WO2001035183A1

WO2001035183A1 - A system and method for automatically presenting a sequence of promotional images with interactive features

Info

Publication number: WO2001035183A1
Application number: PCT/US2000/031002
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kenneth W. Welch, Jr.; Jeffrey T. Donchez; Christos Gaitanaris; Madea Jones-Ziama; Paskel S. Arnold, Iii
Original assignee: Intercontinental Travel Services, Inc.
Priority date: 1999-11-12
Filing date: 2000-11-09
Publication date: 2001-05-17
Also published as: AU1762001A

Abstract

A system for automatically presenting an interactive promotional presentation to a viewing program. The system allows the viewer to watch a promotional presentation in which World Wide Web or other information is presented as a continuous flow of images. The viewer observes the images in the presentation and selects an image that is of interest. Upon selection, another subordinate presentation is invoked which presents a continuous flow of images regarding the subject matter of the selected image. While viewing the subordinate presentation, the viewer can again select an image that is of interest and another subordinate presentation is presented. Alternatively, a selected image can cause the display of a document containing promotional information about an item represented in the image and about the vendor selling the item, including information by which the viewer may contact the vendor. In one version of the invention, the viewer uses a remote control object on the viewing system to direct the flow of images being presented. This allows the user to quickly move about within the flow to areas of interest and to return from a subordinate presentation to the prevention whose image invoked the subordinate presentation. In this way, Web information is presented in a useful and entertaining manner.

Description

SPECIFICATION

A SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATICALLY PRESENTING A SEQUENCE OF PROMOTIONAL IMAGES WITH INTERACTIVE FEATURES

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to application entitled "A System and Method For Publishing Promotional Information Including Multi-Media Presentations Over A Computer Network" SN 09/438,626, Filed on November 12, 1999; to application entitled "A System and Method For Publishing Graphical Promotional Information For A Collection Of Vendors From A Common Site", SN 09/436.146. Filed on November 12, 1999; to application entitled "System For Automated Multi-Media Presentation", SN 09/439,147 Filed on November 12, 1999; to application entitled "A Method and Apparatus For Searching A Database For Information Including Promotional Information", SN 09/438,889, Filed on November 12, 1999; and to application entitled "System and Process For The Development of Graphical Promotional Materials" SN 09/438,893, Filed On November 12, 1999.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to advertising on a computer network, such as the Internet and in particular to the use of graphics and presentations, including multi-media presentations on a computer network to promote the products and services of a variety of vendors from a common site.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Today, finding a particular page or site on the World Wide Web can be a daunting task. Typically, the searcher uses one or more of the premier search engines, enters search criteria, such as keywords related to the items or information being sought, waits for a response and tries to find the page or site among thousands or millions of search results. Many times the search results are irrelevant and sorting through the results is a highly-interactive, time-consuming process. The sorting process usually requires that the user read a short description of the item and then decide to examine the item more closely or ignore it. This process quickly becomes frustrating and ineffective because the user eventually gives up looking through the results. Furthermore, those sites that have goods or services to offer the searcher may come up in the search results, but may be overlooked due to the sheer volume of information in the search results. This frustrates the goal of the potential customer in searching for a vendor and it frustrates the goal of the vendor to promote his products or services in a way that gives some measure of assurance that the promotion will reach its intended audience.

For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a system that can present a large amount of Web information, including vendor promotional information, in a more organized and entertaining fashion so that the searcher enjoys looking through the information without having to interactively examine each item in the results to see if it meets with the search criteria. Additionally, there is a need for a system that makes it easy to examine a search result item meeting the search criteria more closely for additional information again without extensively interacting with the each item in the results.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus that satisfies the above needs. An apparatus according to the present invention is a system for automatically presenting a promotional presentation to a viewing program, wherein the system includes: a system for automatically presenting a promotional presentation to a viewing program over a computer network, the system comprising: a plurality of graphical images for use in the promotional presentation, the images including promotional information regarding a vendor's products or services; a plurality of documents for holding timing and sequence information to guide a presentation of the images in the promotional presentation; and a document publishing program for assembling the documents by adding the timing and sequence information and linking the images to the documents and for delivering the assembled documents to the viewing program so that, when the documents are viewed, the linked images are presented in a continuous flow according to the sequence information in the assembled documents.

In one version of the invention, a primary promotional presentation plays for twenty-four hours and then repeats.

In another version of the invention, images linked to the primary presentation, when selected, start subordinate presentations related to the image or display additional graphical information about the product or service promoted in the image or the vendor of the product or service. Subordinate presentations may, in turn, have their own subordinate presentations so that images in the presentations are shown in a hierarchical fashion. Further included, in a version of the invention, is a control object which allows the user to control the play of the presentation. The control object allows the user to stop and later resume the presentation, to backup to a previous time segment in the presentation, to jump to the next segment or to select any other segment in the sequence of play. A method in accordance with the present invention is a method of automatically presenting a promotional presentation to a viewing program over a computer network, wherein the method includes: assembling a plurality of documents by adding timing and sequence information to the documents and by linking a plurality of images to the documents, the documents for holding the timing and sequence information to guide a presentation of the images in the promotional presentation, the images including promotional information regarding a vendor's products or services; and delivering the assembled documents to the viewing program, so that, when the documents are viewed, the linked images are presented in a continuous flow according to the sequence information in the assembled documents.

