CN1846265A - Dummy links in storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

A rewritable storage medium comprising predefined content which is adapted for being integrated with additional user-defined content is described, the storage medium comprises: a first portion comprising said predefined content; a second portion for adding said user-defined content; wherein said predefined content in said first portion comprises links to said second portion. Thereby the user can customise the predefined content on the storage medium by adding personal content being an integrated part of the predefined content. Further the user can make dedicated annotations and comments on each category he visits, the connection is built up by the dummy links. According to the invention the user's own content is integrated with the published part of the disc giving an easily personalised guide book. In more general terms the user buys disc content with some prepredefined content, which can be enhanced by user's own content in a seamless way.

Description

virtual links in storage media

technical field

The present invention relates to a rewritable storage medium comprising predetermined content adapted to be combined with additional user-defined content. The invention also relates to a device for controlling a rewritable storage medium.

Background technique

Storage media are used in a wide variety of applications, and today, many different types of storage media exist on the market: DVDs, CDs, memory cards, etc.

SFFO (Sma11 Form Factor Optical Disc, Small Organization Disc), also known as Portable Blu-ray Disc, is characterized by portability, high storage capacity and low-cost format. One of the applications using SFFO is disc tickets, eg for entry to theme parks or museums.

In summary, the increased use of various types of storage media has created a need to be able to combine pre-generated, pre-stored, read-only content of storage media with user-defined content.

US2002/0140988 describes a PC environment in which specific parts of a photo on a display can be linked to specific content. Thus, when the particular content is selected, related content is presented to the user. Here, the link is generated by linking the display area with the content for definition; but it does not describe how to combine the software for definition with the read-only content. Additionally, content may only include images.

Contents of the invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide a solution to the above-mentioned problems.

This is accomplished by providing a rewritable storage medium, including predetermined content suitable for incorporation with additional user-defined content, comprising:

- includes the first part of said predetermined content;

- a second part for adding said user-defined content;

- wherein the predetermined content in said first part comprises a link to said second part.

Thus, the user is able to customize predetermined content on the storage medium by adding personal content, which is a combined part of the predetermined content. In addition, the user can make specific annotations and comments on each category he visits, such as the scenery he visited in the theme park, each booth he visited in the museum, etc., and establish connections through virtual links. Users can also store photos taken at various locations and link them to corresponding predetermined content categories. Additionally, the user can download additional information about the park or museum and link them to the corresponding content categories. For others who are only interested in the scheduled content and not the user's personal content, they can simply ignore the links and be able to read through the scheduled content very quickly. This makes it easier to protect users' personal content if the content is stored this way. According to the present invention, the user's own content is seamlessly integrated with the published portion of the disc, giving an easily personalized guide. More generally speaking, a user buys (downloads) disc content with some pre-predefined content that can later be enhanced in a seamless manner by the user's own content.

In a particular embodiment, said second portion includes alternative predetermined virtual content, wherein said predetermined content in said first portion includes a link to predetermined virtual content. Thus, virtual content can be used to promote content that users can download at theme parks/museums, etc.

In a particular embodiment, the rewritable storage medium is a user-specific ticket for an attraction, wherein the predetermined content included in said first portion includes attraction-specific information. This is a very neat way of adding value to a visit to a place of interest, and it is possible to incorporate the introduction of the place of interest with user-specific content, such as pictures of yourself, voice, notes, etc.

In a particular embodiment, the storage medium is a SFFO (Small Form Factor Optical Disk). This disc is also known as Portable Blu-ray Disc, which is a disc that has a lot of space for content and is therefore ideal for adding advanced multimedia content such as video.

In a particular embodiment, the storage medium is a hybrid disk comprising a ROM part and an RW part respectively, wherein the first part comprising said predetermined content is a ROM part and a second part for adding said user-defined content is the RW part. Therefore, only user-defined content can be deleted and it is impossible to accidentally delete predetermined content.

In a particular embodiment, the second portion of the storage medium further comprises a redirection table, and wherein the link between the predetermined content to said second portion comprises a first link from said predetermined content in said first portion to the redirection table. link and a second link from the redirection table to said second part. By having such a redirection table for providing a link between predetermined content and user-defined content, no knowledge of the predetermined content is required to know the location of the user-defined content. Instead, just include a link to the redirection table. The redirection table is then updated as user definitions are added, and thus can be used to locate user-defined content when the user-defined content is requested via predetermined content.

In one embodiment, the predetermined content in said first part is an XML file, and wherein the link of said predetermined content in said first part to said second part is a URL embedded in the XML file. This is an easy and fast way to generate content.

