Generating a game related to a digital work

• US 9,449,526 B1
• Filed: 03/19/2012
• Issued: 09/20/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/23/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Tseng, Walter Manching, Goldstein, Michel L., Thangavel, Ravi Shankar, Jain, Ankur, Iser, Adam J., Hamaker, Janna S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Deodhar, Omkar
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lee, Wei
• Application Number:
  US13/424,046
• Time in Patent Office: 1,646 Days
• Field of Search: 463/9, 463/42, 434/177, 434/322
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8064 Quiz
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3328 using graphical result space presentation or visualisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/338 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/487 using geographical or spatial information, e.g. location
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9038 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/10 Text processing natural language analysis G06F40/20; semantic analysis G06F40/30; processing or translation of natural language G06F40/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/169 Annotation, e.g. comment data or footnotes
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/02 of the type wherein the student is expected to construct an answer to the question which is presented or wherein the machine gives an answer to the question presented by a student

Abstract

In some implementations, one or more words from a digital work are used to generate a game to be displayed on an electronic device. For example, the electronic device may include a library of one or more digital works. A word or knowledge game may be dynamically generated based on objects, such as characters, topics, places, organizations, things, etc., identified in at least one digital work in the library. As one example, a crossword puzzle may be created to include words and clues based at least in part on the objects identified in at least one digital work and supplemental information associated with the objects. The clues for the crossword puzzle may be generated automatically based, at least in part, on a desired level of difficulty. Further, in some cases, the game may be generated from words drawn from multiple digital works in the library.

Claims

1. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media maintaining instructions executable by one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving, by an electronic device, a digital work from a digital content server;

receiving, by the electronic device, a supplemental information instance external to the digital work;

storing, by the electronic device, the digital work and the supplemental information instance locally on a memory of the electronic device;

displaying, by the electronic device, the digital work on a display of the electronic device;

receiving, by the electronic device, an input to initiate a crossword puzzle on the electronic device;

accessing, by the electronic device, the supplemental information instance external to the digital work and stored on the memory of the electronic device, the supplemental information instance containing at least a first object identified in the digital work having supplemental information associated therewith, the supplemental information including at least location information associated with the first object and a link to a network resource associated with the first object;

selecting, by the electronic device, the first object to use as an answer to an entry in the crossword puzzle;

creating, by the electronic device, the crossword puzzle to include the first object as a first answer in the crossword puzzle;

generating, by the electronic device, a clue for the first answer in the crossword puzzle, generating the clue comprising;

obtaining, via the link within the supplemental information and from the network resource, content associated with the first object; and

generating the clue based at least in part on the content associated with the first object; and

displaying, by the electronic device, the crossword puzzle on the display.

2. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein selecting the first object further comprises selecting the first object based at least in part on a frequency of occurrence of the first object in the digital work.

3. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the first object is at least one of:

a character in the digital work;

a person mentioned in the digital work;

a place mentioned in the digital work;

a thing mentioned in the digital work;

an interaction between characters in the digital work;

an organization mentioned in the digital work;

a relationship between characters in the digital work;

a popular highlight in the digital work;

a theme in the digital work;

a scene in the digital work;

an event mentioned in the digital work;

a phrase used in the digital work;

a topic mentioned in the digital work;

a citation provided in the digital work;

or

a time period associated with the digital work.

27. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the input is a first input, the crossword puzzle is a first crossword puzzle, the first object is selected based at least in part on the first object occurring at a second location prior to a first location within the digital work to which a user has progressed, the operations further comprising:

receiving, by the electronic device, a second input to initiate a second crossword puzzle on the electronic device;

identifying, by the electronic device, a third location within the digital work to which a user has progressed, the third location being different than the first location and the second location; and

selecting, by the electronic device, a second object to use as an answer to an entry in the second crossword puzzle, wherein the second object is selected based at least in part on the second object occurring at a fourth location prior to a third location within the digital work to which the user has progressed.

28. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the link is a first link, and the operations further comprising:

receiving a second link to a different network resource associated with the first object; and

storing the second link in the supplemental information instance in association with the object.

4. A method comprising:

under control of one or more processors configured with executable instructions,

receiving, by an electronic device, a supplemental information instance associated with at least one digital work stored in a memory of the electronic device;

storing, by the electronic device, the supplemental information instance in the memory of the electronic device;

identifying, by the electronic device, the at least one digital work stored in the computer-readable medium on the electronic device;

accessing, by the electronic device, supplemental information located separate from but associated with the at least one digital work, the supplemental information including at least location information associated with one or more words in the at least one digital work and a link to a network resource associated with the one or more words;

generating, by the electronic device, a game that uses the one or more words, the generating comprising;

obtaining, by the electronic device and via the link within the supplemental information and from the network resource, content associated with the one or more words, and

generating, by the electronic device, the game based at least in part on the content; and

displaying, by the electronic device, the game on a display.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the location information includes a location in the at least one digital work of each occurrence of the one or more words.