In one version of the invention, the method includes controlling the play of the presentation by stopping, resuming, backing up, moving forward or randomly selecting a different part of the presentation.

One advantage of the present invention is that enormous volumes of search results do not need to be viewed and sorted by the user. Instead the presentations structure the information in a hierarchical manner providing top level objects in the primary presentation and lower level objects in the subordinate presentations. This allows the user to select from a smaller number of objects before delving into the detail about those objects.

Another advantage is that the objects are presented in an entertaining way because they are viewed in a moving picture or attractive slide presentation.

A further advantage is that the moving picture is user-controllable permitting the user to advance through the presentation without necessarily viewing intermediate portions of the presentation, unlike, television advertising for example. Thus, while viewing a subordinate presentation, the viewer can quickly return to the primary presentation at the point at which the subordinate presentation was entered or at any other point.

Another advantage is that the moving picture presentation can be stopped and resumed later at the same point in the presentation. This gives the user the freedom to view the presentation on demand. No part of the presentation need be missed if the user is interrupted from viewing. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where: FIG. 1 A shows a typical system configuration in which the present invention operates;

FIG. IB shows a computer system representative of a server or client computer as shown in FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a system in accordance with the present invention; FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of the presentation publishing process; FIGs. 4A-4B show a representative presentation in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows a representative presentation timeline for the presentation shown in FIGs. 4A-4B;

FIG. 6 shows an illustration of primary and subordinate presentations; FIG. 7 shows a remote control in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 8 shows a flow chart for publishing a presentation;

FIG. 9 shows a flow chart of an enhancement and compression process for use in creating presentations; and

FIG. 10 shows a portion of the object hierarchy for the representative presentation of FIGs. 4A-4B.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A typical system configuration in which the present invention operates is shown in FIG. 1 A. The configuration in FIG. 1 A is a client-server configuration typically encountered when the Internet provides the communications link between the client and the server. In FIG. 1A, client computer system 100 communicates over a computer network 102, such as the Internet with server 104. Server 104 may in turn be connected over a local area network LAN 106 to another server 108. Each of the servers 104. 108 connected to the LAN can be given different functions to carry out. or all of the servers can share in carrying out all of the functions.

Client computer system 100 typically has the function of providing an interface to the users of such a system configuration. One important interface function is that of providing a document viewing process 112 to the user. In the context of the World Wide Web application on the Internet, the document viewing process is typically carried out by a browser program, such as Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. The job of the browser on the client machine is to obtain and interpret documents, in particular HTML or similar documents, for the user.

Server computer system 104 is shown in FIG. 1A as having the functions of providing a presentation publishing process 116. This means that server 104 in FIG. 1A publishes presentations for the client computer system 100. These processes are discussed in more detail below.

Server computer system 108 is shown in FIG. 1A as having a database search process 118. The database management system operating on server 108 receives queries to search for information from database 120 and 122 and retrieves records from these databases that match the information supplied in the query. One common type of database management system responds to queries in the form of SQL statements.

Presentation files are stored in database 120 by database management system 108 and, in some cases, log files 144 are stored in database 120. Database 122 is used by database management system 108 to archive important, but inactive, files resident in database 120. Server system 104 acts as a publishing system for purposes of the present invention.

When publishing documents, server system 104 calls upon the database server system 108 to supply presentation files 138 needed in the presentation publishing process 116.

At the request of the document viewing process 112, the client computer system requests a presentation from server system 104 which then publishes the presentation to the client machine. In this context, publishing a presentation includes the creation or assembly of the presentation as well as the delivering of the presentation to the requestor. Thus, when a user at the client machine causes the document viewing process, e.g., a browser, to request a specific presentation, that request is carried over the computer network 102 and is received by server system 104. Server system 104 invokes its presentation publishing process 116 to create the documents involved in the presentation requested. This process 116 requests certain files from the database server system 108 in order to compose the presentation and delivers the documents required for the presentation over the network 102 to viewing process 112 at the client computer system 100.

As stated above, the system configuration in FIG. 1A is a typical configuration in which the present invention operates. Many other configurations are possible including ones in which the server systems cooperate to carry out any of the processes which appear to be dedicated to a particular server. Furthermore, only a client-server relationship need exist between the client computer system 100 and server 104. While communication between the client and the server is shown over a computer network such as the Internet, this is not a necessary requirement of the present invention. However, it is preferred in the present invention that client and server communicate over the Internet.