The invention also relates to a device for controlling a rewritable storage medium according to the invention, wherein the device comprises:

- means for reading predetermined content stored in the first part of the medium;

- means for presenting said predetermined content to a user;

- means for receiving input from a user;

- means for receiving user-defined data;

- means for storing user-defined data in said second portion of the medium.

The device may eg be a PDA, a mobile phone, a dedicated device located in relation to a point of interest eg in a museum or an amusement park.

Description of drawings

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

Figure 1 illustrates a storage medium comprising content according to the present invention;

Figure 2 illustrates examples of different types of user-defined content or data stored on the rewritable second portion of the storage medium;

Figure 3 illustrates a device for controlling a disc with content according to the present invention;

Fig. 4 illustrates the processes of adding predetermined content in the first part of the storage medium and adding user-defined content in the second part of the storage medium, respectively.

preferred embodiment

In FIG. 1 , a storage medium 101 is illustrated comprising content 103 in accordance with the present invention. The content consists of a first part 105 comprising predetermined content which is not expected to be changed. The predetermined content includes links R1, R2, R3 to the redirection table 107, and the content 103 also includes a second part 109 for adding user-defined content. The redirection table then provides links between the first part 105 and the second part 109, illustrated by the arrows 1->A, 1->B and 1>C. Links in the predetermined content point to 1, 2 and 3, which then further point to areas A, B and C in the second part of the storage medium. By using the storage medium comprising the content 103, as described above, it is possible to add personal content to the disc, which can then be used as an integrated part of the predetermined content stored in the first part of the storage medium. This is possible because there are links in the redirect table.

In one particular example, it may be a storage medium used as an optical disc ticket, such as an SFFO optical disc. Visitors to theme parks or museums use this disc ticket as a pass. On the ticket, the tourist can discover predetermined content related to the park or museum, for example in the form of an interactive guided tour. The predetermined content may be in the form of video, audio or text. Typically, predetermined content has been pre-produced and may be stored on disc 101 or downloaded to disc via the park/museum website. Subscription content that will not be changed by the user should be logically or physically read-only.

As mentioned above, Tourists can access pre-ordered content in two ways:

1. The tourist visits the park/museum website, pays through the website and downloads the predetermined content onto his own disc 101 .

2. The tourist purchases the disc 101 at the entrance and the predetermined content is already loaded on the disc.

The disc can be a hybrid disc or an RW disc. Hybrid disks are disks that include read-only and read/write data storage areas. The predetermined content in the first part 105 of the disc may only occupy a small portion of the disc space.

A second portion 109 of disk space may be used to store the visitor's own user-defined content. For example, a tourist stores his photos taken in a particular area in a park and combines them with predetermined content. The sightseer adds his notes or annotations to a special stand in the museum. A common feature of these added content is that they will be combined with predetermined content. To achieve this, a virtual link has been added to the predetermined content during production of the content pointing to the redirection table 107 . This enables viewers to extend these links to corresponding user-defined content. Once the tourist completes his journey and begins to read the predetermined content, he can click on those built-in virtual links to direct him to his own user-defined content. For example, a description of a roller coaster may have a link set up titled "Photo of you in the loop". The link leads nowhere until the picture is taken and populated, but after the picture (or any other picture of the tourist's liking) is stored on disk, the link is completed. Links are set up during the content production phase. These links are embedded in the intended content of the disc, but with an indirection they can be made to point anywhere a URL can point. All links point to the redirection table 107 in the RW space of the disc 101 . The redirection table 107 enables links to point to any arbitrary destination that can be described by a URL. It also enables several links in the pre-recorded section to end up pointing to the same object. It is further possible to make the link point to the proxy object. This allows users to replace the generic photos of people riding in the park with their own photos.

Predetermined content on the disc can be described by an XML file, and a virtual link is represented by a URL embedded in the XML file. These URLs all point to redirect table 107 . The redirect table 107 is updatable and it enables links to any arbitrary destination URL. It also enables several links in a predetermined section to end up pointing to the same object. The redirection table may be implemented by an XML or HTML document providing redirection functionality.

In Fig. 2, examples of different types of user-defined content or data stored on the rewritable second part of the storage medium are illustrated. This user-defined content can then be linked to predetermined content via a redirection table. The user-defined content added by the user to the second portion 109 of the storage medium is denoted A, B and C. As shown in FIG. In this example, a combination of personal data from the digital camera 201 and the Internet 203 is stored in area A. In B speech is stored using the microphone 204 and in C data from the personal computer 205 is stored, such as text or pre-stored movie sequences. In general, many different types of data can be stored, the only requirement being that the means used can obtain the data and store it on the storage medium.