6. The method as recited in claim 4, generating the game further comprising generating at least one clue for the game from the supplemental information associated with at least one word of the one or more words.

7. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein generating the at least one clue further comprises generating the at least one clue from the content associated with the one or more words.

8. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein generating the at least one clue further comprises generating the at least one clue from a portion of text of the at least one digital work that is proximate to a location in the at least one digital work of an occurrence of the at least one word corresponding to the clue.

9. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein generating the at least one clue from a portion of text of the digital work that is proximate to a location in the digital work of an occurrence of the at least one word corresponding to the clue further comprises:

determining locations of one or more of highlights or annotations made to the at least one digital work; and

generating the at least one clue from a location in the at least one digital work that is proximate to the location of at least one of the highlights or annotations.

10. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the game is generated in connection with the at least one digital work based, at least in part, on the game being initiated during the displaying of the at least one digital work.

11. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the game is generated in connection with a plurality of digital works, the game including different words contained in different respective digital works of the plurality of digital works.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, further comprising providing a user interface to enable selection of at least one digital work, or a portion thereof, of the plurality of digital works that the game is generated in connection with.

13. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the game is one of:

a crossword puzzle;

an anagram game;

a word-find game;

or

a hangman game.

14. The method as recited in claim 4, further comprising:

saving progress in the game at a saved location when closing the game; and

sending first game information associated with the game to a computing device over a network for aggregating with second game information associated with the game from other electronic devices.

15. The method as recited in claim 14, further comprising:

receiving the first game information from the computing device at a different electronic device; and

opening the game on the different electronic device to resume the game at the saved location on the different electronic device.

16. The method as recited in claim 14, further comprising receiving, from the computing device, an update to a module that generated the game to generate an updated module, the update based at least in part on aggregated game information provided to the computing device by a plurality of electronic devices.

17. The method as recited in claim 16, further comprising generating a new game using the updated module, the updated module generating at least one of a clue or an answer for the new game based, at least in part, on a success rate of one or more users with respect to the at least one clue or answer.

18. The method as recited in claim 4, further comprising using at least a portion of an image from the at least one digital work as at least one of an answer or a clue in the game.

19. An electronic device comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more computer-readable media, wherein the one or more computer-readable media includes executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations including;

receiving, by the electronic device and from a digital content server, supplemental information associated with a digital work, the supplemental information including, for at least a first object and a second object identified in the digital work, a location in the digital work of at least one occurrence of at least one of the first object and the second object and a link to a network resource associated with the second object;

storing, by the electronic device, the supplemental information in the one or more computer-readable media;

detecting, by the electronic device, an input to initiate a game;

generating, by the electronic device, the game using the first object and the second object as at least two answers;

generating, by the electronic device, a first clue for the game, generating the first clue comprising;

selecting a portion of text of the digital work, the portion of the text being selected at least partly based on aggregated game information regarding success rates for clues drawn from the portion of text; and

generating the first clue for the game from the portion of the text of the digital work; and

generating a second clue for the game, generating the second clue comprising;

accessing the supplemental information from the one or more computer-readable media;

obtaining, via the link within the supplemental information and from the network resource, content associated with the one or more words, and

generating the second clue based at least in part on the content.

20. The device as recited in claim 19, wherein generating the first clue further comprises generating based, at least in part, on the supplemental information, the first clue related to the at least one answer.

21. The device as recited in claim 19, wherein generating the first clue further comprises deriving the first clue from content related to the at least one object, the content obtained from a network accessible resource.

22. The device as recited in claim 19, wherein the game is one of:

a crossword puzzle;

an anagram game;

a word find game;

or

a hangman game.

23. The device as recited in claim 19, wherein generating the game using the at least one object as at least one answer further comprises:

determining a point of furthest progression in the digital work; and

selecting the first object and the second object to use for generating the game based, at least in part, on the first object and the second object having at least one occurrence in the digital work prior to the point of furthest progression.

24. The device as recited in claim 19, wherein generating the game using the first object and the second object as at least one answer further comprises:

generating the game using the first object and the second object from the digital work as the at least two answers; and

using a third object from a different digital work as at least one other answer.

25. A method comprising:

under control of one or more processors configured with executable instructions,

aggregating, by an electronic device, game information received from a plurality of electronic devices to generate aggregated game information, the game information being associated with one of a game clue or a game answer and identifying at least a first digital work from which a game was generated;

determining, by the electronic device and based at least in part on the aggregated game information, a difficulty level of an individual one of the game clue or the game answer; and

sending, by the electronic device and to a first electronic device of the plurality of electronic devices, supplemental information configured to be stored in an instance external to the first digital work and used for generating one of the game clue or the game answer, wherein the supplemental information includes a link to a network resource associated with an object in the first digital work.

26. The method as recited in claim 25, wherein the supplemental information is further configured to control a difficulty of the one of the game clue or game answer.