FIG. IB shows a block diagram of a computer system representative of a server or client computer as shown in FIG. 1A. Connected to local bus 156 are a processing unit 160. memory unti 162. monitor and keyboard unit 164, storage device interface unit for operating data storage device 158. and communications interface unit 168. Typically, memory unit 162 holds an operating system and applications programs for execution by the processing unit 160. In the course of processing, processing unit 160 makes accesses to the data storage device 158 and to the communications interface to send or receive data over a network to which the computer system is connected. Users interact with the system via monitor and keyboard interface 164.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a system in accordance with the present invention. Database management system 178 stores the files needed to compose a presentation in the database 182. Such files include image files, sound files, template files, AMPP data files, and certain auxiliary files. Presentation publishing system 188 requests information from the database server system 178 in order to carry out its publishing tasks in response to requests from the viewing system. In particular, a particular presentation is provided to the viewing system 190 when the viewer connects to the server system or alternatively when the viewer requests the server to provide the presentation. Viewing system 190 acts as a client in a client-server system where presentation publishing system 188 is the server. FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of the presentation publishing process. In FIG. 3. template documents 320 are incomplete. This means that the documents have parameters in need of programming. These unprogrammed parameters include timing parameters, sequence parameters, sound file parameters, and image file parameters. The presentation publishing system 326 programs these parameters to create primary presentation documents and. if needed. secondary presentation documents and auxiliary documents 322.

Primary presentation documents, such as show files, receive timing parameter values, sequence parameter values, and pointers for sound file and image file parameters. The primary presentation document presents image and sound files for a specified time, called the persistence time. The persistence time from the standpoint of the viewer is the viewing time for the particular document.

Secondary presentation documents are documents that are slaved to the primary presentation documents. Secondary presentation documents receive image file pointers and in some cases, sound file pointers if the primary presentation document does not control the sound for the total persistence time. Auxiliary documents, such as index files and main files receive sequence parameter information. These files set the window environment for the presentation, where the environment includes window partitions for the show files.

To program the template documents, the publishing system relies on presentation datafiles 324. There is one presentation datafile for each unique presentation. A presentation datafile 324 contains timing information for each stage of the presentation. In particular, the presentation datafile 324: (a) specifies exactly how long each viewable document shall persist in the viewing system before it is replaced with the next viewable document, i.e.. the persistence time; (b) contains file names for each document comprising the sequence of viewable documents so that the documents can be linked together into a presentation; and (c) contains information specifying each document's corresponding image 328 and sound files 332. After the presentation publishing system 326 has assembled the required information into a template document 320, a viewable document 322 is ready to become part of a presentation, with the viewable document specifying any sound 332 and image files 334 it needs in the presentation. In one embodiment, the publishing system 326 creates the viewable documents as they are needed by the viewing system during the presentation. In another embodiment, some or all of the viewable documents are prepared before the presentation starts.

FIG. 4 shows a representative presentation in accordance with the present invention. Index document 460 starts the presentation in the viewing system. This document specifies an image file 462 that, in one embodiment, displays a countdown message during which image and sound files that are needed for later steps in the sequence are pre-fetched and stored in the client computer on which the viewing system operates. In one version of the present invention, such image files include JPEG files and GIF files. In another version of the present invention, the image files include animated GIF files. Pre-fetching and loading image and sound files into storage on the client computer system assures that when the files are needed by one of the viewable documents in the presentation sequence, the image or sound file is available without delay. Otherwise, it is possible that when an image file is needed in a sequence it may not become available to viewing system in time for display during the persistence time of the currently viewed document, which may be only a few seconds or less. In some versions of the invention, the persistence time for each viewable document is approximately 64 milliseconds, thus achieving a rate of about 15 images per second. The reason that a document may not be available is that the speed of the connection between the viewing system and the presentation publishing system is slow and quite variable. Accurate document delivery times cannot be guaranteed but delivery within a bounded time period can be guaranteed. For this reason images are pre-fetched and loaded ahead of when they are needed and loaded into temporary storage of the client computer on which the viewing system operates for the current presentation. Typically, the images are cached in the viewing system^'s cache. In an alternate embodiment sound files are pre-fetched and cached in the viewing system^'s cache.

Returning to FIG. 4A, the persistence time of the countdown document 462 is 20 seconds, providing a long time period in which to pre-fetch and cache the needed image and sound files. In one version of the present invention, during this 20 second time period, document 462 displays one or more image files, each image file being timed by the document. Document timing and document persistence are accomplished by invoking a timer which is programmed with the persistence time or a portion of the persistence time. For example, if the persistence time of a document is 20 seconds and the document requires that five images be displayed in the 20 seconds, then a timer is set with the value of 4 seconds or less. At the end of every 4 seconds, a new image is displayed and at the end of 20 seconds a new document is requested according to the sequence parameter in the document.

