FI105954B - Method and system for connection of information in electrical form to information in printed form - Google Patents

Description

, 105954

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTAINING ELECTRONIC DATA IN PRINTED DATA

The present invention relates to a method, as defined in the preamble of claim 1, for incorporating information in electronic form, such as web pages, into printed information. Further, the present invention relates to a system as defined in the preamble of claim 11.

WWW stands for World Wide Web, a service developed by Tim Berners-Lee, a CERN support center in 1989, to deliver worldwide multimedia and hypertext information over the HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol, a 15-language policy used by the WWW system). with the help of internet. Hypertext has recently become very popular in electronic publications. In hypertext, the reader can access additional information linked or linked to a so-called link anchor (hot word) by pointing the anchor word on a computer screen 20 with the cursor or mouse pointer. In the HELP function of computer programs and in CD-ROM programs, the links refer to local information, such as a CD-ROM or HELP file, on the same computer, whereas pages linked in WWW technology may. It can be located on any PC connected to the Internet anywhere in the world. Thus, the WWW opens up access to an ever-growing pool of information, which is an important support, for example. education, for example in the preparation of lectures and lessons. This may be the case, for example, when a printed textbook, “·. books and the like form the backbone of web pages that are searched for more light and liveliness through definitions, biographies, examples and visualizations. The preparatory work is associative and non-linear-35 - thus well suited for hypertext.

2,105,954

Today, printed communication has not been able to utilize hypertext, although printed references, directories, and web addresses more limitedly fulfill the same function. However, the problem is that retrieving information 5 from the Internet is laborious because the user has to manually copy long address information from the printed text and enter it into a computer or other media that allows the user to browse those pages. Entering addresses is 10 extremely slow when there are multiple web links. In addition, long http addresses take up space on the page and complicate the typography of the text.

A method is known in the prior art from WO 95/10813 for identifying documentary portions, herein referred to as "link anchors", to which documentary references are linked with electronic reference information. The reference discloses how copiers / printers can be used more efficiently, for example, for reading an image or other similar use. According to the reference, the reference information in the printed text is marked with a predetermined box or the like, and electronic information such as a slide image is linked to it. When printed text, for example printed on paper, is read to a printer for presentation on a copier or similar screen, a slide image or other similar software-implemented diagram or chart is linked to the positions indicated on the on-screen publication. However, this requires that the entire document be read by 30 scanners, after which the location of the link anchors is determined by the pattern-matching graphic graphics, in this example rectangles. Thus, the arrangement disclosed in the publication does not facilitate the user in combining information from the Internet with printed material.

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The object of the invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks.

In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method that combines print and network media in a novel way. It is a further object of the invention to provide an easy-to-use system whereby by swiping the words labeled in a paper publication with a pencil scanner or the like, or by speaking, the web pages associated with the words 10 are displayed.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel method which enables additional information in electronic form to be linked to a printed document such as a textbook.

With respect to the features of the present invention, reference is made to the claims.

In the method of the present invention, the predetermined points in the printed information to which the electronic information is linked are marked on the printed information, such as printed text, to associate the information stored in the electronic processing system with the printed information. Various forms of visualization can be used for labeling, such as different colored, underlined, or shaded text, or a combination thereof, or a pattern, bar code, or similar graphic representation. Further, a list of tagged items (= link anchors) and associated web addresses and search information is compiled. Preferably, the list forms pairs of equivalents where the second part of the pair has a point marked on the printed information, such as a · word or a pattern, and the other side the corresponding information that tells the computing system how to find additional information. The Infor-35 information can be one or more URLs (a URL, a Uniform Resource Locator, a link on a web server used by Internet users to access a specific page on a particular web server), information needed by the crawler or the like.

According to the invention, when information is desired based on a tagged item, the tagged printed item is fed to a data processing system which further identifies the information contained in that paragraph. The marked entry can be entered into the data processing system in many ways. A scanner, with associated OCR or pattern recognition, can be used to identify the scanned text or pattern. In addition, speech and associated speech recognition may be used, or in some applications it may be convenient to use barcode tags and associated readers. Thereafter, a link or search command corresponding to the information in the list is determined and information based on the link or search command is retrieved in electronic form for presentation in the data processing system.

