GB2378002A

GB2378002A - Method of iterative categorisation for navigation, personalisation and temporal organisation within structured multidimensional information processin

Info

Publication number: GB2378002A
Application number: GB0113617A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Gordon Ross
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-06-04
Filing date: 2001-06-04
Publication date: 2003-01-29
Also published as: GB0113617D0

Abstract

Navigation within undifferentiated information and content spaces is problematic. A lack of structural and other cues leads to uncertainties, false routes, and negative experiences. Different navigation formats, information categorisation and display variety adds to information complexity and overload. Alternative methods are proposed with iterative cycles of categorisation to create shared, structured information spaces for dissemination and interaction. Ways of navigating such spaces are described. Components of the novel method have parallels with interaction and navigation in the physical world. Methods and structures for creation, navigation and access can be used in combination. Methods are described for easy and effective personalisation of information content delivery. To enhance the effectiveness of information delivery, personalisation streams can be activated to deliver information according to personal preferences. Navigation tools can be shared by groups of users, whilst preserving individual information profiles. Such sharing opens up ways for information delivery to users.

Description

Methods of Iterative Categorisation for Navigation, Personalisation and Temporal Organisation within Structured Multidimensional Information Processing Scope of the Invention The present invention relates to methods and processes for personalising and navigating shared, structured information frameworks, and encompasses the interchanges made possible by structuring, sharing and personalisation between individuals, groups, documents and devices. The method covers communications, community and commerce, together with the infrastructure, features, facilities, devices, and knowledge to support same including but not limited to hardware, software, communications and content.

Copyright Notice Portions of the disclosure of this patent document contain material that is subject to copyright. The copyright owner has no objection to the reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark office patent file or records but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

Background With the predominance of computer processing individuals are coming to expect more from their information systems. Not only do they want to access information throughout the Internet with Web browsers and Search Engines, but people want personalised information streams from Information Service Providers (ISP's) and Internet Portals. One issue with any advanced computer features is the difficulty of achieving an easy to use user interface. Too much complexity and like the programming capabilities of early video recorders, the technical facilities will not be used. Progress and innovation is needed to make devices easier to use, and with the video recorder it was the development of on-screen prompting and Videoplus numbers for semi-automated video recording set up. With information content and streaming services, and with the sophisticated tailoring and personalisation of some Web sites, there is a wealth of opportunity for receiving tailored and relevant information streams. Yet for many people these facilities are still too complex and easier ways have to be found for personalising and tailoring information streams.

Since this impacts the whole cycle of information flows, from creation, through processing and distribution to receipt, co-ordination and tracking, the problem is by no means a trivial one. The current novel method provides one possible approach for easy personalisation, tailoring and navigation. It achieves this by structuring the information contents and they applying the same method of categorisation to grouping of documents to produce information structures. By applying the method and

modifications and variations it is possible to refine and personalise the structures in a variety of ways, including but not limited to, those described below.

To date the presentation of electronic information has largely mirrored the twodimensional nature of information printed on a page. Facilities such as text linking have added to the usefulness of content navigation, but users remain largely stuck in a two-dimensional information world. As a result the majority of user interfaces to information are essentially two-dimensional. The graphical representation of icons may be rendered to give the appearance of three dimensions but the underlying user interaction architecture is"flat"or two-dimensional. This is in contrast with the majority of human activity, which occurs in three and more dimensions. Logical and mathematical approaches neglect this psychological reality. It is the psychological reality that gives richness to human navigation in the physical world, which contrasts with the absence of structural and navigation cues in much of our information world.

That flat, largely two-dimensional interfaces are unnatural is indicated by the popularity of electronic games, which increasingly are three and four-dimensional.

The relative ease of the user interfaces in such games is one factor in their popularity and is testimony to the level of user acceptance of such interfaces.

It has been proposed (Ross 1999, a, b, c and d) that structuring information in a way that mirrors the real world by providing multi-dimension location cues improves accessibility and assimilation of information content. A structured, multi-dimensional information and entertainment, or so-called infotainment, space allows for easier packaging and distribution of electronic content. Now we go further and propose ways of navigating such structured information content, to further improve ease of access, assimilation and personalisation of information.

With the increases in computer power it is possible and practical to offer richer interfaces to personal and professional computer users. Providing structure and navigation tools aids interactivity, but we can go further. Navigation aids and tools permit easy personalisation of information streams and this novel method demonstrates how this is possible. Further, navigation and personalisation together provide a time-structured sequence of information delivery, enabling the tailoring of information structures and spaces. Again the method demonstrates how this is possible. Like the Videoplus system for Video-recorders the method offers easy personalisation of information structures, but this does require a more structured approach to information provision, distribution and navigation.