In FIG. 4 A, the new document that replaces the viewable document 462 is the indexOl document 464. This document divides the viewing system window into two rows, rowO and rowl, divides the rowO into two frames, frameO and frame 1, and pre-fetches and loads the image files needed for rowO and rowl. Document indexOl 464 also requests to be replaced with document main 466. This new document divides frameO into two columns, showO 468 and rightO 1 470, each of which is a viewable document. The showO 468 document is the primary presentation document and the rightOl 470 document is the secondary presentation document. Documents showO 468 and rightOl 470 are sized so that they comprise the viewable window in the presentation, leaving the unused portion of rowO and all of rowl hidden. In some embodiments, sound files are associated with these hidden frames which persist throughout the presentation. In this way a sound file can last through the entire presentation. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the showO document 468 specifies a sound file soundO, but the rightOl 470 document does not because the showO document controls the presentation. i.e.. it is a primary presentation document. This means that showO has the persistence parameter which, in the example, is 7.5 seconds. The document rightOl persists as long as it is not replaced with another document. Furthermore, if rightOl were to specify a sound file to be played it would conflict with the soundO file specified by showO 468 because the sound file would be played during the same persistence time as the soundO file. In some cases, the soundO file does not last the entire persistence time. This allows the rightOl document or the showO document to specify another sound file to play for the balance of the persistence time. Also, during the persistence time of the rightOl document, this document requests that the show02 document 476 and any images relating thereto be pre-fetched and loaded into the viewing system^'s cache. The function of the showOl and other show documents discussed below is to present various image files to viewing system. These images come from GIF files or JPEG files. In some cases, the GIF files are animated.

After the 7.5 second time interval expires, showO requests mainOl from the publishing system. Document mainOl 471 again alters the frame composition of the window in the viewing system to eliminate the two columns and requests that the publishing system create and provide the showOl document 472 and the sound 1 sound file .

The showOl document and soundl file persist for 7.5 seconds after which main02 474 is requested. Main02 reconfigures the window to have two columns and requests that show02 476 and right02 478 fill the columns.

Show02 specifies sound file sound2 and persists for 9.5 seconds in the viewing system. During this time show02 476 causes show05 and rightOS and show04 486 and right04 488 to be pre-fetched and loaded into the viewing system^'s cache. After the 9.5 seconds expires, show02 requests main03 480 from the publishing system. Main03 480 reconfigures the window to remove the columns and requests show03 482 and sound3 to be displayed for 18.5 seconds.

At the expiration of the 18.5 seconds, main04 484 is requested which again reconfigures the window with two columns. Main04 484 requests the document show04 486 and sound4.

Show04 persists for 9.5 seconds during which it pre-fetches and loads additional images relating to show05 and right05. Next, show04 requests main05 490 which in FIG. 4B, repartitions the window into two frames and requests that show05 492 and right05 494 occupy those frames.

Right05 persists for 10.5 seconds and show05 lasts for as long as right05. Show05 specifies sound5 during is viewing time at the end of which rightOS requests main06 496. Main06 496 repartitions the window again and requests document show06 498. Show06 498 specifies sound file soundό and persists for 10.5 seconds. Next. show06 requests main07 500 to repartition the window and main07 requests two new documents. right07 502 and show07 504.

Right07 502 specifies sound file sound7 and persists for 8.5 seconds as controlled by show07 504. Finally, show07 504 requests documents show08 506 which persists for 7.5 seconds while right07 502 stays on the window for another 7.5 seconds because it was not replaced. In this latter case no "main^" type of document was used because the window needed no repartitioning.

As described above, FIG. 4 shows a representative presentation. For the presentation shown, different images and sound files are allowed: however the partitioning of the viewable window. frameO. and the sequence of changes it undergoes are fixed for this presentation. Furthermore, there is a range of persistence times for each viewable document that can be used for the representative presentation beyond which the presentation will fail to present the sequence as shown. One reason for this is that image and sound files needed for documents specified later in the sequence need to be pre-fetched and loaded into the viewing system's cache. If the persistence times prior to these later documents are substantially altered (reduced), then the time for pre-fetching and loading the image and sound files for these later documents is reduced and the image and sound files may not arrive in time for the document which uses them. Thus, each presentation must conform to a set of rules for correct presentation. The rules must take into account the speed of the connection between the client computer system and the server computer system and must govern the persistence times of each document in the presentation, the size of the image and sound files needed at every stage of the presentation and the size of the window needed to display the image file properly. Each different set of rules prescribes a different presentation and many such presentations can be designed.

FIG. 5 shows a representative presentation timeline for the presentation shown in FIG. 4. In the timeline, all time in the presentation must be accounted for. Each show document requires an additional 0.5 seconds to be completely loaded into the viewing system, thus adding 0.5 seconds to each of the times discussed in reference to FIG. 4. GreyOl and Grey02 are the persistent images in the hidden areas or rowO and rowl as partitioned by the main document 465. The timeline also shows sound7 persisting through the view time of both show07 and show08.