The advantage of the present invention over the prior art is the ease and speed of retrieving additional information. In addition, the invention helps text readers to establish fast associations. Furthermore, due to the present invention, an inexperienced computer user can easily access background information on the Internet.

In one embodiment of the invention, the 30 tagged entry points are compared to the list link anchors and the interpretation of the "tagged entry" entered into the data processing system is performed using a string distance and / or weighted distance function. Such comparison and interpretation, as well as error correction in connection therewith, is essential because, for example, a string produced by a pencil scanner may be • «5 105954 invalid for a variety of reasons. Scanner scanning may have started too early, including some of the word preceding the link anchor. Similarly, the sweep may have begun from the middle of the link anchor, end to end 5, or continue to the word following the link anchor. The current commercial text recognition software included with the pen scanner also does not know how to correctly interpret text typed with different typography, but certain characters, such as k and h, are easily confused. In addition, since scanning is performed at variable speeds, the image scanned from the link anchor is initially distorted, which makes recognition more difficult.

In one embodiment, the identification of the scanned string is performed as follows. The URL or look-up information is selected from the list by comparing the scanned string with the list anchors by selecting the nearest link anchor according to the distance dimension and accepting this link anchor only if both the character string distance and significance exceed a given value, typically 20 strings. Further, the distance is described by two parameters: the string distance and the weighted distance function.

String distance is formed by converting 25 strings into ml strings in m2 using three basic * operations: insertion (deletion), deletion (deletion), and substitution (substitution). For each basic operation, a finite function is defined such that a conversion from ml to ml in m2 results in a minimum of 30 operations. The items in the table below represent, by way of example, the number of operations in the '·' · conversion from aba to aabc.

Table 1, 105954

O

ml / m2__a__a__b__c_ fine »0 fine f 1 __cost = 0__cost»! \ ___ b '' target fine »0 ___ cost»! * y_ a '' '"sbi fine» l __ cost = 2

Cost: aba _-> aabc: 0 + 1 + 0 + 1 = 2 5

Table 2 ml / m2__a__a__b__c_ a "substitution fine» 0 __kug cost = 0 ____ b deletion • 'fine' 1 • \ __ cost index> ^ = 1____ a v substitution insertion fine »0 fine = 1 ___ cost»! __ cost = 2__

Cost: aba _-> aab is 0 + 1 + 0 + 1 = 2 • I '10

The examples have the same fine coefficients for all transactions when ml (i) ^ m2 (i)

Above is a matrix representation of the cost required by the string transforms aba -> aabc and aba _-> aab, 7 105954, which implies that the minimum distance of aba from aabc is 2.

The significance of the string distance indicator is confirmed by the weighted distance code-5. The weighted distance function is formed as a function of position between subsets or spoken strings of the scanned string and the link anchor string obtained from the list. The distance function is normalized to both the length of the scanned and the anchor string.

The system of the invention for integrating information stored electronically in a data processing system with printed information such as printed text includes a data processing system comprising a reader device for entering a marked item into the data processing system, an interpreting device for determining a character string, a recording device for storing a list 20, means for retrieving information from a location or device indicated by a link, and a printing device for displaying information in electronic form.

Preferably, the computing system is a computer that is connected to an Internet network via a link. 25 to retrieve or retrieve relevant information.

Further, the system may include an audio system connected to a computer for presenting audio information in electronic form, such as web page headers.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 schematically illustrates a system according to the present invention; and FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a system according to the invention.

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β 105954

Fig. 1 illustrates a system according to the invention implemented by a computer and associated peripheral devices, and includes a commercially available pen scanner 2 for swiping a text-linked link anchor to enter a text-marked point into the system.

Further, the system includes means 3 for recognizing and interpreting the text read. Recognition may be performed by any known automatic character recognition program OCR. Further, for interpretation, the system includes an interpretation program 3a for performing the interpretation of the read and recognized text as described above. This bug fixer is the core of the system and interprets the 15 strings read by a pen scanner as a web URL and a search command for the Internet crawler.