Spatial browsing Various ways have been proposed for improving usability of information in different applications. Sony Corporation, for example (1991, European Patent number 0 489 576 A2) proposed a multi-dimensional user interface for audio-visual editing. By combing different elements of multi-media recording into a common linear frame of reference for integration the process of media manipulation is enhanced.

There have been developments in the representation and navigation of information within databases. Pooser and Pooser (1996, US Patent 5,812, 134) are one example

where mathematical relationships and algorithms are used to define a three- dimensional space for hierarchical information organisation. Egger et al (1996, in US Patent 5,832, 494, goes further in the mathematical analysis by creating a numeric representation of database objects.

A more recent European Patent by M Benayoun (1999, WO 00/42495) shows how three-dimensional computer generated pictures can be rotated for access to numerical data with complex and exponential tree networks.

A further example of the relevance of spatial browsing for multimedia information retrieval can be found from Philips Electronics (1997, WO 98/53391) where displays of television listings can be used to facilitate information retrieval about programmes.

All of the above inventions have ignored the multiple and overlapping categories of human cognitive and social processes, including those processes relating to content.

They have also neglected the chain between the creation of information structures, the sharing of those information structures and the filling of the categories within the structures with specific structured content over time. All of these are within the focus of the current novel invention.

The above inventions also do not deal with human categorisation processes as they are applied to human-computer-content interactions. The fail to deal with situations of multiple and overlapping categories. The current invention goes further than prior art to establish the method and process and structure for content creation distribution navigation and sharing using categories and classes of shared information spaces as a key feature of the overall method and process from creation to distribution and navigation.

Navigation There are innovations in navigation within structured databases, for example Pooser and Pooser, (1996, US Patent 5,812, 134 1998) but this like other prior art focuses on the hierarchical presentation of hierarchical data, which is not relevant to psychological processes with multiple and overlapping categories. Likewise approaches which use mathematical calculations of similarity indexing e. g. Egger at al 1996 (US Patent 5,832, 494 1998) are not relevant to this novel approach which uses human defined and shared categorisations and groupings to facilitate humancomputer-content interactions.

Where there have been innovations with regard to user interfaces and navigation, for example WO 98/53391 or WO 00/42495 but these have ignored the human cognitive and social categorisation processes completely, and have not linked the navigation methods to any iterative method and process as is done here. Nor have they addressed the important issue of the population of categories by items relevant to the category, denoting the dynamic and ever changing composition of categories, other than for very structured hierarchical data such as TV listings which is not relevant to overlapping and multiple category memberships

There have been a variety of attempts to improve navigational techniques within compute databases including Earle 1994 (US Patent 5,359, 724), and Pooser and Pooser 1998 (US Patent 5,812, 134), but such attempts have little relevance to human cognitive processes where categorises can be multiple and non-hierarchical as well as intersecting and overlapping. Typically mathematical models and algorithms have extreme difficulty coping with such multiple categorisations.

Even for something as straightforward as receiving an electronic programme guide for satellite television is not as straightforward as might first appear (Daewoo 1998, GB Patent 2 332 584). Complex processes are needed to extract programme information from the satellite signal, and then further complex processes are needed to navigate and select the relevant information. Many of the intricacies can be overcome or eliminated if there is a more structured approach to content creation as suggested here and elsewhere.

Searching There have been advances in recent years with databases of various types, dealing with structured data or searching large streams of unstructured text for keywords and phrases. Search engines of increasingly sophisticated types have been developed to bring some degree of order to the large volumes of raw data that now circulated around the Internet and World Wide Web. The art of parallel processing (Wolf et al, 1998, US Patent number 5,765, 146) sought to eliminate delays between an enquiry and delivery of the results, while the notion of multi-dimensional cubes have been applied to data ranges (Agrawal et aL 1998, US Patent 5,799, 300 of 1998). Despite this until the current novel invention for structuring of information at source, along dimensions of content, community and computing and communications, there has not been same degree of attention to structured information as free format searching, and certainly not for multiple, overlapping category and class exemplars and examples.

Likewise attempts to provide mathematical methods for determining degrees of similarity have met with only limited success when applied to human cognitive and social processes, e. g. Egger et al 1998 (US Patent 5,832, 494). An alternative paradigm is proposed here where the categorisation and grouping is done as a human cognitive and social processes at the outset of the information cycle, not as a post hoc interpretation of some of the features considered salient at any particular time.

Difficulties relating to the proliferation of uncoordinated information come from many Internet searches. Here the lack of structure across databases means search interactions often produce a multitude of more or less relevant links. It can be difficult to gain a"whole picture"perspective on events and activities. Instead we are presented fragments of what is going on. News bites rather than whole stories. And in this instance the sheer volume of data hides the qualitative assessment and organisation of information.