FIG. 6 shows an illustration of primary and subordinate presentations. In FIG. 6 primary presentation 620 of the kind discussed above is an endless loop composed of a number of fixed size segments 622a- 622r. Each segment spans a predetermined time period during viewing and the total viewing time of the primary presentation 620 spans a large period such as 24 hours. A viewer^' s starting position in the primary presentation 620 is determined by the time of day at the viewer's geographic locale. For example, if the time at the viewer's locale is 3:00 p.m. and the length of the primary presentation is 24 hours, then when the viewer first initiates the play of the primary presentation, the publishing system presents a segment associated with 3:00 p.m. in the presentation. This permits the publishing system to tailor the presentation to the particular time zone of the viewer. Furthermore, a viewer in one time zone does not step into a portion of the presentation which is playing for a viewer in a different time zone. This is important when the publishing system is providing multiple concurrent presentations to a plurality of viewers in different geographic locales, as is contemplated in accordance with the present invention. A viewer, while viewing a presentation, may be interrupted and called away from the viewing system. The publishing system keeps track not of only the time zone of the viewer, but also the viewer's name and a password. This allows the publishing system to re-establish the presentation for a particular viewer at or near a segment that viewer was watching when the interruption occurred.

Segments 622f, 622g, 622h and 622j are shown with included images 630, 632, 634 and 646 respectively, which are presented during the play of these segments. Images 630, 632 and 634 are selectable to cause another, subordinate presentation to be provided to the viewing system. Selecting image 630 causes presentation 640 to be played, selecting image 632 causes presentation 638 to be played, and selecting image 634 causes presentation 636 to be played. Presentations 638 and 640, once started, play to completion and return the viewer to the images 630 and 632, respectively, that started the presentation. Presentation 636, once started, has an additional selectable image 642 that causes another subordinate presentation 644 to be provided to the viewing system and when completed, returns the viewer back to image 642. In one version of the present invention, categories of similar products or services are placed within a segment or with a group of adjacent segments. In this embodiment images 630, 632 and 634 represent similar products or services in a category of products and services presented during segments 622f through 622h.

FIG. 6 also shows selectable image 646 which is presented during the play of segment 622j. This image does not cause another presentation to occur, but instead causes the display of a viewable document 648. The viewer can view this document for an unlimited duration. Selecting the back button on the viewing system, returns the viewer to the image 646 that caused the viewable document 648 to be presented. In one embodiment, viewable document 648 is a Web page for a particular vendor. In another embodiment, the document presents information about the vendor or the vendor^'s product or service that is presented in image 646. In yet another embodiment, the viewer can select an image on the document 648 which represents a vendor's product or service for sale on viewable document 648. It is contemplated in the present invention that a vendor's product can include entertainment products such as movies if the vendor is a video store. Purchasing a movie causes the movie file to be downloaded to the computer hosting the viewing system for viewing at a later time and a notification on the viewing system that the entertainment product is ready for viewing when the downloading is completed.

In such an embodiment, the viewer can be given the choice of purchasing the item immediately or saving the item for purchase at a later time, in effect implementing a "shopping cart" function. FIG. 6 shows only a representative set of primary and subordinate presentations. The number of segments, the number of selectable images and the number of subordinate presentations can all be varied in accordance with the present invention.

Additionally, in one embodiment in which the Internet serves as the communications medium between the publishing process and the viewing system, one Web site provides both the primary and subordinate presentations to the viewing system. In another embodiment on the Internet, the primary presentation is provided by a first Website and a first subordinate presentation is provided by a second Website, such as the vendor^'s Website. In this embodiment, the second Website reports back to the first Website information relating to the viewer's interaction with the subordinate presentation and the viewing of other presentations subordinate to the first subordinate presentation. The interaction information includes information identifying the second Website, information identifying images selected during the playing of a subordinate presentation, the number of times the subordinate presentation was viewed, and the location of the viewer viewing a subordinate presentation. FIG. 7 shows a control object 720 in accordance with the present invention. During the play of a primary or subordinate presentation, the control object 720 appears in a window of a viewing system which is actively playing the presentation. In one embodiment, the control object can have a different appearance and different functions depending on the presentation currently being viewed. For example, for a subordinate presentation that is short, a stop function may not be needed. The control object permits the viewer to move to segments within a presentation that are of interest to the viewer without having to view intermediate portions of the presentation and to end presentations which a causes a return to the launching point of the ended presentation. Control object 720 includes a set of numeric buttons 722 for entering one or more digits into the display section 724 of the control object. These numeric buttons permit the viewer to randomly select a segment of interest if the segment number is known to the viewer. In one embodiment, the segment number is displayed on the viewing system during a presentation. Forward-step button 726 permits the viewer to advance to the next adjacent segment and back- step button 728 permits the viewer to move backwards to the previous adjacent segment. The selected segment from either the numeric buttons or the forward-step and back-step buttons is displayed in the control object display area 724. The segment number in the display is not acted on by the system until the viewer selects the enter button 730.

Further included on the control object are a pause/play button 732. and a stop button 734. The pause function of the pause/play 732 button permits the viewer to stall the presentation at a particular point within the currently playing segment. The play function causes the presentation to resume from this point. The stop button 734. when invoked in a subordinate presentation causes the subordinate presentation to end and the primary presentation to resume at the viewing system at a point where an image was selected which caused the subordinate presentation.

