Model for creating, inputting, storing and tracking multimedia objects

• US 7,627,810 B2
• Filed: 08/29/2001
• Issued: 12/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ip Ot Sub Ulc
• Original Assignee: Open Text Corporation
• Inventors: Deutsch, Keith, Glazer, David, Nordman, Michael, Schneider, Ronald, Karpel, Leonard
• Primary Examiner(s): Paula; Cesar B
• Application Number:
  US09/942,161
• Publication Number:
  US 20020129052A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,016 Days
• Field of Search: 715511-512, 715/501.1, 715/500.1, 715/515, 715750-751, 715201-205, 715/234, 345/750, 345/751, 707/104.1
• US Class Current: 715/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/4393 Multimedia presentations, e.g. slide shows, multimedia albums
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/44 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/48 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/148 Migration or transfer of sessions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• 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

The invention includes structures and schema for organizing and inter-relating objects, data, or files, including relational, network, hierarchical, and entity-relationship models, among others, that are dynamic, that is changing with time. This includes manipulating structures by conversion, compression, compaction, and compilation, for various purposes. Also included is generating structures for storing, organizing, and managing dynamic objects for retrieval and presentation.

Claims

1. A method for sharing multimedia presentations among a group of participants, comprising:

providing rich media files comprising a plurality of different types of rich media;

storing the rich media files in a searchable database as dynamic rich media objects that are defined in accordance with an object data model having a plurality of predefined object attribute fields for rich media presentations, wherein the object data model supports a plurality of queries used to search and retrieve stored dynamic rich media objects based on data contents of the plurality of predefined object attribute fields for each dynamic rich media object, wherein the predefined object attribute fields are defined to include;

an object identifier field for storing an object identifier that identifies a corresponding dynamic rich media object,

a start-time field for storing a start time attribute for the corresponding dynamic rich media object;

a participant-access control permission key field for storing participant-access control permission keys for the corresponding dynamic rich media object;

one or more participant-progress tracking fields that store a tracking attribute that identifies a participant'"'"'s personal progress in viewing the corresponding dynamic rich media object, and

one or more participant input fields that store participant inputs that are received in response to participant interaction with the corresponding dynamic rich media object;

creating a rich media presentation by associating a group of the dynamic rich media objects with an identifier for the presentation and one or more participant access control permission keys;

providing a participant interface for selectively requesting to view the presentation, and for receiving input from a participant in the group of participants in connection with one or more dynamic rich media objects when presented to the participant as part of the presentation;

in response to a request to view the presentation, automatically assembling a plurality of the dynamic rich media objects in real time on a server so that the dynamic rich media objects are displayed on the basis of the start-time attribute of each dynamic rich media object, wherein the server distributes to a requesting participant a version of the rich media presentation that dynamically varies in response to the participant-access control-permission keys and one or more participant-progress tracking attributes related to the requesting participant; and

storing participant-progress tracking and participant input in the database when the requesting participant has viewed at least a portion of one or more of the dynamic rich media objects in the presentation,

whereby when one of the participant'"'"'s requests to view the presentation after watching at least a portion of one or more of the dynamic rich media objects in the presentation, a percentage of the multimedia presentation viewed by a requesting participant is computed.

2. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprising providing an editing tool for at least one participant to modify the dynamic rich media objects.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the storing comprises storing object attributes in XML for a plurality of the dynamic rich media objects.

4. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein each dynamic rich media object includes a start time and stop time for that dynamic rich media object.

5. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the rich media presentation includes at least one dynamic rich media object selected from a plurality of dynamic rich media objects that differ from each other only in their format characteristics.

6. A method as recited in claim 5 wherein the dynamic rich media objects have format characteristics that include at least player type and bandwidth.

7. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the rich media presentation includes at least one dynamic rich media object selected based on participant profiling.

8. A method as recited in claim 7, in which participant profiling includes permission levels.

9. A method as recited in claim 7, in which participant profiling includes system attributes.

10. A method as recited in claim 9, in which system attributes are selected from the group comprising bandwidth and player type.

11. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprising providing a search engine for searching the attribute fields of the dynamic rich media objects associated with the rich media presentation.

12. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the participant input field stores information in a form of a quiz response.

13. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprising generating a usage report based on the attributes of the dynamic objects of the rich media presentation.

14. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the object attribute fields further comprises a quiz success status field.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein participant-progress tracking includes the number of bytes streamed from the server to the participant.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the participant-progress tracking includes the percent of the presentation that was viewed.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the participant-progress tracking includes the percentage of slides that were viewed.

18. The method of claim 1 further comprising configuring the multi-media presentation to include one or more mandatory components.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the mandatory component is a quiz.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein the mandatory component is whether a view has read a document.

21. The method of claim 18 wherein the mandatory component is a quiz.

22. The method of claim 18 wherein the mandatory component is whether a view has read a document.

23. A system for delivering presentations to network connected participants of the presentation, comprising:

a server configured to;

receive rich media files comprising a plurality of different types of rich media store the rich media files in a searchable database as dynamic rich media objects that are defined in accordance with an object data model having a plurality of predefined object attribute fields for rich media presentations, wherein the object data model supports a plurality of queries used to search and retrieve stored dynamic rich media objects based on data contents of the plurality of predefined object attribute fields for each dynamic rich media, wherein the predefined object attribute fields are defined to include;

an object identifier field for storing an object identifier that identifies a corresponding dynamic rich media object,

a start-time field for storing a start time attribute for the corresponding dynamic rich media object;

a participant-access control permission key field for storing participant-access control permission keys for the corresponding dynamic rich media object;

one or more participant-progress tracking fields that store a tracking attribute that identifies a participant'"'"'s personal progress in viewing the corresponding dynamic rich media object, and

one or more participant input fields that store participant inputs that are received in response to participant interaction with the corresponding the dynamic rich media object;

create a rich media presentation by associating a group of the dynamic rich media objects with an identifier for the presentation and one or more participant-access control permission keys;

provide a participant interface for selectively requesting to view the presentation, and for receiving input from a participant in the group of participants in connection with one or more dynamic rich media objects when presented to the participant as part of the presentation;

in response to a request to view the presentation, automatically assemble a plurality of the dynamic rich media objects in real time so that the dynamic rich media objects are displayed on the basis of the start-time attribute of each dynamic rich media object wherein the server distributes to a requesting participant a version of the rich media presentation that dynamically varies in response to the participant-access control permission keys and one or more participant-progress tracking attributes related to the requesting participant; and

store participant-progress tracking and participant inputs in the database when the requesting participant has viewed at least a portion of one or more of the dynamic rich media objects in the presentation,

whereby when one of the participant'"'"'s requests to view the presentation after watching at least a portion of one or more of the dynamic rich media objects in the presentation, a percentage of the multimedia presentation viewed by a requesting participant is computed.

24. A system as recited in claim 23 wherein the server is configured to provide an editing tool for at least one participant to modify the dynamic rich media objects.

25. A system as recited in claim 23, wherein the server is configured to store object attributes in XML for a plurality of the dynamic rich media objects.

26. A system as recited in claim 23 wherein each dynamic object includes a start time and stop time for that dynamic rich media object.

27. A system as recited in claim 23 wherein the server stores the rich media presentation includes at least one dynamic rich media object selected from a plurality of dynamic rich media objects that differ from each other only in their format characteristics.

28. A system as recited in claim 27 wherein the dynamic rich media objects have format characteristics that include at least player type and bandwidth.

29. A system as recited in claim 23 wherein the rich media presentation includes at least one dynamic rich media object selected based on participant profiling.

30. A system as recited in claim 29, in which participant profiling includes permission levels.

31. A system as recited in claim 29, in which participant profiling includes system attributes.

32. A system as recited in claim 31, in which participant attributes are selected from the group comprising bandwidth and player type.

33. A system as recited in claim 23 wherein the server is configured to provide a search engine for searching the attribute field of the dynamic rich media objects associated with the rich media presentation.

34. A system as recited in claim 23 wherein the participant input field stores information in a form of a quiz response.

35. A system as recited in claim 23 wherein the server is further configured to generate a usage report based on the attributes of the dynamic objects of the rich media presentation.

36. A system as recited in claim 23 wherein the object attribute fields further comprises a quiz success status field.

37. The system of claim 23 wherein participant-progress tracking includes the number of bytes streamed from the server to the participant.

38. The system of claim 23 wherein the participant-progress tracking includes the percent of the presentation that was viewed.