Information retrieval Difficulties with information content and retrieval increase as the volume of information available increases, seemingly exponentially. With the Internet and Web anyone can be a publisher of information, and the disciplines and controls that were established over many years for dealing with paper-based information flows have been largely lost in the electronic world. Certain Enterprises have sought to manage their information resource in ways similar to how other resources of people, materials and equipment are managed. Some have even sought to develop information strategies to match the financial, marketing and product development strategies (Ross 1992). The novel approach presented here is relevant to any organisation or enterprise attempting to manage its information resource more effectively.

Where method and discipline have been applied to electronic information flows the benefits have been real and significant, as the example of news agency automation shows (Ross and loannou 1996). By applying the lessons learned from 125 years of news agency production and applying them to the opportunities presented by the Internet, it was possible to deliver structured information streams going to different channels including telecommunications and satellite networks, televisions and wireless applications. Millions of users could exploit the content without the need for sophisticated search algorithms, or at the time expensive and complex computer interfaces.

A computer spreadsheet is a good example where complex data can be represented in a series of tables or notebooks (Liaw et al, 1996, US Patent 5,572, 644 1996). Yet all such spreadsheets have a basic limitation which is data, although it can be combined in many different ways, follows logical rather than psychological processes. The same item cannot appear in two places at once. In contrast in psychological processes a single items can appear simultaneously in different places at the same time.

The have been many inventions exploiting the logical framework of non-overoverlapping or mutually exclusive categories, ranging from the storage of information in multi-dimensional structures in computer memory (Earle, 1995, US Patent 5,359, 724), through to high dimensional indexing in a multi-media database (Agrawal et al 1997, US Patent 5,647, 058). The latter looked at ways of extracting similarity features from an object in a database by assessing mathematically the similarity features between various elements.

Another example from Agrawal et al (1997 US Patent 5,647, 058) shows how multimedia records could be more effectively retrieved form a database by adding features to the index and then retrieving on the basis of a similarity index computed from those features. However there are potentially many different dimensions of similarity, and in the current novel method such similarity cues are the result of human social, cognitive, perceptual and electronic interaction, all of which were not addressed by Agrawal and his colleagues.

Such logical approaches have little relevance to psychological processes of grouping and re-grouping items in categories and classes when there may be larger differences within a category or class than between categories or classes. Rather than extracting features to determine similarity the novel invention descried here uses psychological

and social processes of categorisation to follow a different route by imposing (not extracting) additional features or meaning onto items to group them as"similar". The limits of feature-extraction and similarity indexing are addressed by the present invention that takes a different starting point of the psychological not logical processes in content understanding, community activities and computing and communications processes.

Classification The are a huge number of methods for information classification within the Internet and World Wide Web, but few of the methods enjoy much consensus. Instead each site adopts classificatory schema that are relevant for its particular purposes. The consequence is that navigation across sites is made complex because of the lack of consistency. It is as if every local village or area selected its own schema for Road Signs and drivers have to interpret them for themselves as they move from area to area.

There has been a willingness to consider all sorts of computer intensive complex processing once documents have been produced to determine their similarity and relevance to each other and to user needs, yet there is a total absence of any consideration of pre-distribution classification. A consequence is the lack of information structures to navigate, and the predominance of search as a way of potentially finding a sought-after document.

Iteration Large and complex structures can be built from simple components. For example bricks and supports in the building world can be used in a variety of ways to produce a variety of very different end products. An iterative process takes the individual bricks and combines them, under rules, into complex structures. Why is there so little consideration of iterative methods and processes within the Internet community? Each and every invention seems to tackle a small step and everyone uses different approaches for much the same ends. The idea of building blocks that can be re-used is almost totally absent in the prior art. Yet in the current method the approach is a process with a minimum number of components, applied repeatedly and iteratively at different stages of an overall information cycle, to produce complex information structures which at the same time are easy to process, navigate and interact with.

Problem Effective ways have to be found for dealing with the explosion in information content, created largely by the success of the Internet, and the penetration of personal and professional computers. Every minute of the day huge quantities of largely unstructured information are created and posted on the Internet, or exchanged electronically in other ways. This has led to individuals increasingly facing information overload-too much data and too little information. Search engines have

been designed to help users cope with such overload, and these have become increasingly sophisticated. However such engines deal largely with the symptoms of the overload, and do little to address the underlying causes, which relate to a lack of methods, discipline, procedures and processes in the generation of much information content. By tackling these problems at source it is possible and practical to substantially reduce information overload, and the novel method described here shows how this is achieved..

The difficulties with the sheer volume of information are exacerbated by a lack of any editorial processes or standards, and a lack or absence of forms of information classification at anything other that a gross level. This makes location of relevant content a problematic matter, and makes navigation and assimilation of information difficult. Navigation today often means surfing a series of unconnected sites, with unknown relevance to the search criteria, and with sometimes surprising and unhelpful identification of locations promoting questionable material. Navigation within and between items can be slow and frustrating unless Internet acceleration tools are employed. Such tools have a role to play, but again they deal largely with the symptoms of difficulties rather than their causes.