The functions of the control object are implemented as event handlers in a control object document. This document is loaded into a window after that window is opened and a reference is made to the document. The control object document operates to control the various frames of in the presentation by altering the documents that are currently active in the browser object hierarchy. The object hierarchy keeps track of the current windows and frames that are open in the browser for the hierarchy of presentations currently active in the browser. For example, if the viewer wishes to advance to the next segment in a presentation, the forward-step button is selected. This event is caught by an event handler anchored to the forward-step button image. In one version of the invention, the event handler protocol is JavaScript. In this version, the JavaScript increments a variable which keeps track of the current segment number and uses the variable to select a new document to be loaded into the frame currently displaying the presentation. This frame is one of the objects in the browser object hierarchy. If, on the other hand, the viewer wishes to return to a presentation from which the current, subordinate presentation was selected by using the stop button, then a different event handler is invoked. This event handler causes a frame or window in a higher position in the object hierarchy to be loaded with the document from which the subordinate presentation was invoked. Thus, by making use of the browser's object hierarchy to reflect the hierarchy of presentations, the control object allows the viewer to navigate through the presentations.

Referring now to FIG. 8, a flow chart for presenting a hierarchy of presentations is shown. In step 820 a parameter P is set to the starting point of the primary presentation, which in some versions of the invention is at a segment boundary. As discussed above, the starting point is dependent on the physical location of the viewer and the identity of the viewer. For example, a viewer in the Eastern United States can start viewing the presentation at the 3:00 p.m. point, while a viewer in the Western United states can start viewing the presentation at the 12:00 p.m. point. If a viewer leaves the presentation and returns, the viewer is started at the position last viewed. In step 822, the presentation is played from position P. While viewing the presentation the viewer can select an image. When and if this occurs the position in the presentation of the selected image is saved in P and the presentation continues unless the selected image itself has a subordinate presentation associated with it as determined in step 826. If there is no associated presentation, viewing of the primary presentation continues.

If there is an associated presentation, then in step 828 then a parameter S(n) is set with the starting position of the subordinate presentation. Since variable n is initialized to 1 prior to the start of this process parameter S(l) is the particular parameter that is set in step 828. Next, in step 830 the 1st subordinate presentation is played at the viewing system. If the end of the presentation occurs or if the viewer stops the presentation, via the control object, as determined in step 832, then the variable n is tested for equality to 1 in step 840. If equal, then the flow continues at step 822 in which the primary presentation is continued at the selected image that launched the 1 st subordinate presentation.

If the viewer does not stop the presentation and while viewing the presentation before it ends, instead selects an image in the presentation as in step 834 the position is saved in S(l) and the image itself has a presentation associated with it as determined in step 836, the variable n is incremented in step 838 (n = 2). Flow continues at step 828 except now the 2nd subordinate presentation begins to play from its beginning as shown in step 830.

Again, if an image is selected during the presentation of the 2nd-subordinate presentation, its position is saved in S(2) in step 834 and. if the image has a presentation as determined in step 836. the variable n is incremented. The 3rd subordinate presentation begins to play from its beginning as shown in step 830. If the 3rd subordinate presentation ends or if it is stopped, using the control object, by the viewer, and if n is not equal to 1 as determined in step 840, then n is decremented (now n = 2) in step 842 and the 2nd subordinate presentation is resumed from its position as saved in S(2).

If the 2nd subordinate presentation ends or is stopped and if n is not equal to 1, then n is decremented (now n =1) in step 842 and the 1st subordinate presentation is resumed from its position.

Finally, if the 1st subordinate presentation ends or is stopped and since n is equal to 1, play resumes in the primary presentation 822.

In this way any number of subordinate presentations can be played and moving among the presentations is simple and efficient. In one version of the invention, a special stop operation allows the viewer to return to the primary presentation regardless of the which subordinate presentation the viewer is watching.

PUBLISHING SYSTEM DETAIL

Figs. 4A and 4B show a representative presentation in accordance with the present invention created by the publishing system 188 in FIG. 2. As described above, the viewable documents 194 comprise the presentation. These documents control the display of image and any sound files in the viewing system. Shown also in FIG. 4A-4B are auxiliary files which set the frames into which the viewable documents are loaded. The auxiliary documents are needed if the framing in the presentation changes at one or more steps along the presentation.

An example of an auxiliary document is the indexOl document. This document divides the presentation window into two rows. rowO and rowl , and rowO into two frames, frameO and frame 1 , thus creating a hierarchy of objects within the presentation window. In this representative presentation. frameO defines the viewing area for the subsequent documents.

Another auxiliary document is the main document 466, which is loaded by the indexOl document into frameO. Main 466 subsequently divides frameO into two columns, one for containing the showO document 468 and one for containing the rightOl document 470 and loads the show and rightOl documents, respectively into the two columns. The showO document 468 presents one or more image files and a sound file, soundO in its display area and the rightOl 470 document presents one or more image files in its display area. The showO document 468 controls the sound for this part of the presentation and the rightOl document 470 only presents its image files. Furthermore, the showO document 468 uses the window timer method, setTimeout ( ) , to determine its persistence time. In this case, the show document is set to persist for 7500 milliseconds after which it loads mainOl into frameO. The show document can control the document that gets loaded into frameO because frameO is an object in the browser object hierarchy, in this case the parent, to which all other objects in the hierarchy have access.

