Enhancing touch and feel on the internet

• US 8,086,505 B2
• Filed: 08/20/2007
• Issued: 12/27/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Illinois Computer Research LLC
• Original Assignee: Illinois Computer Research LLC
• Inventors: Harris, Scott C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rosen, Nicholas D
• Application Number:
  US11/841,767
• Publication Number:
  US 20090055289A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,590 Days
• Field of Search: 715/848, 715/849, 715/850, 715/851, 715/852, 705/27.2, 705/27.1, 705/26.1, 705/271.1
• US Class Current: 705/27.2
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2111/02 CAD in a network environment, e.g. collaborative CAD or distributed simulation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2113/20 Packaging, e.g. boxes or containers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/23 using finite element methods [FEM] or finite difference methods [FDM]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0603 Catalogue ordering
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0643 Graphical representation of items or shoppers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23412 for generating or manipulating the scene composition of objects, e.g. MPEG-4 objects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44012 involving rendering scenes according to scene graphs, e.g. MPEG-4 scene graphs
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A system for enabling touch and feel over the internet provides a three-dimensional representation of a good being sold, that three-dimensional representation being viewable from a number of different directions. In one embodiment, the good being sold is in a package and the package is displayed from the number of different directions. Another embodiment has the good being a book, and the inside and outside covers of the book are displayed and specified pages of the book can be displayed. The user can read from either the label or the covers just as if the user were actually handling the good.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

displaying information about a video which is for sale over the Internet on a user'"'"'s computer;

displaying packaging for the video on the user'"'"'s computer, where the packaging is shown in three dimensions, said packaging including shape and color of said packaging for the video;

on the user'"'"'s computer, enabling the packaging to be viewed from a plurality of different angles of viewing, where said angles collectively enable reading each of plural labels on each surface of the packaging including a front surface, a rear surface and at least one side surface;

on the user'"'"'s computer, displaying the packaging at a resolution that allows reading each of the labels on the packaging, and viewing the video from said plurality of different angles;

said displaying comprising first displaying a lower amount of information about said packaging, and at the same time as said first displaying, loading additional information about said packaging, and subsequently displaying said additional information about said packaging at a time after said first displaying and after said loading said additional information about said packaging;

allowing the user to subsequently purchase the video over the internet, from the user'"'"'s computer; and

further comprising displaying, on the user'"'"'s computer, a special navigation key that enables opening the packaging to see the video inside the packaging, where the video inside cannot be seen until the packaging is opened.

2. A method as in claim 1, wherein said first displaying displays a two-dimensional image representing said packaging and wherein said additional information is information indicative of three dimensional information.

3. A method, comprising:

displaying a music item which is for sale over the Internet on a user'"'"'s computer;

displaying packaging for the music item on the user'"'"'s computer, where the packaging is shown in three dimensions, said packaging including shape and color of the music package;

on the user'"'"'s computer, enabling the packaging to be viewed from a plurality of different angles of viewing, where said angles collectively enable reading each of plural labels on each surface of the packaging including a front surface, a rear surface and at least one side surface;

on the user'"'"'s computer, displaying the packaging at a resolution that allows reading each of the labels on the packaging, and viewing the music item from said plurality of different angles, said displaying comprising first displaying a lower amount of information about said packaging, and at the same time as said first displaying, loading additional information about said packaging, and subsequently displaying said additional information about said packaging at a time after said first displaying and after said loading said additional information; and

allowing the user to subsequently purchase the music item over the internet, from the user'"'"'s computer, and further comprising displaying, on the user'"'"'s computer, a special navigation key that enables opening the packaging to see the music item inside the packaging, where the music item inside cannot be seen until the packaging is opened.

4. A method as in claim 3, wherein said packaging includes product information which includes liner notes for the music item.

5. A method as in claim 3, wherein said packaging includes product information which includes lengths of songs on the music item.

6. A method as in claim 3, wherein said packaging includes product information which includes band members who made the music item.

7. A method as in claim 3, wherein said packaging includes product information which includes song lyrics of songs that are on the music item.

8. A method as in claim 3, further comprising storing the packaging having a different resolution for readable parts than for images.

9. A method as in claim 3, wherein said first displaying displays a two-dimensional image representing said packaging and wherein said additional information is information indicative of three dimensional information.

10. A method comprising:

displaying a product for sale on a user'"'"'s computer, such that a package of the product can be seen from a plurality of different angles including front of the product, back of the product, top of the product and at least multiple sides of the product, wherein the package includes a box that holds the product inside the box, the product being a music item;

providing movement keys which allow the user to see the product from each of said multiple sides; and

providing another movement key, which enables virtual opening of the package, and enables viewing an item within the product within the package, where the product inside cannot be seen until the package is opened.

11. A method as in claim 10, wherein said displaying displays a true three-dimensional image.

12. A method as in claim 10, wherein said displaying uses a plurality of different discrete images which simulate a three-dimensional image and wherein each of the movement keys moves to another discrete image showing a different position of rotation.

13. A method as in claim 10, further comprising storing images of pictures, and images of text, and where the images of text are stored in a different resolution than the images of pictures.

14. A method as in claim 10, further comprising enabling the user to purchase said product.

15. A method as in claim 10, further comprising enabling a product purchaser to read text on an outside of the product.

16. A method as in claim 10, further comprising enabling zooming in to see a specified part of the product.

17. A method as in claim 10, wherein the product is a video item inside the box.

18. A method as in claim 10, wherein said displaying comprises first displaying a lower amount of information about said packaging, and at the same time as said first displaying, loading additional information about said packaging, and subsequently displaying said additional information at a time after said first displaying and after said loading said additional information.

19. A method, comprising:

storing three dimensional information indicative of an item for sale, where said item for sale is one of a music item or a video in a package, and said three dimensional information representing discrete representations of the item for sale from multiple different viewpoints;

defining a plurality of HTML pages, each HTML page including a discrete representation of said item for sale from one of said different viewpoints;

at least multiple of said HTML pages including text at a resolution that can be read from the HTML page, and said at least one of said HTML pages including non-textual image portions, having a different resolution than said text;

providing at least one navigation key, that allows a user to navigate between the HTML pages, to see the item from said different viewpoints, where each of the different viewpoints is a different view of the item from a different viewpoint, and each of the viewpoints is a discrete image, and said navigation key commands moving between the different viewpoints; and

sending to a user another HTML page that provides a view of an inside of a package including the item, where the item inside cannot be seen from HTML pages where the package is not opened, and the item can be seen from said another HTML page in which the package is opened.

20. A method as in claim 19, further comprising receiving a request for one of said viewpoints, and sending said one of said viewpoints to be displayed, and sending others of said viewpoints in the background, without receiving a specific request for said others, and where said others of said viewpoints represent different views of the same said item for sale.

21. A method as in claim 19, further comprising at least one special key, other than said at least one navigation key, which commands opening the packaging, where the item inside cannot be seen until the packaging is opened.