Further difficulties are created with the introduction of a variety of ways of personalising web sites and content streams. Without consistency in the personalisation engines there is only more scope for user confusion and learning interference. Ways have to be found of overcoming all these shortcomings, which are due to the prior art and are inherent in the design of current generation Internet solutions, if digital information gathering, assimilation, interaction and commerce are to become truly useful and enjoyable experiences.

Essential Features The method demonstrate how it is possible to build on a multi-dimensional information space with navigation tools that allow easy movement, selection, personalisation and prioritisation within any information space. Further the method shows how navigation tools can be a basis for easy personalisation of information sources and streams. The method goes further and shows how such navigation and personalisation can be used to facilitate more acceptable ways of delivering information within an ordered temporal sequence that users will find interesting and useful.

A requirement for navigation is the existence of a multidimensional information space, and earlier Patent applications (Ross 1999 a, b and c) indicate the benefits of such multi-dimensional information spaces. Having established such structure during information generation or distribution it is necessary to provide navigational and personalisation techniques around the information, and for the underlying streams of content being delivered and integrated within the information structures. This is one focus of the method put forward here.

People already have a variety of techniques for navigating the physical world. This novel method extends these techniques to the information worlds. In the physical world we use terms such as up and down, left and right, more or less, we use gestures

including pointing, we exploit signs that provide location and guidance information, we use route maps and directions, and we use sequences for example, 2d left, 3rd right and then cleft.

All these techniques and others help us find our way around the physical world. With this novel method they are equally relevant within multi-dimensional information spaces. Cues become vital assistants to information location, assimilation and exploitation.

Within the information worlds navigation can be facilitated by a variety of devices including touch, voice commands and directions, mice, joysticks, and virtual reality devices, including electronic representation of physical objects such as buttons, icons, objects, filing cabinets, desktops, rooms, buildings and even virtual cities.

These methods of navigation structure and navigation tools open up ways of personalising information for individuals and groups. With locator cues information content becomes"anchored"so individuals can find their way around more easily.

With links and associations between items of content it becomes possible to present a more seamless delivery of information, rather than the disjointed"jumps"which is a feature of much Internet browsing today.

Such developments can improve the satisfaction with, and usability of, content for users, whether the content is delivered to a personal or professional computer, a home entertainment device such as a digital TV or home networks, or wireless devices such as Internet enabled mobile phones.

The presence of navigation structure and tools opens up other possibilities. Different individuals can select the information classifications and categories they are interested in so they have delivered to themselves more personalised information sources and streams. This can be done without imposing excessive overhead at the sender end as the information sources can be delivered in periodic or continuous streams, or via multi-casting and then selected by individual users. Such streaming and multicasting reduces the amount of unnecessary traffic sent across networks.

By permitting variations in the degree of activation of relevant information categories, for example low, medium or high, or some other indicator of degree of activation, it is possible for the individual or group to have different quantities and/or levels of information relevant to that category or class of information to be delivered to them.

Content navigation can be facilitated by the use of voice and other command techniques. These can be used for providing more detail-saying"more"for example.

Or for changing the context, for example by saying"deeper"or"lighter"depending on the information needs at the time. Another example may be to use say"less violence"to filter out some of the more depressing items of coverage. Voice, or other commands, could also be used to provide shortcuts for frequently used activities, for example, "next", "back", "focus", "zoom" and so on.

By having a variety of categories or classes or classifications of information, and allowing each of them to be activated or not, to different degrees, it is possible to build a profile of an individual or a groups information requirements. This profile can be used for modifying information delivery to match more closely user requirements.

Depression of an element in a multi-dimensional information space, for example pushing a"virtual button"can indicate whether or not there is any interest in a particular content category. Providing for depth of interest, for example by pressing the button in further or changing its colour, provides easy ways of fine-tuning the depth or level of information required.

By linking to reliable and quality information providers, at the global, local and focal levels, it becomes possible to tailor information streams even further. Someone with a deep interest not just in a particular sport, but in a particular sports team, would want a lot more detail about his or her team than someone with just a passing interest in the sport. So for example, a football team might have followers'world-wide, not just in their local area, and the information produced for local coverage could have much wider distribution via a structured system for information classification, categorisation and delivery. This suggests local newspapers and other local information sources have an important role to play in meeting the information needs of individuals. It also illustrates there are easier and better ways of organising information than having to visit a series of unconnected web sites.

By taking account of the order of the categories as well as the depth of interest it is possible to build a profiled temporal sequence of information according to individual or group interests. One person might want the general world news first, then sport, then family or finance. Someone else might want items in a different order, and by taking account of the order of priority within the categories information can be easily delivered in personalised information streams, according to the individuals interests and information needs.