39. The system of claim 23 wherein the participant-progress tracking includes the percentage of slides that were viewed.

40. The system of claim 23 wherein the system is further configured to specify one or more mandatory components of multi-media presentation.

41. The system of claim 40 wherein the mandatory component is a quiz.

42. The system of claim 40 wherein the mandatory component is whether a view has read a document.

43. A system for sharing a rich media presentation among a group of participants, comprising:

means for providing rich media files comprising a plurality of different types of rich media;

means for storing the rich media files in a searchable database as dynamic rich media objects that are defined in accordance with an object data model having a plurality of predefined object attribute fields for rich media presentations, wherein the object data model supports a plurality of queries used to search and retrieve stored dynamic rich media objects based on data contents of the plurality of predefined object attribute fields for each dynamic rich media object, wherein the predefined object attribute fields are defined to include;

an object identifier field for storing an object identifier that identifies a corresponding dynamic rich media object,

a start-time field for storing a start time attribute for the corresponding dynamic rich media object;

a participant-access control permission key field for storing participant-access control permission keys for the corresponding dynamic rich media object;

one or more participant-progress tracking fields that store a tracking attribute that identifies a participant'"'"'s personal progress in viewing the corresponding dynamic rich media object, and

one or more participant input fields that store participant inputs that are received in response to participant interaction with the corresponding dynamic rich media object;

means for creating a rich media presentation by associating a group of the dynamic rich media objects with an identifier for the presentation and one or more participant access control permission keys;

means for providing a participant interface for selectively requesting to view the presentation, and for receiving input from a participant in the group of participants in connection with one or more dynamic rich media objects when presented to the participant as part of the presentation;

means for, in response to a request to view the presentation, automatically assembling a plurality of the dynamic rich media objects in real time on a server so that the dynamic rich media objects are displayed on the basis of the start-time attribute of each dynamic rich media object, wherein the server distributes to a requesting participant, a version of the rich media presentation that dynamically varies in response to the participant-access control permission keys and one or more participant-progress tracking attributes related to the requesting participant; and

means for storing participant-progress tracking and participant input in the database when the requesting participant has viewed at least a portion of one or more of the dynamic rich media objects in the presentation,

whereby when one of the participant'"'"'s requests to view the presentation after watching at least a portion of one or more of the dynamic rich media objects in the presentation, a percentage of the multimedia presentation viewed by a requesting participant is computed.

44. A system as recited in claim 43 further comprising means for providing an editing tool for at least one participant to modify the dynamic rich media objects.

45. A system as recited in claim 43, wherein the means for storing comprises storing object attributes in XML for a plurality of the dynamic rich media objects.

46. A system as recited in claim 43 wherein each dynamic rich media object includes a start time and stop time for that dynamic rich media object.

47. A system as recited in claim 43 wherein the rich media presentation includes at least one dynamic rich media object selected from a plurality of dynamic rich media objects that differ from each other only in their format characteristics.

48. A system as recited in claim 47 wherein the dynamic rich media objects have format characteristics that include at least player type and bandwidth.

49. A system as recited in claim 43 wherein the rich media presentation includes at least one dynamic rich media object selected based on participant profiling.

50. A system as recited in claim 49, in which participant profiling includes permission levels.

51. A system as recited in claim 50, in which participant profiling includes system attributes.

52. A system as recited in claim 51, in which participant attributes are selected from the group comprising bandwidth and player type.

53. A system as recited in claim 43 further comprising means for providing a search engine for searching the attributes of the dynamic rich media objects associated with the rich media presentation.

54. A system as recited in claim 43 wherein the participant input field stores information in a form of a quiz response.

55. A system as recited in claim 43 further comprising a means for generating a usage report based on the attributes of the dynamic objects of the rich media presentation.

56. A system as recited in claim 43 wherein the object attribute fields further comprises a quiz success status field.

57. The system of claim 43 wherein participant-progress tracking includes the number of bytes streamed from the server to the participant.

58. The system of claim 43 wherein the participant-progress tracking includes the percent of the presentation that was viewed.

59. The system of claim 43 wherein the participant-progress tracking includes the percentage of slides that were viewed.

60. The system of claim 43 wherein the computer readable medium is further configured to specify one or more mandatory components of multi-media presentation.