FIG. 10 shows a portion of the object hierarchy used in the representative presentation. In FIG. 10. an object named window 1050 is at the top of the hierarchy. Below it are two frames, rowO 1052 and rowl 1054. created by the indexOl document, by means of a frameset tag in the document. Below rowO are the frameO 1056 and frame 1 1058 frames also created by the indexOl document. IndexOl also loads the main document 466 in FIG. 4A into frameO after frameO is created. Finally, below frameO are the frames which contain the showO 1060 and rightOl 1062 documents. The main document creates these frames and loads the showO 1060 and rightOl 1062 documents into these frames. As can be seen from FIG. 10, when showO references its parent. frameO 1056. as the frame to be replaced with a new document, the current frames, containing showO 1060 and rightOl 1062 disappear and a new document, mainOl , referenced by showO, is loaded into frameO. MainOl immediately loads showOl into frameO and showOl presents its image and sound files for 7500 milliseconds by invoking the setTimeout ( ) method.

The presentation continues in this manner. Each document invoking a replacement document for an object at some level in the object hierarchy. In this way, a frames within the window can be altered at any step along the presentation and by any of the documents involved. ENHANCEMENT AND COMPRESSION

In order to obtain high quality images for use in the presentations discussed above, enhancement operations applied to the images. Also, to keep the file size of the image within tolerable bounds compression operations are applied to the images. FIG. 9 shows a flow chart of the basic steps involved in enhancing and compressing an image involved in a promotional presentation.

In step 920. textual information is received in a Corel file and in step 922 artwork is received as a Adobe Photoshop 5.02 file.

Next, in step 924, the textual information and the artwork are merged into an Adobe Photoshop 5.02 *.psd file. In one embodiment, a file size in the range of about 1.6 to 3.5

Megabytes is typically encountered for a merged file, although file size can vary considerably depending on the textual and artwork content. Furthermore, there is no file size requirement for the merged file.

Next, in step 926, the merged artwork file is saved as an uncompressed JPEG file using Compupick 4.0.

Finally, in step 928, using Adobe Photoshop Delux, the Compupick JPEG file is enhanced. The enhancement process includes (a) increasing the contrast of the image until the colors in the image being to "bleed," (b) incrementally reducing the contrast to obtain maximum contrast without "bleed," and (c) reducing the brightness to decrease color saturation. The compression step is then carried out, in which the file is saved with a maximum compression setting using five progressive scans and removing the paths of any composite images in the file, i.e., flattening the file. In one embodiment, a file size ranging from approximately 22 to 52 Kbytes is typically encountered for the enhanced and compressed file when the input file size range is approximately 1.6 to 3.5 Megabytes, respectively. There is no requirement that the enhanced and compressed file has a particular size. The goal of the enhancement process is to obtain an image that has the maximum possible contrast and the optimum color saturation. The goal of the compression process is to produce the smallest file size, consistent with goal of the enhancement process.

Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred versions thereof, other versions are possible. For example, in FIG. 3. it is preferable that the presentation 322 include sound files to enhance the entertainment and promotional value of the presentation but the sound is not an essential component of the presentation. Similarly, in presentation of FIG. 4A-4B sound accompanies the representative presentation but need not be present in some or all of the steps of the process. While sound tracks are optional they are preferred for the presentation.

In FIG. 6, many alternative configurations of the presentation are possible. Subordinate presentations 640, 638 and 644 can each include a presentation document 648 and an image (not shown) on presentation document 648 can cause a subordinate presentation to be published to the viewing system.

Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred versions contained herein.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A method for presenting a hierarchy of promotional information to a viewing program over a computer network, the method comprising: presenting a primary presentation having one or more selectable images to the viewing program; selecting a selectable image in the primary presentation; and presenting a subordinate presentation in response to a selection of one of the selectable images in the primary presentation, the subordinate presentation being related in subject matter to the selected image in the primary presentation.

2. A method of presenting a hierarchy of presentations as recited in claim 1, further comprising selecting an image displayed in a primary presentation, wherein the selection of the image invokes a server process to download, in the background, an entertainment presentation to the computer running the viewing program for viewing at a later time; and receiving a notification on the viewing program that the downloading is completed and that the entertainment presentation is ready for viewing.

3. A method of presenting a hierarchy of presentations as recited in claim 2, wherein the entertainment presentation is a movie.

4. A method of presenting a hierarchy of presentations as recited in claim 1, wherein: a first site on the computer network provides the primary presentation to the viewing program; a second site on the computer network provides a subordinate presentation to the viewing program, the second site reporting information relating to a customer interaction with the subordinate presentation back to the first site.

5. A method of presenting a hierarchy of presentations as recited in claim 4. wherein the information relating to a customer interaction includes: information identifying the second site, information identifying images selected during the playing of the subordinate presentation, the number of times the subordinate presentation was played, and the location of the potential customer viewing the subordinate presentation.