The methods described here have the advantage of not only selecting information that is of interest to individuals, it has the equally if not more important property of eliminating much of the information that is not be considered useful. Elimination of unnecessary information is one important way of reducing information overload.

This information elimination and selection is an important part of the method, which represents a paradigm shift compared to prior art. When digital content is ubiquitous it is important to find ways of reducing the volume of information to any particular individual, and this is a characteristic of this novel method. A reduction in the volumes of information permits individuals to concentrate on what they regard as priority events, and activities.

Another way the method helps with information overload is to permit easier storage and retrieval of information according to pre-assigned classification and categories, thereby freeing people to focus on what they want to do with or about the information they receive.

The method ensures that in human-computer-content interaction, which can be assessed by usability trials, people will find it faster and more effective to navigate information when that information is structured in distinctive ways. Than when it is unstructured or structured in a variety of idiosyncratic ways.

Individuals can use a variety of techniques for navigating a structured information space, and some of these ways have parallels with navigation in the real world. By

extending the navigation techniques from the physical to the information world brings significant user benefits, including ease of use, ease of search and ease of assimilation.

It is a feature of this novel method to extrapolate from the way people move around the physical world, and apply similar techniques and methods for navigation of information worlds when those information worlds are first structured in multidimensional ways.

A variety of methods can be used for navigating an information space, including but not limited to touch, pointers, mice, joysticks, voice control, and virtual reality devices, and such methods are complementary and not mutually exclusive. Some methods will be more suited to some devices than others, and users want choice between and control over their particular preferred methods for information interaction. The framework presented permits such user freedom and choice.

Methods of navigation proposed here can be extended to cover the personalisation of information so individuals can more quickly and effectively chose the information they wish to receive, and eliminate information about which they are not interested, thereby reducing network traffic and unnecessary computing processing.

It is possible to have varying depths of information retrieved and presented according to the activation to different degrees and/or levels of elements of the navigation space to permit easy personalisation of information streams and content. This has the further advantage of highlighting what is regarded as important information and eliminating much information that is considered unnecessary or unhelpful.

By taking account of the sequence of information selected it is possible to deliver time sequenced streams of relevant information to individuals, which enables individuals to have what they consider to be higher-priority elements to be delivered before lowerpriority elements, thereby improving the overall user experience of human-computer interaction.

When multi-dimensional information spaces are established, and navigation tools are provided for use within those information spaces, and techniques of personalisation and temporal sequencing are employed, then information is easier to access, and assimilation of relevant information is improved, and together these techniques help reduce the level of user information overload m navigating information spaces.

Navigational tools can be used by groups of individuals, such that their collective requirements from personal profiles is activated at the outset, improving the effectiveness of information delivery. The information needs of different individuals can be aggregated to make delivery easier and response times faster. By treating groups of individuals as information units then within a shared physical space, information delivery can be improved for both individuals and groups.

Communications between individuals and groups is facilitated as a common and ubiquitous user interface for navigation facilities learning and remembering and minimises training overhead.

Introduction to Drawings The present invention will become more fully understood, and the foregoing and other features and advantages of any preferred embodiment will become more readily apparent by describing by way of example only and with reference to the following drawings and descriptions, which are not limitative of the present invention, by which :- Figure 1 shows a basic building block of the novel method, which is a structured information space created by iterative application of similarity groupings or categorisations. Such categorisations contain both reference information and also groupings of items populating the category. Iterative application of the method creates information structures, with groupings of categories forming classes or"faces"of information. Navigation and personalisation can take place within individual categories or faces as will be demonstrated.

Figure 2 indicates some of the range of different dimensions relevant to the grouping or categorisation. Not only are content and category structures involved, but also communications, community and commerce. In addition the method covers a range of diverse computing devices which will have different information processing and display characteristics.

Figure 3 Shows the many processes involved in information gathering, packaging, distributing and exploiting, although the list is not intended to be an exhaustive one and those familiar with the art will be able to distinguish other aspects. Amongst the activities within the different phases of information gathering, packaging, distributing and exploiting are the following :- Conceptualising Searching Filtering Gathering Reviewing Selecting Classifying Packaging Prioritising Personalising Streaming Sending Receiving Presenting Elaborating Exploiting Figure 4 illustrates another differentiating feature of the novel method, which is its ability to deal with multiple and overlapping categorisations and processes.

Mathematical and logical paradigms are unable to deal with such complexity yet they are an everyday feature of psychological processes and the neglect of these processes in the prior art is a significant weakness of previous approaches.

Figure 5 gives the steps in the method from creating information structure through to the evolution of the structure. The latter is made possible by having a framework of elements and relationships that provide a foundation for changes. Evolution can take place by reference to what previously existed. Personalisation can take place at a number of points throughout the cycle including at selection of sources and streams, receipt of sources or streams, navigation of such, and the modification of the information structures Figure 6 shows the extent of creating a common method for navigating structured spaces, and provides an example of a cube although other realisations are equally feasible. All shapes and structures are equally covered by the novel method presented here.