The interpretation is based on a so-called link list or list 4, which is stored, for example, on the hard disk of a computer and associates an anchor word with one or more 20 URLs. The link list is generally retrieved by a special download program 8 over the Internet from a web server 10, which may be a print publisher server, and stored in the memory of the computer 1. The URLs and search commands selected by the interpreter 3a from the list of links 25 are transmitted to a commercial web browser 5 displaying information on the computer screen 6. The browser retrieves the pages provided by the URLs on the Internet, with each linked page displayed in a windowed window 30. Windowing is accomplished by means of a so-called formatting program 9, whereby windows containing different information are automatically placed in the optimal viewing mode by dividing the screen 6 into sections.

Further, the interpreter generates search commands from the link anchor and - 35 possible additional list of links, which are transmitted to a crawler on the Internet.

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In addition, web page titles can be listened to using a sound system 7 including a voice synthesizer program 7a and speakers 7b, allowing the user to concentrate on reading without having to move their gaze 5 away from the printed text.

Figure 2 illustrates the use of the system more clearly. In the example, the teacher uses the system of the invention to retrieve background information for preparing his lessons. Here are hundreds of links to web pages from the key terms in the course textbook and the 10 teacher's guide. As the teacher prepares his or her lessons, the pencil scanner sweeps the desired hypertext, and on that basis the information linked to the words and found by the search engine is represented by the system of the invention. The links are constantly updated and the updated link list is transferred from the book publisher's server to the school system via the system of the invention and the Internet.

The invention is not limited to the above embodiments only, but many modifications are possible within the scope of the inventive idea defined by the claims.

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Claims (13)

1. A method for combining information in electronic form, recorded in a data processing system, with printed information, such as printed text, in which method, in the printed information, is marked at predetermined places, to which information in electronic form is linked; a register of the marked sites and associated links is formed; the information contained in a tagged location is identified, characterized in that the tagged location in the printed information is measured by a scanner which can be poured into the hand, and text recognition, a barcode scanner and barcode recognition or the like into the data processing system; from the register is determined the link corresponding to the information; and because of the link, the information is sought in electronic form for rendering on the data processing system's monitor, sound reproducing device or the like. 2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the places to be marked are marked by a pressure deviating from the normal information output of the printed information, such as with different colored text or the like. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a character string or figure, which is excellent in the printed information, is registered in the register, and the link corresponding to the character string or figure, which is a WWW address, a file name , data that a crawler needs or similar, with the help of which the data processing system can locate the desired information in electronic form. 105954 14 Method according to any of the preceding claims 1 - 3, characterized in that the input information at the determining stage in the corresponding link is compared with the input marked location 5. The links of the register and the interpretation of the excellent place entered in the data processing system are carried out. - by using character string spacing and / or weighted spacing function Method according to any of the preceding claims 1-4, characterized in that the character string distance is formed by transforming the input character string (ml) into the character string (m2) using three basic operations, which are selected from the set: increase, delete and replace. 15 Method according to any of the preceding patent claims 1 - 5, characterized in that the weighted distance function is formed between the various long subgroups of the input character string and the character string received from the link register. 20 Method according to any of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the weighted die punch function is formed as a function of the position of an individual character between an input character string and a character string obtained from the link register. 25 8. A driver according to claim 7, characterized in that the distance function is normalized relative to the length of the character string entered and retrieved from the link register. 9. A method according to any of claims 5 to 8, characterized in that for the distance parameter a predetermined threshold value is set and "the entered character string is accepted as correct if the" distance parameter exceeds the threshold value. 10. System for combining information in electronic form, registered in a data processing system (1), with printed information, such as printed text,. . and rendering on the image processing device's display screen, sound reproducing device or the equivalent to which data processing system belongs - a recording device (4) for registering the link register; Means (5) for searching data from the location or the device shown by the link; and a printing device (6) for producing the information in electronic form, characterized in that the data processing system includes a readable device (2) which can be poured into the hand for entering the place marked in printed information in the data processing system; and an interpretation device (3) for interpreting the input character string or figure and determining the link corresponding thereto from the register. 11. A system according to claim 10, characterized in that the data processing system (1) is a computer. System according to claims 10 or 11, 20, characterized in that computer (1) is connected to the Internet network for retrieving information corresponding to the links. A system according to any one of the preceding claims 10 - 12, characterized in that the system. The system includes a sound system (7) arranged for the computer to convey the information in electronic form in the form of sound. > · <W