6. A method of presenting a hierarchy of presentations as recited in claim 4, wherein the second site is a vendor's site.

7. A method of presenting a hierarchy of presentations as recited in claim 1, wherein the primary presentation has a beginning and an end; and wherein the primary presentation returns to the beginning after reaching the end of the presentation.

8. A method of presenting a hierarchy of presentations as recited in claim 7, wherein the time between the beginning and the end is about 24 hours.

9. A method of presenting a hierarchy of presentations as recited in claim 1, wherein the primary interactive presentation has a plurality of time indices to permit a portion of the presentation associated with the local time of day at the viewing program's geographic locale to be provided to the viewing program.

10. A method of presenting a hierarchy of presentations as recited in claim 9, wherein the presentation has a plurality of segments; and wherein a time index marks the beginning of a segment of the presentation.

11. A method of presenting a hierarchy of presentations as recited in claim 1 , wherein the primary or subordinate presentation has a plurality of time indices for locating a particular part of the presentation.

12. A method of presenting a hierarchy of presentations as recited in claim 1 1, further including controlling the play of the presentations during the viewing of the presentation.

13. A method of presenting a hierarchy of presentations as recited in claim 12, wherein controlling the play includes pausing the presentation.

14. A method of presenting a hierarchy of presentations as recited in claim 12, wherein controlling the play includes replaying a portion of a presentation between two time indices.

15. A method of presenting a hierarchy of presentations as recited in claim 12, wherein controlling the play includes: stopping a primary or subordinate presentation; and returning to a time index at which a presentation image was selected in the presentation which invoked the primary or subordinate presentation.

16. A method of presenting a hierarchy of presentations as recited in claim 12, wherein controlling the play includes selecting an image displayed in a presentation, the image providing information additional to that displayed in the presentation.

17. A method of presenting a hierarchy of presentations as recited in claim 12, wherein controlling the play includes jumping to a later time index in the presentation.

18. A method of presenting a hierarchy of presentations as recited in claim 12. wherein controlling the play includes rewinding to an earlier time index in the presentation.

19. A method of presenting a hierarchy of presentations as recited in claim 12, wherein controlling the play includes randomly accessing a particular time index within the presentation.

20. A method of presenting a hierarchy of presentations as recited in claim 1, wherein selecting an image in a presentation gives the potential customer a choice of saving an item represented by the image for purchase at a later time.

21. A method of presenting a hierarchy of presentations as recited in claim 1, wherein images in a presentation representing a category of products or services from a set of vendors are presented proximately in time during viewing of the presentation at the viewing program.

22. A method of presenting a hierarchy of presentations as recited in claim 1. wherein the types of controls that the control object provides to the viewing program depend on the particular primary or subordinate presentation being presented to the viewing program.

23. A method of presenting a hierarchy of presentations as recited in claim 1. wherein a presentation has a plurality of time indices for locating a particular part of the presentation; and wherein a portion of the presentation provided to a viewing program depends on a user name and password and the time zone for the user's locale so that the user can exit at a time index and then return later to the same time index in the presentation.

24. A method of presenting a hierarchy of presentations as recited in claim 1, wherein presenting a primary or subordinate presentation includes: reading viewing time information, sequence information, pre-fetch information. and image file information, from a presentation datafile, and programming at least one timing parameter, at least one sequence parameter, at least one pre-fetch parameter, and at least one image file parameter in a template document, with the viewing time information, sequence information, pre-fetch information, image file information, and sound file information, respectively, to create one or more primary viewable documents from the template document; and delivering the primary viewable documents, and images to the viewing program according to the sequence information.

25. A system for presenting to a viewer an automated visual tour through a plurality of promotional images, comprising: a primary presentation providing a visual tour through a top-level of promotional images; and a subordinate presentation providing a visual tour through a subordinate level of promotional images, the subordinate presentation provided in response to a selection of a top- level promotional image, the subordinate presentation being related in subject matter to one or more top-level promotional images.

26. A system for automatically presenting an interactive promotional presentation to a viewing program, the system comprising: a plurality of graphical images for use in the promotional presentation, the images including promotional information regarding a vendor's products or services; a plurality of documents for holding timing and sequence information to guide a presentation of the images in the promotional presentation; and a document publishing program for assembling the documents by adding the timing and sequence information and linking the images to the documents and for delivering the assembled documents to the viewing program so that, when the documents are viewed, the linked images are presented in a continuous flow according to the sequence information in the assembled documents.

27. A method of automatically presenting an interactive promotional presentation to a viewing program, the method comprising: assembling a plurality of documents by adding timing and sequence information to the documents and by linking a plurality of images to the documents, the documents for holding the timing and sequence information to guide a presentation of the images in the promotional presentation, the images including promotional information regarding a vendor's products or services; and delivering the assembled documents to the viewing program, so that, when the documents are viewed, the linked images are presented in a continuous flow according to the sequence information in the assembled documents.