Figure 7 shows an example of Navigation and Personalisation within a threedimensional space. The front, active, face of the cube is divided into a number of categories that can be selected in a variety of ways including letter of the alphabet, voice, mouse, joystick and other such methods.

* Navigation of the surface uses the same type of command we use when navigating the physical world. Left or right, up or down and so on.

* Navigation of Depth looks behind the surface at the other related information that provides background and/or context, and other stories that are linked to a chosen item.

* Personalisation is achieved in this example by the user selecting and depressing a number of buttons, in this case C, N and R, to give the information that is of interest to that user at that time.

Figure 8 shows the differentiation within an overall general structure for those elements that are interesting and have links and associations for a particular user. The user is free to select or change any of the elements at any time, but in the meantime only those elements of interest need to be populated from sources, streams or multicast.

Figure 9 illustrates the degree of personalisation possible with the overall structure, with categories or items placed in the foreground or near-ground when they are relevant, and placed in background or back in the overall structure when they are not of direct and immediate interest. This processing is analogous to human perceptual abilities, and this is an important feature of this novel method that aligns computing and human abilities more closely.

Figure 10 provides an illustration of the method in relation to calendar and diary applications, as well as providing a receptacle for forthcoming events of interest to an individual, or indeed of interest to a group for shared calendars which are equally practical with the method.

Figure 11 indicates the type of personalisation possible when individual documents are structured at source or before reception. In this example the overall structure contains not just the different elements but also the relations between elements, and

relations between elements and devices so information can be sent to individuals along distribution channels that have the speed and other characteristics considered appropriate by the receiver of information.

Figure 12 shows how over time more and more personalised sources and streams of information can be tapped making it more straightforward to deliver information to individuals and groups of individuals.

Figure 13 illustrates the personalisation and navigation that can take place within communications activities with private and shared and public address books, display of information volumes and even alphabetical sorts of sources of information if required, all in an easy and consistent manner, which is a particular strength of the novel method.

Figure 14 shows how personalised communications can evolve between senders and receivers of information as they share both the base structures and subsequently elaborates of those structures unique to them.

Figure 15 indicates how personalised storage, either locally or remotely can be effected, with reconstitution of elements from public or other archives if and when required.

Figure 16 show a different type of personalisation over the successive navigation of iterative building blocks, so the navigation of the blocks is itself a personalising feature.

Figure 17 shows the temporal organisation, or time sequence, of information delivery according to the pre-selected categories chosen by the information recipient, and by the order in which those categories are placed. The helps information overload by eliminating unwanted information (which can still be browsed if required), and aids information assimilation by placing the information in a time ordering. Category selection and sequencing is under the control of the user and can be changed at any time.

Figure 18 demonstrates how information can be delivered to groups of people as well as to individuals, and shows how the information requirements can be consolidated going up the hierarchy of individuals, groups and then ever large and/or more inclusive groups.

Examples An illustration of the benefits of structuring information comes from the ease of use and usefulness of many local newspapers and magazines. They carry a host of essential and necessary information about local activities and events, and it is often packaged in attractive and easy to use formats, exploiting classifications and categorisations of the items. Contrast this with the mass, and sometimes the mess, of information delivered as a result of Internet searches.

An example of the benefits of navigation is when people select information out of a yellow pages directory, compared to accessing a host of incompatible and inconsistent sources of information. Access within the structured information domain is normally easier, faster and more satisfying.

To give an example, in our multi-dimensional information space it is possible to use established standards for information representation and extend these where required.

By giving categories and classes of information a representative location within the multi-dimensional space, it is possible to activate that location if the topic is of interest to an individual or group. When activated the streams of information relevant to that category or classification can be collected and presented to the individual in an easy and informative manner.

As an example of personalisation and temporal ordering one person might like to receive information with sport first, then world news, then local news then investment news. Someone else might like the world and local headlines, then business then sport, then finance. By enabling an ordering of the information categories people can receive just the news and information they require, and not be burdened by a host to what is to them irrelevant information. Further, individuals can receive information in the order, and to the depth, they require, not in the order the information is generated.

Ordering of information opens up ways of delivering information in more effective ways, and we address some of the opportunities elsewhere. One person may only want the top 2 or three stories in their selected categories, whereas someone else may want 3 to 5, or even 7 or more stories. Personalisation within the category streams permits such variations to be easily and effectively implemented. Voice control by simply asking for"more"or clicking for more detail makes the navigation very easy.

