for each word;

processing the first tagged file in a computer system, including deriving emphasis values for recognizability and comprehensibility and pairing selected words as a cognitive cluster to be treated as one word, to generate a second tagged file of derived emphasis values;

processing the second tagged file in the computer system, including facilitating editing of properties of selected words and cognitive clusters in the electronic document, to generate a property deliverable file that dynamically controls the presentation of the electronic document to the viewer; and

presenting the electronic document to the viewer on an electronic display device or printer.

40. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 39 wherein the knowledge database comprises at least one of a cognitive cluster database, a rarity database, a geographical similarity database, a part of speech database, and a context database.

41. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 40 further comprising the step of comparing each word with the rarity database to assign a rarity value to each word.

42. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 40 further comprising the step of comparing each word with the graphical similarity database to assign a similarity value to each word.

43. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 40 further comprising the steps of comparing each word, along with a plurality of surrounding words in the electronic document, with the parts of speech database to determine the part of speech of each word, and assigning a part of speech value to each word.

44. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 40 further comprising the step of comparing each word, along with a plurality of surrounding words in the electronic document, with the context database to determine an importance value for each word based upon context.

45. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 39 further comprising the step of creating a cognitively parsed file.

46. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 45 further comprising the steps of determining a number of characters in each cognitive cluster and assigning a character count value to each cognitive cluster.

47. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 45 further comprising the step of generating a text time factor for the property deliverable file to set an amount of time that each word and cognitive cluster is displayed to a viewer.

48. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 45 further comprising the step of assigning a color property that is indicative of a part of speech to each word and cognitive cluster.

49. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 45 further comprising the step of assigning a text opacity property to each word and cognitive cluster that is indicative of an importance or difficulty associated with each word and cognitive cluster.

50. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 39 further comprising the step of determining a redundancy value for each word that is indicative of a frequency of occurrence of the word in the electronic document.

51. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 39 further comprising the steps of determining each word in the electronic document that is capitalized and assigning a capitalization value to the corresponding word.

52. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 39 further comprising the steps of determining a relative position of each word in a sentence and assigning a position value to each word.

53. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 39 further comprising the steps of determining a number of characters in each word and assigning a character count value to each word.

54. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 39 further comprising the step of processing the assigned emphasis values in the first tagged file to derive a recognizability value and a comprehensibility value for each word for inclusion in the second tagged file.

55. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 39 further comprising the step of generating a tempo value for each word to manipulate a rate of presentation for a section of the electronic document.

56. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 39 further comprising the steps of adding and placing a pointer to an audio file in the second tagged file.

57. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 39 further comprising the steps of adding and placing a pointer to an audio file in the second tagged file.

58. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 39 further comprising the step of editing the derived recognizability value and the derived comprehensibility value for each word or a portion of the electronic document.

59. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 39 further comprising the steps of selecting a background color or pattern, and selecting a size and typeface for display of the electronic document to the viewer.

60. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 39 further comprising the step of changing an opacity of images in an image file associated with the electronic document.

61. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 39 further comprising the step of changing a volume and a tone quality of audio in an audio file associated with the electronic document.

62. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 39 wherein the step of processing the second tagged file comprises combining a plurality of values in the second tagged file to generate the property deliverable file.

63. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 39 further comprising the step of processing the property deliverable file to control display of the electronic document on the electronic display device.

64. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 39 further comprising the step of customizing the presentation of the electronic document.

65. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 64 wherein the step of customizing comprises at least one of setting an initial speed of presentation, setting an increase in speed over a define period or a number of words, setting a difference in display time between the shortest length and a longest length of display, and setting a minimum value for a word to be displayed.

66. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 64 wherein the step of customizing comprises the step of enabling the viewer to mark up a section of the electronic document for a subsequent viewing of the section.

67. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 64 wherein the step of customizing comprises the step of enabling the viewer to select a color saturation and a background color for display of the document.

68. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 64 wherein the step of customizing comprises the step of enabling the viewer to control a volume of an audio file associated with the electronic document.

69. The method for presenting an electronic document of claim 64 wherein the step of customizing comprises the step of enabling the viewer to control a size and opacity of an image document displayed in conjunction with the electronic document.

70. A computer system for presenting an electronic document to a viewer to facilitate comprehension and control display and speed of delivery, the computer system including a computer program product, the computer program product comprising:

program instructions that group selected words into a cognitive cluster to be treated as a single word;

program instructions that assign an emphasis value to each word and cognitive cluster in the electronic document using a knowledge database thereby generating a first tagged file of assigned emphasis values for each word and cognitive cluster;

program instructions that process the first tagged file, including deriving emphasis values for recognizability and comprehensibility, to generate a second tagged file of derived emphasis values;

program instructions that process the second tagged file, including facilitating editing of properties of selected words and cognitive clusters in the electronic document, to generate a property deliverable file that dynamically controls the presentation of the electronic document to the viewer;

a printer or an electronic display device; and

program instructions that present the electronic document to the viewer on the electronic display device or to the printer.

71. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 70 wherein the knowledge database comprises at least one of a cognitive cluster database, a graphical similarity database, a part of speech database, and a context database.

72. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 71 wherein the computer program product further comprises program instructions that compare each word with the rarity database to assign a rarity value to each word.

73. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 71 wherein the computer program product further comprises program instructions that compare each word of with the graphical similarity database to assign a similarity value to each word.

74. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 71 wherein the computer program product further comprises program instructions that compare each word, along with a plurality of surrounding words in the electronic document, with the parts of speech database to determine the part of speech of each word and assign a part of speech value to each word.

75. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 71 wherein the computer program product further comprises program instructions that compare each word, along with a plurality of surrounding words in the electronic document, with the context database to determine an importance value for each word based on context.

76. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 70 wherein the computer program product further comprises program instructions that generate a cognitively parsed file.

77. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 76 wherein the computer program product further comprises program instructions that determine a number of characters in each cognitive cluster and assign a character count value to each cognitive cluster.

78. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 76 wherein the computer program product further comprises program instructions that generate a text time factor for the property deliverable file to set an amount of time that each word and cognitive cluster is displayed to the viewer.

79. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 76 wherein the computer program product further comprises program instructions that assign a color property that is indicative of a part of speech to each word and cognitive cluster.

80. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 76 wherein the computer program product further comprises program instructions that assign a text opacity to each word and cognitive cluster that is indicative of an importance or difficulty associated with each word and cognitive cluster.

81. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 70 wherein the computer program product further comprises program instructions that determine a redundancy value for each word that is indicative of a frequency of occurrence of the word in the electronic document.

82. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 70 wherein the computer program product further comprises program instructions that compare each word in the electronic document that is capitalized and assign a capitalization value to the corresponding word.

83. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 70 wherein the computer program product further comprises program instructions that determine a relative position of each word in a sentence and assign a position value to each word.

84. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 70 wherein the computer program product further comprises program instructions that determine a number of characters in each word and assign a character count value to each word.

85. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 70 wherein the computer program product further comprises program instructions that process the assigned emphasis values in the first tagged file to derive a recognizability value and a comprehensibility value for each word for inclusion in the second tagged file.

86. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 70 wherein the computer program product further comprises program instructions that generate a tempo value for each word to manipulate a rate of presentation for a section of the electronic document.

87. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 70 wherein the computer program product further comprises program instructions that add and place a pointer to an image file in the second tagged file.

88. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 70 wherein the computer program product further comprises program instructions that add and place a pointer to an audio file in the second tagged file.

89. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 70 wherein the computer program product further comprises program instructions that enable editing of the derived recognizability value and the derived comprehensibility value for each word or a portion of the electronic document.

90. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 70 wherein the computer program product further comprises program instructions that enable selecting a size and typeface for display of the electronic document to the viewer.

91. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 70 wherein the computer program product further comprises program instructions that enable changing of an opacity of images in an image file associated with the electronic document.

92. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 70 wherein the computer program product further comprises program instructions that enable changing a volume and a tone quality of audio in an audio file associated with the electronic document.

93. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 70 wherein the program instructions that process the second tagged file comprise program instructions that combine a plurality of values in the second tagged file to generate the property deliverable file.

94. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 70 wherein the computer program product further comprises program instructions that process the property deliverable file to control display of the electronic document on the electronic display device.

95. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 70 wherein the computer program product further comprises program instructions that customize the presentation of the electronic document.

96. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 95 wherein the program instructions that customize comprise program instructions that enable at least one of setting an initial speed of presentation, setting an increase in speed over a define period or a number of words, setting a difference in display time between a shortest length and a longest length of display, and setting a minimum value for a word to be displayed.

97. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 95 wherein the program instructions that customize comprise program instructions that enable the viewer to mark up a section of the electronic document for a subsequent viewing of the section.

98. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 95 wherein the program instructions that customize comprise program instructions that enable the viewer to select a color saturation and a background color for display of the document.

99. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 95 wherein the program instructions that customize comprise program instructions that enable the viewer to control a volume of an audio file associated with the electronic document.

100. The computer system for presenting an electronic document of claim 95 wherein the program instructions that customize comprise program instructions that enable the viewer to control a size and opacity of an image document displayed in conjunction with the electronic document.