Printed book augmented with associated electronic data

Details Printed book augmented with associated electronic data Printed book augmented with associated electronic data

1999-07-12

2001-07-31

Rovnak, John Edmund (Department: 3712)

Education and demonstration

Audio recording and visual means

Visual information in book form

C707S793000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06269238

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
2. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to the field of multimedia publishing. More particularly, the invention pertains to a printed book, the text of which is augmented with associated electronic data stored in a remotely accessible server.
3. PRIOR ART
As the home computer has matured, there has been a veritable explosion in “multimedia publishing”. A vast array of software titles are now available to the computer owner which combine text, images and sounds to provide a multimedia experience. Widespread penetration of CD-ROM drives into home computers has accelerated this process. Multimedia content is also available via the Internet, particularly the World Wide Web.
The public's enthusiasm for computer-based multimedia experiences is seen by many as a threat to more conventional forms of publishing, particularly book publishing. Nevertheless, the experience of reading a book cannot be duplicated with electronic media and reading remains a pleasurable pastime for a great many persons, whether or not they also engage in computer-based entertainment.
There have been several approaches to combining computer-based multimedia experiences with a separate printed text. One particular approach relates to training and educational subjects where a printed course book is provided in combination with multimedia content stored locally on a hard disk, floppy disk or CD-ROM, or remotely accessible via the Internet. While the course book and multimedia materials may parallel one another, a reader of the course book is not provided with any graphic indicia that will direct his or her attention to electronically stored data associated with the text being read at the time.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,597,307 and 5,624,265 to Redford, et al. disclose a printed publication having associated electronic content. The printed publication contains one or more buttons which actuate a remote control transmitter within the book. A remote control receiver is coupled to the reader's home computer system. Upon receipt of a remote control signal, electronic content associated with the text of the publication is downloaded from a remote server and presented to the reader on the home computer system. Apart from pressing the button in the printed publication, the reader does not participate in the interface between the home computer system and the remote server. This necessarily limits the interactivity of the interface.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a system and method for augmenting a printed text with electronically stored data in the form of images, sounds and/or supplemental text. A printed book contains a plurality of pages of text. At least one of the pages is imprinted with a first graphic indicia, such as a symbol or icon. Data associated with the text appearing on that page is preferably stored in a remotely accessible electronic data server. The server may be accessed from a client computer belonging to the reader of the book. A graphical user interface is provided for controlling the access to data stored in the server. The graphical user interface displays second graphic indicia that is visually correlated with the first graphic indicia. The two graphic indicia may be identically the same or may be sufficiently similar so that the reader can unambiguously identify a symbol or icon on the computer screen that corresponds to the symbol or icon appearing in the book. The reader designates or manipulates the graphic indicia appearing on the computer screen using a computer mouse or similar pointing device. The server then retrieves the data associated with the indicia and presents the data to the reader as images, sounds and/or supplemental text on the reader's computer. Alternatively, the reader may be presented with a menu or other secondary graphical user interface to select images, sounds and/or text for presentation.


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