References and Related Material Ansell & Cherenson 2000 Conditional Delivery of Digitized Products Patent WO 00/22495 Agrawal et al 1997 Method for high Dimensionality Indexing in a Multi- Media Database US Patent 5,647, 058 Agrawal et al 1998 Method and System for Performing Range-Sum Queries on a Data Cube US Patent 5,799, 300 Agrawal et al 1998 Database System and Method Employing Data Cube Operator for Group-By Operations US Patent 5,832, 475 Bayer R 1998 Database and Management Process for n-dimensional data structure DE 19635429A Benayoun 1999 Navigation Method in 3D Computer-Generated Pictures by Hyper 3D Navigator 3D Image Manipulation WO 00/42495 British Telecom 1995 Service Provision Systems for Communications Networks (British Telecom 1995 WO 95/30317 British Telecom 1998 A System and Method for the co-ordination and control of information supply using a distributed multi-agent plattform, European Patent Application EP 0 967 545

Al) Cline & Lorensen 1999 3D Surfaces generated from a List of Cubic Elements US Patent 5,900, 880 Chirieleison et al 1998 Virtual Reality Warehouse System Complement WO 99/61967 Chomet M 1987 Transactional Telecommunications System US Patent 4,645, 873 Daewoo (91998) Electronic Programme Guide with Configurable Ranges UK Patent GB 2 332 584) Davies et al (1996) Methods and/or Systems for Accessing Information, British Telecommunications Patent Application WO 96/23265) Digital Island 2000 Method and System for Optimizing Routing of Data Packets Patent WO/00/38381

Earle 1995 Method and Apparatus for Storing and Retrieving Multi- Dimensional Data in Computer Memory US Patent 5, 359, 724 Egger et al 1996 Method and Apparatus for Indexing, Searching and Displaying Data US Patent 5,832, 494 Galumbeck et al Communications System having an Addressable Receiver US Patent 4,725, 886 Hitachi 1997 Method for Table Graphic Display and Processing JP 09-081114A Liaw et al 1996 System and Method for Multi-Dimensional Information Processing US Patent 5,572, 644 Monson 1995 Animated Map Display Method for Computer- Controlled Agricultural Product Application Equipment US Patent 5,751, 576 Olsson 1999 Information Routing, Ericsson Telecommunications Patent Application WO 99/36864 Philips 1997 Spatial Browsing Approach to Multimedia Information Retrieval WO 98/53391 Pooser & Pooser 1996 User Interface Navigational System and Method for Interactive Representation of Information Contained within a Database US Patent 5,812, 134 Ross 1979 Multiple Group Membership, Social Mobility and Intergroup Relations. An Investigation of Group Boundaries and Boundary Crossings. Ph. D. Thesis, University of Bristol, England.

Ross 1992"Information Technology-the Catalyst for Change" PA Consulting Group, Mercury Books, ISBN 1 85251042 0 Ross & Ioannou 1996-2 1"Century Content Engines- In"Digital Newsrooms of the Future"-Seybold Report on Publishing Systems Vol. 25 Number 18, ISSN: 0736- 7260 June, 1996 Ross 1999 (a) A Multi-Dimensional Human Computer Interface Using Information Categorisation and Visualisation.

GB 9915892.5

Ross 1999 (b) A Method for Multi-dimensional Information Representation Processing and Interaction Using Categorisation Structures and Processes GB 991589.3 Ross 1999 (c) A Method for Integrated Multi-Media Compound Document Structure, Creation, Representation, Processing and Interaction. GB 9915894.1 Ross 1999 (d) Multi-dimensional Computer Supported Communications Using Database Linking and a Visual Language Interface GB 9915895.8 Saxe A. N. G. 1997 Method and System for Selectively targeting Advertisements and Programming US Patent 5,636, 346 Shaw et al 2000 Method and Apparatus for Delivering Electronic Advocacy Messages Patent WO 00/20975 Sony Corporation 1991 European Patent 0 489576 A2 Spyglass 1999 Content Conversion of Electronic Documents GB Patent Application 2 344 197 Wolf et al 1998 Method of Performing a Parallel Relational Database Query in a Multiprocessor Environment US Patent 5,765, 146