In Fig. 3, a device 301 for controlling a disc with content 103 according to the invention is illustrated. The device may have the following capabilities, but not all are required:

- A drive 303 for reading data from the disc 101, writing data to the disc, error detection and correction operations, etc.

- Display screen 305, which may for example be a touch screen allowing user input.

- A receiver/transmitter 306 for establishing a connection 307 to the Internet 309 whereby visitors can access the park/museum website and download content from the website. A device's web connectivity can be wired or wireless. It is also desirable to provide a simple web browser via the display screen 305 on the device in order to navigate web content.

- In order to allow viewers to add their own content linked to the appropriate content location, a simple real-time authoring tool needs to be provided by the device, which can be eg via touch screen 305 or via an externally connected keyboard.

- In addition, the device may also have video and/audio 311 recording unit and camera 313 functionality.

The device may for example be a dedicated device or in combination with other portable devices capable of supporting the functions described above, such as a PDA, mobile phone, etc.

In FIG. 4 , the process of adding predetermined content to the first part 105 of the storage medium and adding user-defined content to the second part 109 of the storage medium is illustrated respectively. In 401, the predetermined content is placed on a disc, which can be done eg via the Internet, or it can be pre-stored before the user receives the storage medium. When the predetermined content is initially stored, no user-defined content has been stored on the storage medium, so only virtual links are available in the predetermined content. Next at 403, the user adds new content to a location by selecting a virtual link within existing content. If the link still does not lead anywhere, then the user is asked to provide content by entering content (such as notes, audio or image/video) or by browsing to the content location where the user wants the link to lead. If the link already leads to user-defined content, this can appear embedded in the original content or as a walk-through link. Users may also choose to replace existing content with a new version.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the invention, and that those skilled in the art will be able to design many alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim. The word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps than those listed in a claim. The invention can be implemented by means of hardware comprising several distinct elements, and by means of a suitably programmed computer. In a device claim enumerating several means, several of these means can be embodied by one and the same item of hardware. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

In summary, the present invention relates to a rewritable storage medium comprising predetermined content adapted to be combined with additional user-defined content, the storage medium comprising: a first portion comprising said predetermined content; A second part; wherein the predetermined content in the first part includes a link to the second part.

Thus, the user is able to customize predetermined content on the storage medium by adding personal content, which is a combined part of the predetermined content. In addition, the user can make individual notes and comments on each category he visits and establish connections through virtual links. This makes it easier to protect users' personal content if the content is stored this way. According to the invention, the user's own content is combined with the published part of the disc, giving an easily personalized guide. More generally, a user buys disc content with some pre-determined content that can be enhanced in a seamless manner by the user's own content.

Claims (10)

1. A rewritable storage medium (101) comprising predetermined content adapted to be combined with additional user-defined content (109), the storage medium comprising: - comprising a first part (105) of said predetermined content; - a second part (109) for adding said user-defined content; - wherein said predetermined content in said first section comprises a link to said second section. 2. The rewritable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein said second portion includes replaceable predetermined virtual content, wherein said predetermined content in said first portion includes a link to said predetermined virtual content. 3. The rewritable storage medium according to claims 1-2, wherein the rewritable storage medium is a user-specific ticket for a tourist attraction, and wherein the predetermined content included in said first part includes tourist attraction-specific information . 4. The rewritable storage medium according to claims 1-3, wherein the storage medium is a SFFO (Small Form Factor Optical Disk). 5. The rewritable storage medium according to claims 1-4, wherein the storage medium is a hybrid disk comprising a ROM part and an RW part respectively, wherein the first part comprising said predetermined content is a ROM part, and wherein said The second part of the user-defined content is the RW part. 6. The rewritable storage medium according to claim 5, wherein the second part of the storage medium further comprises a redirection table (107), and wherein the link between predetermined content to said second part comprises A first link of predetermined content to a redirection table and a second link from the redirection table to said second part. 7. The rewritable storage medium according to claim 1-6, wherein the predetermined content in the first part is an XML file, and wherein the predetermined content in the first part to the second part is Links are URLs embedded in XML files. 8. A device for controlling a rewritable storage medium according to claims 1-7, wherein said device comprises: - means (303) for reading predetermined content stored in the first part of the medium; - means for presenting said predetermined content to a user; - means for receiving input from a user; - means for receiving user-defined data; - means for storing user-defined content in said second portion of the medium. 9. The device according to claim 8, wherein said device is a portable device. 10. A data signal describing predetermined content adapted to be combined with additional user-defined content after having been stored on a storage medium, said predetermined content being adapted to be located on a first portion of said storage medium and comprising A link to a second portion of said storage medium for adding user-defined content.

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