Interactive newspaper

Details Interactive newspaper Interactive newspaper

1998-07-20

2001-08-21

Feild, Joseph H. (Department: 2176)

Data processing: database and file management or data structures

Database design

Data structure types

C382S175000, C379S100070, C709S217000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06279013

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The subject invention relates to the field of document generation systems, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for interacting with a periodically issued document, like a newspaper, to revise the document content to be more customized to an individual subscriber.
The invention is particularly applicable to printed documents which include dataglyphs or tokens representative of the document and the subscriber to the document, wherein subscriber redactions to the document itself can be identified for modifying content and form of future editions. However, the subject invention is applicable to any system which provides routine generation of a document edition, either printed or electronically, and that presents an opportunity for the customized editing of a second edition by general profile guidelines for communicating information indicated by the subscriber as being particularly useful or of interest.
For purposes of pure reading, it is a fact people vastly prefer paper documents as opposed to electronic displays. However, most newspaper or news magazine type documents present an overwhelming variety and amount of information, most of which is of no interest to any one particular subscriber. For example, the top ten news stories in the paper may be of interest to most readers, but beyond these, the remaining content will have variable interest to any one reader depending upon the reader's hobbies and occupation.
Given the wealth of information available today, custom filters which adjust content to a particular user's desires are becoming increasingly useful. In electronic communication, profiles for filtering E-mail and Usenet articles are very common. On the other hand, mass media has traditionally been organized on a much coarser granularity, as by subject matter such as “sports” or “business”. For the web, a number of mass media publications, e.g., newspapers and magazines, have offered on-line information services which include intelligent filtering based on user profiles. However, given the affordance of paper and the way people prefer to read print media, these online services cannot be widely used for fine-grained profile adjustments, i.e., customizing the content to individual subscribers, as long as they read on paper rather than online. The evidence remains strong that users will continue to prefer reading on paper as opposed to reading with an on-line browser. This complicates the updating of fine-grained subscriber profiles. Users need to remember what they thought of authors or topics between the time they read articles and the particular time they next use their computer.
Downloading and printing of electronic forms of newspapers from the web provides the convenience of paper for reading, but precludes filtering of content except to the extent that the reader wishes to spend the time selecting and printing portions of a single document. More importantly, this printing precludes back-channel communication to the publisher in a manner to identify a profile of preferences of the subscriber. In other words, if the subscriber wished to identify subjects having a high interest and subjects having a low interest, a publisher could print available content according to these preferences to provide a somewhat customized document. The profile thus comprises the recorded set of preferences and dislikes.
The present invention contemplates a new and improved system which overcomes the prolix disadvantages of mass media print communication to effectively combine the advantageous features of the two relevant technologies. That is, the customized newspaper which can now be read on an electronic display, is combined with the affordances and conveniences of a printed paper interface, for a resulting interactive newspaper, customized to a subscriber-identified profile.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a system of profile guided printing of a paper document, including facilitating channel interaction from a reader for contemporaneous upgrading of the profile based upon a detected user response to document content. The system comprises generating an initial document content corresponding to a present reader profile. The content is printed as a paper document, together with a token or tokens. The reader redacts the paper document, typically with pre-selected indicia, to represent desired changes in future editions of the document. The document is scanned in a scanning device to identify the reader and the desired changes indicated by the reader's marking. The scanning system uses the token that identifies the document to look up an online copy of the document. So the system will know exactly what the document and its pages looked like. The scanner knows the location of the indicia it just scanned, and by comparing with the online copy, it knows exactly where the indicia lies relative to the articles on the page. In one embodiment, a token is physically associated with an indicia but the tokens can be placed anywhere. The present reader profile is adjusted in accordance with the scanning so that the next paper document that is printed corresponds to an upgraded reader profile. The system continually operates over time and sequential editions to continue to provide fine grained adjusting of the reader profile.
The tokens preferably comprise dataglyphs having a minimal effect on the efficient presentation and appearance of the document.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an interactive newspaper is provided which includes news content and tokens representative of an identity of the newspaper and the news content therein, wherein specially marked regions are disposed for being modified by a reader and thereafter read by a scanner, essentially comprising a smart recycling bin, for selective adjustment of the news content of a subsequent edition of the newspaper. The special regions are individually associated with a particular item of news content wherein the reader modification is indicative of either deletion or addition of news content having similar subject matter in a subsequent edition. There may or may not also be a token associated with each special region.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a smart wand is used to detect the document and contents and can be controlled by the user to indicate desired change to the contents. The wand can be used to scan dataglyphs or tokens, usually physically associated with each content item. Control switches on the wand can be used to indicate either deletion, lessening, or expanding of the subject matter identified by the token. Stored information in the wand can be downloaded with any of several conventional means so that the user profile can be updated and the next document would be generated in accordance with the desired changes stored in the wand.
One benefit obtained by use of the present invention is a customizable push system for a mass media document so that readers can adjust by general subject matter what content is presented in subsequent editions of the document.
Another benefit obtained from the subject invention is the provision of a document which is customized to a reader, and thereby comprises a much more efficient presentation, paper consumption and time investment to a reader in ultimately reviewing the document.
A further benefit of the subject invention is back channel communication from a class of readers to a publisher on the relative interest of a plurality of selected items in the document or a response to explicit questions for the reader, whereby the publisher can have an appreciation of reader interest in different articles and responses to specific questions.
Yet another benefit of the present invention is a convenient vehicle for the subscriber to solicit more detailed or expanded information on a subject only first generally identified by the publisher.
Other benefits and advantages for the subject new interactive document system will become apparent to t

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