Claims

Claims A number of preferred embodiments of the present novel invention have been described in some detail herein and for those skilled in the art many modifications and variations will be apparent. It is my intent therefore to be limited only by the scope of the appending claims, and not by the specific details presented by way of example and illustration.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by patent is: 1. I claim a method and process for the creation of structured documents and categories that can be combined to form classes of content, event, activities and experience with senders and receivers of information sharing the structures for the exchange of content, communications, transactions and interactions, comprising none, some or all of the following steps, or variations or modifications of the sequence to achieve similar ends :- * Creation of a structure, be this for documents, categories, classes or other domain or area of content, communication, interaction, transaction, perception, cognition or social behaviour w Sharing of this structure with others through written or spoken communication or electronic means or some other method w Creation of content containing tags to locate content within a structure or structures, not necessarily exclusively but allowing for multiple realisations, versions, variations, positions and overlaps * Source, stream, multicast or in some other way deliver content to individual or group recipients, to single or multiple devices from servers, databases, across fixed and wireless networks or in some other manner * Users accessing the categories, containing content that has been delivered whether or not this replaces or supplements or extends earlier content, for all categories and classes or for those categories and classes selected by one or more end-users 'Users navigating the structure in a variety of ways under their control or automatically, with the navigation sharing attributes of the base method and process and its iterative application * With personalisation, tailoring and temporal characteristics of the receiving structure under user control or shared between receivers and senders of information or communication With evolution of the structure by senders and receivers by reference to the existing structure and categories and classes to allow for modification, evolution and developments 'With evolved structures being shared with some or all other users for activity, communications, interaction or transactions or any combination thereof

<Desc/Clms Page number 19>
2 The method and process of Claim 1 further comprising the step of the iterative application of the base method to form more sophisticated information and other structures and applied to a wider range of content, applications, interfaces and devices, including none, some or all but not limited to the following, each of which has the capability for multiple realisations within any and all structures as required :- Content within a document, structured according to the method and process Documents, structured according to the method and process Categories of documents created by grouping of items along one or more dimensions of similarity Classes of category formed by grouping such items along one or more dimensions of similarity Meta-structures formed by further iterations or variations of the method and process Events, historic, current or future Activities, historic, current or future . Experience, historic, current or planned Delivered to a computer, television, digital assistant, wireless device or other more or less intelligent device, including hardware software, networking and similar devices Transmitted across fixed or wireless or digital audio or satellite or other network including telecommunications, cable, wireless and other infrastructures, public or private or combinations thereof To an individual, or a group or a community or some wider audience or some combination of these groups including multiple memberships of any of the above
3 The method and process of Claim I comprising the further step of populating of the categories and classes of information with information from sources, or streams, or multicast to fill or supplement, complement or replace some or all of the information already contained within the categories and classes with none, some or all of the following characteristics :- * Retention of, or potential to re-establish, links to the original document, category or class event, experience or activity, if need be to reconstitute a facsimile or duplicate from remaining consistent parts * Ability to appear in one or more than one category or class at one and the same time * A retained knowledge of the relevance, links and associations between an items and other items derived from its location within and between one or more structures * An ability to track variations of the document or other objects across variations, modifications, versions and across networks to different locations, people and devices * An ability to display information appropriate or not to any particular receiving device or combination of receiving devices

<Desc/Clms Page number 20>

* An ability to track and communicate the position within the information structure to any other device also used by the same user to access the same information at the same or a different time * An ability to navigate within, between, and across structures using a variety of devices including but not limited to controls, buttons, pointers, joysticks, mice, touch-sensitive screens, voice commands and other ways
4 The method and process of Claim 1 comprising the further step of personalising the information structures of documents, categories and classes through none, some or all of the following ways * Selecting certain document types as having higher relevance to one or more devices such that information appropriate to a device is displayed according to the device limitations unless overruled by specific user activity.

Selecting certain categories as being of higher relevance and attaching some mathematical or other tagging mechanism to indicate such interest, with this affecting the number and type of items filling a particular category.

'Selecting and prioritising certain classes as having higher relevance with regard to the information available from sources, streams or multicasts.

* Impacting the order that documents, categories and classes are received so user prioritisation is always possible in situations of resource or processing or other constraints or requirements.
5 The method and process of Claim 1 comprising the further step of maintaining administrative and financial logs or records associated with user activities for information, security and billing purposes, with some or all of the following characteristics, where billing can include both billing and credit transactions :- * Billing by any form or combination of usage of hardware, software, networking, human or other resource * Billing by volumes of information received or accessed

* Billing by volume of information excluded * Billing by extent of filtering, or personalisation or similar modifications of the base method and process "Billing by source of information 'Billing by timeliness of information * Billing by the breadth or depth of the information accessed or any combination thereof * Billing by any factors associated with information delivery and navigation including by not limited to click through rates, banner advertising, promotion and counter promotion, or any element or sequence on a value chain from information of a less deep or more deep variety, analysis, comparisons, evaluations, transactions and value of goods transacted or any combination or extension therein.

<Desc/Clms Page number 21>
6 The method and process of Claim 1 comprising the further step of transmission of information to individuals, groups or multiple groups using the features, facilities, cues and other attributes of the information structure, singularly, or in combination with each other or in combination with other devices.
7 The method and process of Claim I comprising the further step of modifications and evolutions of the base method and process and its iterative application within the same domains of information and activity or different domains 8 A method and system according to any one of the preceding claims wherein information content or communications or transactions are structured, with the structures shared between information providers and information recipients and based on classification and categorisation on the basis of similarity with items able to appear in multiple classifications or categories at one and the same time.